Biggest upset in sports history? Hardly

[Bubbles]

FOX Sports has a poll on their website, asking 'Was the Giants' victory in the Super Bowl the biggest upset in sports history?' I, of course, vote no. Given some time to think, I could come up with 15 greater upsets in all of sports than this one, for a multitude of reasons.

60% of those who voted said 'yes.'

Could we get some ESPN Classic subscriptions for these people? Good God...

[JustRalph]

FOX Sports has a poll on their website, asking 'Was the Giants' victory in the Super Bowl the biggest upset in sports history?' I, of course, vote no. Given some time to think, I could come up with 15 greater upsets in all of sports than this one, for a multitude of reasons.

60% of those who voted said 'yes.'

Could we get some ESPN Classic subscriptions for these people? Good God...

Here is one of my favorites when it comes to upsets

pay attention to about 1:40 into the video......it gets real good

Tokyo, February 1990

LyELOj00xIg

[GaryG]

By far the biggest upset in the Super Bowl was the Jets over the Colts. Johnny Unitas was starting to fade by then and Namath was hot.

[Pace Cap'n]

ESPN has a poll for ranking overall upsets, not just football. I'd have to go with the 1980 hockey team. But had not Upset bested Man-O-War, what would we call an unexpected victory?

proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/rank?versionId=1&listId=89 (http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/rank?versionId=1&listId=89)

[boomman]

Although I agree that Buster Douglas' knockout of Mike Tyson was a "biggie", the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" IMHO is by far the biggest upset that I have had the pleasure of witnessing, in that not only did The Americans shock the Soviets @ Lake Placid, but they shocked the world when a bunch of young college kids continued on to win the Gold Medal by beating veteran professional players in the process......:ThmbUp:

Boomer

[Greyfox]

When a 21 year old kid faced monster thug Sonny Liston, we all thought that kid would be the first man on the moon.

That was a major upset. That kid ultimately changed his name and went on to be the greatest heavy weight boxer that ever lived. You got it M. Ali.

[Bubbles]

When a 21 year old kid faced monster thug Sonny Liston, we all thought that kid would be the first man on the moon.

That was a major upset. That kid ultimately changed his name and went on to be the greatest heavy weight boxer that ever lived. You got it M. Ali.
I consider Ali-Foreman to be the bigger upset, mainly because the general perception seemed to be that Ali had lost several steps to age with losses to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, the former of whom Foreman demolished. But hey, I'm just a kid who watched 'When We Were Kings' in Portuguese on YouTube in my History of Sport class.

Yes, $40,000 a year for that...

[cj]

It wasn't even the biggest upset in the Super Bowl. The Jets over the Colts holds that honor.

[JustRalph]

It wasn't even the biggest upset in the Super Bowl. The Jets over the Colts holds that honor.

That is the first real big upset I can recall. I was a huge Unitas/Colts fan. I was only about 9 years old.........but me and Johnny U. had the same haircut.......... :lol:

I will never forget how big Namath became after that. You couldn't watch ten minutes of TV without seeing him in some commercial. I distinctly remember him walking around in a fur coat and I was hating him for upsetting the colts......... :lol:

http://www.onlinesports.com/images/ssg-ujn-16g.jpg

He looks like the Elvis of Quarterbacks........... :lol:

[INFRONT07]

By far the biggest upset in the Super Bowl was the Jets over the Colts. Johnny Unitas was starting to fade by then and Namath was hot.
the great unitas;the best ever;did;nt come into the game until the 3rd qt.he scored the colts only td.he always said if i was in there sooner i could have won the game.blame the coach don shula who was jealous of him.
he was hardly fading.:bang:

[njcurveball]

Although no one qualifies this as an upset it is definitely bordering on impossible. How bout a team going undefeated with their BACK-UP quarterback and winning the Super Bowl?

[JustRalph]

the great unitas;the best ever;did;nt come into the game until the 3rd qt.he scored the colts only td.he always said if i was in there sooner i could have won the game.blame the coach don shula who was jealous of him.
he was hardly fading.:bang:

I don't know, it looks like he faded some in 68 and on.........check it out here

Was he injured or just benched? I think E. Morrill was the passing leader in 68?

The completion percentage is still pretty close, but the numbers just arent' the same

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/U/UnitJo00.htm


http://www.justralph.com/unitas.jpg

[betchatoo]

It wasn't even the biggest upset of the football season. What about Michigan's loss to Appalachian State? Or Stanford's upset of Southern Cal? Both were much more unexpected.

[njcurveball]

If we go to college, than you have to add Villanova beating Georgetown! :ThmbUp:

[Bubbles]

If we go to college, than you have to add Villanova beating Georgetown! :ThmbUp:As well as NC State over Phi Slamma Jamma and Chaminade beating Ralph Sampson's Virginia squad.

[Marshall Bennett]

1. Jets / Colts - 1969

2. Mets / Orioles - 1969

3. Clay / Liston I

[oddsmaven]

As a Colts fan that watched the '69 game & remembers it well, I have to add to the comments about that game in regards to Unitas...he had an arm/shoulder injury and had missed virtually the entire regular season...Earl Morrall filled in for the year and was MVP...Earl had a horrible game vs the Jets and was pulled by Shula during the second half...Unitas managed one TD drive with help from the running game...he was also intercepted on a bad floater at least once...he really didn't belong in there and was inserted as desperation to try and give a spark, as he just couldn't throw with any zip (no arm strength)...he did resent Shula for not putting him in sooner but he was kidding himself in doing that...he did recover to play a couple of more good years but that day, he was pretty much unfit to play.

[dav4463]

The fact that Namath guaranteed a victory after he got fed up with listening to the media tell him they had no chance just added to the mystique. The Jets win put the AFL on a par with the older more established NFL. It has to be the greatest upset in football history. The Colts had only lost two or three games in the past two years heading into that game!

[46zilzal]

US 4
USSR 3 Lake Placid 1980

Hangs in the entry area today

[46zilzal]

Jim Dandy 100-1 over Whichone and Gallant Fox 1930 Travers.

[Marshall Bennett]

Another one just came to mind . Don't know if it was 1966 or 67 USC was undefeated and was upset by Oregon St . 3 - 0 at the end of the season .
Also when Miss. St. ended Alabama's win streak was a shock .

[46zilzal]

That division IIA school that beat Michigan was an honorable mention.

[dav4463]

How about Notre Dame over Oklahoma to end Bud Wilkinson's long winning streak?

What about Notre Dame in college basketball ending UCLA's undefeated streak beating Bill Walton and company?

[wonatthewire1]

Pirates over the Yankees in 1960

[jfurgie]

Wonatthe wire beat me to the punch. Obviously an old timer like me.

1955 Bklyn over Yanks gets honorable mention.