Greatest Upset in Sports History?

[manifold]

Vote for the one you think was the biggest "upset"

 

[Article 15]

Buster Douglas KO of Mike Tyson

 

[manifold]

IMO it's gotta be the Miracle on Ice. A rag tag bunch of college kids beating a team of Soviet professionals that could've walzed to a Stanley Cup title in the NHL. I still don't know how they did it.

 

[xotoxi]

Although it wouldn't be considered an upset...we all know the biggest comeback in sports history...which began with the event pictured below.

 

[manifold]

Also considered the greatest choke.

 

[xotoxi]

Also considered the greatest choke.

Yep...in recent years, that has been a trend for New York baseball teams.

 

[Toro]

Miracle on Ice, easy.

It would be as if a bunch of amateur football players from Scotland beat the NFL all-stars, simply inconceivable.

 

[strollingbones]

o hell the old guy with the bad knees....kirk..something....only way to win was for him to hit a homer....which he did

[edit] The 1988 World Series home run
Main article: Kirk Gibson 1988 World Series home run
Gibson is perhaps best known for his single plate appearance in the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics. With a stomach virus and injuries to both legs sustained during the League Championship Series, Gibson was not expected to play at all. In Game 1, on October 15, 1988 at Dodger Stadium, with the Dodgers trailing by a score of 4–3, Mike Davis on first, and two out in the ninth inning, manager Tommy Lasorda inserted Gibson as a pinch hitter.

Gibson hobbled up to the plate to face Oakland's future Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley. Gibson quickly got behind in the count, 0–2, but received two outside pitches and fouled off a pitch to work to a 2–2 count. On the sixth pitch of his at bat, a ball, Davis stole second. With an awkward, almost casual swing, Gibson used pure upper-body strength to smack a 3–2 backdoor slider over the right-field fence. He hobbled around the bases and pumped his fist as his jubilant teammates stormed the field. The Dodgers won the game, 5–4, and would go on to win the World Series, 4–1.

Kirk Gibson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i wont even mention bucky fucking dent

 

[strollingbones]

mind the bird's kty derby win......

 

[Xenophon]

There can be only one...

 

[Chris]

In 1982, Chaminade, then a member of the NAIA, defeated Virginia in what is considered the biggest upset in college basketball history. Virginia, which featured Ralph Sampson and Rick Carlisle, was the top-ranked team in NCAA Division I basketball entering the game after posting victories against Georgetown (with Patrick Ewing) and Phi Slama Jama of Houston. But in the Blaisdell Arena, the 3,500 fans in attendance - most of whom had come to see the Nation's #1 team - witnessed the historic 77-72 upset. Many newspapers reportedly checked sources several times to make sure the story was right - that 800-student NAIA Chaminade had actually defeated the NCAA's top-ranked Virginia.

Chaminade University of Honolulu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[del]

i voted for the miracle on ice, not only for what the team did on the ice, but also for what it meant to the country at the time. sounds hokey, but it really did give us all a much needed respite from wars, inflation, recession and the iranian hostage situation.

second place, imo, goes to appalachian state beating michigan at michigan.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5JPeJnRi6s[/ame]

 

[Xenophon]

I can't vote for the ice hockey thing because...well, it's ice hockey.

That team had a bigger upset the next game in the gold medal round, they beat sweden.

 

[tigerbob]

Liverpool vs AC Milan. Champions League Final, 2005. Milan, heavy favorites before the game, were up 3-0 at the half and playing AWESOME football. No team had ever come back from a deficit like that in the history of the final.

When Dudek pulled off that point blank save in the last seconds of extra time you just knew it wasn't Milan's night.

[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I7EabPB6Dws&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I7EabPB6Dws&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

 

[tigerbob]

o hell the old guy with the bad knees....kirk..something....only way to win was for him to hit a homer....which he did

[edit] The 1988 World Series home run
Main article: Kirk Gibson 1988 World Series home run
Gibson is perhaps best known for his single plate appearance in the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics. With a stomach virus and injuries to both legs sustained during the League Championship Series, Gibson was not expected to play at all. In Game 1, on October 15, 1988 at Dodger Stadium, with the Dodgers trailing by a score of 4–3, Mike Davis on first, and two out in the ninth inning, manager Tommy Lasorda inserted Gibson as a pinch hitter.

Gibson hobbled up to the plate to face Oakland's future Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley. Gibson quickly got behind in the count, 0–2, but received two outside pitches and fouled off a pitch to work to a 2–2 count. On the sixth pitch of his at bat, a ball, Davis stole second. With an awkward, almost casual swing, Gibson used pure upper-body strength to smack a 3–2 backdoor slider over the right-field fence. He hobbled around the bases and pumped his fist as his jubilant teammates stormed the field. The Dodgers won the game, 5–4, and would go on to win the World Series, 4–1.

Kirk Gibson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i wont even mention bucky fucking dent

having never seen it before, I fell in love with baseball at that very moment.

 

[Xenophon]

Soccer is even worse then Ice Hockey.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Buster Douglas KO of Mike Tyson

gotta agree.Never saw that one coming.the others that I was aware of like the recent superbowls,not TOO surprising.For the person that put in the vote for the Patriots losing to the Giants,I dont understand why on earth that was much of an upset.I dont think that one should even be in there and thats because after the first 10 games of that year or so,they didnt look impressive down the stretch after that.Some of their games after that, they just BARELY squeaked by and won.Plus they just BARELY beat them in New york earlier that year when they played them and they did not look that good down the stretch when winning a lot of their games.

That fight between Douglas and Tyson reminded me of Rocky 3.Rocky 3 showed the realism of how when a fighter doesnt get hungry anymore like Tyson wasnt at that point,a NEW fighter who IS hungry that comes along,can be an underdog against all odds and win like Buster did.Then after Buster won that fight,like Tyson,he ALSO got lazy and got real fat afterwards and lost his next defense fight easily to Evander Holyfield.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Although it wouldn't be considered an upset...we all know the biggest comeback in sports history...which began with the event pictured below.

yeah I was going to rank this one in there as well.I woud put this one in second place as the biggest upset ever.Never in my widest imiagination did I think the red sox would possibly be able to comeback from a 3-0 deficit.

 

[random3434]

I agree with mani and del about the Miracle on Ice being #1. It pulled an entire country together, with EVERYONE rooting for the same team, the USA.

The Sox coming from behind 0-3 games to beat the Yanks 4 in a row should be #2 imo.

Maybe we could rank them all?

 

[jgbkab]

Washington Redskins defeat Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football in 2005.