TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 1919 Sanford Stakes Upset Pulls the Upset 5 2 1950 World Cup Colonial Uprising 9 3 1969 Super Bowl Joe Jets Clip Colts 12 4 1969 World Series The Amazin Mets 15 5 1971 Stanley Cup Dryden’s Debut 18 6 1980 Winter Olympics Miracle on Ice 21 7 1983 NCAA Tourney Wolfpack’s Wild Win 25 8 1988 World Series Gibson Goes Deep 29 9 2000 Summer Olympics Gardner Grabs Gold 32 10 2007 Fiesta Bowl Big-Play Boise 35 11 2008 Super Bowl Nobody’s Perfect 39 12 2009 PGA Yang Tames Tiger 42 13 2011 Daytona 500 Rookie Surprise 44 Honorable Mentions 46 Glossary 47 For More Information 47 Index 48 About the Author 48
UPSET PULLS THE UPSET 1 Upset right holds off Man o War down the stretch at the 1919 Sanford Stakes 1919 SANFORD STAKES An upset is an unexpected result in a contest And there have been few more fitting examples of an upset than the 1919 Sanford Stakes That day a horse named Upset pulled off one of the biggest surprises in sports history Everybody expected an easy win for Man o War The undefeated two-year-old horse faced a good but not great field in the six-furlong race at Saratoga Race Course in New York Man o War had won all six of his races He was already being called the greatest racehorse in America even though it was still his first season And he had beaten Upset on the same track at the same distance 11 days earlier 5
