It seems over the last few years, there have been a number of extremely talented athletes who have had the potential to win many events in their sport, or in some cases, dominate their sport, but it just never happened.

Why? Because they let outside interests or just plain "weirdness" lure them away from their game.

When this happens, not only have they let their fans down, but more importantly, they let themselves down because they will never know how much they might have accomplished or how great they might have become.

Here are just a few athletes who have seemed to waste away their talents, as well as a few who are teetering on the brink of possibly doing it now.

She is the poster-child of wasted talent. She burst on the tennis scene when she reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1997 in her first appearance at the event. That also turned out to be the highlight of her career, as she never won a singles tournament.

Oh, yes, she had the talent. Her career record is 209-129, with 16 doubles titles and over $3 million in prize money. There's also no question that she worked hard on her game. Many of her fellow pros will vouch for that.

However, what killed her playing career, and what also helped her make millions of dollars, was her looks. Kournikova never saw a camera that she didn't love, and the camera loved her back. Over the years, during her playing career – and to this day -- she has been on the cover of thousands of magazines, calendars, advertisements, billboards and everything else that will hold a photo.

Then there was the mystery of whether she married to Sergei Federov, the hockey players, or not. (That's still a mystery to many.)

All of those things, however, took away from her focusing on her game. In the end, that is why she never won a singles tournament and why she never learned how much she could have achieved.

She was the face of the beach volleyball world. In fact, even though she's been retired since 1999, there's a good chance that if you ask a non-volleyball fan, or even a casual volleyball fan, to name a volleyball player, Reece is the one they will name.

Even before the 6'3" Florida State grad left college, she already had the distraction that would take away from her professional game. She was a "part-time" model.

Now granted, modeling helped her become personally wealthy to the point she will be comfortable for the rest of her life. However, the potential she had in the sport never saw the light of day.

At first she played on the Bud Light 4- Person tour, and even dominated it for the first couple years as a middle blocker. She was named Offensive Player of the Year in '94 and '95, led the league in kills in '94, '95 and '97, and finally helped lead her team to the League Championship Team in 1997

When the tour folded, she finally gave beach doubles a chance and played with a few partners. Her best finishes were two thirds in 1999 with Holly McPeak, who is now the all-time winner in the women's game.

However, that was it. While she worked out hard to keep in shape, her outside modeling, television appearances and other interests seemed to take priority. In the end, volleyball fans and Reece will never know just how good she might have been in the two-person game.

There was a time in his career when some were talking that he might become the best boxer of all time. There was a time when he stepped into the ring, his opponents would become scared silly.

That was then, this is now, and now Tyson is nothing but a comical sideshow. A wasted, shadow of his former-boxing prowess, running around doing any stupid thing to make a buck and keep himself in the limelight.

How good was he. In 1986, with a 37-0 record (33 of them KOs), he won the WBC title when he defeated Trevor Berbick. He followed that up in 1987 when he took the WBA crown from James Smith and, later that year, he became the undisputed champ when he collected the IBF title from Tony Tucker.

He was literally dominating the sport, with his high point coming against Michael Spinks, the former great Olympic Gold Medlaist, who he dispatched in just 92 seconds (one month later, Spinks retired).

Then came his appearance on Barbara Walters, where his wife, Robin "the gold digger" Givens announced to the world that she was abused by Tyson. They later divorced.

Then came the infamous did he, or did he not, rape Desiree Washington, a former beauty queen. That landed him in jail from '92-'95.

Bottom line -- end of career.

OK, he has had some fights since then, including the infamous Evander Holyfield fight in 1997 in which he – literally -- bit Holyfield's ear off, but he has never even come close to reaching even a smidgen of his previous success.

He might have become the all-time best. Instead, the face-tattooed former boxer is now just fodder for the late-night talk show hosts.

Still Have Time Before They Do Waste Away…

Venus and Serena. Serena and Venus. They are two of the most imposing women's tennis players ever to play the pro game, and when their games are on, there is not one woman player who can compete with them.

When they face each other in a final, especially a Grand Slam final, the matchup is electric, even if the match itself fizzles. And, if they would just keep their head in the game, these two athletes have the potential to completely rewrite the women's tennis history books.

For a while there, they dominated the women's game like nobodies business. Just look at these numbers:

Venus: 412 wins, 95 losses, 33 career titles, 5 Grand Slams Titles (3 Wimbledons, 2 U.S. Opens), an Olympic Gold Medal and $16,025, 369 in prize money.

Serena: 310 wins, 64 losses, 26 career titles, 7 Grand Slams (2 Australian Opens, 2 Wimbledons, 1 French, 2 U.S. Opens) and $15,907,370 in prize money.

So what's the problem you ask? Nothing really. Those numbers make for great careers. However, the problem is they should have won so much more by now.

They should both have won the Grand Slam (all four GS titles in one year), possibly more than once each. They should win ever tournament they are in, unless they both play the same event, in which case, then only one should win. However, the other should be in the final too.

However, those outside interests have just slowly degraded their games. Magazines, clothes designing, jewelry designing, modeling, TV Reality Series. You name it and they have done it.

The result, they can't even make it out of the early rounds of Grand Slam tournaments right now, which was illustrated by Venus' first round exit at the Australian Open last month, while Serena made it all the way to the third round before losing.

They still have time to get back on track and focus, but from the things they say in interviews, it looks like their best days are now behind them, and that would be a shame.

Maria Sharapova

She is part of the Russian invasion in women's tennis. Then, she won Wimbledon in 2004 at the young age of 17 and separated herself form the pack.

Since then, however, while she has continued to play well, and has even won a few smaller tournaments, she hasn't won another Grand Slam tournament. And, even though she says her main focus is tennis, she seems to slowly be falling into the "outside interest" trap.

Just check out the newsstand each month and you'll see she's on at least one cover every time. Now, granted it is hard not to turn down the chance to make thousands of dollars just to stand around and have someone take your picture. But, she needs to be careful because she is young and it does appear to be taking its toll on her game.

Case in point – she lost in the Australian Open semifinal last month to Justine Henin Hardenne. Hardenne is an excellent player, so why is this loss a problem?

Well, the loss wasn't the problem. The problem was the "meltdown" she had at the after match press conference. Among the head-scratching things she said was, " Look, guys, I think, I mean, I know you are reporters and I know this is your job, but, you know, take your note pads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put everything away and just watch the match, you know, from just the fans' perspective. I seriously think that the quality of the match today was great. "

She's very young and the pressure seems to be getting to her. Hopefully, those around her in authority will sit her down and calm her down. She needs to stop listening to the press and just focus on her tennis and have fun! She's still a kid. She's got a long way to go. The magazine and photo ops will still be around after she wins a ton of tournaments. (And, make no mistake, she can win a ton of tournaments.)

Hang in their Maria. You'll be fine. Just remember what got you to where you are at and just play the game!

His talent on the football field is unquestioned. He is, arguably, the best at his position (wide receiver) right now.

The problem with T.O. is -- T.O. He just keeps getting in his own way and he can't keep his mouth shut.

After a fantastic first season with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004, which included an appearance at the Super Bowl, this past season, he pretty much, single-handedly, destroyed the team in his quest for more money.

His self-centered approach to everything "me" ended up costing him an entire season, as the Eagles finally exiled him from the team after just a handful of games. It cost him millions and put him in a very tough position because many teams will think twice before letting him play for them.

Jerry Rice is considered the greatest receiver to ever play the game. T.O. has the potential to break all of his records. However, with his attitude, he might never get the chance to do it.

The good news is he is still young enough to turn things around for himself. The bad news is can he ever get out of his own way.

Here's hoping he does. He's a great talent and fans sure do miss watching him play.

He is slowly becoming the new Dennis Rodman, because just like Rodman, you just never know what he's going to do next.

One problem though. As quirky as Rodman was, the man could focus and play the game when he wanted. He was on five NBA championship teams (2 with Detroit, 3 with Chicago) and was a dominant rebounder in his day.

As for Artest… he too can play the game -- when he wants. However, the last two years, he just doesn't appear to want to play all that much, and it has cost his (old) team, the Indiana Pacers, dearly.

A few cases in point…

One time he asked to take a few games off to go promote his record label's CD. Then there was the near riot he caused going into the stands last year. And now this year, he asked to be traded, then changed his mind and said he wanted to stay, then he was traded to Sacramento and he said he didn't want to go, then he went and now he says he's happy. For the sake of the Kings, let's hope he is.

Artest has the potential to be an NBA star if he would just grow up and act his age. Wishful thinking? Hopefully, not.

She burst onto the racing scene last year at the Indianapolis 500 and became the first woman to lead a lap in the race, and if not for a shortage of gas in her tank, she just might have won the race. (She definitely had the car to do it, but ended up finishing 4th).

By the end of the season, she was consistently finishing in the Top 10 and she took home the IRL Rookie of the Year honors.

However, between Indy and that last race, she was everywhere. She seemed to have done 10,000 interviews and photo shoots. Granted, while some of it was to make some money (this is her time in the sun and she needs to make the most of it), and while most was done to promote the sport she loves (she was the face of open-wheel racing last year), it still has to take its toll on her.

However, the whispers by the media became louder and louder as the year went on because she hadn't won a race yet. Forget the fact that some of the top drivers in the sport took years to win their first race -- Dario Franchitti, rookie in 1997, first win came in his 30th race in 1998; Tony Kanaan, rookie in 1998, first win came in his 31st race in 1999; Helio Castroneves, rookie in 1998, first win came in his 46th race in 2000, and Patrick Carpentier, rookie in 1997, first win came in his 71st race in 2001 – Patrick was expected to do it – NOW! (Sheesh, give her a break.)

Patrick is young, she just needs to be careful and make sure she focuses on her driving. In that respect, she has two things going for her.

First, from what she said during interviews and what people say about her, she appears to be grounded and, yes, focused on what needs to be done. Even with all the interviews and media requests, she seems to have that unique talent of shutting it all out come race time. That will help her big time in the long run.

The other thing she has going for her is her boss, Bobby Rahal. The guy knows what he is doing. He knows what it takes to win (he's won a lot in his career to know) and he seems to know just how much rope to give Patrick before pulling her back in to work.

Patrick has a lot of talent. She will win. She has the potential to become "great." Hopefully, she will not be an athlete added to this list in years to come.

Go Danica!