It took only three victories in the qualifying round by the American hockey team for the talking heads at the current Olympic Games in Vancouver to stir up memories of the 1980 “”Miracle On Ice.’’ That, of course, immortalized coach Herb Brooks’ combination of over-achieving amateurs and collegians for their unlikely victory over the powerful semi-pro Russians at Lake Placid.
In retrospect, it topped just about everyone’s list, including ESPN and Sports Illustrated, as the biggest sports upset of the last century To which we say, hogwash. Everyone seems to forget that this was only a semi-final game in a round-robin format, and that the Americans still needed to beat Finland in the final to claim their highly-unlikely gold medal
It was the political climate of the time that helped to immortalize the 1980 “Miracles’’. If you recall, this was the height of the “Cold War’’
In 1979, the Russians invaded Afghanistan. This prompted then President Jimmy Carter to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow and a number of nations followed suit.
But If you’re a real hockey nut--which immediately eliminates me--the Americans actually scored a far greater upset a half-century ago in the 1960 Olympics at Squaw Valley. In fact, a film to commemorate the historic event was aptly named “The Forgotten Miracle.’ Before the hockey competition began, SI had picked the United States to finish last or, more appropriately, a snowball’s chance in hell. The powerful Canadians had won six of the previous eight Olympiads and were considered co-favorites with the defending champion Russians.
Playing on an outdoor rink, the American team, composed of amateurs and collegians, upset both the Canadians and Russians by a goal before rallying from a 4-3 deficit with a six-goal blitz to beat the Czech, 9-4, in the final. Sensing his players were fatigued, American coach Jack Riley, a West Pointer, had ordered each of them to make use of an oxygen tank before thy staged their winning rally.
The improbable winners still failed to merit a Sports Illustrated cover. A feature story would suffice. Only Walter Cronkite considered it noteworthy. To understand why these giant-killers didn’t get more recognition, one has to note this was long before sports became a ‘round-the-clock happening on TV and the Internet was still an idea.. In fact, this was the first year the networks felt the Olympics were worthy of coverage.
My argument with glorifying these two hockey teams is the very nature of the sport. Like soccer, goals are usually hard to come by, and a superior goalie can greatly influence the outcome This was evident Sunday when the U.S. beat Canada, 5-3, and demoralized the host nation, The villain was Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres who rejected 42 of 45 shots by the favored Canucks..
That said, I’ve compiled my own list of stunning sports upsets that demand equal consideration. Unfortunately, two of them involved Baltimore teams the same year-1969-at the hands of New York rivals.
The first shocker came in January at the Orange Bowl in Miami. The Colts were rated 18-point favorites, but Joe Namath made good on his boast in leading the Jets to a convincing 16-7 victory. It not only made Namath an instant sports icon, but also put the youthful AFL on equal footing with the established NFL.
But New Yorkers weren’t finished embarrassing our hometown heroes. In October, the “Amazin Mets’’ spotted the Orioles a game advantage before sweeping four in a row against a star-studded team that included future Hall of Famers Jim Palmer, Frank and Brooks Robinson .More galling was that native Baltimorean Ron Swoboda made two spectacular outfield plays to short-circuit Oriole rallies.
Golf aficionados will insist that the greatest sports upset of all time was unheralded Jack Fleck’s victory in the 1955 U.S. Open over legendary Ben Hogan on the third hole of a playoff at San Francisco’s Olympic Club.
But the ones that left us with lasting impressions occurred in college basketball. Who can forget Chaminade, a small Division II school, beating powerful Virginia and their 7-foot star Ralph Sampson in a 1983 Hawaii Invitational.?
Even more enduring were major upsets that occurred in the glaring spotlight of the NCAA championship game. .In 1991, Duke ended a 34-game winning streak by Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV “Runnin’ Rebels.’’ That boasted Larry Johnson, Stacey Augman and Greg Anthony. But on this special night they could not match the heroics of Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and heady point guard Bobby Hurley.
This, however, was overshadowed by Villanova’s shocking upset of Georgetown in the 1985 final. With Patrick Ewing as their centerpiece, John Thompson’s aggressive Hoyas made it to the final three straight years. But Rollie Massimino’s eighth-seeded and under-sized Wildcats played a near-perfect game. They made almost every shot in a tense second half, but still managed to win by only two points.
But for true basketball fanatics nothing can match North Carolina State’s miraculous last-second victory over Houston in the 1983 finale at Albuquerque. Better known as “Phi Slamma Jamma,’’ the Cougars featured future NBA greats Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Directed by highly-emotional Jim Valvano, the Wolfpack kept it close by slowing the tempo and were aided by Houston’s poor foul shooting. But no one could have scripted the ending.
Tied at 52, Valvano signaled for his team to foul Houston guard Alvin Franklin, who cooperated by missing his free throw.. Now Valvano told his team to play for the final shot, with his leading scorer, Derek Whittenburg, as the designated shooter. Whittenburg could manage only a 30-foot air ball. But as so often happens, the short shot caught the defense napping, and forward Lorenzo Charles found a surprising opening to deliver the thunderous winning dun as the final buzzer sounded..
The image of Valvano racing on the floor and looking for one of his players to hug remains indelible and “March Madness’’ was born.
In my long association with boxing, I can recall a number of major upsets. On Feb. 5, 1994 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, I witnessed 45-year old George Foreman’s perfectly-timed hook in the 10th round that flattened heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, 26, and capped Foreman’s improbable comeback after a 10-year layoff.
I was attending an NBA All-Star game in Miami, Feb. 11, 1990, the day Buster Douglas, a 42-1 underdog, shook off a knockdown in the eighth round to leave a seemingly-unbeatable Mike Tyson (37-0) groveling on the canvas in search of his mouthpiece while he was counting out. Everyone in Miami thought the report of Tyson’s demise was a bad joke, but, in the end, Tyson was no longer able to intimidate a rival before the opening bell. The mystique of “Iron Mike’’ was gone as Evander Holyfield would later underscore.
Yes, these events are all worthy of consideration as all-time upsets. But in our mind, the biggest of them all was an easy choice. You have to go back almost an entire century to the 1919 six-furlong Sanford Memorial race at Saratoga Springs. The overwhelming favorite was unbeaten two-year-old Man O’ War. His major competition was expected to come from highly-touted Golden Brown. A horse named Upset was justly listed as a 100-1 long shot. He had lost his previous six meetings with Man O’ War.
After a poor start, Man O’ War gallantly made up a four-length deficit in the stretch run only to lose to Upset by a neck. After skipping the Derby, Man O’ War went on to win both the Preakness and Belmont in record times as a three-year-old and finished his stellar career 20-1
He is still the standard for great thoroughbreds, but Blood Horse Magazine named his sole defeat by Upset “the greatest moment of the 20th Century.’’ Arguably, it may have also created the phrase “”pulling an upset,’’ Now isn’t that what this piece is all about?
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