Biggest Upset In Sports History?

Do you think the New York Giants beating of the New England Patriots in the SB is the biggest upset in sports history?

The Giants are only the second Wild Card team to win it all.

They beat a Pats team that went undefeated in regular season (and the Pats were only the second to do it; the first in over 2 decades).

They beat a Pats team that broke the single season record for points.

They beat a Pats team that had went 3 - 0 in Superbowls with coach Bill Bellichek and QB Tom Brady.

The Wild Card beat the juggernaut.

On a side note:

I guess it looks like Eli and Archie whining about going to the Chargers worked out then?:smilie4:

Absolutely it is.I think anyway i'm sure lot think different though.

the biggest upset in sports history is Brazil losing the world cup final against Uruguay at home.

I'd rank the USA hockey team beating the Ruskies higher but I'm a hockey nut . Miracle on ice they called it ?

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Originally Posted by Cabalo

the biggest upset in sports history is Brazil losing the world cup final against Uruguay at home.

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...but Brazil wasn't some juggernaut rolling over opponents like the Pats did in the NFL.

They even had a draw in their round-robin competition.

The Pats were 18 and fucking 0 (16 - 0 regular season) and lost the big game to a 10 - 6 Wild Card team.

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Originally Posted by peat moss

I'd rank the USA hockey team beating the Ruskies higher but I'm a hockey nut . Miracle on ice they called it ?

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Funny enough I just watched that movie and Glory Road recently....weird.

Good fooking movies too.

I probably rank this SB higher because of what a football team has to go through in the regular season, how the Pats set scoring records, and records for TDs and such then they lose at the very end.

I mean in competitions like those, you just don't go through the gruel that an NFL football team goes through. So to come out 18 - 0 is almost unheard of.

Actually peat i agree with you.I will switch what i said now.This is the biggest upset in nfl history easily though.As far as Brazil losing i could care less.

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Originally Posted by deuce6000

Actually peat i agree with you.I will switch what i said now.This is the biggest upset in nfl history easily though.As far as Brazil losing i could care less.

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Yeah one thing is that the US was sending amateurs over while other countries sent pros to the Olympics.

I want that movie with Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks on Blu-Ray.

i have been a patriots fan all of my life. the culmination of the perfect season (highly unlikely to ever happen again) was completely pissed on by tom bradys inability TO DO A GODDAMN THING!!!!!

definitely the biggest upset in sports in recent times....but to me THE biggest upset ever

It is great tho guys , and will have to sleep on it . The fun is reading the papers after or listening to the radio shows to digest it . It will keep sports scribes in works for weeks .As it should mind you . :happy:

Funny you ask that Bus. One of the local commentators here in NY was saying earlier that the Broadway Joe's Jets upset of the Colts in the 60's and the Amazin Mets beating the Orioles in 69 were bigger upsets. I was like, wtf?

This upset should definitely be ranked right there at the top. Here's why:

1. The Pats has set countless of team and individual records in the regular season while the Giants were a mere wild card team that everyone has basically written off.

2. Pats has many reps at the Pro Bowl while the Giants has one :blink: On paper, even I had to admit this could get lopsided early if the Giants defense were off their game just a bit.

3) Pats had enumerable players with SB experience while the Giants had three: Strahan, Toomer and some former Pat player.

They had everything going for them except for destiny. This will sting for a while for all New Englanders. I know it would pretty much devastate me if it was my team vying for perfection and immortality.

It was certainly a massive upset, one of the biggest in recent years. But being a more avid hockey and soccer fan, there have been numerous other big upsets so I can't say this one to be the biggest.

About the Brazil example, I would say that's bigger because how often has Uruguay been in the World Cup? Brazil has won it the most times and been to the finals quite often - and the World Cup is held every 4 years and takes a lot of qualifying for a country like Uruguay to go through

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Originally Posted by DefX

Funny you ask that Bus. One of the local commentators here in NY was saying earlier that the Broadway Joe's Jets upset of the Colts in the 60's and the Amazin Mets beating the Orioles in 69 were bigger upsets. I was like, wtf?

This upset should definitely be ranked right there at the top. Here's why:

1. The Pats has set countless of team and individual records in the regular season while the Giants were a mere wild card team that everyone has basically written off.

2. Pats has many reps at the Pro Bowl while the Giants has one :blink: On paper, even I had to admit this could get lopsided early if the Giants defense were off their game just a bit.

3) Pats had enumerable players with SB experience while the Giants had three: Strahan, Toomer and some former Pat player.

They had everything going for them except for destiny. This will sting for a while for all New Englanders. I know it would pretty much devastate me if it was my team vying for perfection and immortality.

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All great points.The one giant that is actually in the pro bowl said something about maybe boycotting the game just because he thought it was stupid that a super bowl winning team could only have 1 pro bowl player in it.I doubt he does but he is right about that.I wonder how many super bowl teams have had only one pro bowl player if any.

I still think the Tyson / Douglas fight was sports biggest upset. I watched the Giants play very well against NE in the last regular season game, if not for a Wide-open Randy Moss on 2 plays in a row, the outcome of that game might have been different as well. Kudos to Eli for shutting out the critics and growing up a lot over the past 5 weeks.

It's probably not the biggest upset in sports history due to the fact that the giant's had played the pats about a month ago and played them well. I thought that if the pat's were going to go down it'd be to someone that has played them this season...The giants.

I think it is kinda interesting that the Giants lost to Dallas, Green Bay, and NE in the regular season. It must have been sweet beaten those 3 teams when it mattered the most.

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Originally Posted by Bucktoof

It was certainly a massive upset, one of the biggest in recent years. But being a more avid hockey and soccer fan, there have been numerous other big upsets so I can't say this one to be the biggest.

About the Brazil example, I would say that's bigger because how often has Uruguay been in the World Cup? Brazil has won it the most times and been to the finals quite often - and the World Cup is held every 4 years and takes a lot of qualifying for a country like Uruguay to go through

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What are you talking about?

Didn't Uruguay win the first WC? Brazil lost to them in the 4th one?

Brazil won many WCs after that.

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Originally Posted by Sanka113

It's probably not the biggest upset in sports history due to the fact that the giant's had played the pats about a month ago and played them well. I thought that if the pat's were going to go down it'd be to someone that has played them this season...The giants.

I think it is kinda interesting that the Giants lost to Dallas, Green Bay, and NE in the regular season. It must have been sweet beaten those 3 teams when it mattered the most.

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Good point on your last.

However, one can't discount the fact that a handful of teams played the Pats tough later.

The best team to play the Pats tough was actually the Baltimore Ravens.

Had it not been for a timeout that nullified a stop on 4th down with 1:30 left in the 4th quarter (NE only had 1 timeout left), then B'more had the win.

B'more would have needed to take a knee 3 times.

The was some destiny shit there.

Greece winning the European Championships in 2004 is in my opinion the biggest sports upset of recent times. They were 150-1 to win the Championships before the tournament and ranked very low in the FIFA rankings, if you went back in time and told people they would win you'd have been laughed at and burnt as a witch.


Uruguay going over Brazil is universally regarded as a massive sporting upset as Brazil were (and are) a footballing powerhouse, they were playing at home (the World Cup having been won by the host nation 2 times out of 3 thus far) and they only needed a draw to win the tournament (1950 had the retarded league system to decided the World Cup winners).

Denmark winning the Euro 92 tournament was a bit of an upset considering they didn't even qualify for the finals :smilie4:

For those unfamiliar with events, they took the place of Yugoslavia who were disqualified for being horrible and fighty and all that, and then went on to beat Germany, who were the reigning world champions.

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Originally Posted by Barbarossa

Denmark winning the Euro 92 tournament was a bit of an upset considering they didn't even qualify for the finals :smilie4:

For those unfamiliar with events, they took the place of Yugoslavia who were disqualified for being horrible and fighty and all that, and then went on to beat Germany, who were the reigning world champions.

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I was thinking about that one as well, I wonder what their odds were before the tournament.

Two of my favourite sporting upsets have to be Cameroon doing over Argentina in 1990 and Senegal beating France in 2002. :happy:

Rey Mysterio winning the 2006 Royal Rumble has to be another candidate for biggest upset in sporting history.

Plymouth Argyle beating West Bromwich Albion in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup in 1984 :emo:

When you're 12, that sort of shit is pretty damn upsetting :cry:

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Originally Posted by Cheese

Senegal beating France in 2002. :happy:

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yeah that was certainly shocking.....I remember waking up at 4 am to watch that game n just couldn't believe what was happening

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Rey Mysterio winning the 2006 Royal Rumble has to be another candidate for biggest upset in sporting history.

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wrestling is all fake man....no upsets there

Im going to say one of the biggest was the summit (canada vs USSR) series.

anyways, it was a huge upset, and now I feel like an idiot, because when it was 3 and 15, with 2 min left I turned off teh TV to go to bed tihnking it was over :|

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Originally Posted by RoSsoNeRI

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Rey Mysterio winning the 2006 Royal Rumble has to be another candidate for biggest upset in sporting history.

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wrestling is all fake man....no upsets there

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Wrestling is fake?!?!?! Now I am upset :(

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Originally Posted by Cheese

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Originally Posted by RoSsoNeRI

wrestling is all fake man....no upsets there

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Wrestling is fake?!?!?! Now I am upset :(

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Now see what you gone & done...why dont you just tell him Santa isnt real either...:unsure: oops :P

Eh? Santa's as real as the Tooth Fairy, ffs :angry:

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Originally Posted by Barbarossa

Eh? Santa's as real as the Tooth Fairy, ffs :angry:

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^lol
How come no ones said that England winning the 1966 World Cup was (sort of) an upset. Brazil were favourites and due to controversial decisions by referees got knocked out. Another huge world cup upset was in 1978 when Brazil, due to a bad an extremely poor decision by the referee lost in the semi-final, they scored off a corner but the referee said he had already blown the whistle while the ball was in the air. :/

What Barb said about Denmark winning Euro '92 is certainly the biggest upset.

I think it all depends what country your from and what sport you follow.

I agree it was one of the biggest upsets of all time, but i would not say it was the biggest.

some have already mentioned "soccer" ones (i hate that word lol) but here is another one.

Sunderland beating Leeds in the 1972 FA Cup Final.

Leeds had won the league 2 years running, (1st division, premier division now) and Sunderland were languishing in the bottom of the 2nd division (championship now) and Sunderland won 1-0. Leeds were like the Chelsea/Man U/Arsenal of their time back then.

so that to me is one of the biggest upsets of all time. but there are to many to list realy, Hereford beating Newcastle United is another one that springs to mind.

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Originally Posted by stoi

I think it all depends what country your from and what sport you follow.

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I only said this Superbowl based on the fact that the Pats were undefeated winning 18 straight games with most of them totally demolishing their opponents.

When someone said Brazil in the 4th WC, I saw that they had a draw in round-robin competition so even if Brazil was considered powerhouse coming in (reminds me of seeding in college basketball), they still did not win all their games within the competition.

In NFL football, it has been 35 years since a team went undefeated. 35 years!

Back then, the season was shorter also.

I'm just looking at what's involved. I don't follow soccer but if the same dynamic was involved, I'd pick a soccer game.

I actually understand the Miracle On Ice due to how Russia was demolishing their opponents and they were pros getting beat by amateurs/college students.

As a matter of interest, what were the odds of the Giants winning the match?

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Originally Posted by Barbarossa

As a matter of interest, what were the odds of the Giants winning the match?

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Surprising as it may, the New York Giants remain a big underdog to win the 2008 Super Bowl, a week from the game's start. At the online sportsbook Bodog Sports, the point spread on the Super Bowl 2008 game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots remain stuck at -11 points chalk the Patriots and at another online betting company, Bookmaker, the point spread on the Super Bowl game is now back up to -12 points favoring the Pats. The betting odds on the NY Giants to win the Super Bowl 42 are now down to +380 and the New England Patriots are -460 favorite. The rumors surrounding Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his leg injury briefly lowered the point spread and betting odds on the Super Bowl 2008 game this week, but now everything is going back to "normal", i.e. New England is a big favorite. But Tom Brady's leg cast pictures and missing practice is not the only factor moving the odds. The Surprise comes from the fact that at all online sportsbooks the bettors are taking the +12/+11 on the NY Giants and they have been the most bet on event throughout the entire week, continuing into the weekend. Even the college basketball games weren't able to move the Giants from the top spot on the betting sheet, while the bets on the Patriots to cover the spread are at #4 in the top 10 most bet on events this weekend. Also, at No.6 in that list are the NY Giants winning the Super Bowl 2008...

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http://www.ogpaper.com/news/news-01627.html I had to got through several sites to find anything worth while since it has been several days. The odds on the Giants before the season ever started were 15/1 btw. in comparison, the odds that Buster Douglas would beat Mike Tyson were 42-1.

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Originally Posted by RPerry

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Surprising as it may, the New York Giants remain a big underdog to win the 2008 Super Bowl, a week from the game's start. At the online sportsbook Bodog Sports, the point spread on the Super Bowl 2008 game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots remain stuck at -11 points chalk the Patriots and at another online betting company, Bookmaker, the point spread on the Super Bowl game is now back up to -12 points favoring the Pats. The betting odds on the NY Giants to win the Super Bowl 42 are now down to +380 and the New England Patriots are -460 favorite. The rumors surrounding Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his leg injury briefly lowered the point spread and betting odds on the Super Bowl 2008 game this week, but now everything is going back to "normal", i.e. New England is a big favorite. But Tom Brady's leg cast pictures and missing practice is not the only factor moving the odds. The Surprise comes from the fact that at all online sportsbooks the bettors are taking the +12/+11 on the NY Giants and they have been the most bet on event throughout the entire week, continuing into the weekend. Even the college basketball games weren't able to move the Giants from the top spot on the betting sheet, while the bets on the Patriots to cover the spread are at #4 in the top 10 most bet on events this weekend. Also, at No.6 in that list are the NY Giants winning the Super Bowl 2008...

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http://www.ogpaper.com/news/news-01627.html I had to got through several sites to find anything worth while since it has been several days. The odds on the Giants before the season ever started were 15/1 btw. in comparison, the odds that Buster Douglas would beat Mike Tyson were 42-1.

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I have to admit the Buster Douglas one is a good one. I believe his mother had just died. That with Robin Given kicking Mike's ass did him in.

Buster didn't just beat him.

He demolished him (I think Mike did knock him down once).

Still a 35 year lull in undefeated seasons kills it.

We'd probably never see it for another 35 years.

It's way to hard to accomplish with the nature of football. In fact, it might very well be that Tom Brady's old injury played a part. I know one of their offensive lineman got injured during the game.

We saw what happened to the Pat's offensive line.:yup:

Demolished.

I agree that this Superbowl became an emotional upset, I wouldn't have been upset at all to watch someone go undefeated. I'm just pointing out that the Giants were far from a push-over, and also knowing they came awfully close to ending the Patriot's perfect season in week 17, I really don't consider this a statistical upset.

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Originally Posted by stoi

I think it all depends what country your from and what sport you follow.

I agree it was one of the biggest upsets of all time, but i would not say it was the biggest.

some have already mentioned "soccer" ones (i hate that word lol) but here is another one.

Sunderland beating Leeds in the 1972 FA Cup Final.

Leeds had won the league 2 years running, (1st division, premier division now) and Sunderland were languishing in the bottom of the 2nd division (championship now) and Sunderland won 1-0. Leeds were like the Chelsea/Man U/Arsenal of their time back then.

so that to me is one of the biggest upsets of all time. but there are to many to list realy, Hereford beating Newcastle United is another one that springs to mind.

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Given your examples I am going to have to assume you're a mackem.

1986 Mets beating the Boston Red Sox is a bigger upset. I'm pissed my hometown team lost to the Giants. They just didn't want it as much. The'll win it next year for sure!

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Originally Posted by RPerry

I agree that this Superbowl became an emotional upset, I wouldn't have been upset at all to watch someone go undefeated. I'm just pointing out that the Giants were far from a push-over, and also knowing they came awfully close to ending the Patriot's perfect season in week 17, I really don't consider this a statistical upset.

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The Pats still won. Many teams came close to beating them.

Baltimore was an ill-advised time out away from beating them. That was THE closest.

Philly and Indy also with the Pats coming from behind to win.

The Pats still won. Hell the Jets played 'em decent the second time.

The Pats still won.

It don't change 18 straight games in the NFL.

That ain't emotion. That's a statistical anomaly. I don't care if all 18 games were won by 1 point.

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Originally Posted by grimms

1986 Mets beating the Boston Red Sox is a bigger upset. I'm pissed my hometown team lost to the Giants. They just didn't want it as much. The'll win it next year for sure!

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Nah if you are talking baseball, the Sawks coming from 3 down to beat the Yanks in the World Series easily trumps that one.

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Originally Posted by Busyman™

Nah if you are talking baseball, the Sawks coming from 3 down to beat the Yanks in the World Series easily trumps that one.

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Actually, that was ALCS, not WS.

And that was more like the Yankees choking/meltdown than an upset. Bosox had a hell of a team in 04 so they were no pushovers.

Mets in '69 beating the O's. Now that was an upset.

Also, after having heard arguments from NFL experts, I've realized that this recent Giants win isn't the biggest upset in SB history either. It comes close but no cigar. I can see how Namath's Jets beating the Colts in '69 was a bigger upset seeing many folks considered the AFL as an inferior league back then before the merger. Also evidenced by the Packers pulvorizing its AFL counterparts in the 2 prior Superbowls. Heck, the 01 Pats were bigger underdogs when they played the Rams in the SB.

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Originally Posted by Busyman™

The Pats still won. Many teams came close to beating them.

Baltimore was an ill-advised time out away from beating them. That was THE closest.

Philly and Indy also with the Pats coming from behind to win.

The Pats still won. Hell the Jets played 'em decent the second time.

The Pats still won.

It don't change 18 straight games in the NFL.

That ain't emotion. That's a statistical anomaly. I don't care if all 18 games were won by 1 point.

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That still makes it an upset, but not the biggest upset ever. Forgive my lack of explaining that in the post. Upset, yes. biggest upset, hell no.

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Originally Posted by DefX

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Originally Posted by Busyman™

Nah if you are talking baseball, the Sawks coming from 3 down to beat the Yanks in the World Series easily trumps that one.

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Actually, that was ALCS, not WS.

And that was more like the Yankees choking/meltdown than an upset. Bosox had a hell of a team in 04 so they were no pushovers.

Mets in '69 beating the O's. Now that was an upset.

Also, after having heard arguments from NFL experts, I've realized that this recent Giants win isn't the biggest upset in SB history either. It comes close but no cigar. I can see how Namath's Jets beating the Colts in '69 was a bigger upset seeing many folks considered the AFL as an inferior league back then before the merger. Also evidenced by the Packers pulvorizing its AFL counterparts in the 2 prior Superbowls. Heck, the 01 Pats were bigger underdogs when they played the Rams in the SB.

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I think a team coming from 3 games down to win 4 in a row against the Yankees is bigger. I think don't that ever happened in a WS. Ever.

Also I've heard the same about the Jets. However, inferior league, whatever.

They were still pro players. It's not like it was a high school team.

It's hard to get bigger than 18-0 in the NFL. 35 years, man.

It wasn't the world series...

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Originally Posted by deuce6000

It wasn't the world series...

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Shit my bags. I keep saying WS.:frusty:

Yeah because the world series was just an after though after the great series between the sox and yanks.That year will be remembered for the alcs the world series was a given.