History Main / EveryYearTheyFizzleOut

* The Utah Jazz in TheNineties. Their power forward Karl Malone tended to shoot worse and be less assertive in the playoffs. Also, there was some guy named [[UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan Jordan]] who consistently screwed up their postseason hopes.

* The 2024 Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins all will be associated with a 15-minute series of events during the former two's Game 82 on April 16. During that 15-minute timeframe, the three aforementioned teams were out of the playoffs, and the Washington Capitals secured the last Eastern Conference wildcard spot. Timeline:

* The 2024 Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins all will been associated with a 15-minute series of events during the former two's Game 82 on April 16. During that 15-minute timeframe, the three aforementioned teams were out of the playoffs, and the Washington Capitals secured the last Eastern Conference wildcard spot. Timeline:

* The Pittsburgh Penguins were this between the 2009 and 2016 Stanley Cup titles, despite a deep roster led by superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Every year the Pens would have steamrolled through the regular season, only to die in the playoffs to a lower seed. First, losing to the 8-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the Semis in 2010, ''blowing a 3-1 series lead'' to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011, losing to the 5th-seeded Flyers in 2012. Things seemed to be looking up for the Pens for the 2013 playoffs, as the Conference's top seed advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2009, only to completely no-show the series as the 4th-seeded Boston Bruins ''[[CurbStompBattle utterly demolished them in four games]]''. The final straw, however was the 2014 playoffs. After acing the regular season (again), in the Quarterfinals they struggled greatly against the heavy underdog Columbus Blue Jackets in six games, then ''yet again blew a 3-1 series lead'' to the New York Rangers in the Semifinals to lose. The fans (and the organization, apparently) were so fed up with the disappointments, and Head Coach Dan Bylsma, despite being the most successful coach in Penguins history and also coached the Pens to their 2009 title, was fired. The following year, the Penguins begun well only for injuries and bad luck to take its toll, and the team entered the final round threatened to miss the postseason for the first time since 2006 (luckily, a win over an abysmal Buffalo Sabres team earned the Penguins the final Eastern spot, with the Boston Bruins breaking a playoff streak instead). They barely managed to squeak into the playoffs only to bow out to the same team that had eliminated them a year prior: the Rangers (only this time, it was in five games during the first round and the Rangers won the President's Trophy in the 2014-2015 season). Then 2016 broke the underwhelming years, with a half-way coach change leading to a Penguins surge and an eventual second title to Crosby and Geno, with 2017 leading to another Cup win. They would fail to secure a triple-crown in 2018, however, bowing out with a second-round exit after 6 games against their arch-rival, the aforementioned Capitals (who would ultimately win the Cup for themselves). The following four seasons were round 1 exits, starting with a sweep, then 2023 saw their ''16-season'' playoff streak come to an end in embarrassing fashion: they just needed to beat the worst two teams in the league to make it in, but proceeded to blow it against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-2 loss, giving the New York Islanders the window of opportunity they needed to take the final wildcard spot, and 2024 would again see them miss the playoffs thanks to a rough last few games to allow the Washington Capitals to capture the final wildcard spot.

** 2020 saw them bottom out completely, finishing with only '''39 points''' in a season that was ultimately cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.[[labelnote:For context]] The league's second worst team, the Ottawa Senators, finished with 62 points.[[/labelnote]] [[FromBadToWorse To add insult to injury,]] they were only given the fourth overall pick in the draft lottery, with the number one pick going to a team that made that year's expanded playoffs.
** 2023 would see a strong performance throughout much of the season and was widely considered by many to be the best Red Wings team in years, to the point that by February, they were widely poised to clinch a wild card spot... but then came an abysmal March, complete with several of their key players either injured or traded away, that ensured their out-of-playoff-contention streak would continue.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins were this between the 2009 and 2016 Stanley Cup titles, despite a deep roster led by superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Every year the Pens would have steamrolled through the regular season, only to die in the playoffs to a lower seed. First, losing to the 8-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the Semis in 2010, ''blowing a 3-1 series lead'' to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011, losing to the 5th-seeded Flyers in 2012. Things seemed to be looking up for the Pens for the 2013 playoffs, as the Conference's top seed advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2009, only to completely no-show the series as the 4th-seeded Boston Bruins ''[[CurbStompBattle utterly demolished them in four games]]''. The final straw, however was the 2014 playoffs. After acing the regular season (again), in the Quarterfinals they struggled greatly against the heavy underdog Columbus Blue Jackets in six games, then ''yet again blew a 3-1 series lead'' to the New York Rangers in the Semifinals to lose. The fans (and the organization, apparently) were so fed up with the disappointments, and Head Coach Dan Bylsma, despite being the most successful coach in Penguins history and also coached the Pens to their 2009 title, was fired. The following year, the Penguins begun well only for injuries and bad luck to take its toll, and the team entered the final round threatened to miss the postseason for the first time since 2006 (luckily, a win over an abysmal Buffalo Sabres team earned the Penguins the final Eastern spot, with the Boston Bruins breaking a playoff streak instead). They barely managed to squeak into the playoffs only to bow out to the same team that had eliminated them a year prior: the Rangers (only this time, it was in five games during the first round and the Rangers won the President's Trophy in the 2014-2015 season). Then 2016 broke the underwhelming years, with a half-way coach change leading to a Penguins surge and an eventual second title to Crosby and Geno, with 2017 leading to another Cup win. They would fail to secure a triple-crown in 2018, however, bowing out with a second-round exit after 6 games against their arch-rival, the aforementioned Capitals (who would ultimately win the Cup for themselves). The following four seasons were round 1 exits, starting with a sweep, and then 2023 saw their ''16-season'' playoff streak come to an end in embarrassing fashion: they just needed to beat the worst two teams in the league to make it in, but proceeded to blow it against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-2 loss, giving the New York Islanders the window of opportunity they needed to take the final wildcard spot.

** In fact, ''any'' good NBA team during the TheNineties that wasn't the Bulls or the Rockets was this, thanks to Jordan's (and Olajuwon's, during Jordan's temporary retirement) reign. Examples aside from Utah and New York include Charles Barkley's Phoenix Suns, Gary Payton's Seattle [=SuperSonics=], the underrated Charlotte Hornets with Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson, the Creator/{{Shaq|uilleONeal}}-and-Penny Orlando Magic, and Reggie Miller's Pacers, to name a few of the more prominent examples. There was a reprieve after Jordan's Bulls broke up after 1998, which opened up things for Tim Duncan's Spurs in 1999. But then the Kobe-Shaq Lakers began their ascension to power in Los Angeles.

* In the '60s, the Los Angeles Lakers were this. Led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, the Lakers were often expected to dethrone the Boston Celtics, yet even when they jumped to leads in Finals series and later on added UsefulNotes/WiltChamberlain, they could not overcome Bill Russell and Boston.

** The Thunder's era as contenders ended during the 2019 offseason. First, PG requested a trade to the Clippers to join his fellow L.A.-area native Kawhi Leonard; the Thunder obliged, getting two players and a record ''five'' future first-round draft picks in exchange. Shortly thereafter, they dealt Westbrook to the Rockets for Chris Paul and two more future first-rounders. [=CP3=] kept the boat afloat in 2020 and sent the team to the playoffs... against those Rockets with two former Thunder stars, who beat them in 7. Paul then got sent to the Suns in a deal that netted the Thunder several players and yet another future first-round pick.

** The Browns finally made it back to the playoffs 2023, overcoming a season-ending injury to Deshaun Watson that saw them starting three different substitutes, the latest being a 38-year-old Joe Flacco who they signed off the couch... and promptly got [[CurbStompBattle stomped on]] by Watson's old team, the Texans and their young QB-HC combo. And just to add insult to injury, they would then watch their former QB Mayfield -- the guy they pushed out in favor of Watson -- win his own Wild Card game with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

** 2023 saw the Lions win their division for the first time in three decades and make the playoffs with a 12-5 record and win the Wildcard and Divisional rounds to make it to only their second NFC Championship game in franchise history. A dominant first half against the [=49ers=] gave them a 24-7 lead at halftime, and it seemed almost assured that Detroit would make it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever. But in the second half, almost everything that could go wrong did. Dropped passes, two failed 4th down conversion attempts (both times within easy field goal range, so the Lions could've easily picked up 6 points), and a lost fumble on offense. An insane dropped interception that instead bounced off the defender's face mask and into the [=49ers=] receiver's hands to set up a touchdown. San Francisco ended up winning 34-31, meaning those two field goals Detroit chose not to kick were the difference in the game.

* German soccer has Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04, two top teams who just can't win a championship despite often best conditions (or in Schalke's case waiting for over 50 years since the last one). Leverkusen even managed to be only second place in three different contests in 2002: the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup, and the Champions League. And for many of Leverkusen's players[[note]]Michael Ballack, Hans-Jörg Butt, Oliver Neuville, Carsten Ramelow and Bernd Schneider[[/note]], the story does not end there: They formed the core of the 2002 German national team, which went all the way to the final - only to lose 2:0 against Brazil in the first-ever World Cup match between those two. However, poster-child of this trope Michael Ballack (then with Leverkusen) did not actually play in the final as he had gotten his second yellow card in the semifinal and was thus barred from participating (the rule was later changed explicitly to allow finals to include all stars healthy enough to play). As for Schalke and Werder Bremen (another struggling Bundesliga team), their poor form in the league worsened to the point where they were relegated in 2021, ending their respective tenures of 30 and 40 years in the top league. However, both Schalke and Werder Bremen would end up returning to the Bundesliga in 2022, so time will tell if they can make a comeback; things didn't end well for Schalke though as they got relegated again in 2023.

** The next year, Edey entered the tournament as the likely national player of the year, eventually receiving all major awards, and the Boilermakers earned a 1 seed. They became the second 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed in the men's tournament, going down to Fairleigh Dickinson; Edey played well, but he was basically the ''only'' Purdue player who had a good game. Making it even more humiliating for Purdue, FDU: (1) was rated by the NCAA as the weakest of the 68 teams in the tournament, (2) played in the Northeast Conference, which had never previously won a Round of 64 game and was rated as the weakest in D-I that season, (3) only made the NCAA tournament because regular-season and tournament champ Merrimack was ineligible because it was still transitioning from Division II, (4) had to win a First Four game two nights earlier to even advance to play Purdue, and (5) boasted the shortest roster in all of D-I men's basketball, with two starting guards ''under 5'10"'' and no rotation player taller than 6'6". This also gave the Boilermakers the dubious distinction of being the first team ever to lose in consecutive tournaments to teams seeded 15 or worse. At last averted in 2024, with Edey leading the Boilermakers to the Final Four.

** If you change the criteria to current D-I teams who were D-I members when the NCAA adopted its current three-division structure in 1973 and have never made the tourney, Army, The Citadel and William & Mary are joined by Maine, New Hampshire and [[IHaveManyNames Pan American[=/=]UT Pan American[=/=]UT Rio Grande Valley]].[[note]]Pan American University became University of Texas Pan American in 1989, then in 2013 it merged with University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College to become UT Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV considers its basketball program a continuation of UTPA's, which began in 1952.[[/note]] Maine is 0-4 in conference tournament championship games, while UNH has never made it past the semifinals. For those two, men's hockey is the major winter sport and basketball is an afterthought. Maine is a bit better in women's basketball, with 10 NCAA appearances, but their 1-10 tourney record also counts for this trope. The UNH women haven't made the tourney at all. Before their D-I history, the UTRGV men won an NAIA championship in 1963.

** If you change the criteria to current D-I teams who were D-I members when the NCAA adopted its current three-division structure in 1973 who've never made the tourney, Army, The Citadel and William & Mary are joined by Maine, New Hampshire and UT Pan American[=/=]UT Rio Grande Valley.[[note]]UTRGV was formed in 2013 as a merger of University of Texas Pan American, University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. UTRGV considers its basketball program a continuation of UTPA's, which began in 1952.[[/note]] Maine is 0-4 in conference tournament championship games, while UNH has never made it past the semifinals. For those two, men's hockey is the major winter sport and basketball is an afterthought. Maine is a bit better in women's basketball, with 10 NCAA appearances, but their 1-10 tourney record also counts for this trope. The UNH women haven't made the tourney at all. Before their D-I history, the UTRGV men won an NAIA championship in 1963.

* William & Mary is one of three teams who were NCAA Division I members when the first men's basketball tournament was first held (1939) and are still D-I, but have never made the tournament. They've had their chances, making 9 appearances in conference tournament championship games, with an automatic bid on the line, but losing every single one. Since the college itself was founded in 1693 (the second oldest in the US after Harvard), college basketball analytics guru Ken Pomeroy has joked that they have a 300+ year streak of not making the tournament. The other two teams, Army and The Citadel, are more understandable, being military academies with strict admissions standards that limit their recruiting pool ''plus'' height restrictions that make it even harder to build a competitive basketball team,[[note]]The only reason future Hall of Fame center David Robinson was able to play at Navy was that he was 6'7" when he had his official pre-admission physical, which is 1 inch under the absolute limit. He grew to 7'1" by the time he graduated.[[/note]] though Army had a successful stretch in TheSixties and TheSeventies, making the NIT several times and boasting Bob Knight as a coach and Mike Krzyzewski as both a player and coach, but they haven't come anywhere near NCAA contention since then.

* In addition to the woes of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team mentioned above, the men's basketball team has a dubious bit of notoriety: they're the only major conference team[[note]]defined in basketball as the Atlantic Coast, Big 10, Big 12, Big East and Southeastern conferences, plus the Pac-12 until it dissolved after the 2023-24 season[[/note]] to have never won an NCAA tournament game. As of 2024, their all-time NCAA record is 0-8. They didn't even make their tournament debut until 1986. Especially stinging was their 1991 appearance, where they entered the tournament ranked #11 in the AP poll, and were given a 3-seed by the selection committee, only to lose to 14-seed Xavier 89-84, in one of the biggest first round tourney upsets up to that point in time. Nebraska ''has'' won the NIT, though (in 1996).
* William & Mary is one of three teams who were NCAA Division I members when the first men's basketball tournament was first held (1939) and are still D-I, but have never made the tournament. They've had their chances, making 9 appearances in conference tournament championship games, with an automatic bid on the line, but losing every single one. Since the college itself was founded in 1693 (the second oldest in the US after Harvard), college basketball analytics guru Ken Pomeroy has joked that they have a 300+ year streak of not making the tournament. The other two teams, Army and The Citadel, are more understandable, being military academies with strict admissions standards that limit their recruiting pool ''plus'' height restrictions that make it even harder to build a competitive basketball team,[[note]]The only reason future Hall of Fame center David Robinson was able to play at Navy was that he was 6'7" when he had his official pre-admission physical, which is 1 inch under the absolute limit. He grew to 7'1" by the time he graduated.[[/note]] though Army had a successful stretch in TheSixties and TheSeventies, making the NIT several times and boasting Bob Knight as a coach and Mike Krzyzewksi as both a player and coach, but they haven't come anywhere near NCAA contention since then.

** In 1992, they looked to be heading to victory in the semi-final against England, until a rain interruption, which by the rules of the time left them needing to make 22 runs of one delivery to win. This was the impetus for the introduction of [[ThatOneRule the Duckworth-Lewis method]],[[note]]now known as the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method[[/note]] which we'll see below.

** In 2003, their group stage match against Sri Lanka was affected by rain. A miscommunication caused the batsmen to leave the field with the scores tied under the Duckworth-Lewis method, causing them to miss out on a spot in the super sixes.

* Also in cricket, the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League, who have made the semi-finals in all seasons since the league was established (and finished on top in 2013-14). They lost in the semis in the first four seasons. In [=BBL5=], they finally made the final but lost to Sydney Thunder (who had finished last or second-last in every previous season). Fans blame this on key players getting called up to the Australian national near the end of the season.

* Canadian figure skaters in general seem to be cursed by this trope. Canadian men who won the world championships but continually fell short at the Olympics are:[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Orser Brian Orser]],[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Stojko Elvis Stojko]], and most recently [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Chan Patrick Chan]].

* In recent decades, Purdue has become this in men's basketball. Since their last Final Four appearance in 1980, the Boilermakers have won 10 Big Ten regular-season titles, made 31 NCAA tournaments, and earned four #1 NCAA seeds. Just a few examples of their frustration:

** The next year, Edey entered the tournament as the likely national player of the year, eventually receiving all major awards, and the Boilermakers earned a 1 seed. They became the second 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed in the men's tournament, going down to Fairleigh Dickinson; Edey played well, but he was basically the ''only'' Purdue player who had a good game. Making it even more humiliating for Purdue, FDU: (1) was rated by the NCAA as the weakest of the 68 teams in the tournament, (2) played in the Northeast Conference, which had never previously won a Round of 64 game and was rated as the weakest in D-I that season, (3) only made the NCAA tournament because regular-season and tournament champ Merrimack was ineligible because it was still transitioning from Division II, (4) had to win a First Four game two nights earlier to even advance to play Purdue, and (5) boasted the shortest roster in all of D-I men's basketball, with two starting guards ''under 5'10"'' and no rotation player taller than 6'6". This also gave the Boilermakers the dubious distinction of being the first team ever to lose in consecutive tournaments to teams seeded 15 or worse.

* William & Mary is one of three teams who were NCAA Division I members when the first men's basketball tournament was first held (1939) and are still D-I, but have never made the tournament. They've had their chances, making 9 appearances in conference tournament championship games, with an automatic bid on the line, but losing every single one. Since the college itself was founded in 1693 (the second oldest in the US after Harvard), college basketball analytics guru Ken Pomeroy has joked that they have a 300+ year streak of not making the tournament. The other two teams, Army and The Citadel, are more understandable, being military academies with strict admissions standards that limit their recruiting pool, though Army had a successful stretch in TheSixties and TheSeventies, making the NIT several times and boasting Bob Knight as a coach and Mike Krzyzewksi as both a player and coach, but they haven't come anywhere near NCAA contention since then.

** The [=DeShaun=] Watson era saw the team go to the Playoffs twice, neither of which had them make the AFC Championship game. This is especially the case in the 2019-20 Playoffs where despite dominating the Chiefs early on they would surrender the 24-0 lead and lose 51-31. By the time of their next Playoffs appearance in 2023-24, Watson had been traded to the Cleveland Browns and a new QB and HC combo would lead the Texans to a [[CurbStompBattle thrashing]] of the Browns in the wild card at home, only to be [[CurbStompBattle thrashed themselves]] by the #1 seed Ravens in the divisional.

* American women in general have been cursed by this trope since 2006. Whereas they once dominated with 1-2 medalists at nearly every Olympics for a total of 23 medals, including '''7''' golds, statistics no other country can boast, they haven't earned a medal since Sasha Cohen's silver in Turin and had their worst results ever in Pyeongchang with 9, 10, 11 place finishes. It's even worse in the World Championships, where '''72''' medals have been earned--including 5 consecutive golds by Carol Heiss and an unprecedented sweep in 1991 [[note]] Gold for Kristi Yamaguchi, silver for UsefulNotes/TonyaHarding, bronze for Nancy Kerrigan [[/note]] but there's been a similar drought, with ''one'' medal earned since 2006, a disappointing silver in 2016.

** Missouri has made 28 NCAA tournament appearances without a Final Four (not counting one vacated due to NCAA sanctions), but Xavier has appeared in 29 (with none vacated), and [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} BYU]] is the leader with 30.

** 2024: Despite finishing third in the ACC regular season, the Hoos struggled on offense all season, scoring only two Quadrant 1[[note]]the highest of the categories that the NCAA selection committee uses in evaluating potential tournament teams[[/note]] wins. Many observers thought UVA shouldn't have made the field, but they ended up in the First Four[[note]]A set of four games whose winners advance into the main 64-team bracket.[[/note]] against Colorado State. Cue a 67–42 annihilation, with UVA's score second only to their 2017 humiliation as the lowest by an ACC team in the Big Dance.

** University of North Carolina has been a long-dominant team, but had a nasty reputation between 1976 and 2005 as the '''U'''niversity '''N'''oted for '''C'''hoking, because they only won ''three'' championships in thirty years despite regularly making the top 8 or the Final Four.
** Villanova University had this reputation in the 2010s. 2009 saw Villanova return to the Final Four, then from 2010 to 2015, didn't even make it to the Sweet 16. Then 2016 came along, and with one buzzer-beater, Villanova won its second national title over... the University of North Carolina. The Wildcats likely shed this reputation permanently with their third national title in 2018, winning every tournament game by double digits.

** However, after said Super Bowl they haven't given that same output. Predicted to pick up in 2018 right where they left off and be one of the best teams in the league, Wentz entered after Foles split the first two games of the season. But things weren't going the way they planned, injuries were derailing them, and despite many thinking they'd get it together, the losses just didn't stop. And after what was looking to be a franchise redefining loss, [[CurbStompBattle 48-7]] at the hands of the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome, they were on the brink of becoming the worst defending Super Bowl champions in NFL history. And facing the hardest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL following that, they were heavily predicted to complete said collapse. After Week 14, the Eagles were facing a Rams team in LA twice as scary as the one that ended Wentz's MVP-caliber season a year prior. Before that, Wentz was sidelined yet again with a stress fracture in his back, and [[https://twitter.com/jasonmyrt/status/1073255492171038720 it was revealed this had been prior and players were aware of the situation]]. Foles came in to face the Rams, who were ''13.5 point favorites'' against Philly. And yet, they handed LA their first home loss of the season and that changed everything. They rallied back and made the playoffs, got lucky to beat the Chicago Bears in their place and were back in the Superdome against that same Saints team...except this time just falling short. Afterwards, Foles left in free agency to join the Jacksonville Jaguars. Only time will tell if Wentz will ever see his 2017 level of success again or not... and if he does, he won't be doing it with the Eagles, having been traded to the Colts during the 2021 offseason and then traded again to the Commanders in the 2022 offseason. However, the Eagles have surged back behind Wentz' successor, Jalen Hurts, making the playoffs in 2021 (Hurts' first full year as a starter) and going all the way to the Super Bowl — ultimately going down in a close loss to a surging Kansas City Chiefs team — just one year later.

** The Browns finally made it back to the playoffs 2023, overcoming a season-ending injury to Deshaun Watson that saw them starting three different substitutes, the latest being a 38-year-old Joe Flacco who they signed off the couch... and promptly got [[CurbStompBattle stomped on]] by Watson's old team, the Texans and their young QB-HC combo. And just to add insult to injury, they would then watch their former QB Mayfield -- the guy they gave up on after one down year -- win his own Wild Card game with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

** Stefanski's tenure, however, [[SubvertedTrope got off to a promising start]], surprising many people by not only clinching their first winning season since 2007, but also earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2002 (in a field that was arguably even ''more'' stacked than the 2007 field) and then ''winning'' their first playoff game since 1994, the latter of which was done with a shorthanded roster and coaching staff plus a limited amount of practice days due to COVID-19. They went out in the divisional round in a competitive loss to the Chiefs. Stefanski would lead them back to the playoffs in 2023, overcoming a season-ending injury to Deshaun Watson (who succeeded Mayfield as starting QB by this point) that saw three different substitutes, the latest being a Joe Flacco that started the season unsigned, and promptly got [[CurbStompBattle stomped on]] by Watson's old team, the Texans and their young QB-HC combo.

* Anna Kournikova was considered by many to be the surprise package at the 1997 Wimbledon tournament, getting through to the semi-finals despite not being seeded. Afterwards, while she did not too badly as part of a doubles team with Martina Hingis, her solo career was almost without exception a complete disaster until her eventual retirement in 2003. While she remains one of the most publicly well-known female tennis players of the modern era, among serious fans of the sport she's ''at best'' considered to be to Maria Sharapova what Tim Henman was to Andy Murray.

* South Africa in the UsefulNotes/CricketWorldCup. A team that has always been highly-ranked since they were allowed back into international cricket in 1992, but has never made it past the semi-finals due to a string of amusing (not to them) failures. Highlights include:
** In 1992, they looked to be heading to victory in the semi-final against England, until a rain interruption, which by the rules of the time left them needing to make 22 runs of one delivery to win. This was the impetus for the introduction of [[ThatOneRule the Duckworth-Lewis method]],[[note]]now known as the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method[[/note]] which we'll see below.
** In 1999, their semi-final against Australia ended in a tie. Australia advanced to the final due to finishing higher in the super sixes stage of the tournament.
** In 2003, their group stage match against Sri Lanka was affected by rain. A miscommunication caused the batsmen to leave the field with the scores tied under the Duckworth-Lewis method, causing them to miss out on a spot in the super sixes.
** It happened ''again'' in 2015, with New Zealand beating them on the second-last ball in the semi-final.
* Also in cricket, the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League, who have made the semi-finals in all seasons since the league was established (and finished on top in 2013-14). They lost in the semis in the first four seasons. In [=BBL5=], they finally made the final but lost to Sydney Thunder (who had finished last or second-last in every previous season). Fans blame this on key players getting called up to the Australian national near the end of the season.

** The 49ers marched into the 2023 Season with a vengeance with Purdy and their star-studded lineup returning as well as a few new pieces added in Free Agency with the intention of taking it all. San Fran started out hot with a 5-0 start and finished the season 12-5 and the top seed in the NFC Playoffs with Purdy and Christian [=McCaffrey=] having all-pro seasons. San Francisco survived Green Bay and Detroit en route to Super Bowl LVIII where the Niners would rematch Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was deja Vu all over again as San Francisco once again held a ''ten-point lead'' over the Chiefs, only to squander it in an astonishingly similar way as in Super Bowl LIV from years before as Kansas City rallied and won in overtime 25-22. Kyle Shanahan ''once again'' was criticized for his questionable playcalling, appearing to [[HereWeGoAgain learn nothing from prior defeats]] [[HistoryRepeats by abandoning the running game in the second half]]. Making history as the first coach to blow multiple-score leads in the Super Bowl three seperate times.

** The 49ers marched into the 2023 Season with a vengeance with Purdy and their star-studded lineup returning as well as a few new pieces added in Free Agency with the intention of taking it all. San Fran started out hot with a 5-0 start and finished the season 12-5 and the top seed in the NFC Playoffs with Purdy and Christian [=McCaffrey=] having all-pro seasons. San Francisco survived Green Bay and Detroit en route to Super Bowl LVIII where the Niners would rematch the Kansas City Chiefs. It was Deja Vu all over again as San Francisco once again held a ''ten-point lead'' over the Chiefs, only to squander it the an astonishingly similar way as in Super Bowl LIV years before as Kansas City rallied and won in Overtime 25-22. Kyle Shanahan ''once again'' was criticized for his questionable playcalling, appearing to [[HereWeGoAgain learn nothing from prior defeats by abandoning the running game in the second half]]. Making history as the first coach to blow multiple-score leads in the Super Bowl three seperate times.