2008 NFL Week 14 Picks and Podcast: Live Thurs at 8PM ET | Week 13

Best Upset?

Miracle on Ice   5 votes - 71 %
Nova over Georgetown   0 votes - 0 %
Douglas over Tyson   1 vote - 14 %
App St. over Michigan   1 vote - 14 %
Gardner over Karelin   0 votes - 0 %
N.C. State over Houston   0 votes - 0 %
George Mason 2006   0 votes - 0 %
Duke over UNLV   0 votes - 0 %
Red Sox over Yankees 2004   0 votes - 0 %
Chaminade over Virginia   0 votes - 0 %
 
7 Total Votes
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Top 10 Upsets of the Last 28 Years | 9 comments (9 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Your years are deceiving you (#1)
by Flemish American on Tue Jan 29 2008 at 6:22 AM EST
In the greater context of things, you pulled out a couple of good hits with your inclusion of Olympic wrestling and the Tyson loss, but you also let yourself get caught up in the modern age a bit too much to quantify your list in a credible fashion.  

The loss of Michigan to Appalachian State was clearly an upset and sportswriters had a field day declaring it the greatest upset in College Football History because that is what they do to sell their pieces, but I'm not so sure they will be saying that even next year.

The fact that Appalachian State is a three-time (consecutive) champion means they have quality and Michigan never should have approached them as an easy victory, despite the division they play in.

Also, an upset indicates winning a game or series against a common opponent.  If you want to say George Mason's win over Connecticut is your upset call I can live with that, but don't label their run in the tournament as an upset.

On a final note; the inclusion of two Olympic events indicates upsets on the world stage, but your article is still ultra American in nature.  You could just have easily included American defeats among your candidates.

I don't want to belittle your research, but I think an older writer with a keen memory over the period since 1980 would make a more credible listing that covers all sports.  It also bothers me that a google search brought me to this article http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/topupsets/010525.html where your listing is basically a copy of the ESPN Page 2 selections with the last couple of years factored in.

Yes.. (#2)
by JDWC on Tue Jan 29 2008 at 8:27 PM EST
Unfortunately I haven't lived long enough to know enough about more upsets, but I am a big sports fan and these 10 have always been some of my favorites. And I'm not surprised that a lot of them were in that ESPN article because I didn't really go out of my way to pick upsets that most people wouldn't. I wish I had more knowledge of upsets so I could've gone outside the box a bit, but unfortunately, even with the research, I didn't find any I thought should displace my top 10. And I'm also hardly aware of any upsets away from home (America) so I'm sorry for that, it's just how it is.

On another note, the deal with App St. and GM...Yes App St. was a talented D-II team, but they were still D-II and Michigan was a top 5 D-I school. I mean they are Michigan for god's sake. If App St. had beaten Stanford or University of Idaho or something like that it would be different, but it was Michigan...HUGE upset. Especially in the Big House. And I agree, I shouldn't have labeled the entire George Mason run as an upset, but other than their win against Wichita St. I would consider all their wins in that tournament bigtime upsets. I should have put a note in there though, that's my fault.
J.D.
[ Parent ]

Face Value (#4)
by Flemish American on Wed Jan 30 2008 at 3:12 PM EST
I won't hurt your piece anymore with a negative vote, but understand that your inclusion of the same upsets as the ESPN article might be understandable, but the fact that the order of the pre-2004 events was the same still bothers me.

On the other hand, I guess I have to suck it up regarding the Michigan - App St. result.  I'm still trying to convince myself it was a bad dream.

[ Parent ]

i love that app. state upset (#3)
by cernig on Wed Jan 30 2008 at 12:56 PM EST
my favorite of all time.

Flemish (#5)
by JDWC on Wed Jan 30 2008 at 3:48 PM EST
I understand where your coming from, I've been in that situation before voting for a piece here and that's fine with me, I would probably do the same thing. Just for the record though, I did not look at that article until you sent me that link, nor did I know that it existed (although I was sure somewhere someone had written an article on the top 10 upsets of all time!). So whether it's coincidence or maybe just destiny that they be in almost the same exact order I don't know, but I apologize for any confusion...I just needed to write a simple article to get myself on track for this year. Thanks for the criticism and comments though; I accept and appreciate all that I get.

And cernig! How about the call at the end of the game? I love the guy just screaming "OHHHHHH" as the App St. player is running down the field. Adds to the moment eh?
J.D.
[ Parent ]

haha (#6)
by cernig on Wed Jan 30 2008 at 4:26 PM EST
i know right. i mean i know there is structure to broadcasting and journalism all that kinda stuff.. thats why we go to school otherwise everyone would be on tv or the radio or the internet. but that moment, where they just og crazy out of peer joy and excitement for the school that they root for, call games for, and maybe even went to school for.. those are the moments people live and die to see.

[ Parent ]
This was better (#7)
by YankTank on Wed Jan 30 2008 at 5:09 PM EST
than the ESPN one by a long shot! Very nicely done.
I love Top 10 lists.

I like lists (#8)
by RJ Warner on Mon Feb 04 2008 at 6:09 PM EST
I know it's past 28 yrs ago, but I like the Jets over the Colts in SB III, especially with the timing of SB week.

To add a few more, I like Golden State beating Dallas last year in the playoffs, the Devils sweeping the Red Wings in the '95 Cup Finals gets overlooked because Jersey went on to great things (it was shocking at the time). Also, how about BC knocking off defending champ Carolina in the 2nd round in 1994 or Princeton doing it to UCLA in the first round a few years later?

Always great though J

thanks (#9)
by JDWC on Tue Feb 05 2008 at 12:26 AM EST
Thank you for all the comments. I really  wanted to include the Golden State/Dallas series, but to me, as a Warriors fan it wasn't much of an upset honestly. I know it sounds crazy but I, along with most other Warrior fans I know, weren't that surprised that they won.
J.D.
[ Parent ]
Top 10 Upsets of the Last 28 Years | 9 comments (9 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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