Miracle on Ice

I'll admit it, I'm not a huge Ice Hockey fan, I may occasionally tune in for an occasional Stanley Cup game or for matches played in the Winter Olympics, but I don't really follow the sport. However Ice Hockey does have, maybe the most famous upset of all time, "The Miracle on Ice", an upset so big and so well known that even people who have no interest at all in Ice Hockey know about it.

Going into the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, everyone who knew anything about Ice Hockey thought the Soviet Union were nailed on to claim victory. They had after all dominated the sport since the mid 1950's and claimed 14 World Titles (including titles in 1979 and 1978) from the previous 22. As well as adding 6 Olympic Gold medals (including the previous 5 in a row).

In total the Soviet Ice Hockey team going into the the 1980 Winter Olympics, had 6 Olympic Gold medals, an Olympic Bronze, 14 World titles, 6 World Silver medals and 2 World Bronze medals and had won medals at every major competition they had entered since the mid 1950's. They weren't just seen as the favourites going into Lake Placed but were seen

The Soviet domination of the sport however was controversial and whilst they were clearly the best team in the world their was a huge question regarding their "amateur status" with a number of countries, notably Canada alleging that the Soviet players were given "phantom jobs" and were effectively professionals. Despite this claim the team were never prevented from playing, probably due to the difficultly of proving it.

With the Soviets all but guaranteed a Gold medal there was little surprise when they dominated their group winning all 5 of their groups matches. The dominance in the group really was startling, not only did they win all 5 matches but they out scored their rivals 51-11 over those 5 matches. Those stats really shocked nobody though did show just how good the Soviet team was. Along side the Soviets, Finland also qualified from their group though they were a clear distant second.

From the other group the USA and Sweeden had both qualified. Like the Soviet Union neither team had lost (having tied 2-2 with each other) but neither had looked stunning scoring just 51 goals combined! Despite qualifying, neither team had really been expected to challenge the Soviet dominance. In fact the USA had almost conceded before the competition had even started and their team consisted of only 1 returning played from the 1976 Olympics with much of the squad made up of University players that the coach had previously worked with.

In the medal stage both the USA and the Soviets won their first game and thus, they had to play each other. Everyone seemed to feel it was nailed on for the Soviets who had dominated the sport, the competition and pretty much everything else related to Ice Hockey and amazingly ABC in American failed to even televise the match live.

The Soviets took the lead midway through the first period thanks to the excellent Vladimir Krutov after around 9 minutes. The Soviet lead lasted just 5 minutes before Buzz Schneider tied the scores at the time of 14:03. Sergei Makarov would put the Soviets 2-1 up before Mark Johnson controversially equalised with a shot on the buzzer.

At the start of the second period Soviet keeper Vladislav Tretiak was taken off the ice, as he was single handedly blamed for the second equaliser, this saw replacement keeper Vladimir Myshkin come on, a move that was a huge surprise to both teams. Despite the change in goal the Soviets dominated the period and took the lead for the 3rd time in the match moving 3-2 up, they should however have been out of sight as they thoroughly dominated the period.

The Americans tied the score in the 3rd period thanks to a second goal by Mark Johnson before Mike Eruzione surprisingly put American in a 4-3 lead, a lead they managed to hold on to for the final 10 minutes despite some major pressure from the Soviet attack. This victory saw the USA claiming the Gold medal and although the Soviets would defeat Sweden a few days later they only took home the Silver medal.

Despite the loss the Soviets continued to dominate the sport in the fall out and claimed the next 2 Winter Olympic Gold medals and 6 of the following 9 World Championships. However the loss was a really dark day in the history of Soviet Ice Hockey.

For the USA it became a really memorable sporting event and has seen a number of movies and TV specials made around it. It's seen by many as one of, if not the, greatest sporting moment of all time and made a number of the players stars in their field. It was a special, special sporting moment and something all sports fans, American or not, should look at as a case of over-coming adversity and refusing to be written off.

Superbowl III

To most fans of sport "The Superbowl" is the biggest annual game of any sport. The meeting of the best team in National Football Conference and the best team in the American Football Conference to crown a champion is, to many, more than just sport, it's a global event.

Whilst the NFL was the preeminent football league in the USA it had been rivaled in the late 1940's by the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) who unfortunately ran out of money in 1949. A decade later however the American Football League (AFL) was formed and in 1960 the AFL was seen as a real threat.

Unlike the AAFC the AFL had managed to not only show signs of stability but had also started to grow and were helped massively by the fact that they had signed a collective TV agreement with NBC that really brought the AFL in to line with the NFL in terms of finances. With their new found money the AFL were able to bringing in top players from the draft, notably Joe Namath (pictured above) who was signed by the New York Jets in 1965 in a move that really helped force through the merger of the AFL and NFL which started the following year.

In 1967 the AFL champions played the NFL champions in a game to decide the new "World Champions". This match saw the NFL Champions the Green Bay Packers defeat the AFL Champions Kansas City Chiefs by 35 points to 10. Whilst the first half was competitive (14-10) the Packers, lead by Bart Starr showed their class in dominating the second half 21-0. Whilst this match wasn't billed as a "Superbowl" it has been retro-actively called Superbowl I.

The following year the NFL again showed their dominance once again with the Green Bay Packers dominating the Oakland Raiders 33-14 with Bart Starr once again leading the line for the Packers. Despite the fact the Raiders had dominated the AFL (with a record of 13-1) the Packers had "only" posted a 9-4-1 record in the NFL, which further emphasised the gulf in class between the two leagues. Like the previous year match, this wasn't described as being a "Superbowl" until afterwards.

Going into the 1969 Superbowl II (the first match to have been officially described as a "Superbowl")  it was widely expected that the NFl's Baltimore Colts would demolish the AFL's New York Jets to further prove the NFL's domination of professional football. The Colt's had, after all, not only been the NFL champions for the season but had been outstanding conceding just 144 points on route to recording a 13-1 record behind Earl Morrall who had been exceptional for a year and forced Johnny Unitas to sit on the sidelines for much of the season. In fact the team had been described by some as "the greatest team in pro football history".

The Jets however had struggled, whilst they had compiled an 11-3 record their quarterback Joe Namath  had thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and had completed less than 50% of his passes through out the season and they had almost lost in the AFC Championship game to the Oakland Raiders. Had they been in the NFL many analysts had predicted that the Jets would have been lucky to have even recorded a 9-5 record and wouldn't even have made it to the play-offs had they not been in the weaker AFL.

Prior to the game the expectation was that the Colts were going to win with ease in fact they were given an 18 point handicap by many sportsbooks who writ them off before the kick off. Prior to the game however the Jets were confident and Joe Namath famously stated "We're gonna win the game. I guarantee it." When confronted by a Colts fan who, like many others, were confident that the Jets were lambs to the slaughter.

Not only were the Jets written off pre-game but, unknown to fans and the Colt's team the Jets key wide receiver Don Maynard was playing with an injury. The injury to Maynard played a pivotal part in the game however as the Jets used him as a decoy often taking 2 of the defensive players out as a result. In the second quarter the Jets opened the scoring via a Matt Snell 4-yard run for a touchdown. This touchdown was to be the only scoring play of the 1st half with both teams missing Field Goals.

The Jets increased their lead in third quarter as Jim Turner completed 2 Field Goals (a 32 yarder and a 30 yarder) to move the jets to 13-0 as shocked Colt's fans, and the media looked on in disbelief. Following Turner's second completed field goal the Colts brought on Johnny Unitas to try an turn around the fortune of the floundering Colt's however Unitas couldn't spark his offense into action. The Jet's further extended their lead after Turner completed his 3rd Field Goal of the day to move 16-0 in to the lead and whilst the Colts did manage to score late into the match (a 1 yard run by Jerry Hill) they were never going to over-haul the huge deficit they found themselves at. Despite not coming on until late Unitas' did effect the game completing 11 passes for 110 with many feeling that had he started, the Colts would have won.

This match was an historic moment as it was the first time an AFL team had been crowned world champions and the first time they had had a team defeat an NFL team. The AFL would again come out as winners the following year before the NFL-ALF merger was completed. Surprisingly the newly named American Football Conference (AFC,-which had come from the AFL) would go on to claim the first Superbowl after the merger.

Picture thanks to Billy Hathorn

John Daly

When someone fails to qualify for a competition it's incredibly fair to assume they won't win, however in 1991 we found out otherwise as larger than life golfer John Daly managed to do the impossible.

Going into the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana Daly was expected to be watching from home. He hadn't just failed to qualify but he was well down the list of reserves, in fact he was the 9th alternate (the last alternate).

Surprisingly Daly got his chance after South African born Zimbabwean Nick Price pulled out close to the start of the competition with his wife about to give birth. Daly was the only one of the alternates able to actually make his way to the competition and therefore he was able to compete after all.

Going into the Championship Daly was truly an amateur. He had only been a professional since 1987 and had only won a handful of competitions with the 1990 Ben Hogan Utah Classic standing out as the only national competition that he'd won. Despite this Daly went to Crooked Stick, with out a practice round and shook up the golfing world with his "grip it and rip it" style that was based on striking power, especially from the tee.

In the first Round Daly played an excellent 69, 3 shots under the 72 shot par. This left him tied 8th 2 shots behind the leaders Kenny Knox and Ian Woosnam. Daly was remarkably more 4 than shots below the field average (73.75) and one of only 38 players under par from over 150 players in total.

The following round Daly played even more amazingly than he had on the opening day, scoring a 67 (5 under par) score. This was the tied best for the round along with  Fred Couples and Hal Sutton. At 136 shots from his first 2 rounds Daly had comfortably made the cut and was surprisingly in the lead a single shot ahead of Bruce Lietzke.

Having taken the lead Daly refused to give it up and carded an excellent 69 in round 3 stay ahead of the field and actually move further ahead of Bruce Lietzke (who carded a par round of 72) who fell 4 shots behind and Kenny Knox (who scored 70) who was now 3 shots behind. He followed that up on the final day with a card of 71 to record a mind blowing 276, 12 under par score for the championship. The 276 score saw Daly winning the tournament by 3 shots over Lietzke who came second with Jim Gallagher a further 2 shots behind.

Not only had Daly come out of nowhere to win but he was also the first rookie to win a Tour event in over a decade (since Jerry Pate won the U.S. Open in 1976). The victory helped earn Daly a cult fan base as well as the 1991 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Sadly however Daly has struggled to ever recreate his moment in the sunshine with his career blighted by alcohol and gambling problems, despite those issues however he did manage to win the 1995 Open Championship at The Old Course at Saint Andrews, his only other major win.

Photograph via Creative Commons by mandj98

Alexander Karelin v Rulon Gardner

When you think of wrestling you probably think of the Glitz and Glamour of the WWE with over the top personalities, soap-opera story lines and acrobatic moves. You'll likely think of people such as Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, Ric Flair and Sting. However not all wrestling is "Professional".

As fans of the Olympics will know there is also "Amateur wrestling". Although there are several types of amateur wrestling the two most well known styles are "Freestyle" which allows use of the legs and "Greco-Roman" which doesn't allow the use of the legs. It was the Greco-Roman style that brought us wrestling's biggest ever upset as Rulon Gardner defeated Russian Alexander Karelin for the Gold medal in the Sydney Olympics.

Alexander Karelin was seen by many as being genuinely unbeatable. Since making his international debut in 1987 he had destroyed everyone in his wake as he claimed title after title and was unbeaten for 13 years, he hadn't conceded a pointed in 6 of those (1994-2000). His trophy collection was unbelievable with an amazing 12 European Championships (everyone from 1988 to 2000), 9 World Championships (winning everyone between 1989 and 1999) and 3 Olympic Gold Medals (1988, 1992 and 1996).

Not only was Karelin unbeaten on the mat but he was also a bit of a physical freak (in the most complimentary fashion possible) he was 6'3" of solid muscle and power. His power was so freakish that he could lift 130lb men around like ragdolls and toss them to the mat with ease often using his spectacular "Karelin Lift" to dominate rivals. His nickname of "The Experiment" seemed to sum things up pretty well, he looked like he was the result of a fantastic Russian experiment to create the perfect wrestler.

On the opposite side of the mat we had American Rulon Gardner. Gardner had been a very solid Greco-Roman wrestler in his own right but had only really had notable success in the US. Amongst his biggest achievements were 2 National titles (1996, 1997) though he did win some international trophies though of a much lesser degree to the World and European titles held by Karelin.

Karelin got to the 2000 Olympic Final with out dropping a point, he had been his usual unbeatable self and defeated the Silver and Bronze medal winners from the 1999 World Championships. Gardener however had surprised everyone by managing to reach the final himself and beating the 1998 World Championship Bronze medal winner Yuri Evseitchik, although Evseitchik had taken Garnder all the way to a very close 3-2 bout.

In the opening period Karelin came close to using his patented lift but the doughy looking Gardner managed to fight it off as period finished 0-0. Around 30 seconds into the second period Karelin's grip slipped from a clince, this slip lead to not only large gasps from all those in attendance but also a point for Gardner. This put the American 1-0 up against a man who hadn't conceded a point in years. Gardner then had to hold on, not only for the remaining 2 minutes 30 seconds of the second period but also for 3 minutes of overtime, something he impressively managed to do to claim the gold medal.

Following the Sydney Olympics Karelin moved into politics where he has continued success. Gardner however failed to take over from the great man and despite winning the 2001 World Championship Gold medal and a Bronze in the 2004 Olympics his success seems to have been off the mat. Not only has Gardner been featured on The Biggest Loser but he has also been an analyst for NBC Sports at the 2008 Olympics.

Picture is thanks to Joshua C. Millage and features Rulon Gardner in the centre flanked by two U.S. Navy Dental Technicians.

Liverpool v Wimbledon

The FA Cup is widely regarded as the most important domestic cup competition in the world of Football (or for my American friends "Soccer"). It's a trophy that has a prestigious history dating back around 140 years and includes several hundred club teams through out the English Football system. It covers not only teams in the Premier League, the Football League and the Football Conference but also way down to the lower tiers of English football.

Not only is it such a historical and open competition but it is also a world famous competition shown in over 100 countries to a viewing figure in the 100 of millions. It has everything fans could want, top teams, a sense of randomness, upsets, history, viewing base, prestige and a nice shiny trophy at the end of it. However not all upsets are as notable as the 1988 FA Cup Final which saw the daddy of all upsets.

One one side we had the all conquering Liverpool who, during the 1980's were the premier club in England winning pretty much everything. The League title was repeatedly won by the Anfield out fit during the decade who filled up their trophy cabinet with numerous other trophies such as an Fa Cup (1986), several League Cups (1981-1984), several Charity shields (1980, 1982, 1986), victory in the solitary Football League Super Cup (1986) and 2 European Cups (1981, 1984). They were pretty clearly the team of the decade in regards to English football.

On the other side of the pitch you had Wimbledon, a club who had a simple style of play and a team full of practical jokers. A little over 20 years early Wimbledon were an amateur side and in fact in 1963 they claimed the FA Amateur Cup (having previously been runners up 3 times). Many fans still thought of the team as amateurs despite the fact they had been promoted to then First Division (the top flight of English football) from the Fourth Division after 3 promotions in 4 years.

The match started well for Liverpool with John Aldridge having an early chance that caused the Wimbledon defense to make a last gasp challenger. Soon afterwards John Barnes came close forcing Dave Beasant to make an excellent save. It seemed like it would only be a matter of time before Liverpool break the deadlock. Surprisingly however it was Wimbledon that took the lead in the 37th minute as Lawrie Sanchez flicked in a Dennis Wise free kick. From then on however it was almost all Liverpool as the Scouser's looked to equalise. Alan Hansen forced Beasant into action later in the first half before John Aldridge got a penalty early in the second half, up to this point a penalty had never been saved in an FA Cup final but Beasant made history and denied Aldridge.

Despite some sustained pressure Liverpool couldn't beat Beasant as Wimbledon secured their first, and only, major professional trophy in what is widely regarded as the biggest FA Cup Final shock of all time.

Picture courtesy of Carlos yo

Keith Deller

The 1983 Embassy World Darts Championship may well be one of the most famous series of upsets as one man defied the odds time and time again as he came from obscurity to world champion almost overnight.

Going into the tournament Eric Bristow (pictured) was the world #1 he was a 2-time World champion (1980, 1981) and was seen as one of the big favourites. The competition also saw returning champion Jocky Wilson (the world #2) looking to claim his second title and John Lowe (the world #3) looking to win his second title after losing in the final 3 times. Though aside from those 3 many saw Swede Stefan Lord as a solid outside bet as he had had notable success in the previous years.

Despite the stand out candidates it was an unknown from Ipswich that managed to turn the tournament on it's head.

Keith Deller had had to qualify for the tournament (unlike the top ranked players) and then had struggled past the very respectable Thai-born American Nicky Virachkul (2-1). Virachkul, for those who aren't fans of the sport, had reached the Quarter Finals the previous 2 years (and would do so again in 1984) and despite not being remembered too well was actually a solid player himself. The victory for Deller wasn't particularly expected but the fact he had been driven so close had seen many write off what little chance he actually had.

In Deller's second match he brushed aside fellow qualifier Les Capewell, who had beaten teenager Stuart Holden in his opening round match, amazingly it was the only match Capewell would ever win at the championships despite qualifying 3 times. Capewell was beaten 3-1 by Deller, who advanced to the quarter-finals and started to play with the big boys.

Deller's quarter-final match up was up against John Lowe the world #3 who had won the competition in 1979 and been runner up in 1978, 1981 and 1982. This was a close match up but Deller just did enough to take the match 4-3 and move on to the Semi Final's where he meet Jocky Wilson in a very memorable match up. Wilson was not only the world #2 but he was also the defending champion and a man in form having dropped just 2 sets from the 11 he had played. In a memorable match Deller surprisingly beat Wilson 4-2 despite Wilson coming to within a dart of an early darter (missing the double 18).

The win over Wilson set up the most unlikely of finals. Deller, a qualifier was to play the world #1 and 2-time champion Eric Bristow. Having already beaten the world #2 and #3 players the darting world should have given Deller a chance however the legendary commentator Sid Waddell summer up the general feeling going into the match describe Deller's chances- "He's not just an underdog, he's an underpuppy."

Deller had surprisingly taken the opening two sets before Bristow fought back winning the 3rd and 5th sets. Bristow had been behind from the start and in the 9th set Deller threw for the championship before missing a series of doubles to allow Bristow to tie the score at 5-5. Many thought Deller had bottled it and that, despite having played well he was now going to lose to the world #1. Deller however refused to just give up and he took a 2-1 lead in the final set.

In the 4th leg of the deciding set Bristow was on 121 and rather than taking it out he played a percentage shot leaving himself on double 18, not expecting Deller to hit 138. Deller however didn't let Bristow go for his double 18 as he checked out 138 in the now infamous "Deller Check out" to claim the tournament and make his mark on sporting history.

After the tournament Deller had mixed successes on the darts world, never managing to recrate his magic moments from 1983, however he did become a very respected face in the darting world. He currently manages World #2 Adrian Lewis and works for Sky TV. Like Deller, Bristow also works for Sky TV though he managed notable success following the 1983 Embassy World Championship, winning numerous championships and mentoring a young Mr Phil Taylor, the greatest Darts player in history.

Picture courtesy of Jonesy702

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam v Sonny Boy Jaro

Boxing is a sport that I follow very closely and like most other sports you can generally see mismatches a mile away. A lot of fights in boxing sadly fall into the mismatch category where 1 fighter is supposed to win and the other is supposed to merely get in the ring, lose and cash his cheque. Sometimes however things don't go to plan as we found out earlier this year.

Thai Pongsaklek Wonjongkam is a true legend of the boxing world. Since making his professional debut back in 1994 he has crafted one of the most outstanding records in recent memory accumulating an amazing 86 victories. Despite starting his career in total obscurity and losing 2 of his first 11 bouts he has grafted out a genuine hall of fame career.

Whilst many fans of the sport want to point out that Wonjongkam has beaten a lot of novices he has also beaten a lot of top tier fighters such as Malcolm Tunacao, Luis Alberto Lazarte, Daisuke Naito, Gilberto Keb Baas, Tomonobu Shimizu, Julio Cesar Miranda, Koki Kameda, Suriyan Sor Rungvisai and Edgar Sosa, a relative who's who of lower weight boxers. Wonjongkam's dominance in the ring saw him go unbeaten from 1996 to 2007 losing only to a man he had already beaten twice.

As well as the names he had beaten he had become one of the sports premier champions, a 2-time WBC Flyweight champion who had held the title for almost a decade in his 2 reigns.

In the opposite corner we had Filipino Sonny Boy Jaro, a fighter who was effectively a journeyman. Despite having recorded 33 wins himself he had also lost 10 bouts including 7 by stoppage, he had never won a fight outside of his homeland. Whilst he had fought for a world titles in the past he had been widely out pointed by Edgar Sosa and stopped by Giovani Segura in just 65 seconds. He was supposed to lose again to the Wonjongkam.

On paper their records going into this bout could not be much more different. Wonjongkam's was an excellent 83-3-2 (43) whilst Jaro was a much less impressive 33-10-5 (23), however records don't tell the whole tale of the story.

Straight from the opening bell Jaro set out to prove a point and used his bullish strength to force the fight against Wonjongkam. Within a round Wonjongkam had been dropped and the Thai fans in attendance were in shock, their fighter was being bullied by the much smaller challenger. Wonjongkam fought back in round 2 but was dropped again in round 3.

Jaro was on a roll and whilst Wongjonkam survived rounds 4 and 5 with out being dropped he was certainly not looking like the fighter that had been such a fantastic champion. In round 6 Jaro started to really turn the screw and although he was deducted for a low blow he would again drop and hurt Wonjongkam who was now starting to look more and more like a spent force. It didn't even take the full round for Jaro to finish the job and finish off Wonjongkam as he knocked out the Thai late in the 6th.

Whilst no major sports book in the UK had the bout and the actual odds offered anywhere are hard to find, I would be shocked if Wonjongkam was any larger than a 1/25 favourite. This was a major upset in the boxing world.

Since this bout Wonjongkam has bounced back with 2 more victories at a much, much lower level whilst Jaro lost his title by decision after a war with Japanese fighter Toshiyuki Igarashi.

Photo Courtesy of Scott Mallon