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Post Info TOPIC: Sporting Shocks


Tennis legend

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Sporting Shocks


So Leicester City have duly won the Premier League with two matches to spare  

After their great escape from relegation last season, they started this season with a new manager in Claudio Ranieri and were duly priced at 5000/1 to win the league.

In front for most of the season, that bubble just never burst and many grown men and women cried last night and err some got a bit tipsy.

It is being called by many the greatest shock / sensation in their lifetimes, not just in football but in sport generally.

What do you think might match Leicester winning the Premier League ( in a very different era from such as Derby County and Nottingham Forest, and indeed Blackburn Rovers ) in sport generally? Any contenders from tennis? Maybe less heralded from other parts of the globe / in sports we're less familiar with?



-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 3rd of May 2016 09:21:47 AM

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A bigger shock than Leicester winning the PL. ?    Ummm .....

Let me get back to you on that one. I could be a while.  wink



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In an an attempt to avoid tabloid style, "X stuns Y", "A sends B crashing out", style commentary, I give you the obtuse:

14 Aug 1948 - London - Eric Hollies takes a wicket 0.06 runs too early
11 Nov 1986 - Toulouse - Ross Norman wins a match
05 May 1986 - Sheffield - After 8 years Joe Johnson wins his first ever tournament
04 Jun 1987 - Madrid - Danny Harris fails to lose a race
11 Feb 1990 - Tokyo - James Douglas hammers some iron
26 Jun 1992 - Stockholm - At short notice, Denmark cancels a holiday
01 Oct 2000 - Sydney - Rulon Gardner doesn't lie down
16 Feb 2002 - Salt Lake City - As he did in his previous race, Steven John Bradbury completes a race
15 Aug 2004 - Athens - Puerto Rico score 92 points

I could go on for a rather long time with this - there are lots of American ones from earlier in the century, but they often need familiarity with the players, or rules of those games, so I've avoided most of that.

Full disclosure: Spurs fan. Very well done Leicester, thoroughly deserved and inspirational

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I tried to get that 5000/1 at the start of the season, and I struggled to find it. Otherwise I would have had a bet ;) Thought Leicester would have a good season, but the title not going to one of the big 4/5 was just unthinkable. Spurs odds weren't too short either !



-- Edited by philwrig on Tuesday 3rd of May 2016 02:20:46 PM

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For me, Aberdeen winning the Cup Winners Cup is right up there.



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Steven Bradbury - wasn't he the speed skater that won after all the other competitors took each other out? Some of the other I have worked out, some mean nothing to me....

Does Boris Becker count for winning Wimbledon at 17 and not being seeded?




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14 Aug 1948 - London - Eric Hollies takes a wicket 0.06 runs too early
Donald Bradman's last test innings, 'The Don' needs just 4 runs to end with a career test average of 100.00 runs.
He is bowled, second ball, by a googly from Eric Hollies, for a duck.
This leaves him with a career test average of 99.94.
I recommend listening to, the usually so poetic, John Arlott's magnificent and flabbergasted commentary news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8036237.stm

11 Nov 1986 - Toulouse - Ross Norman wins a match
In 1982 Jahangir Khan won a full entire top tier event without losing a single point in any round. He hadn't lost a squash match in the last 555 encounters, spanning 5 years and 8 months.
Plucky Kiwi, Ross Norman, had vowed, ""One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him", for years. Finally, he did.

05 May 1986 - Sheffield - After 8 years Joe Johnson wins his first ever tournament.
A decided journeyman, never winning a pro title at any level for eight years, Joe Johnson arrived at The Crucible in 1986 as a very long outsider.
He made his way into the final against the, very interesting, three times World Champion, Steve Davis, and prevailed 18-12.
He made the final again the next year, but lost. He only ever won two other events, both very minor. He tried wearing glasses even sillier than Dennis Taylor's, but to no avail. His star had shone brief and bright.

04 Jun 1987 - Madrid - Danny Harris fails to lose a race
Ed Moses would almost certainly have been a three time, consecutive, olympic champion at sprint athletics most arduous event, the 400m hurdles, had America not boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Games.
He did alright though. From 1977 to 1987 he was undefeated in 122 consecutive races.
In the race in Madrid where he finally lost, he hit uncharacteristically hit the last hurdle with his lead leg, and was unable to use his trademark strong finish that destroyed so many fields.

11 Feb 1990 - Tokyo - James Douglas hammers some iron
James 'Buster' Douglas defeated 'Iron' Mike Tyson.
In an unpredictable contest, such as boxing can be, in a one vs one contest, Douglas was a 42-1 underdog.

26 Jun 1992 - Stockholm - At short notice, Denmark cancels a holiday
Two weeks before they were due to begin the 1992 European Football Championships, Yugoslavia were disqualified from participating, as that former country broke up and splintered, in the maelstrom of war.
Some of the Danish players were already on the beach enjoying some R'n'R when they were drafted in as replacements.
They defeated the holders, the Netherlands, in the early stages, and made their improbable way to the final against reigning World Champions, a newly re-unified Germany (although, strictly, West Germany won Italia '90), where they pulled of the unlikeliest victories 2-0. 13 of the 20 players in the squad came from domestic Danish football, and the only really big names were, fittingly enough, Peter Schmeichel in goal, & the dazzling Brian Laudrup.
But, like Leicester, they were a great team.

01 Oct 2000 - Sydney - Rulon Gardner doesn't lie down
Being generous, Rulon Gardner looked like a great hulking lummox.
His opponent in the Gold Medal match of the Sydney Olympics for the 130+ kg division of the Greco-Roman Wrestling, Russian Ultra-Hyper-Mega-Superstar, Aleksandr Karelin, did not.
Karelin had also not lost a bout for thirteen years. He had won the Gold in the past three Olympics: 1988, 1992, 1996. His career record going in to that match was 887-1.
But, every lummox has their day, and this was Gardner's.
This one is not without controversy due to a technical ruling. Bring the result up with many Russians at your own peril. Here is the podium shot from the medal ceremony, in which Karelin looks like he'd happily rend worlds asunder.

16 Feb 2002 - Salt Lake City - As he did in his previous race, Steven John Bradbury completes a race.
The jammiest so and so ever?
He was a good short track speed skater at this best, but that is not the source of his fame.
Words don't really do this one justice, so just watch it for yourself - with Dougie Donnelly's unbelieving commentary. Bradbury is in the green.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/25144675
OK, recovered from that yet?
Well, the way that Bradbury got in to the final at all, was THE EXACT SAME THING happened for him in the semi-final.
He gives motivational speeches now where he seems to say, "aw, stick with it, ya never know what might happen."

15 Aug 2004 - Athens - Puerto Rico score 92 points
In response to that 92 points the might of the USA 'Dream Team' manage 73.
This was no under strength side, this was the very best of the best of the NBA, all much decorated and household names to any NBA fans.

  • Tim Duncan
  • Allen Iverson
  • Lamar Odom
  • Dwyane Wade, Jr.
  • Richard Jefferson
  • LeBron James
  • Shawn Marion
  • Stephon Marbury
  • Carlos Boozer
  • Carmelo Anthony
  • Amar'e Stoudemire

The names may not mean anything to you, but these are all household names for basketball followers (because many Americans follow only one or two of their big sports, it's not fair to say that all Americans would know them, but that's true of every sport)
Puerto Rico were virtually invisible, but again, the best team.

 



-- Edited by insomniacfolder on Tuesday 3rd of May 2016 06:37:44 PM

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Big shock I agree, with hindsight you can normally explain why .... Fantastic form from Christmas 2015 through to May was discounted, a lots of pace and lethal finishing coming in a variety of formats, a threat in the air, a fox in the box and some skill and trickery around it. Solid defence, no mess keeper with a cannon for a boot.... It was so obvious that only 12 people picked up the 5000-1 offer at Wiiliam Hills, and I wasn't one of them.

Phenomenal achievement! who would have thought that Man U, Citee, Chelsea and Arsenal would all be so poor.

Boris Becker winning Wimbledon was one of those argh moments for me as I'd spent the previous Easter watching him win the World young masters tournament which was televised and he was amazing, any thing other than revising and had thought this guy is special, Wimbledon came round so quickly (having just started uni) I missed the opportunity of investing a tenner! Much though I hope they do, I can't see this Leicester team going on to greatness although they are probably there already.

Worcester City 2 Liverpool 1 FA Cup Jan 1959



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If you fancy odds of 5000-1, how much do you put down? A pound, or really go for it with £100 or so? How deep was their faith?

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I'm sure a spokeman for Skybet said they had received around £200 worth of bets - liability of £1m

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japan beating south africa in the Rugby world cup last year is up there as a one off achievement

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Congratulations to all Cleveland Browns fans, despite 635 days frequenting their stadium The factory of sadness they had not seen a win. This week they finally got that win for their fans.

At last they have broken the curse of Randy Leaner which now hangs heavy over the New factory of sadness . Villa Park.

I even have a scarf one side Cleveland Browns one side Villa. Sorry not even a wonder goal dulls the pain.

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Heres one of Vandys (where has he gone?) brave predictions.

Villa 14-1 to win the championship? 10-3 for promotion. I will have some of that because it is the hope that kills you and all we need is a centre back or more pecisely to play one there.

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The stuff of legends! What on earth were they doing there in the first place??

Great Britains Ice Hockey team (ranked 22) made the elite world group for the tournament in the Slovakia taking over a 1000 supporters and playing play off hockey from the outset had gained an immense amount of respect from the supporters of other nations. They lost their first 6 games conceding 36 and scoring 5.

It did not start well with going 3-0 down to France (ranked 13) in the relegation match conceding one game in open play and then two in a 5 second period during a power play.

Remarkably they came back to WIN yes WIN 4-3 with the winner in extra time and therefore remain in the elite group for the next tournament in Switzerland in 2020!

An absolutely remarkable achievement for a country that has never produced a player good enough to play in the NHL!!

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Oakland2002 wrote:

The stuff of legends! What on earth were they doing there in the first place??

Great Britains Ice Hockey team (ranked 22) made the elite world group for the tournament in the Slovakia taking over a 1000 supporters and playing play off hockey from the outset had gained an immense amount of respect from the supporters of other nations. They lost their first 6 games conceding 36 and scoring 5.

It did not start well with going 3-0 down to France (ranked 13) in the relegation match conceding one game in open play and then two in a 5 second period during a power play.

Remarkably they came back to WIN yes WIN 4-3 with the winner in extra time and therefore remain in the elite group for the next tournament in Switzerland in 2020!

An absolutely remarkable achievement for a country that has never produced a player good enough to play in the NHL!!


 It did sound heroic and apparently the goal tender won lots of plaudits and may well get spotted by the big leagues 



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