David vs. Goliath

5/11

The term "David vs. Goliath" is used so much in sports. It's a term used when one team seems clearly superior than  the other, and it would take quite a performance for the lesser team to beat them. To remind some readers the actually David vs. Goliath story:

The account of the battle between David and Goliath is told in 1 Samuel, chapter 17.^[3] Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines near the Valley of Elah. Twice a day for 40 days, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat, but Saul and all the Israelites are afraid. David, bringing food for his elder brothers, hears that Saul has promised to reward any man who defeats Goliath, and accepts the challenge. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armor, which David declines, taking only his sling and five stones from a brook.
David and Goliath confront each other, Goliath with his armor and shield, David with his staff and sling. "The Philistine cursed David by his gods." but David replies: "This day Jehovah will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that God saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is God’s, and he will give you into our hand."
David hurls a stone from his sling with all his might and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead, Goliath falls on his face to the ground, and David cuts off his head. The Philistines flee and are pursued by the Israelites "as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron". David puts the armor of Goliath in his own tent and takes the head to Jerusalem, and Saul sends Abner to bring the boy to him. The king asks whose son he is, and David answers, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

You may or may not be a soccer fan but today David once again beat Goliath. Wigan Athletic and Manchester City faced off in the FA Cup final. Manchester City are lasted year's premier league champions and this year's second place team, while Wigan Athletic are still fighting to stay in the premier league and not get relegated for next season. The game was deadlocked until the Ben Watson of Wigan scored off a header in the 91st minute of the game, catapulting Wigan to their first FA Cup title.

This game inspired me to list and remember a few of history's greatest "David" victories in sports.

10. NC State beat Hakeem Olajuwan, Clyde Drexler and the Houston Cougars in the 1983 NCAA Men's basketball Championship 54-52.

9. Number 8. seed Nuggets beat the top-seeded Seattle Supersonics in the first round of the 1994 playoffs after being down 2 games to none.

8. Number 8 seed Villanova number  beat number one seed Georgtown in the 1985 NCAA Men's Basketball championship 66-64.

7. Number six seed Juan Martin Del Potro beat world number one Roger Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open.

6. Upset beat lifetime undefeated Man 'o War in the Sanford Memorial Stakes in the 1900's. Upset was given 100-1 odds of victory.

5. Appalachian State beats number five nationally ranked Michigan in 2007 College Football regular season.

4. New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

3. Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson with one punch in 1990. He had a 42-1 odd of winning.

2. (As a Patriots fan, this one is painful) The New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots 17-14 in the 2007 Super Bowl, denying the Patriots of a perfect 19-0 season.

And Now........... For the number one sports upset of all time...........................


Drum roll...........................................................................................................







1. The game forever known as the miracle on ice: U.S.A beats the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics. 'Murica!