Some Great Moments in Sports The biggest and strangest thing to ever happen in hockey happened at the winter Olympics in 1980. The Soviet Union had a hockey team called the Red Army hockey team and they had won the gold medal in five of the last six contests. Even though professional players couldn’t play in those days most people who knew about hockey realized they were really professionals playing against amateur teams. The United States hockey team was not thought of as being a threat to anyone, but as they began to climb through the ranks of national hockey teams people began to wonder if they were really better than first thought. The team was the youngest in the history of the Olympics. When they played Czechoslovakia, the Czechs were the clear favorites and yet the U.S. beat them 7 – 3 to the surprise of everyone. Sweden was considered one of the best teams and we didn’t beat them, but we tied them 2 – 2 and made it into the final round as an undefeated team, but so did the Soviet team. Surely, we would get our butts kicked, after all we were certainly outclassed. After the first period finished the score was tied 2 – 2. When the second period finished the Soviets were ahead 3 – 2. Then came the third and final period and to the utter surprise of everyone the U.S. scored 2 more goals and beat the greatest Olympic hockey team in the history of the Olympics. Today something unlikely is also happening, a first year National Hockey League team the Los Vegas Golden Knights are leading the Pacific Division. This is the first time in the history of hockey a first-year team ever did this. In 1919 a boxing match took place between Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard. Willard was the champ and a heavy favorite. He was known as the Pottawatomie Giant and was the Heavyweight World Champion. He was the one who knocked out the famous champ Jack Johnson. Now it was the time for him to fight Jack Dempsey. He didn’t think much of Dempsey and neither did a lot of boxing fans. Willard was knocked down in the first round, this was the first time he was ever knocked down. This was only the beginning, because he would hit the canvas another six times before the round was over. While we can’t be absolutely sure of Willard’s injuries it has been said he received broken ribs, a broken jaw, a broken nose, had four teeth knocked out and lost hearing in one ear. I didn’t even count the numerous cuts and bruises he suffered. He took the worst beating in the history of boxing without dying in the ring. Dempsey the unlikely challenger had beat the world heavy weight champion to a pulp. In 2016 a baseball game was played which many consider to be the biggest upset ever. It was a contest between the Cubs and the Indians. It was also game 7 of the world series. The Cubs had gone 108 years without winning a world series and many believed they would drop this one. They hadn’t even won a pennant for 71 years. The cubs had managed to get a 5 – 1 lead and then increased it to 6 – 3 to the surprise of everyone, but the Indians came back and tied the game in the eighth on a Rajai Davis two-run homer. To notch the tension up even higher a rain delay was called and the two teams and fans had to sit around biting their nails. When the delay was over Kyle Schwarber singled in the 10th inning and he was replaced by a pinch-runner Albert Almora Jr. He then advanced on a fly out to the wall. Anthony Rizzo was intentionally walked and this set up Zobrist who hit a double and that was it. The National Football League has had many memorable games, but the team which is credited with having the best season in modern football is the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Football has a short season compared to hockey or baseball, but has one of the biggest fan bases and in 1972 these fans couldn’t believe their eyes. The Miami Dolphins had accomplished something no other team had, they had not only won all 14 of their regular games, but had also won the playoffs and the Super Bowl. We may never see a feat like this again. Paul Edward Anderson was born on October 17, 1932 and died on 15 August, 1994. His name may not mean much to those who do not follow the summer Olympics, but many of the records he set in weightlifting are still unbeaten today. He was an Olympic gold medalist and a World Champion and two-time National Champion in Olympic weightlifting. Many consider him to be the strongest man who ever lived. When Anderson traveled to the Soviet Union for a weightlifting competition the Soviets laughed at him until the competition started. At the time he lifted the heaviest weight overhead that any human had ever lifted. He had lifted 402.5 pounds. He did this in the two-hand press. In Germany he increased this weight to 407.7 pounds. Even the Soviets would cheer him on during competitions. President Nixon called him to the White House to thank him for being such a wonderful good will ambassador. It is said the biggest upset in auto racing history came about in the German Grand Prix of 1935. The German companies Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union had an almost unlimited budget for their cars the Silver Arrows. One of the drivers in the race was racing a three-year-old Alfa Romeo, he was Tazio Nuvolari. How could a car like this have any chance in this race? His car was powered by an engine which had 100 horse power less than the Germans, to make things even worse. Somehow, he managed to get into second place, but then lost it during a long pit stop. When he saw what had happened he drove like a wild man and got back into second place behind Manfred von Brauchtisch in one of the German cars. As laps went by Nuvolari kept getting closer to the leader. Then it happened, von Brauchtisch blew one of his rear tires and Nuvolari got into the lead and won the race. |
