THE RESURRECTION SHUFFLE
Tiger limps back to Augusta this week but no media can beat up his chances. Tiger’s yesterday’s man and his latest comeback seems doomed.
For every Tulloch or Hudson, or even Simpson, there’s a litany of doomed returns.
Barassi, the saviour, and his lofty 5/6/7 year plan for Melbourne.
Boxers (shamefully) galore.
The Easter message doesn’t always translate to sporting stories.
I’d love to know some of your memorable comebacks-that-weren’t.
Crio, you’re right about boxers. The list is huge and they never learn.
Just to name a few – Louis, Ali, Leonard, Tyson, Holyfield, Fenech, Hatton…
Wayne Carey’s comeback with Adelaide wasn’t successful.
Ben Cousins was similar.
Jezza at St Kilda.
Robert Walls as coach of Richmond (in fact, most coaches of Richmond).
John Kennedy as coach of North – one final win.
I could keep thinking about this, but I’m at work…
As titans of their respective sports, Bjorn Borg, Mark Spitz, Ian Thorpe & Tony Lockett stand out as major disappointments in the comeback stakes.
Yes boxers are always the first to come to mind with doomed comebacks. It must be the constant pounding of the brain that makes them lose all sense of sensibility. Pluggers disastrous 3 game 3 goal comeback in 2002 has me relieved I didn’t go hard with memorabilia when he first retired in 99. And Thorpey tried but sunk to the bottom like a relic WWII torpedo.
And didn’t Lester Ellis have one last crack. Most boxers are usually broke when they foolishly get back in the ring.
One last one from me, is my all time favourite Lionel Rose. His comeback was disastrous. I remember the hype at the time. He was only 27 but he was basically shot as a fighter. I wonder if anyone knows if Jack Rennie was in his corner during his comeback fights? I would’ve thought Rennie would not have supported him if he thought Rose was finished. These greedy promoters are the problems.
Tony Modra, Fremantle
Peter- I reckon you’re a bit harsh on Modra. He kicked nearly 150 goals for them in 47 games.
He slotted 70-odd in 1999 as a Docker. Every team would take that today.
Bob Rose coming back to coach the Pies in 1985 didn’t work.
Alan Jeans coaching Richmond in 1992. What was Yabby thinking?
Colin Cowdrey flown out from England at age 42 in 1974 to cover for batsmen injured by Lillee and Thomson in the Brisbane Test. Had not played Test Cricket for 3 and a half years. “Oh and its hit him in the groin”.
Must be something about quick bowling that induces call ups of the brave and experienced over those with younger reflexes. Brian Close had not paid a Test for nearly 9 years when the Poms called him up to face Roberts and Holding in 1976.
The Poms hold most of the records for longest time between Tests. Wally Hammond nearly 7 years between 1939 and 1946 with WW2 in between.
The great batsman Charlie McCartney is the longest gap between Tests for an Australian – 4 and a half years between 1921 and 1926. No big gaps in the modern era by Australians. Once your cards are marked….
Thanks to ESPNCricinfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/526712.html
In the tennis world, I reckon Pat Cash & the Poo both had comebacks that more or less began and ended at the Hopman Cup. Possibly Molik too. Lance Armstrong’s comeback to cycling not exactly successful, it’s like he had assistance the first time round or something.
Carey played 28 games and kicked 67 goals for the Crows over two seasons, so wasn’t terrible. He also pioneered new goal post protection technology at Football Park and mentored the Crows’ next generation of forwards like Ian Perrie… so, yeah…
More so return rather than resurrection ,, I’d like to include Hank Aaron & Babe Ruth.
Both finished their long and illustrious careers in the cities they started out in – at the age of 41 Aaron returned to Milwaukee (Brave/Brewer), a 40 year old Ruth made his way back to Boston (Sox/Brave).
Today, April 8, marks the 41st anniversary of Aaron launching home run 715, thus passing Ruth for the most round trippers in ML history at that time.
MCR
James Hird’s comeback as Essendon coach has been an abysmal failure thus far…
*removes tongue from cheek*
And in no way suggesting it was a waste of anyone’s time, but Neale Daniher’s second crack as an Essendon player circa 1989 (in the number 36, if I’m not mistaken) after six years out of the game was admirable, but ultimately doomed. He did play in a gun Werribee line-up from 1990-1992, playing in a losing GF with the Tiges in 1991 (I think – I stand to be corrected).
.The great Australian boxer of the 1950’s Jimmy Carruthers retired undefeated. However, a few years later his financial woes caught up with him, then he returned to the ring, where he’d lost the grace and poise of his youth resulting in an unblemished/undefeated record being tarnished.
Glen!
Star Geelong full-back, Gary Malarkey, prematurely retired during the 1984 pre-season, heading back to WA. This meant that he relinquished the coveted number 5 guernsey. When things didn’t work out in Perth, he hastened a return to the Cats but had relinquished his jumper to a bloke called Gary Ablett. Malarkey played with the number 6 on his back but he wasn’t the same player. He retired from VFL footy within a couple of years. The number 5 did wonders for this Ablett fella, though, didn’t it?
Glen Potter