ESPN's Top Ten Sports Upsets

[GA Russell]

Here's a link to what ESPN considers the ten greatest upsets in sports history.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=354871

I didn't know that the origin of the use of the term "upset" to refer to a surprise sports victory was the name of a horse!

[T.D.]

Here's a link to what ESPN considers the ten greatest upsets in sports history.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=354871

I didn't know that the origin of the use of the term "upset" to refer to a surprise sports victory was the name of a horse!

I actually knew about Upset beating the great Man o' War...signs of a misspent life, no doubt.

The list is kinda heavy on NCAA hoops for my taste.

On another pre-SB 42 upset list, I saw (the then 181-0!) Dan Gable's upset loss to Larry Owings in the 1970 NCAA wrestling finals. That should have made the ESPN top 10 IMO. But I suppose they figured one wrestling item was enough.

[kenny weir]

Kinda an American slant there, but nothin' unexpected from the joint that has widely and loudly proclaimed the Superbowl "the most prestigous sport championship in the world" ad nauseum in the past week!

I just talked about the Upset upset with my sport buddies at work and decided to check.

Nice, story ... but - from Wikipedia:

George Thompson, a lexicographic researcher, used the full-text online search capabilities of the New York Times databases to disprove this claimed coinage. The verb to upset and the noun upset, were traced to the years 1865 and 1877, respectively.

Edited February 6, 2008 by kenny weir

[GA Russell]

Thanks Kenny!