Betfair Top Five: Brooklyn Nets beware! Sporting anti-climaxes

The Nets' C.J Watson

Jay-Z has splashed the cash to bring the Brooklyn Nets across the water from New Jersey. Can the NBA's new team live up to the hype or will they fall flat? Alex Lee profiles five sporting anti-climaxes...

The Brooklyn Nets (formerly the New Jersey Nets, New York Nets and New Jersey Americans) take on local rivals the New York Knicks in a much-anticipated derby game to open the US basketball season on Thursday. At the time of writing, the game is expected to go ahead in spite of the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy.

Having lost to the Knicks 97-95 in a pre-season friendly last week, the Nets will be hoping that home advantage - in the shape of their brand new billion-dollar Barclays Center - will tip the balance this time. Betfair punters expect them to get off to a winning start - you can back the Nets at 1.412/5 tobeat the Knicks on Thursday.

Local press reports suggest that, much like the nouveau riche Manchester City and their rivalry with established footballing power Man United, the Nets have nothing like the same amount of support as the Knicks and that they only ran their opponents so close because of the Knicks' mounting injury list. Basketball lovers across the US are secretly hoping the Nets' first competitive gameat their new stadium will turn out to be a sweat-soaked squib for them. With this in mind, we've taken a look at some of sport's all-time anti-climaxes.

Stanford Super Series 2008

The Stanford Super Series was a Twenty20 cricket tournament, sponsored by Allen Stanford, with the so-called 'highlight' a fixture between England and an all-star team from the Caribbean named the Stanford Superstars. While the matches were, in the main, well-attended, the British press was quick to pour scorn on the Stanford's motives, claiming the tournament to be nothing more than a cynical money-making exercise. The much-hyped tournament collapsed following the arrest, subsequent conviction and prison sentence (110 years!) of Stanford for fraud.

Rugby League World Cup 2000

The recent Olympics were a roaring success, but it's not many years since Britain was less than perfect at putting on major sporting events. The ill-fated 2000 Rugby League World Cup immediately springs to mind. Rather than give ourselves any chance of success by fielding a Great Britain XIII, the powers-that-be decided to split the team into England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, thus effectively scuppering any chance 'we' might have had of winning before the tournament even started. Couple this with some bizarre stadia choices (i.e. venues better known for hosting football than rugby league) and almost every game became a poorly-attended mis-match including the final, predictably contested between Australia and New Zealand, which finished 40-12 to the Kangaroos.

European Cup final Steaua Bucharest v Barcelona 1986

The pre-match billing to the 1986 European Cup Final was all about the artisans versus the artists and how exciting it would be to see two very different teams lock horns. The reality was somewhat different. While it had become de rigeur in European competition for the away side to try and hold out for a draw ahead of going all out for victory at home, Steaua's blatant strategy of playing for penaltiesin a final had never been seen before. Their tactical gameplan was vindicated after a dour and depressing penalty shoot-out, but their brand of anti-football won them no fans and thankfully no subsequent European Cup/Champions League final since has plumped the same dire depths.

Phil Taylor v Gary Anderson Grand Slam of Darts final 2011

In 2011, Phil 'The Power' Taylor beat Gary Anderson 13-12 in a thrilling Players Championship final, so when the pair reached the final of the Grand Slam of Darts later that year, darts fans around the world were looking forward to another cracker. Sadly for Anderson and his fans, the match turned out to be a virtual walkover for Taylor. 'The Power' rarely needed to get out of second gear in a routine 16-4 demolition, with Anderson outclassed.

World Snooker final 1989

It's hard to believe that at one time the wise cracking, heavy-jowled scouse pundit John Parrott was a precocious talent in the world of baize and balls. In 1989, however, that was very much the case as a 24-year-old Parrott blitzed his way to the World Snooker Final atthe Crucible to face Steve 'interesting' Davis. Millions of TV viewers tuned in expecting to see the ultimate battle of swashbuckling youth versus pragmatic experience. With the gripping 1985 Davis/Taylor 'black ball final' still relatively fresh in people's minds, the viewers sat back ready for a feast of snooker. A handful of stifled coughs from the Crucible crowd later, however, Davis had won 18-3 - a margin of victory that has never since been bettered in a World Final.

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