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[Link1110]

2004 Boston Red Sox vs NY Yankees

Also biggest disgrace in sports history. As a NYer I will never be a fan of the Yankees again. It's funny how Boston won ever championship (Football, Baseball) that year but the most important one (The presidential election.)

 

[Mike Works]

Yeah, take that Red Sox!

 

[J2 Cool]

Hmm, outside the Rams/Pats though, in recent years.. All time is a hard thing to break down. Tyson/Douglas was a bigger upset than Rams/Pats. If only because, you realize it's a game and before it's played out anything can happen. With Tyson's image, all people thought and felt had to play out was Tyson murdering Douglas. His image, the marketing, the hype.. It was unthinkable of a guy like Douglas beating him. Especially in a match not hyped that much really at all. If this was a movie script, it'd be like Rocky losing to one of the scrubs in the Rocky III title defense montage, and not to Clubber Lang.

There just wasn't even a stage set for an all time upset, but Tyson showed up. I'm trying to think all time meanwhile. The Miracle was absolutely huge, but it had so much anticipation and self acknowledgement that it was almost going against what an upset is. How many people were watching and talking about how they seen it. Douglas/Tyson was like "wtf?? What happened!?". But I can't take anything away from the actual feat of Miracle on Ice. Anyway, I know I'm forgetting some upsets, because sports history is a long time span. But whatever, those are my choices..

 

[Thraktor]

You guys are all far too America-centric, try to broaden your sporting horizons a little, eh?

In terms of recent events, yeah, Greece winning Euro 2004 and Liverpool coming back from 3-0 down against AC Milan were pretty big, I must say. My favourite, though, comes from a lot closer to home, and that is Munster's 12-0 defeat of the All Blacks on the 31st of October 1978 (that'll be New Zealand being beaten by an Irish province in rugby to all you ignorami out there). To really appreciate it though, you have to understand the context of the victory, it's not just that the All Blacks were favourites to win the match, it's that the All Blacks would have been favourites to win any match, against team they could possibly have come up against. They were on the very last match of a tour which had not only seen them beat the best teams in Europe, but not even concede a single try while doing so. The second best team in the world beating them would have been a huge upset. But Munster were definately not the second best team in the world, far from it. A local provincial side entirely comprised of amatuer players (one of the 15 was a butcher who now lives across the road from a friend of mine, another is a work colleague of my father's, just to illustrate how local this team really was), who were not only many leagues away from their New Zealand counterparts, but had been going through a patch of poor performances lately to boot, were up against what was seen as one of the best squads of 15 the sport had ever seen. To have expected Munster to actually win on that day would have been unfathomable, it wasn't simply against-the-odds, it was beyond any chance or hope that a Munster fan could have possibly had in the game. Yet they did it, they actually went on to beat the best team in the world without conceding a single point, and it wasn't just to win a trophy or get to the next round of a competition, it was simply because they could, and they showed us all that on that last day of October in 1978.

And that's my suggestion for the greatest sporting upset in living memory.

 

[Gianny]

In my opinion, the biggest upset in sports history is "El Maracanaso"

It was the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, where Uruguay when in and defeated the favorite of the world cup by score of 2-1 in front of 203,000. Several people committed suicide soon after.

 

[Incognito]

for me, it would have to be the spurs second round victory over the seattle sonics in this years nba playoffs. by upset, i'm referring to the fact that seattle played the series without two key, integral all stars thereby allowing the spurs to win in six hard-fought games.

we will have our revenge next year.

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Montreal Canadiens - 1993 Stanley Cup

I am totally biased, by the way.

 

[Unresponsive Bee Victim]

ome of the things you guys are mentioning are great comebacks to be sure, but not upsets. The Red Sox were favored in the series vs. the Yankee's, although history was giving the nod to New York. The Bills were the defending AFC Champs, playing at home vs. Houston. They were favored as well. It was an awesome, and impressive comeback for sure, but not an upset. If Houston would have won the game, it would have been an upset, but not a major one.

It was a great comeback, especially when the Bills didn't have Jim Kelly or Thurman Thomas amongst other starters playing in that game. That was the only refining moment of the Bills franchise.......

God dammit Norwood

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

There just wasn't even a stage set for an all time upset, but Tyson showed up. I'm trying to think all time meanwhile. The Miracle was absolutely huge, but it had so much anticipation and self acknowledgement that it was almost going against what an upset is. How many people were watching and talking about how they seen it. Douglas/Tyson was like "wtf?? What happened!?". But I can't take anything away from the actual feat of Miracle on Ice. Anyway, I know I'm forgetting some upsets, because sports history is a long time span. But whatever, those are my choices..

Much of the world went "wtf" when the US Olympic Team beat the Russians in 1980, and there wasn't as much anticipation as you would think. The US team was not expected to make the medal round at all. It is difficult to overstate how powerful and dominant that Russian team was. I don't think they had lost in International competition in several years and had won the gold in the '64, '68, '72, and '76 Olympic games. They were bigger, stronger, and faster, than every other team, and the US was just a blip on their radar. Just a minor obstacle in their way to another gold medal. The political overtones from the Cold War certainly did build anticipation once the game was set, however, that much is certain. There were so many sub-plots going on in that game for sure. The Russians were simply crushing everyone up until that point, including the NHL All-Star teams. Heck, in qualifying for the medal round, the Soviets outscored their opponents 39-5. The US team was just a bunch of college kids, much younger, and less experienced.

The Douglas-Tyson match obviously was a huge upset, and Tyson was sporting an air of invincibility about him at the time, but he had a lot of upheavel in his personal life, and was fighting for the first time without Kevin Rooney, the trainer who had really kept him on pace after Cus D'amato died. It was a trainwreck waiting to happen for sure, and certianly unexpected.

 

[LakeEarth]

In my opinion, the biggest upset in sports history is "El Maracanaso"

It was the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, where Uruguay when in and defeated the favorite of the world cup by score of 2-1 in front of 203,000. Several people committed suicide soon after.

People take soccer TOO SERIOUSLY!

 

[jett]

Dunno if its the biggest, but I sure hope someone drops a nuclear bomb on Greece one day...

(regarding last year's eurocup)

 

[Talas]

In my opinion, the biggest upset in sports history is "El Maracanaso"

It was the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, where Uruguay when in and defeated the favorite of the world cup by score of 2-1 in front of 203,000. Several people committed suicide soon after.

That's the first thing I thought, I have a book about the history of the World Cups and it says that right after the end of the game, there were 250 deads in suicides and heart strokes in Brazil. Now that's an upset.

 

[SantaC]

Hmm, outside the Rams/Pats though, in recent years.. All time is a hard thing to break down. Tyson/Douglas was a bigger upset than Rams/Pats. If only because, you realize it's a game and before it's played out anything can happen. With Tyson's image, all people thought and felt had to play out was Tyson murdering Douglas. His image, the marketing, the hype.. It was unthinkable of a guy like Douglas beating him. Especially in a match not hyped that much really at all. If this was a movie script, it'd be like Rocky losing to one of the scrubs in the Rocky III title defense montage, and not to Clubber Lang.

There just wasn't even a stage set for an all time upset, but Tyson showed up. I'm trying to think all time meanwhile.

I still remember that day. I was 10 years old, and it was the talk of the day in school. I mean, we were kids in europe and still this thing had an impact that the whole world talked about it. Tyson was world famous, an unbeatable machine and many looked up to him as a hero at that time. Many where sad that he lost.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Douglas/Tyson is so far ahead of everything else. Douglas was like a 30-1 underdog iirc. That was just insane.

 

[bionic77]

2002 and 2005 AFC Championships.

Not only was the true and dominat team upset, but never in my life have I seen more villainry and pure evil than was seen in those two games. The good guys lost on both occasions.

Not only were they the two greatest upsets in sporting history, they were also the coming out party for the Anti-Christ.

 

[DMczaf]

Douglas/Tyson is so far ahead of everything else. Douglas was like a 30-1 underdog iirc. That was just insane.

42-1

 

[Ash Housewares]

You guys need to learn the difference between a comeback and a upset.

mine was both

1993 Stanley Cup Finals wasn't much of an upset

 

[Spectral Glider]

WTF? Not one mention of broadway Joe and Super Bowl 3?

 

[Ninja Scooter]

WTF? Not one mention of broadway Joe and Super Bowl 3?

we're not allowed to mention "that guy", unless you want to face the wrath of a certain Suzy Kolber loving mod.

 

[ElyrionX]

Liverpool vs AC Milan in the recent Champions League Final. 3-0 down at half-time. Who would have thought that Liverpool could pull off such an improbable. And Liverpool isn't exactly a top-quality team.

 

[Instigator]

Sprinter and steroid offender Ben Johnson getting his medal stripped in favor of other steroid user Carl Lewis...

 

[Mike Works]

Liverpool vs AC Milan in the recent Champions League Final. 3-0 down at half-time. Who would have thought that Liverpool could pull off such an improbable. And Liverpool isn't exactly a top-quality team.

Wow that was a great upset

 

[soulja224466]

2002 and 2005 AFC Championships.

Not only was the true and dominat team upset, but never in my life have I seen more villainry and pure evil than was seen in those two games. The good guys lost on both occasions.

Not only were they the two greatest upsets in sporting history, they were also the coming out party for the Anti-Christ.

:lol

 

[The Internet]

It's gotta be Belarus shocking Sweden in 2002.

Sweden made Canada look silly in the first round-robin game, they were the team to beat after that.

And I think Belarus didn't even qualify for next years 2006 Olympics, I believe they got scored on with one second to go in a game against the Latvians in qualifiers. What a way to miss the Olympics.

EDIT- Belerus actually got scored on 3 times in the last 5 minutes of their game against the Latvians, losing 5-4 and missing the Olympics.


The Internet

 

[Scrow]

That was pretty upsetting...

 

[hobart]

Thing with Milan and Liverpool, right now, is that everyone focuses on the fact that they made this amazing comeback... however... they were GROSSLY outclassed on paper and, of course, in the media.

Everyone had Milan running away with this game... them scoring 3 goals so quickly just reaffirmed it in everyone's mind.

Liverpool's comeback, coupled with their underdog status is what is making this such a compelling story. Make no mistake... Liverpool over Milan is both an upset and a comeback.



But hey... if we wanna talk about Boxing, I've got two good ones: Foreman winning the title... FOR THE LAST TIME and Marciano over Jersey Joe.

The problem with Boxing is the fact that throwing fights and corruption within the ranks is covered too closely (or was) in the past. Doesn't seem as pure as something like the Men's Hockey Team or Villanova...

...I'm not saying that was the case, however...

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Douglas/Tyson is so far ahead of everything else. Douglas was like a 30-1 underdog iirc. That was just insane

Greece were 150-1 outsiders to win Euro 2004 before a ball was kicked.

Anyone seriously saying Greece would win Euro 2004 would have been told to lay off the crack :lol

 

[KilledByBill]

In recent years I can think of a few good ones:

NFL - Super Bowl XXXVI Patriots 20 Rams 17
MLB - 2003 Marlins beat Yankees in the World Series 4-2
NHL - 1995 New Jersey Devils sweep Red Wings 4-0 to win Stanely Cup

Although the Patriots and Devils would develop into perenial contenders and win multipule championships afterward, those victories were huge upsets at the time. The Marlins were a wildcard team that just got hot and knocked off 3 consecutive favorites to win the title.

 

[Fowler]

Greece were 150-1 outsiders to win Euro 2004 before a ball was kicked.

Anyone seriously saying Greece would win Euro 2004 would have been told to lay off the crack :lol

In fact I did say something to that effect to the guy who pulled Greece out of the bag in our Euro 2004 office pool.

Damnit.

 

[Zeenbor]

One of my personal favorites is the music city miracle... The Bills really thought they were going to win. Although the 2004 Red Sox/Yankees series was phenomenal.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

In fact I did say something to that effect to the guy who pulled Greece out of the bag in our Euro 2004 office pool.

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Charles]

Hungary vs West Germany (World cup final, 1954).

Hungary were, at the time, the best team in the world. In fact when these two teams met in the first round, Hungary won 8-3. So understandably when the same two teams were about to cross swords in the final no one bet a dime on the Germans.

And they seemed to be right. After 10 minutes, Hungary were already 2-0 up. But the Germans didn't give up and they levelled the score soon after, stunning the Hungarians. It was a tight game right until the end but the Germans succeeded in scoring in the dying minutes the goal which gave them their first world cup victory and one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

WEST GERMANY 3 - HUNGARY 2
Scorers:
West Germany (Morlock 10, Rahn 18, 84)
Hungary (Puskas 6, Czibor 8)

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Greece were 150-1 outsiders to win Euro 2004 before a ball was kicked.

Anyone seriously saying Greece would win Euro 2004 would have been told to lay off the crack :lol

:lol nobody cares about Europe.

 

[callous]

Denmark V. Germany 1992.

I was going to say, when Denmark, because of the war, unexpectedly got Yugoslavia's (or whatever) ticket to the European Championships and went on to become European Champions.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

One of my personal favorites is the music city miracle... The Bills really thought they were going to win. Although the 2004 Red Sox/Yankees series was phenomenal.

The Motor City Miracle was not a great upset. It was a great comeback, but not that major of an upset. Again, there is a huge difference.