Most overhyped athletes of 2011

Whether it was a lack of victories or disappearing in clutch moments, several athletes failed to live up to all their hype in the last calendar year.

Here are the worst offenders of 2011.

Seldom, if ever, has there been a modestly-talented athlete who has crossed over into every kind of mainstream media and featured on so many magazine covers, but that's what happens when you become caught up in the vortex known as the Kardashians.

He married Kim, although we're quite sure he was shackled to the Queen Mom of the Kardashians and the other two princesses and thus became lady whipped in the process. Not surprisingly, the marriage lasted all of 72 days, and when it was all over all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humphry Dumphry back together again.

Humphries, who has collected millions of dollars buried as a backup on whatever team he played for, is now a member of the New Jersey Nets. Whatever he does for the rest of his career, his name will forever be linked to Kardashian.

This one is a double-entry. In July, Woods announced on his website that he had fired Steve Williams, his longtime caddy, whom he calls Stevie. Williams, in turn, posted his "shock" on his own website after all he had done for Woods, combined with having to put his life and career on hold while his boss did likewise. It made Williams the star of the countless souls who are paid to schlep golf bags for a living.

In October, Williams was the winning caddie for his new boss, Adam Scott, and took a verbal shot at Woods, saying it was the best win he had ever had.

In November, Williams made a racial slur about Woods at a caddies' awards party (yes, these guys actually get together for a celebration) in Shanghai. Woods forgave him, sort of.

And in December, Woods finally got out of the woods, so to speak, winning a tournament to end a two-year drought. The tournament, which was not part of the PGA banner, benefitted his foundation and included all of 18 players, none of whom were named Phil or Rory.

Surely, all of this could have been filed under the title Caddyshack, but the title has been taken -- with no offence to Chevy Chase or Rodney Dangerfield.

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said in December 2011 that St-Pierre is still the most popular athlete in Canada in terms of his international recognition -- we're not so sure about that -- but the welterweight champion is sidelined indefinitely with damaged knee ligaments. And even before his injury, St-Pierre was taking verbal shots from the public, the media and fighters for his inability to put away opponents.

He grabbed the international spotlight in April for headlining the first UFC card in Toronto, producing GSP mania. A record UFC crowd of more than 55,000 packed the Rogers Centre to finally see the conquering Canadian hero and he went the full five rounds with Jake Shields in what was more of a clinic on how not to lose a fight than actually win it.

Yes, GSP had problems seeing out of one eye because of a shot in the fight, but we've seen fighters with far bigger issues turn it up a notch. It was boring at best and continued a pattern of St-Pierre going the full distance without delivering the knockout blow or submission. Heck, the fight before it on the card was way more entertaining than the main event.

Patrick continued to reap tons of fame -- and money -- by doing laps around the racetrack without finishing in the top three, while also titillating male libidos with her commercials which are hotter than burning rubber.

In 2011, she announced her decision to leave IndyCar racing to cross over full-time to NASCAR and it had all the gearheads revved up in overdrive. In her Indy career, she had a total of 115 starts and all of one win, three poles (insert your own punch-line here), 20 top-five finishes and 63 top-10 finishes.

She has fabulously garnered all her attention -- and will continue to do so in another form of racing -- because of brilliant marketing, good looks and a sport that knows how to sell both. She has truly given new meaning to the term hot rod.

His reputation took a beating in 2010 for his hour-long announcement that he would be taking his talents to South Beach to play for the Miami Heat, igniting a near-riot in Cleveland where he had been the native son playing for the Cavaliers, and receiving hisses and disses from luminaries such as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

To his credit, James delivered in the 2010-2011 regular season, thus leading up to the Heat playing the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. And in the end, the less-heralded Mavericks won in six games and James failed to step up in the biggest series of his life.

Put on a pedestal of his greatness, his reputation went up in the air like his crushed chalk routine.

You either love him or hate him now because of all the attention he has received for his miracle fourth-quarter finishes as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. But that's only part of the polarization. He has been defined as much, if not more, for his strong, religious beliefs that have made him the darling of the right wing.

He was featured in a Saturday Night Live skit this month prior to the pivotal Broncos game against the New England Patriots because it pitted Tebow against Tom Brady, who legitimately deserves all the hype he gets. In the skit, the character playing Jesus referred to Brady as the nephew of God.

Tebow's arm strength has been dissected and criticized for his inability to throw the long ball, but he did a good job of going downfield against New England.

Remember when he was known as the Great 8? Maybe now he should be called the Great Nyet.

The Washington Capitals star continues to devalue like stock in RIM. He has been a bust since the 2010 Winter Olympics and continues to mysteriously become just an ordinary player who is among the highest-paid players in the National Hockey League.

He contributed to the firing of Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau -- Ovechkin's countryman/teammate Alexander Semin also played a role -- who dared to bench him in the final minute of a 4-4 game in November. Ovechkin said something to him and we're quite sure it wasn't "Not too shabby, Gabby."

Ovechkin is featured in commercials which are extremely funny, but there's nothing humourous about his play this season.

He fought once in 2011 and scored a fourth-round technical knockout over some guy named Victor Ortiz to run his record to 42-0, but it was his reluctance to fight Manny Pacquiao that placed him more in the spotlight.

Mayweather has had some legal troubles pertaining to battering his ex-girlfriend, which may or may not have put his fight against Pacquiao on indefinite hold. Pacquiao continues to fight and sing Dan Hill's sappy love song, Sometimes When We Touch, presumably because he is pining to touch gloves with Mayweather.

We still recall the fight Mayweather had in the WWE against the giant known as The Big Show, busting his nose with a wicked punch. And, no it wasn't fake.

Seldom has there been such a commotion just for the right for a team to talk to a player whose rights are owned by another team in another country.

The announcement as to who won the right to talk to the Nippon Ham Fighters -- arguably the greatest team name in all of sports next to the Toledo Mud Hens -- made LeBron James' public declaration short in comparison. The whole process was like something out of Get Smart, missing only the cone of silence.

In the end, after every form of social media took turns guessing the amount before it was finally revealed the Texas Rangers had the winning bid with $51.7 million. So now the Rangers get 30 days to negotiate a deal with Darvish and his agents, and you can be sure this will create even more overkill.

He will be the consensus No. 1 pick next year in the National Football League draft, but he wasn't even the best quarterback in college football this year. That honour went to Robert Griffin III.

Heading into the season, Luck was the overwhelming favourite to win the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best U.S. collegiate football player, but lost to Griffin. Luck became the fourth runnerup in back-to-back seasons. Mind you, he did have quality stats.

But with all this talk about whether Peyton Manning will play in 2012 or whether the Indianapolis Colts will cut him, Luck will still be part of the saga. What if Peyton comes back, will the Colts pick Luck first overall anyway?

All that said, we still have a fondness for Luck's dad, Oliver, who had a great first name (like the preppy hockey player in Love Story). How interesting that Luck's dad was a pro quarterback, as was Manning's.

Come back on Friday when we list 2011's most underhyped athletes.

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.