Parden the Interruption Five Biggets Upset of All Time!

[PhiI C]

Their choices are as follows:

Mike

1. Clay vs Liston Fight I (Clay later became Mohammed Ali)

2. USA vs Russia in 1972 Olympic Basketball (Refs added time three times until Russians finally got a winning basket to beat USA by 1 point 49 to 48 (I think). The USA protested the game because of the added time and to add to the controversy a committee of five countries voted 3 to 2 to allow the game to stand. Ironically I don't know who but at that time a couple of the USA's enemies sided with them while our "friends?" sided with Russia. I wouldn't be surprised if it was France that decided the vote.

3. USA vs Russia in Winter Olympic Hockey in 1980. We have discussed this enough so you should know the background.

4. Jets vs Colts in 1969 Super Bowl as Joe Namath lives up to his guarantee and Jets win 15 to 7. Before the game many people thought that Colts were the greatest team ever.

5. Gardner vs Kavelin in Olympics 2000 in Wrestling. Kavelin was the invincible Russian and Gardner was not expected to have a chance at all but he pulled the upset and won the gold.


Tony's choices

1. 1980 USA vs Russia in Hockey

2. Clay vs Liston in Fight I

3. Jets vs Colts in 1969 Super Bowl

4. USA vs Russian in Olympic Basketball in 1972

5. Tyson vs Douglas - Douglas beats Tyson after Tyson had won over 30 straight fights.

As you can see there are several differences in order with Tony including Tyson vs Douglas and Mike including Gardner vs Kavelin.

They both had honorable mention Hoosiers which was based on the 1950s basketball game between Milam and Muncie when small school Milam pulled the upset and won.

[PhiI C]

I had several disagreeements with their choices. Clay vs Liston was a surprise and an upset but now that we have history to look back on it was not really that big an upset as Clay who later became Ali turned out to be one of the greatest boxers of all time.

The USA vs Russia in Basketball was an upset I guess but remember at that time we did not play our best (a fault we had at the last olympics). We were able to dominate the olympics for years with high school and college players since pros were not allowed (of course the communist countries played their pros but that is another story). It was only a time before the other teams pros could beat our amatures but this game was decided by refs that kept adding time not once but three times till the Russians got the winning goal. Still I don't feel it was a great upset like they make it out to be.

Tyson vs Douglas was an upset but at that time it was a matter of time before Tyson lost so it wasn't a surprise to me when he got beat. An upset yes but a great upset no.

I agree that the 1980 Hockey Game was the greatest upset of all time and this has been discussed. Gardner beating Kavelin was a major upset deserving in the top five and of course the Jets upset of the Colts was another bit upset. I still feel like if they had played that football game again the Colts would have won it nine out of ten times but the Jets were ready that day.

[PhiI C]

Now if the Men's US Soccer team can win a world cup that will go down as a big upset.

[Manck]

Phil...didn't Rulon Gardner win that match in Sydney in 2000? USA didn't compete in Moscow in 1980....

Wow...I finally got you on one!

And yeah, it WOULD be an incredible upset if USA wins World Cup 2006 in Germany. England looked incredibly beat-able after that 0-0 draw against Holland last week, and there are LOTS of Americans playing in Europe now. So it's not entirely impossible, especially with Tim Howard (Manchester United) in goal and Clint Mathis, Landon Donovan, etc in midfield.

[GreenMonster]

???????????

You mean Abilene Wylie over Decatur in this year's football play-offs didn't make the top 10?

[ILS1]

didn't Rulon Gardner win that match in Sydney in 2000?

Your right it was the 2000 Games that Rulon won.

[PhiI C]

It was 2000! Thanks for the corrections! I reedited to make it correct. I was still too much in 1980 Hockey!

[Tiger Turtle]

Vanderbilt Industrial over Sealy (4-time defending state champions) in bidistrict 1998.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Tiger Turtle
Vanderbilt Industrial over Sealy (4-time defending state champions) in bidistrict 1998.

Good one Tiger.

[Phil C]

I don't know if it would be the one of the greatest but a big upset was when Kansas City beat Minnesotta in the fourth super bowl. The Vikings looked invincible with that defense and their offense was good too. But the Chiefs pulled off the upset by a convincing score.