I watched a film recently, Glory Road, in which a coach led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to win the NCAA national championship in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. After watching the film, I decided to do a search of some of the greatest upsets in sports and American politics. Why American politics? I can’t really explain. Or maybe because I love American politics. But below are some of the stories I found. They are just a few of the stories I came across but I hope you find them enlightening.
On February 22, 1980 during the Winter Olymics
at Lake Placid, New York, the United States Olympic ice hockey team, made
up of amateur and collegiate players, defeated the Soviet
team, which had won nearly every world championship and Olympic tournament
since 1954. The Americans had gone into the third period 3-2 down but scored
two goals during the period to the consternation of the Soviets. The U.S. team went
on to claim the gold medal in the sport. The US victory of that day has been
dubbed Miracle on Ice and movies have
even been produced based on the events of that day.
In 1948, in what is widely considered the
greatest upset in American presidential politics, Democratic incumbent Harry S.
Truman defeated his Republican challenger Thomas Dewey. A newspaper had already
published Dewey’s victory in advance.
In the 1976 United States presidential election,
relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter defeated the
incumbent President Gerald Ford.
In 1978, Muhammad Ali lost to Leon Spinks in a
match many had thought would be an easy win for Ali.
In 1990, Mike Tyson was beaten with a technical
knockout (TKO) by James Butler Douglas, a no-name in the world of boxing. Tyson,
in his penultimate fight had knocked out his opponents in 93 seconds.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Rulon Gardner defeated
facing the best wrestler in the history of the sport, Aleksandr Karelin in the
super-heavyweight gold medal match. Karelin hadn't lost a match in 13 years,
and hadn't even surrendered a point to an opponent in the six years before the
final at Sydney.
Greece won Euro 2004 without a single star
player. During her stunning run, Greece beat defending champions France in the
knockout stage and Portugal in the final.
On June 24, 2013, at the 2013 Wimbledon, Steve Darcis, ranked the 135th tennis player in the world, beat two-time former champion, 12 Grand Slam winners and Olympic gold medalist, Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the first round at Wimbledon just two weeks after Nadal won his eighth French Open.
What do
these stories teach me? That no matter the odds I am up against, I should
believe in myself. I should not write myself off without even making a try. That
seemingly insurmountable opposition may not be as difficult as it seems. That seemingly
invincible enemy may have his Achilles’ heel after all. Self-defeatism is bad
for me. Why? Self-defeatism or self doubt will paralyse me in the face of
opposition. If I believe in myself, I can achieve great things. In the greatest upset story I have ever heard, David exhibited self-confidence in his fight with Goliath and he won. Every other person in the army of the Israelites was already defeated in his mind but David refused to be intimidated and he went out and defeated the giant.
“Our doubts are traitors,
and make us lose the good we oft might win,
by fearing to attempt.”
― William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
“If you hear a voice within you say „you cannot paint“, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
― Vincent van Gogh
and make us lose the good we oft might win,
by fearing to attempt.”
― William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
“If you hear a voice within you say „you cannot paint“, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
― Vincent van Gogh
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