In the spirit of the Winter Olympics, The Motley Fool is pitting companies against one another. The writers outline why their company should win, and our very own panel of judges decides the winner after a period of deliberation. This time, we hand out the hardware for the "Biggest Disappointment" category.

Just as life would be pretty dull if it weren't for the occasional letdown, the disappointments in the financial world make sure that we don't take the market winners for granted. Some will argue that the Olympics have likewise been full of disappointments. From Bode Miller to the U.S. and Canadian hockey teams coming up short, we all know the agony of defeat -- or as Bode's sponsor Nike (NYSE:NKE) would concede, the agony of the feet.

We took a look at some pretty disappointing stocks recently. Merck (NYSE:MRK) wiped out with Vioxx. TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) hit the ice hard with its flawed pioneering efforts. Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) was late to the race that mattered. Then we have TASER (NASDAQ:TASR), which stunned the crowd with its "black aura" performance.

Hope once sprang eternal for all four of these companies. But now, picking a "winner" among the losers wasn't going to be easy. However, Merck and TASER have started to dig themselves out of their holes lately. TASER is back to trading in the double digits, and Merck has bounced back in recent months. And we have to wonder whether Blockbuster was really all that much of a disappointment, when it was clear to just about everyone that the company was doomed years ago.

That leaves TiVo. Like Blockbuster, TiVo has set up a permanent address here in the neighborhood of lonely single digits. And like TASER, TiVo has gone from a household brand to an actual verb.

TiVo is still cool, too. It was even the topic of yesterday's Dueling Fools feature. But having good looks and a killer personality means little if your pockets are empty. The company has struggled, and even though it's the only brand that folks remember when it comes to digital video recorders, it commands only a fraction of the market it helped to develop.

So, I'm sorry, TiVo, old chap. You're a Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection, so we may still hold out hope for redemption in this love story gone sour. But for now, you've let us down.

Big time.

Let's all hit the "thumbs-down" button on the TiVo remote so the company can feel our displeasure.

TASER is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers selection, and Merck is a Motley Fool Income Investor pick. Take any of our newsletters for a free, 30-day spin.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does have a TiVo, but he does not own shares in the company. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.