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I've been picking a sports Turkey of the Year for 28 years now - first as the Chicago sports columnist for the Copley and GateHouse newspaper chains, and later as the keeper of The Baldest Truth. 

There has never been a shortage of losers and lunkheads, gamblers and degenerates, fumblers and spitters, chokers and cheaters from which to choose ... and that was the case again this year.

Before I get to the 2025 Turkey countdown - which, as always, is dedicated to my Copley predecessor and close friend, Gene Seymour - here were my previous choices for this illustrious "honor" ...

• 2024 -- Matt Eberflus
• 2023 -- Pat Fitzgerald
• 2022 -- Tony La Russa
• 2021 -- Aaron Rodgers
• 2020 -- Donald F. Trump
• 2019 -- Antonio Brown
• 2018 -- J.R. Smith
• 2017 -- Kyle Shanahan
• 2016 -- Pat McCrory
• 2015 -- Derrick Rose
• 2014 -- Roger Goodell and Ray Rice
• 2013 -- Alex Rodriguez
• 2012 -- U.S. Ryder Cup Team
• 2011 -- Joe Paterno (and his Penn State enablers)
• 2010 -- Mark McGwire
• 2009 -- Milton Bradley
• 2008 -- Choking Cubbies
• 2007 -- Charlie Weis
• 2006 -- Aramis Ramirez
• 2005 -- Andy MacPhail, Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker
• 2004 -- Sammy Sosa
• 2003 -- Sammy Sosa
• 2002 -- Dick Jauron
• 2001 -- David Wells and Frank Thomas
• 2000 -- Bobby Knight
• 1999 -- Jerry Krause
• 1998 -- Mike McCaskey

You know it's a good year for turkeys when the list of those who didn't make my Final Four is a who's who of turkeydom. This year, that list includes the likes of James Franklin, Mark Sanchez, Jalen Carter, Ja'Marr Chase, Ja Morant, Bill Belichick, Brian Branch, Dan Wilson, Zion Williamson, Lane Kiffin, Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, Dae Dae Hunter, Dyquavian Short, Jamond Vincent, Donovan Sanders, Alvin Stredic, B.J. Freeman, J.J. McCarthy, Sam Darnold, Mike Gundy, U.S. Ryder Cup Team, Andrei Medvedev, and far too many dopes who insisted upon letting go of the football before they crossed the goal line. Dudes: Can you PLEASE wait another 2 seconds to celebrate your touchdowns?!?! 

Anyhoo, here is the 2025 Final Four:

Mark Andrews

The Baltimore Ravens' tight end might eventually be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If so, it will despite what he did (and didn't do) on Jan. 20, 2025. He already had lost a fumble in the fourth quarter, short-circuiting Baltimore's attempted rally against Buffalo in an AFC playoff game. And he already had dropped a pass that would have kept a drive alive. But then came the real screw-up. After Lamar Jackson connected with Isaiah Lively for a TD to cut Buffalo's lead to 27-25 with 93 seconds left, Andrews was wide open to receive Jackson's 2-point conversion pass. But the ball hit Andrews right in the hands - which, on this day, apparently was the worst place to hit him - and Andrews dropped it. Game over. 

Orion Kerkering

With the bases loaded and two outs in the 11th inning of Game 4 of the NLDS, the Philadelphia Phillies reliever made a great pitch to Los Angeles Dodgers batter Andy Pages, who could only manage a weak, broken-bat tapper back to Kerkering. Great job! But Kerkering bobbled the baseball and panicked. Bad job! Instead of just throwing Pages out at first, he tried an ill-advised throw to the plate; that the ball sailed high and wide was moot - the baserunner would have been safe, anyway. The Dodgers won to advance to the NLCS, and the Phillies' season was over. To his credit, Kerkering spoke to reporters afterward, admitting that "the pressure got to me" and calling his throw "horse(bleep)." I almost didn't include him in this Final Four because of his honesty and his willingness to own up to his mistake ... but it was too big a boo-boo to ignore. I do hope this doesn't end up defining Kerkering's entire career, though.

Brian Daboll

He came in like a whirlwind in 2022, leading the New York Giants to a winning record and playoff berth, but things went nothing but south for Daboll and his team after that. After going 6-11 in 2023 and 3-14 in 2024, the Giants nonetheless retained him as coach ... and the losing continued. His most turkey-ish moment of 2025 came during a game against Philadelphia on Oct. 9, when he followed concussed QB Jaxson Dart into the blue tent to "check" on the player. Daboll later could be seen arguing with the Giants' team physician. The incident was correctly viewed as a coach going against NFL concussion protocol and pressuring the medical staff, and he was fined $100,000. Daboll actually survived that, though. It was the continued losing that cost him his job - the Giants were 2-8 when they canned him on Nov. 10.

And Now ... The 2025 Turkey of the Year ...

CHOKING BLUE JAYS

The 2025 World Series was a classic 7-game showdown between the Toronto Blue Jays and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Almost every game was tension-filled sports theater, with the Dodgers repeating as champs by winning Game 7 in Toronto in 11 innings.

Kudos to the Dodgers, but they couldn't have done it without an inordinate amount of help from a choking Toronto team that simply refused to win Game 7.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases in the second inning, had runners on first and second in the fourth, had a runner on third with no outs in the fifth, loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, and had runners on the corners with one out in the 11th. Each and every time, they failed to come through with the hit that almost surely would have delivered them the title. 

Overall, they left 14 men on base, and they went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Their five best hitters combined to go 0-for-10 with RISP.

With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa took only a tiny lead off third base and was thrown out at the plate on a play so close it had to be reviewed; had he just taken a normal lead, the Blue Jays would be champions. 

Losing by a run in the bottom of the 11th, Toronto had its best clutch hitter at the plate: Alejandro Kirk. A hit - or even a sacrifice fly - would have tied the game. Instead, Kirk grounded into an easy double play. Game over, series over, championship dreams over.

When Jays hitters weren't repeatedly flailing and failing, their pitchers were blowing 3-0 and 4-2 leads. Toronto still led 4-3 with one out in the ninth and closer Jeff Hoffman on the mound, but Hoffman kissed the game goodbye because he couldn't keep renowned slugger Miguel Rojas in the park. Not Ohtani, not Freeman, not Betts, not Muncy ... Miguel Freakin' Rojas!

Throw in a few curious decisions by manager John Schneider, and you had a turkey of a performance in the biggest game of any of the Blue Jays' lives. 

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