Over the past few months CBC Sports Online staffers have written an inordinate number of, ahem, sports stories. Instead of boxscores and trades, we've been talking courtrooms and bail. The Adelphia scandal, Kobe Bryant, Kirby Puckett, Damon Stoudamire. Even Randall Simon and his infamous sausage assault.

Which got us thinking: aside from José Theodore's recent brushes with the law, there have been few stories of late about Canadian sports figures falling from grace. Are we just that much better than everyone else? Are you kidding?

Sports Online not-so-proudly presents its list of the country's most notable downfalls:

ALAN EAGLESON | THEO FLEURY | HILTON BROS. | GRAHAM JAMES
BEN JOHNSON | ERIC LAMAZE | BRUCE MCNALL | MARTY MCSORLEY
MONTREAL OLYMPICS | DEREK SANDERSON

Eagleson was one of the most prominent figures in hockey for decades. The Toronto lawyer was the architect of the 1972 Summit Series and Canada Cup. He was a powerful player agent and the executive director of the NHL Players Association from 1967-1990.

But the legacy Eagleson built over the years came crashing down in the 1990s when he was charged with racketeering and defrauding the NHLPA. Eagleson served six months in prison upon pleading guilty. He was also disbarred from the Law Society of Upper Canada, returned his Order of Canada and resigned from the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Recent sightings: Eagleson has kept a low public profile since his 1998 prison release. He still maintains friendships with important figures, including Bob Clarke and former prime minister John Turner.

Fleury’s hardships and personal demons have been no secret in recent years. The crafty forward spent more than 10 productive seasons as a star with the Calgary Flames. Things spiralled out of control during the past few seasons. Fleury missed dozens of games due to voluntary and forced stints in the league’s substance-abuse program. He struggled through a 2001-02 campaign littered with bizarre incidents, including a fight with a team mascot and an obscene gesture to a fan.

He missed the first 25 contests of 2002-03 for violating terms of his aftercare program and was involved in a mid-season strip club fracas during the least productive season of his 15-year NHL career. The latest insult: he was waived by the Chicago Blackhawks last season and remained unclaimed.

Recent sightings: The Blackhawks placed Fleury on waivers in March, but no teams were ready to gamble on the forward and his $4 million US salary. He cleared waivers and remains Chicago property. He has one more season remaining on his two-year deal.

The Fighting Hilton brothers were the toast of the Canadian boxing scene in the 1980s. Dave Hilton Sr., a hard-drinking Scots-Irish fighter who boxed professionally for 18 years, brought up his five sons in the ring.

Two of the Hilton boys, Matthew and David Jr., ended up winning world championships, and another son Alex won a Canadian title. But instead of being a tale of triumph, the Hilton story is one of squandered talent, alcoholism, numerous arrests and sordid crimes.

Stewart Hilton drove into a bridge abutment when he was 17, killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend. Alex Hilton piled up arrests for driving under the influence. Davey Jr. and Matthew once teamed up to rob a doughnut shop. And then, worst of all, Davey was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2001 for the sexual abuse of two sisters, who were under the age of 14.

Before the fall. Johnson captures the hearts of Canadians with his 9.79s run in Seoul (AP photo)

Where were you when you found out? Johnson’s record-smashing 100-metre run and subsequent positive anabolic steroid test at the Seoul Olympics was the story of 1988.

His victory over Carl Lewis galvanized a nation, and his subsequent disgrace gave Canadian amateur sport a black eye and pushed the drugs-in-sport issue to the fore like no event before it.

Johnson also felt the public’s wrath. In little over a decade, the disgraced Johnson went from being an adored sprinting phenom to engaging in foot races with a thoroughbred horse, a harness racer and a stock car.

Recent sightings: All is relatively quiet on the Johnson front after years of appeals and failed comeback bids. He made headlines earlier in 2003 by weighing in again on the drug issue. He suggested 1988 gold medallist Carl Lewis be stripped of his Seoul victory after it was revealed the American sprinter was among more than 100 U.S. athletes to fail tests that would have disqualified them from Olympic competition.

Equestrian Eric Lamaze was drummed out of two straight Olympic games for drug use.

Lamaze was excluded from the Atlanta Games after he tested positive for cocaine prior to the 1996 Olympics. The 1999 Canadian national champion eventually received a seven-month suspension, successfully appealing an initial four-year ban, by arguing that he took cocaine for personal reasons not performance-enhancing reasons.

Before the 2000 Olympic games, Lamaze was banned for life after testing positive for the banned substance ephedrine. Lamaze again successfully appealed, arguing that he unknowingly took it because it wasn't listed on the label. His ban was reduced to a warning, but a second, follow-up test revealed cocaine use.

Recent sightings: Lamaze's second lifetime ban was also overturned when he successfully argued that his cocaine lapse was the result of depression brought on by the erroneous ephedrine judgment. He continues to compete.

Bruce McNall may be an American, but he left an indelible mark on Canadian sport. The former L.A. Kings and Toronto Argonauts co-owner helped lure Wayne Gretzky away from Edmonton and enticed college football star Raghib “Rocket” Ismail to join the CFL instead of the NFL.

A movie producer and sports mogul, McNall appeared to head up a lucrative and legitimate empire. But everything crumbled when it was revealed McNall’s business was built on more than $200 million US worth of bank frauds. McNall served four years in prison and six months in a halfway house before becoming a free man. He still owes the U.S. government millions of dollars.

Recent sightings: McNall is trying to get back into the movie business. He also recently released an autobiography entitled, Fun While It Lasted: My Rise and Fall in the Land of Fame of Fortune.

Marty McSorley was more than just a tough guy. Versatile enough to see duty at both forward and defence during his lengthy and distinguished 17-year career, McSorley was one brawler who didn't need to be hidden on the bench when the game was on the line.

But emotion got the better of the Boston Bruin during a game against the Vancouver Canucks in late February 2000 when he struck Canucks' enforcer Donald Brashear on the head with his stick.

McSorley was found guilty of assault with a weapon. He never played another game in the NHL.

Recent sightings: McSorley signed on to play for the London Knights of the Sekonda Superleague in Britain in 2001, but the deal was quashed by the International Ice Hockey Federation. He then played 14 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL before retiring for good.

Hated by ballplayers and taxpayers alike, the Big O is an icon to the excess and failure of Jean Drapeau's dream.

"The Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby." This 1973 declaration by former Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau is the stuff of dreams for Olympic opponents.

Sure, the 1976 Games went off smoothly as an athletic competition, but the cost overruns left the city in over $1 billion of debt. Some of this financial legacy still costs the city’s taxpayers almost 30 years after the Olympic Flame left La Belle Province.

And on the sports front, Montreal marked the first Summer Games in history where the host country didn’t win a single gold medal. It made silver medallist Greg Joy a national hero.

Recent sightings: As if Montrealers could get away from the memory of 1976... The local love affair with the "Big O" has waned and Montreal taxpayers are still shelling out for the 1976 Games.

Sanderson in his heyday with the Bruins. In the early 70s his moustache was a rarity in the NHL.

Sanderson literally went from the penthouse to a park bench. A highly-touted centre from Niagara Falls, Ont., Sanderson scored 24 goals and added 25 assists in his first season with the Boston Bruins in 1967-68.

Once named as one of the sexiest men in America by Cosmopolitan, Sanderson lived the high life. In 1972, he briefly became the highest-paid athlete in the world when he signed a $2.65-million US contract with the Philadelphia Blazers of the World Hockey Association.

But the partying eventually caught up to him. Sanderson lost millions through alcohol, bad investments and cocaine. By the end of the 70s he was out of the NHL and eventually found himself sleeping on a park bench in New York City.

Recent sightings: Sanderson managed to turn his life around, beating his alcoholism and becoming a successful money manager in Boston. He is also in demand as a motivational speaker on issues of substance abuse.