SURPRISE HAPPENS

Against All Odds: Let’s Relive 10 Legendary Sports Upsets!

Image: Daniel Damasio

No victory tastes better than an elusive one. Be it in the realm of sports, everyday life, work, or anywhere else, the achievement that took effort is more appreciated than the one that comes easy.

The team that is expected to lose a competition is called the underdog. For several possible reasons, the odds are stacked against this participant and not much is expected from them. This is why an underdog victory, in true David and Goliath style (ideally not deadly, though), is always surprising and often welcomed. Below are ten examples of this peculiar situation. Did you know about them?

Image: Thomas Park

In the 2007 Super Bowl, the Patriots were a clear favorite: undefeated with a 16-0 record during the regular season and numerous offensive scoring records. The Giants came into the playoffs with a 10-6 record, as a wild card team.

Until the fourth quarter, the two teams only scored a combined 10 points. But that was when things changed unexpectedly. A series of unbelievable plays by the Patriots ended with the winning touchdown by Plaxico Burress that gave the Giants a 17-14 victory. The Giants won the Super Bowl and kept the Patriots from having a truly undefeated season.

Image: Wesley Tingey

If you ever wondered what 5000-1 odds look like, you can go back to the unbelievable victory achieved by Leicester City in the 2014-2015 Premier League championship.

The modest club that had been lucky to remain in that very league during the previous season, took advantage of down years for the big teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal to become the most unlikely champions in English football.

Image: Moises Alex

Winning a Wimbledon Championship at 17 years old? Check! That is if you are Boris Becker. In the build-up to the 1985 Wimbledon Championships, the 17-year-old German focused his preparations at Queens Club. When he won the warm-up event, commentators declared him a ‘future Wimbledon champion’ – little did they know they’d be proven right three weeks later in the tennis tournament of the summer.

As the tournament progressed and both John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors succumbed to the big-serving South African Kevin Curren, the improbable started to look increasingly likely.

Curren was still the strong favorite when the pair met in the final, but Becker played with a confidence beyond his years and beat the odds.

Image: Jesper Giortz-Behrens

Granted, Niki Lauda was no underdog. He was born into a wealthy family in Austria, and at the height of his career, he drove for Ferrari. But, what makes his story so interesting is the fact that he came back from a terrible accident at the Nürburgring in 1976, when he became trapped in his car and suffered very severe burns.

After experiencing those injuries, he returned to the track just six weeks later, appearing at Monza with his burns still bandaged, and only lost the 1976 championship by a point to James Hunt after retiring from the Japanese Grand Prix due to unsafe conditions.

Image: dylan nolte

Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey was not supposed to lose her UFC bantamweight title in her match against Holly Holm. She was at the top of her game and had dominated her last three fights, winning them in 34, 16, and 14 seconds, and positioning her as the heavy favorite.

But the boxing specialist Holm dismissed all that, as she neutralized Rousey's peerless grappling skill and knocked out the favorite with a brutal second-round kick.

Image: Mike Bowman

Betting on a team that had won 10 of the last 12 pennants coming into the 1960 World Series would have seemed like a pretty sure thing, right? Think again.

The New York Yankees were the clear favorites but the Pittsburgh Pirates' Bill Mazeroski hit one of the most famous home runs in MLB baseball history in Game 7 and took the championship home.

Image: Chino Rocha

The legendary Roger Federer intended to win his sixth consecutive US Open championship in New York and it seemed like a very possible thing for the Swiss to achieve. But things did not go according to plan when the tall Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, the No. 6 seed, managed to upset the then-world No. 1.

Del Potro forced the winner to play five sets before taking the fifth 6-2. Given that Del Potro defeated Federer and never won another major title, this result has never ceased to amaze.

Image: Soheb Zaidi

Being an unknown player in a high-profile tournament is not the kind of thing that makes you an instant favorite, and not even being expected to play adds another layer of uncertainty. John Daly found himself in that very predicament going into the 1991 USPGA Championship.

As it happened, Nick Price withdrew to be at the birth of his first child. And eight players on the alternates list could not get to Crooked Stick, Indianapolis to replace Price. But the ninth reserve got in his car, drove through the night, and arrived there on Thursday ready to play.

Daly became an instant crowd favorite and with their backing went on to defy odds of 1000-1 to win the major.

Image: Markus Spiske

And a miracle it was. At least for the audience who might not have been aware of the hard work that led to such an epic victory. The United States men’s Olympic hockey team was not exactly poised to defeat the mighty Soviet hockey machine at the 1980 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey final in Lake Placid. But it did.

The Soviet team had dominated for years, and even the most hopeful wondered if the United States would even score in the game, let alone win. Instead, Team USA pulled off an amazing upset, winning the game 4-3 and earning themselves a place in history.

Image: Metin Ozer

Living up to your nickname can be hard if it is "The Greatest". But that was not the case for the legendary boxer, Muhammad Ali, who regained his heavyweight title after three years of exile.

The road was not a direct path to glory as, upon his return, he lost to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton. But the unthinkable (for most) happened after that when he beat the fearsome George Foreman who had dismantled Norton and Frazier both inside two brutal rounds.

Ali’s tactics in the "Rumble in the Jungle" saw him knock out an exhausted Foreman in the eighth round and win back the heavyweight title at the ripe age of 32.

THE NAMING GAME

Let's Explore These 10 Fun Facts Behind Our Names

Image: Jon Tyson

Names hold a very important place in almost every culture, shaping identities in special ways. Across the globe, the formation and significance of names change, yet they remain a crucial point of individual identity and cultural and family heritage.

Ever wondered about the story behind your name? Can you guess which famous artist had more than 15 names? Do you know which was, until now, the most common first name among U.S. presidents?

If you want to uncover the answers to these fun questions and more, join us as we reveal 10 surprising facts about names!

Image: David Everett Strickler

It is common knowledge that, so far, the US has seen 46 presidents in its history, but do you know which was the very first commander-in-chief with a middle name?

It took George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe for the United States to finally welcome a president with a middle name. And that honor goes to John Quincy Adams, the sixth man to lead our nation, from 1825 to 1829.

His distinctive name comes from his mother's maternal grandfather, Colonel John Quincy, who also gave his name to the town of Quincy, Massachusetts!

Image: Kin Li

Of course, President John Quincy Adams wasn't the only one with a middle name! While many people and celebrities proudly embrace their middle names, others prefer to keep them secret. But here's a fact you might not have considered: some cartoons have middle names, too!

This is the case of Donald Duck, whose middle name went unnoticed for many years, maybe because it's not the most common name out there. The full name of this adorable duck is Donald Fauntleroy Duck! Fancy, don't you think?

Image: Adam Jang

Unlike countries like the United States, where parents have wide freedom when choosing a name for their babies, Iceland has a naming system that truly sets it apart from the rest.

In 1991, Iceland established its Naming Committee, which has the big responsibility of approving -or disapproving- names for its citizens. Based on Icelandic grammar and tradition, this initiative seeks to safeguard the nation's culture.

To do so, Icelanders have carefully composed lists of approved names for boys and girls. So, if you want to live in Iceland and aspire to name your newborn after a beloved foreign rock star, you must first undergo the scrutiny of the Committee.

Image: PassionatoAssai, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

There are people with only one first name, while others proudly carry two. There are people out there with three, four, or even five names! And if you think that's crazy, wait until you hear how many names this famous artist had.

While the world knows him as Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter's full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. No, it's not a joke! Imagine having more than 20 words in your ID; maybe even Picasso himself had trouble remembering his full name by heart!

Image: Sean Bernstein

We all know Barbie and Ken, icons of fashion and fun. But did you ever stop to wonder about their full identities? While Barbie's full name, Barbara Millicent Roberts, might be familiar, Ken's last name may probably have been overlooked.

However, Barbie's boyfriend has a full -and quite long- name of his own: Kenneth Sean "Ken" Carson Jr.

Just like Barbie, who was named after Ruth Handler's daughter, Ken's name is a family matter too; it's derived from her son's first name.

Image: Christopher Eden

William Shakespeare's name, synonymous with literary greatness, is famous worldwide, but what about his wife? While her face might not be as instantly recognizable, once you hear her name, it will definitely ring a bell.

Ok, let's end the mystery: the wife of the very talented and well-remembered Shakespeare was Anne Hathaway. Yes, you read it right; she had the same name and last name as the beloved actress who amused us in the 2006 unforgettable comedy The Devil Wears Prada. But, of course, there is a slight difference: the first Anne Hathaway came into the world in 1556, a good 426 years before her namesake!

Image: Ronda Darby

Throughout US history, we've seen some presidents with unusual names, such as Millard, Grover, and Rutherford. But among these unique names, there is one that stands out for its recurrence, as it has reached the presidency not once, not twice, but six times!

"James" is a familiar name to almost everyone, and it also had a place inside the White House. The six presidents who have proudly held the name James were: James Madison, James Monroe, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, James A. Garfield, and Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter Jr.)

Image: Jamie Street

If you have a pet, you know that choosing the perfect name for it is a meaningful moment, right?

Well, while we pride ourselves on our creativity and originality when it comes to naming our puppies, there seems to be a trend repeating across the country.

Based on a 2023 report, it turns out there are four names that are quite the favorites among American dog owners: Bella, Luna, Charlie, and Max. And it's easy to see why; they're just adorable!

Image: Simone Savoldi

You might be aware that Popes don't retain their birth names upon assuming the papacy. Instead, they adopt a new name as a tribute to a saint or revered figure they admire and wish to highlight.

However, this tradition hasn't been followed by all Popes in history. There have been some Popes that kept their original birth names, even though more than 460 years have passed since the last one made that decision.

Marcellus II, who assumed in 1555, was born Marcello Cervini degli Spannochi, and he was the last Pope to use his name during his papacy.

Image: Random Institute

Have you ever heard of patronymics? A patronymic is a name or middle name component that is based on the father's first name. It may seem confusing at first, but let's look at an example to clarify the situation.

Patronymics have impacted the evolution of surnames in many cultures, and some countries use them to this day, one of them being Russia. In general, Russian middle names have a direct connection to the father's name, including a form of patronymic. For example, if the father's name is Petr, the son's middle name would be Petrovich (Petr's son). If it is a daughter, it would be Petrovna (Petr's daughter).