Punching above it's weight
londonguy
Breathe, breathe in the air
For those of you that may be aware Leicester City FC (some of you guys may have trouble saying Leicester) recently won the English Football (soccer) premier league, which everyone is shocked at but well received by nearly everyone. In sporting terms they have punched well above their weight.
Are there any present or recent instances of sporting teams punching above their weight from smaller cities over there?
Incidentally Leicester is a city in the East Midlands part of England, it is Britain's answer to Pakistan and is a complete dump.
Are there any present or recent instances of sporting teams punching above their weight from smaller cities over there?
Incidentally Leicester is a city in the East Midlands part of England, it is Britain's answer to Pakistan and is a complete dump.
14 comments
There is a great movie called "Hoosiers", which tells of a small town basketball team that becomes state champion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33DEm0eW…
I suppose in recent American sports history, there is the Kansas City Royals, who won the World Series last year.
No I'm not being a smart ass, I just can't believe that with the current Muslim tensions in Europe that London would actually vote one in as Mayor. Is it self guilt or do the Brits have a subliminal death wish?
Over in the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt won (fourth in a row) against Borussia Dortmund (who has not lost this calendar year) 1-nil setting up the final match of the season with Werder Bremen. If Eintracht wins or draws the final match, they've avoided relegation, and Werder is either headed to a playoff with FC Nurnberg or relegated. If Eintacht loses, they play FC Nurnberg to determine who gets demoted/promoted or if they both stay in their leagues.
So, this is an yet another example of a team punching well below their weight all season, then avoiding relegation at the last moment, maybe. So if Eintracht win the Bundesliga *next* year, Eintracht will have pulled a Leicester City.
@ TheeOSU. For various reasons London has the smallest proportion of English people living there than any other British city. On the face of it your observation would seem correct but he probably got a shit load of votes BECAUSE he is Muslim. The only real alternative to Sadiq Kahn was Zac Goldsmith for the conservatives, he ran a very negative campaign and appeared to not be that interested in winning, he was a bit of an asshole anyway.
Don't take what happens in London as an indication of the way us Brits think.
I know little of English football, but one sports commentator said a more equal comparison to LC, would be if a Division 3 college team won the NBA title
In FA Cup, open to the top 10 divisions of English Football, is where you find Giant Killers, where a group of semi-pro footballers can beat a top flight team.
What you have to understand about England there have been four teams who have one, ManU most often (leading to anybody but ManU movement.), Chelsey, Arsenal, Man City, and back in the earlist days, Blackburn Rover was the exception who proved the rule.
If you were to pick likely to win other than them this season it would be Liverpool (who while never finishing first has spent most years at the top of the table) or the Spurs.
So the 5000-1 odds against Leicester City were more to do with the odds are long for all but a half-dozen teams finishing at the top.
Moral - never underestimate the power of a slice of pizza.