These are often called major upsets in sports history...but they weren't really upsets.

Estil

Okay, everybody knows all about great upsets in sports history, and in fact we are fast approaching NCAA Tournament time where we will no doubt see a few (just so long as it's us holding the big gold trophy in the end though! ). Yet I know of a couple that are often called "upsets" but in fact really were not:

1966 NCAA Championship - Obviously this game is most famous for being the first to feature a team with all-black starters (though I think there were a few prior title games that had 3-4 black starters on one of the teams), and is often called an upset, but that's not really so. True KY was the top ranked team in the country...but guess what Texas Western's ranking was coming into the tournament? Would you believe second? Yes, it was a classic #1 vs #2 match up (okay technically Tex Wes slipped to third come title game time for some odd reason but still...) and just like us, they also only had one loss near the end of the season. And BTW, there were no at-large bids/wild cards for the NCAA Tournament for another ten years, so it was either you win your conference (tournament) title or it's NLT for you! So if you ask me this game was a very fair and even matchup.

1969 NLCS - Yes, the Mets began the season as 100-to-1 underdogs for winning the World Series (they never finished higher than next-to-last place so that's not surprising) and yes they were underdogs in the World Series, again not a surprise because the Orioles had nine more wins than they did and in fact the O's would win the title the very next year. However, for the first ever NLCS against they Atlanta Braves the Mets were 'dogs for that as well. Yet that part I don't understand because the Mets had seven more wins than the Braves, so shouldn't they have been the favorites for the LCS part at least?

Any other "upsets" you can think of that maybe weren't really upsets at all?

mlbfan2

<< <i>1969 NLCS - Yes, the Mets began the season as 100-to-1 underdogs for winning the World Series (they never finished higher than next-to-last place so that's not surprising) and yes they were underdogs in the World Series, again not a surprise because the Orioles had nine more wins than they did and in fact the O's would win the title the very next year. However, for the first ever NLCS against they Atlanta Braves the Mets were 'dogs for that as well. Yet that part I don't understand because the Mets had seven more wins than the Braves, so shouldn't they have been the favorites for the LCS part at least?
>>



Who is calling that an upset though? The Mets won 100 games and were 45-18 from August onward. If the Braves were favorites, I can't imagine that they were favored by much at all.

Brick

I suppose just about everyone considers "Buster" Douglas knockout of Mike Tyson one of the greatest upsets ever. However before the fight his camp had great confidence Buster would win. In fact his manager proclaimed that not only would Buster win the title but would also win the rematch (which unfortunately never happened). That fight was not even close. Other than one punch Tyson did not hurt Douglas and if I remember correctly Buster was well ahead on points when he finally knocked Tyson out.

grote15

<< <i>I suppose just about everyone considers "Buster" Douglas knockout of Mike Tyson one of the greatest upsets ever. However before the fight his camp had great confidence Buster would win. In fact his manager proclaimed that not only would Buster win the title but would also win the rematch (which unfortunately never happened). That fight was not even close. Other than one punch Tyson did not hurt Douglas and if I remember correctly Buster was well ahead on points when he finally knocked Tyson out. >>



I remember watching that fight live~it was a memorable fight. The ironic part of that upset was that it never should have happened. Tyson knocked Douglas down earlier in the fight but the ref started a late count that gave Douglas enough extra time to get up right before the count of 10...would Douglas have gotten up otherwise? Who knows, but he was down for a count of 13.

mlbfan2

<< <i>I suppose just about everyone considers "Buster" Douglas knockout of Mike Tyson one of the greatest upsets ever. However before the fight his camp had great confidence Buster would win. In fact his manager proclaimed that not only would Buster win the title but would also win the rematch (which unfortunately never happened). That fight was not even close. Other than one punch Tyson did not hurt Douglas and if I remember correctly Buster was well ahead on points when he finally knocked Tyson out. >>



You can bet that some of Tyson's previous opponent's camps thought their guy would win too.

Tyson was a 42-1 favorite. The fight may not have been close, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a big upset. If a football team is a 20-point underdog and they end up winning, it's a big upset even if they win by 30.

Estil

Brick

Dang! I thought I responded to this topic yesterday on my notepad. I guess me and technology don't get along too well. As far as the long count, as soon as Buster hit the canvas he slammed his gloves in disgust with himself for allowing that to happen and immediately looked to the referee and listened to the count. He could have and would have gotten up at any time. I guess I would have to concede that this is still considered an upset. If there were a rematch Tyson would have been a heavy favorite. So how about the Buckeyes winning the Nation8l Championship? They were underdogs against Wisconsin in the BIG Championship. They were underdogs against Alabama in the semis. They were underdogs against Oregon in the Championship game. If any of those games had a rematch I believe OSU would be the favorite. Are those games not really upsets in hindsight?

larryallen73

<< <i>....So how about the Buckeyes winning the Nation8l Championship? They were underdogs against Wisconsin in the BIG Championship. They were underdogs against Alabama in the semis. They were underdogs against Oregon in the Championship game. If any of those games had a rematch I believe OSU would be the favorite. Are those games not really upsets in hindsight? >>



Not sure anybody called it a "major upset." Being the underdog in Vegas doesn't make it a major upset if you win. It was a nice run though for sure and, you are right, the point spreads would be different now.

grote15

[iAs far as the long count, as soon as Buster hit the canvas he slammed his gloves in disgust with himself for allowing that to happen and immediately looked to the referee and listened to the count. He could have and would have gotten up at any time.]

Not the way I remember it~I recall him very shaky when he finally got up right before count of 10. Perhaps he was milking it, but the extra three seconds certainly helped.

Estil

I always thought Tyson lost to Buster for the same reason Rocky lost to Mr. T in Rocky 3. The champ got too comfortable/complacent and then ran into a challenger who was much hungrier for the title.

timpatg

Skip to the 2:42 mark for Douglas knock down. Looks like he was dazed but clearly could have gotten up 5 seconds after hitting the canvas.

youtube

Estil

If nothing else Buster got a Genesis game out of all this!

grote15

<< <i>Skip to the 2:42 mark for Douglas knock down. Looks like he was dazed but clearly could have gotten up 5 seconds after hitting the canvas.

youtube >>



If anything, that video makes the argument that Douglas could have been counted out.

ClockworkAngel

<< <i>I always thought Tyson lost to Buster for the same reason Rocky lost to Mr. T in Rocky 3. The champ got too comfortable/complacent and then ran into a challenger who was much hungrier for the title. >>



Excellent point. I think Mr. T's upset of Rocky isn't talked about often enough when it comes to greatest sports upsets. I heard Buster watched that fight over and over and adopted many of the same techniques Mr. T did in that one

Estil

I take it Tyson as well was more used to quick knockouts and when he finally ran into someone who could more "go the distance" with him, I guess he didn't know how to handle that situation quite so well. Isn't it also interesting how Mike Tyson's Punch-Out remains and all-time legendary NES classic...even dispite his later, eh, issues.

PS: Contrary to popular belief, the re-release of that NES game (Punch-Out! Featuring Mr. Dream) did not remove Tyson because of the rape scandal...it was because by 1990 (a year or two before the rape incident) Tyson was no longer champ and I guess Nintendo didn't think it made sense to pay to renew the rights of a "has been"

Cubby

"adopted many of the same techniques Mr. T did"