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I Coulda Been a Contender: Difference between revisions
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'''Terry:''' It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night!" My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley. You shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.
'''Charley:''' Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.
'''Terry:''' You don't understand. I coulda had class. [[Trope Namer|I coulda been a contender]]. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. Let's face it. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}l0waNRaz6wU It was you, Charley.]
|'''''[[On the Waterfront]]'''''}}
[[Retirony]] is especially cruel when it strikes down a character in their prime just as they begin embarking on success and glory. At least the old soldiers in combat made something out of their lives, even if they found no peace afterwards. These young souls don't even have the opportunity to become
Years long after, the disillusioned nobodies still can't get the taste of what could have been out of their mouths. This may lead to them taking their pent-up frustration out on the youths who look to be fast becoming the kind of people Fate prevented them from joining.
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A [[Super-Trope]] to [[The Pete Best]] (where they got forced out by others rather than fate).
Compare [[Sorry, Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs]], [[Stage Mom]], [[Glory Days]], [[Trade Your Passion for Glory]]. [[White Dwarf Starlet]] is a related phenomenon, where the person got their moment of
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* On ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'', Doburoku Sakaki blew his chance at a professional sports career when he injured himself while recklessly trying to finish the [[Training
* An example outside of sports: Oji Tanaka, the protagonist of [[The Legend of Black Heaven]], was the guitarist for the titular heavy metal band. They had a single hit, and the group then drifted apart for reasons even they can't describe. Oji, now a browbeaten middle-management [[Salaryman]] with an unaccommodating family, is deeply bitter about his life as it is and as it could have been.
* This happens at a pretty young age to Coco in ''[[Basquash]]''. After suffering a traumatic leg injury at the hands of a mecha, she became wheelchair bound and unable to continue playing basketball, which is part of what kicks off the series' story.
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* ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' - everything in George Bailey's life conspires to trap him in Bedford Falls. Sure, he eventually realizes it was probably better that way, but [[Frank Capra]] doesn't [[Bad News in a Good Way|sugarcoat]] the initial regret and frustration as it all piles onto George's shoulders.
* Subverted in the movie ''[[Unbreakable]]'', where Bruce Willis's character faked a serious injury after a car accident as an excuse to get out of a promising future football career so he could have a normal life with his fiancée, and then forgot he faked it through the normal process of memory reevaluation and editing, leading to his dissatisfaction with his "lost chance" at greatness in the movie's present-time.
* ''Ladybugs'': Rodney Dangerfield sucks up to the boss to get a soccer coach job, claiming the only reason he didn't get to the pros was because of injury.
* ''The Rocker'', in which [[The Office]]'s Rainn Wilson plays a Pete Best (see the music category below) analog.
* Spoofed with the Mary (Had A Little Lamb) character in ''Mother Goose Rock & Rhyme'', who claims she could have been so much more if only that damn sheep weren't following her everywhere.
* Marty's [[Bad Future]] in the second ''[[Back to The Future]]'' movie: A car accident resulted in a hand injury that left him unable to play the guitar.
* Used directly in the film ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]''. As the pirates sing (without regret) about the different possible paths they could have taken in life, one of them comments "I coulda been a contender!"
* In the film ''Friday Night Lights'', the ex-star of the central football team's obsessing over his regrets turn him into a violent alcoholic. The current team members are painfully aware that a similar fate awaits them after the glory of the sport has long since faded.
* [[Inverted Trope]] by [[Citizen Kane]], when he is forced to give up the control of his empire. Hardly a nobody. Very disillusioned, he reflects that it were his ''advantages'' that stole him his chance at true greatness:
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'''Thatcher:''' Don't you think you are?
'''Charles Foster Kane:''' I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.
'''[[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Thatcher:]]''' What would you like to have been?
'''Charles Foster Kane:''' [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|Everything you hate.]] }}
* Double Subverted in the film version of ''[[Daredevil]]''. Matt Murdock's father used to be a boxer, and ended up working as an enforcer for the mob. After Matt gets blinded, his father decides to clean up his act and become a boxer again. He does very well for himself. {{spoiler|Then, as he's preparing for a fairly major fight, he finds out that the mob's been behind all his victories, paying his opponents to throw fights}}.
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== [[Music]] ==
* Pete Best, or, "That Drummer For [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] Before [[Ringo Starr|Ringo]] Came Along," was kicked out of the band (with no given reason!) right before they became famous.
* Dave Mustaine was kicked out of [[Metallica]] shortly before they became famous. Although [[Megadeth]] is still a respected and fairly well-known band, it's nowhere near as popular as Metallica.
* In the mid-90s, people thought that [[wikipedia:The Dayton Family|the Dayton Family]] was going to be the next big [[Gangsta Rap]] group. However, they were derailed by legal troubles and never made it out of their underground fanbase in Flint, Michigan.
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** It's also revealed in a flashback that Hank had an ambition since ''childhood'' to be a propane salesman.
* Parodied in ''[[Family Guy]]'', where in one flashback, we learn Cleveland was a fast-talking auctioneer until a bop on the head turned him into the slow-talking man we know today.
* Doesn't anybody remember [[The Simpsons (animation)|Moe's]] frustrated boxing career?
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Bill Butterfield, a high-school football player from Texas. It was evident that he was bitter about not going beyond high school football, given the way he tried to force his son, Lance, into the spotlight. Said actions eventually resulted in his murder.
* Common enough in [[Real Life]] for Monster.com to advertise "When you were a kid, did you ever imagine that your job would suck this much?"
* Lenny Mancini was a promising and talented young boxer during the 30s and 40s, having actually become the # 1 contender for the world lightweight champion before he was drafted into the army when [[World War II]] broke out. He was wounded in action, and when he came back to the ring when the war ended, he simply wasn't the same. Instead, he supported his son Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini in his own boxing career, who in turn dedicated his title win to his father.
* Subverted by many people who succeeded later in life, such as [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/arts/design/20herrera.html Carmen Herrera.]
* Subverted also by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the 70's (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother (the oldest, actually) Cooper who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance.
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[[Category:Fame and Reputation Tropes]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:
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