Underdogs

By Eugene Siegel

Underdogs

Beating overwhelming odds in sporting events.

A book of players and teams who miraculously won against all odds and all predictions.

The exciting, sometimes unbelivable, stories of victories seemed impossible.

Muhammad Ali over George Foreman, New York Jets win Super Bowl III, Upset beats Man O"War and many others.

Discover the excitiment in this new book by author Eugene E. Siegel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eugene Siegel
• Release date: Nov 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218279547

Book preview

Published by

JUNIPER HILLS STUDIO

Box 363

Littlerock, Ca. 93543

ISBN: 979-8-218-27954-7

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023

Juniper Hills, California

I learned as I researched my first book on the United States Supreme Court that there are surprises when you dig deep. This was true in this book.  I hadn’t a clue what an interesting person Buster Douglas was, or the politics around Tom Seaver of the New York Mets, or the world-wide love for the horse Man O’War. It is these surrounding stories behind the events that give life to the book.

My choices of all-time underdog victories are, of course, subjective. It is impossible not to impose my own beliefs on what are the greatest underdog wins. And sometimes it is a calculated choice. Is the Dodger victory over the Yankees in 1955 a greater underdog victory than the Mets in 1969? And sometimes it is a matter of a great team’s overcoming newly imposed obstacles that turn a successful team into an underdog. For example, Bill Russell’s Celtics are considered one of the best NBA teams of all-time but in their last rodeo they were thought to be too old, too wounded to ever claim a final championship. This made them underdogs.

I included David versus Goliath, not for any religious purposes, but because it is the best underdog story I could find from ancient times. A friend argued it should have been Ben-Hur winning the chariot race but that was a pure literary fiction while there is some limited independent reference to the David v. Goliath matchup.

If I had to pick a favorite from the list, it would be North Carolina State’s victory over the Houston team in the NCAA finals. The impossibility of the quest. The drama of Jim Valvano’s coaching and later tragic early death. This typified for me the best underdog story.

There are of course underdogs succeeding beyond the world of sports.  Truman beating Dewey in the 1948 presidential election is an example outside of athletic competition. And of course, everyday people sometimes overcome great odds to achieve an apparently out-of-reach goal.  Perhaps that is the lesson of this book. Determination, preparation, and refusal to quit can mean unexpected victory . . . even for an underdog!

Eugene E. Siegel

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTERS: 

ONE:   David vs. Goliath     1

TWO:   Super Bowl III  8

THREE:   Upset defeats Man O’War    32

FOUR:    Muhammad Ali v. George Foreman 48

FIVE:   USA vs. USSR in Olympic Hockey  66

SIX:   New York Mets win World Series  87

SEVEN:   Celtics vs. Lakers  115 

EIGHT:  Tyson vs. Douglas  152

NINE:  North Carolina State wins NCAA  176

CHAPTER ONE: David vs. Goliath

At the Valley of Elah , 3200 years ago, two armies lined up on opposite hillsides like spectators in a sports arena.  Down in the hot, dusty valley, the Philistine Goliath, undefeated in battle, emerged. A gigantic figure of a man.  The champ’s weapon of choice was a huge spear bearing an 8-pound tip of iron and a massive shield in the other hand.  And he was out in front, trash talking the Israelites, accusing A person holding an axe Description automatically generated them of cowardice and begging for anyone to take him on. Tallest of his people and alleged to be 8-feet tall but probably closer to 6-foot 9-inches, Goliath was a fearsome sight, and it is not hard to understand how Team Israel was having trouble finding a suitable challenger.  Who would want to fight this monster?

A person in a garment walking Description automatically generated Finally, a frail young man stood up and accepted the challenge, probably to the horror of the Israelites and the derisive laughter of the Philistines. 

David was the youngest member of a large family that included 12 sons, the older brothers having already enlisted in the Israelite army.  David was only at the Valley of Elah as a courier to deliver some supplies and was not a soldier or had any military or fight training.  His primary role was guarding the family’s livestock from wolves back at home.

THE DEATH MATCH BETWEEN David the Israelite and Goliath the Philistine is an all-time story of underdog triumph. Unfortunately, there is no existing play-by-play description in the Philistine language, which has disappeared from history.  We must rely on David’s side for the description of the fight of the millennium. Except for brief descriptions in ancient Egyptian scrolls there are no other written contemporaneous accounts of the match.

Death matches as a sporting and betting event were very popular in the ancient world.  Matches were often one-sided.  Generally, unarmed prisoners or criminals fought against trained gladiators in bouts held in the Colosseum of Rome or staged in various arenas around the ancient world. This type of event dates before recorded history.  But a huge betting opportunity would come when more equal opponents were matched against each other.  This could be human verses human or human verses wild animal. These cruel sports gave very little chance that an underdog could ever beat the odds and score a victory.

But it did happen, in the Valley of Elah, around 3200 years ago. The valley is about twenty miles east of the Mediterranean Sea and about halfway from the sea to the town of Bethlehem. The valley is longer than wide, with two hills that border the battle scene.  On the west hill was the camp of the Israelites with a commanding view of the valley.  On the east hill, the Philistines set up their camp with an equally good view.  The positions of the warring parties put them in the equivalent of an audience in a huge outdoor arena with a clear view of the valley floor.

THE PHILISTINE CHAMPION Goliath was a member of the Philistine tribe. The origin of this warrior race is still an unsolved mystery. Some historians believe they were part of the so-called "Sea People" who went on a rampage around 1200 BCE, attacking Egypt, the middle East, and causing death and destruction in their path.  There is evidence these conquerors were the Phoenicians, although that remains unproven. Among the Philistines, a people dedicated to war, Goliath was considered the ultimate champion.

Regardless of their origin, the Philistines subsequently occupied multiple cities along what is now the southern coast of Israel including Gaza, a name the Philistine’s gave to one of their cities.  Besides their dedication to war, they had a thriving culture filled with artistic and agricultural expressions that continued until their ultimate destruction by the Babylonians in the 7th century BCE.

Meanwhile, the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt and established themselves in Canaan, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.  The Canaan land mass included parts of modern Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. This Israelite nation was ruled at the time of the match by a King Saul, who had limited military resources against the powerhouse Philistines who were bent on conquering them.

The Israelites wanted to free themselves from Philistine domination, but the war was not going in their favour.  The Philistine’s had a major weapon.  The ability to mine and forge iron into weapons. This gave them a significant advantage, while the other side was stuck with old school brass weapons, a much softer metal. But despite this, the Israelites continued to fight back.

As a betting underdog, David had little chance to defeat Goliath. Nevertheless, in a show of bravado, David turned down Saul’s offer to wear the King’s armour but, instead, came out to the field in everyday clothes armed only with his slingshot.

The slingshot was a weapon often used by shepherds to scare off predators.  It was a cloth cup the size of a large eye patch in the middle of two long cords.  The whole thing was made of leather or hemp.  The user put a rock in the cup, grabbed the ends of the cords, and swung it around the head to build momentum and then released it. In the hands of a warrior, it was a devastating weapon, but David was only 16 and not trained as a soldier.

While Goliath was probably laughing, the Philistine army yelling insults and the Israelites watching in horror, David calmly loaded a rock into his sling, twirled the weapon around his body and hurled the stone straight at his opponent.  A good marksman maybe, or lucky, the rock hit Goliath right in the middle of his forehead and knocked him out cold.  The champ probably never even saw it coming.

Goliath fell face first into the dirt before the stunned crowd.  David picked up the fallen Philistine’s sword and cut off Goliath’s head and showed it to the gallery. An underdog triumph for the ages. The Philistines were shocked, and the Israelites rushed into battle and won that day. 

Later, David returned to Canaan and entered politics emerging as the King and, ultimately, he defeated the Philistines ending the long war.  As a spectator sport, fights to the death occurred throughout the ancient world.  It was an especially popular betting event in the Roman gladiator era. But no other disregarded competitor succeeded as did David, securing his place as an all-time underdog who prevailed.

CHAPTER TWO: Super Bowl III

The aftermath of World War One, the Roaring 20s, was a golden age in sports.  Baseball, led by Babe Ruth and the mighty New York Yankees, boxing with stars such as Jack Dempsey, college football and the quadrennial Olympics were well covered by newsreels and newspapers, and especially the new technology, radio. Sports were followed closely by the public.  Basketball, invented by James Naismith in 1891, grew in popularity in the era, especially at the college level. Horse racing and other betting opportunities flourished during the era.

In 1919, a group of investors, wanting to cash in on the rise of sports popularity, met in Canton, Ohio, and formed the American Professional Football Conference which began play in 1920, adopting the name National Football League in 1922. Jim Thorpe, the Olympic star, was the new league’s president and superstar player which helped build public interest in the new sport of pro football using American rules.  Only two original teams are still in the NFL, the Chicago Bears (known then as the Decatur Staleys) and the Arizona Cardinals (originally the Chicago Cardinals.)  The Green Bay Packers joined in 1921.

With the rise of radio, sports took a predominant place in American entertainment and fans filled stadiums to watch their favorite teams and listened intently to team radio broadcasts.  Sports stars earned money and fame as advertisers and were sought out by companies to represent their products adding to the popularity of their sports. And, slowly, the NFL gained traction in the crowded fight for the public interest, although in this era