Punching above it's weight

14 comments

• jackslash

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  8 years ago

  I had heard about Leicester City, even though I don't follow football/soccer). There is a great movie called "Hoosiers", which tells of a small town basketball team that becomes state champion. [view link]
• DandyDan

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  8 years ago

  Way back in my family history, my ancestors came from Leicestershire, and people with my last name are very much on the LCFC bandwagon. I have made it a goal to meet some of them sometime. I will have to keep my preference for Spurs to myself, though. I suppose in recent American sports history, there is the Kansas City Royals, who won the World Series last year.
• clubdude

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  8 years ago

  I follow the sport since I got introduced to it very young. I would of never thought Leicester would of won the English League championship. It gives me hope that the Detroit Lions will some day do the same!
• TheeOSU

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  8 years ago

  Londonguy, a question for you. Is the new Mayor of London punching above his weight? 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?
• nicepants

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  8 years ago

  The Detroit Lions will never ever win the Premiership. 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.
• londonguy

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  8 years ago

  ^ I admire your knowledge of European football. @ 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.
• Jackmd

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  8 years ago

  The Green Bay Wisconsin's NFL football team from time to time wins the Superbowl. They have a population of about 100,000 and beat teams of city's with millions of people. Go Packers.
• motorhead

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  8 years ago

  I thought of Green Bay also. The team the team has been around since 1919 and holds more league championships than any other team. Some predate the NFL. So it's called Titletown USA. We kind of forget about Green Bay's size and take it for granted. 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
• nicepants

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  8 years ago

  Uh, no, they are absolutely NOT like a division three college team. Leicester City is a premiership team, very much capable of playing great football, just last season they fell like a brick to the bottom of the table 1/3 of the way into the season and stayed their, until the last 9 games, a 7-1-1 stretch. 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.
• flagooner

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  8 years ago

  The Washington Generals once beat the Harlem Globetrotters.
• flagooner

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  8 years ago

  1980 US Olympic Hockey Team beating USSR and then the gold. Not quite there with the Leicester City championship but a huge upset nonetheless.
• flagooner

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  8 years ago

  John's Hopkins lacrosse.
• mikeya02

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  8 years ago

  Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson
• TheeOSU

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  8 years ago

  Londonguy thanks for your response but I still think in the long run that the London populace are cutting their own throats.