[Other Sport] The Biggest Shock in Sports History

[Lenny Rider]

The biggest shock… for him it must have been Gus Poyet getting the sack on live TV

But did he?

 

[Simster]

Leicester for me. None of the other shocks listed were anything like as remote as 5000/1.

I remember enjoying the betting thread in foxestalk as people who had jizzed their annual fiver or tenner on them winning the title found themselves wondering whether or not to cash out as they went into the final ten games. It was lovely to see and a situation we all dream of.

 

[dsr-burnley]

I Googled this, as I couldn't believe that they'd played each other that many times in their 100 year history. The hit did however suggest that it's 13,000 victories by the Globe Trotters and only 6 wins for Washington, so true odds 2167 - 1.

I'm struggling to see how they managed that many fixtures though. That's something like 2-3 games a week!

From memory of a history of the Globetrotters, the matches were played competitively and their regular opponents were allowed to win if they could, but part of the show was that the Globetrotters had about 10 "set piece" routines that had to be allowed to score. So the other lot were heavily handicapped.

 

[dsr-burnley]

A huge one that hasn't got a mention yet is 17-year old Boris Becker winning Wimbledon in 1985.

This is an era of tennis that included such greats as McEnroe, Lendl, Connors, Wilander, Cash and Edberg.

The kid came from nowhere, he was fresh and exciting but also - confusingly - German.

I would argue it was a bigger shock than Raducanu at the US Open because of the quality of the field he was facing. There, fellow finalise Leylah Fernandez has since only reached one Slam singles QF in 10 attempts.

Not to decry the choice of Becker, but the reasoning is flawed. Becker in 1985 didn't play any of those players mentioned, in fact he didn't play anyone who ever won a grand slam singles. Kevin Curren was the best he played, and Curren reached just one other final in his career. Becker was 20th ranked in the world and had just won at Queens.

 

[Gwylan]

Really surprised to see so many votes for Leicester. Yes, it was a shock but this was a team that had a 20+ goal scorer, the footballer of the year, a guy who was probably the best defensive midfielder in the world and a top class keeper. It was a complete surprise but they had some top players - many of whom would have fitted in a PL team of the year

I voted for Japan because none of them was a top player and they were playing against a team rated number two in the world. It was a seismic shock when they won (and to show how much of a shock, South Africa went on to finish third in the tournament, while Japan were hammered by Scotland in their next game).

I still find it hard to believe that result

 

[Dave the OAP]

Little old seaside team gets to premier league shock After faffing about in the arse end of the lower leagues for 90% of its history.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Can't believe you've left off Torvill and Deans winter Olympic gold.