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By JDWC, Section Other Sports
The perfect way to start off my 2008 Sportscolumn writing season is to create one of my favorite things in the world: a top ten list. I decided, what with all the upsets in college football this year, that a list of the top ten upsets would suffice nicely this article. But then I thought, "There's no way I can handle the pressure of narrowing all the upsets in sports history to a top ten list!!" So I made my own job a little easier by narrowing it down to the ten greatest upsets of the last 28 years. Why? First of all, I'm barely 19 years old so I prefer to make a list out of things I know well and secondly because it sets the stage for the year 1980 to be included in my countdown. Foreshadowing? Hmm...
10. Chaminade over Virginia, 1982 NCAA basketball Anytime a Division-II school beats a strong Division-I team, in the last 28 years, it has to be included on this list. Especially because Virginia was the number one team in the nation, before running into Chaminade, a small school from Honolulu. The Hawaiian David's knocked off the Goliath Ralph Sampson and his Virginia teammates in what was supposed to be a throw away game; a no-doubt win for the Cavaliers. The news came into the mainland well past midnight after the game, and many news sources and sports personas thought it was a typo or a different Virginia team. But it soon became clear that the tiny school with the tiny kids, Chaminade, had really beaten the best team in the nation, and therefore thrust themselves into the record books with a 77-72 win. 9. Boston Red Sox over New York Yankees, 2004 ALCS While not exactly an "upset" in this context, Boston's four straight wins to come back and beat the Yankees in 2004 was the first and only time that a team in any sport has come from a 3-0 deficit in a best of seven series to win. The Sox, who went on to win their first World Series since 1908 that year, found themselves in a 3-0 hole against the powerful and hated Yankees. But, they rode surprise hero Derek Lowe and the clutch hitting of David Ortiz to a Game 7 showdown in the Bronx. Behind Lowe and a powerful offensive outburst from leadoff man Johnny Damon, the unfazed Red Sox completed the most unlikely comeback in sports history and upset the Yankees 4-3. 8. Duke over UNLV, 1991 Final Four UNLV were absolutely unstoppable, the 2007 Patriots of the NCAA basketball world in 1991. Coming off a 30-point championship victory against Duke the previous year, the Runnin' Rebels had returned four key players from 1990 and had yet to lose a game. Duke, led by Christian Laettner weren't given much of a chance to beat UNLV, who had cruised through the first four rounds of the tournament. A close game the whole way, Laettner put Duke ahead with less than thirty seconds left with two free throws. UNLV's desperation buzzer-beating attempt was off, and Duke came away with a 79-77 victory on their way to a win over Kansas in the national championship. 7. George Mason, 2006 NCAA tournament The first true mid-major, and second 11-seed ever to reach the Final Four, the 2006 George Mason basketball team, made the most remarkable, inspiring NCAA tournament run of all time. The Cinderella story of 2006 fought and scratched their way to the Final Four as an 11-seed, defeating the sixth, third, seventh, and first seeds in their region along the way. The Patriots squeaked into the 2006 tournament in the first place, and then proceeded to pull off a pretty shocking first round upset over Michigan St. But first round upsets occur every year, so there still wasn't much getting made of it. But when George Mason went upset-crazy and beat third-ranked North Carolina, seventh-ranked Wichita St., and number-one UConn, people really took notice. They soon became America's sweethearts (I know, a manly name for a men's basketball team right?), and were still beloved and celebrated after their run came to an end against eventual champion Florida. 6. N.C. St. beats Houston, 1983 NCAA national championship Houston was another college juggernaut, ranked number one in the nation, and all signs pointed to an easy win against ten-loss N.C. St. The Houston team, nicknamed "Phi Slamma Jamma" was led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, and their game plan was simple: dunk. N.C. State, led by now legendary coach Jimmy Valvano, had other plans. They slowed down the tempo of the game and were able to stay close. The slowly fought their way back from a halftime deficit, and ended up getting the ball with the game tied for the last shot at the end of regulation. An errant air ball was grabbed by the Wolfpack's Lorenzo Charles who quickly put in an open dunk as time expired and the upstart N.C. St. upset the unbeatable Houston Cougars 54-52 to win the national championship. 5. Rulon Gardner beats Alexander Karelin, 2000 Summer Olympics A mini-miracle, American Rulon Gardner came into the gold medal wrestling match against Russia's Karelin, an overwhelming favorite. Karelin had not conceded a point in 15 years and won three straight gold medals. Anyone in their right mind knew the match was over before it started. But Gardner put on a strong performance, and actually got a point on Karelin midway through the match. Gardner played defense and tried to just stay head to head, chest to chest, hand to hand with the bigger, stronger Karelin the rest of the way, and managed to make it to overtime holding his 1-0 lead. As the end of the match neared, Karelin got increasingly more frustrated as he couldn't do anything to get a point against the gritty American. With time winding down in overtime, the wrestlers, fans and announcers realized that Gardner might actually do the impossible. With five seconds left in overtime, Karelin stood up and basically conceded the match giving Gardner the greatest upset in the history of Olympic wrestling - and maybe in the Olympics overall. 4. Appalachian St. beats Michigan, NCAA football 2007 Every football powerhouse has at least one throw-away game at the beginning of their season. In 2007, Michigan's team to step on was two-time defending Division-II champion Appalachian St. So they were the best of Division-II, but realistically the worst of Division-I should beat the best of D-II every time, so this game was going to be a fluke. But, Appalachian St. surprised Michigan with an aggressive, balanced offensive attack and ran up the points on an overrated defense. Michigan hung tough and had a 32-31 lead with just minutes left in the game, but allowed Appalachian St. to take the lead again on a field goal. But the Wolverines drove back down the field quickly and set themselves up for the win with a field goal. The kick went up, and then...backwards! The kick was blocked by Appalachian St., preserving a 34-32 win for the Mountaineers and creating the biggest upset in college football history; one that shocked the nation and then-number 5 Michigan. 3. Buster Douglas beats Mike Tyson, 1990 Mike Tyson was the biggest thing since sliced bread in 1990, at the peak of his boxing career, and dominating everyone who stepped into the ring against him. The bout with a downtrodden Douglas was put on and barely even made a stir in the media because it was yet another one that was over before it started. Oddsmakers had the bout at 42-1 for Douglas to win, an unbelievable line that made him a huge underdog. But, Douglas kept staggering Tyson in the early rounds, and was putting up a good fight against the world's best. Then, miraculously, in the tenth round Douglas knocked Tyson to the floor, and when Tyson didn't get up and respond in the allotted time, the fight was ruled over. Douglas scored the biggest upset in boxing history and had KO'd the great Mike Tyson for the first time Tyson's career. 2. Villanova beats Georgetown, 1985 NCAA national championship Georgetown was an overwhelming favorite in the 1985 championship game, led by future number one overall pick Patrick Ewing. But the upstart Villanova wildcats shot 78% from the field, a number still unheard of today, and knocked off the Hoyas 66-64. To make it an even more amazing upset, Villanova was the number eight seed in the tournament and are still the lowest-ranked national champion in NCAA history. Not only did they beat the Ewing-led Hoyas, but they beat the defending national champion, number-one ranked Hoyas to win their first ever NCAA basketball championship. 1. USA hockey beats Russia, 1980 Winter Olympics The Miracle on Ice is undoubtedly the best upset of all-time. The college-aged Americans were expected to take on the unbeatable Soviet team in a semifinal game in 1980. The Russian team was the epitome of unstoppable, having previously beaten the NHL all-star team 6-0 and the same American hockey team they were facing off against in the semis 10-3. But everything was different on this day. Led by Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig, the Americans took a 4-3 lead with about ten minutes left in the game, and then somehow kept the Soviets from scoring. In the midst of the Cold War, this upset shocked not just the nation, but the entire world - shock that was written all over the Soviet players' faces. The Americans went on to win the gold medal in their next game and they went down in history as the most amazing, biggest Cinderella team in the history of sports. Story writing contestLog in or create an account to vote for this story!
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