People live and die by their sports teams.
Regionally, people obsess differently; the Northeast loves their baseball and hockey teams; the midwest and south are all about that football; and then the west coast is all about those outdoor sports.
So people follow what their families follow and sink their lives into these teams. When there's an upset, it's taken personally.
u/KingRobbo_D asked:
What is the greatest upset in sports history?

Here were some of the answers.
Paradigm Shift
I won't say it's the greatest upset in sports history, but since Steve Bradbury is mentioned and this is basically pulling a Bradbury at the time... Cliff Young.
Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event.
In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this ultra marathon. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots. To everyone's shock, Cliff wasn't a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners.
All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours.
Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.
When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.
All's Fair In Football And War
1950 World Cup Final.
Brazil, at home, with a record 200k supporters in the stands only needed a tie to win it all in their home country that spent lots of time and money to host it. They were clear favorites by winning all their games and scoring a record setting 40+ goals. They had already planned celebrations, songs, and parades and were ready for it.
But on the other side was Uruguay. Uruguay with the tiny population but people with an immense heart for the game. Uruguay came from behind 0-1 to win it 2-1 in the greatest upset of all time. So much so, that they didn't even have the trophy with Uruguay's name ready to present. Even after the fact it seemed surreal to Uruguay. The captain, Obdulio Varela, spent the afternoon in a state of shock in a bar in Rio consoling the Brazilians.
From this point forward history changed for Brazil. The players were shunned by the entire population, especially the goalkeeper. The Maracaná Stadium was painted sky blue honoring the promise when the stadium was constructed that the winner of the tournament's colors would adorn the new stadium, and it's still there today. The iconic Brazilian yellow jerseys that you see today were not always like that. Up until 1950 they were white, but so much shame was brought upon this team in 1950 that a competition was done after 1950 to redesign a new jersey for the team. That's what you see today, not the pre-1950 white jersey, but rather the post-traumatic-design of the greatest upset in sports history.
The Cosmos Worked For Him
What about Steven Bradbury lucking his way into the gold medal in the 1000m speed skating event at the 2002 Winter Olympics? Dude came third in the quarter finals with the top 2 going to the semis, but the second place guy got disqualified so he made it. Then in the semis he was in dead last but all his opponents fell over allowing him to take the lead and finish first, advancing to the finals.
Then in that race he had the exact same situation as the semis, with all his opponents falling over and allowing him to cross the line in first place. Apparently that was his plan all along since he didn't think he stood a chance of winning, but the guy was probably still amazed that it actually worked. Talk about an underdog story.
The Underdog Movie We All Need To See
Soccer: Denmark winning the European Cup in 1992.
Denmark was not even qualified and got in because Yugoslavia ceased to exist.
Then Denmark came to Sweden in the last minute (ish) and went through the tournament and finished up beating both of the massive favourites in the final two matches.
Holland in the semi-finals and Germany in the final.
Golf: Francis Ouimet, US Open 1913.
There are movies about this guy, a normal caddie who qualified at a very young age and beat the two titans of the era from Britain and won on his home turf.
He Was So Close
This "nobody" golfer named Jean van de Velde makes it to the 1999 Open Championship, a very prestigious golf tournament where the best golfers compete. Jean plays the best golf of his life that weekend and is winning by 3 strokes on the 72nd of 72 holes for the tournament.
He could have pulled out his wedge and played safe for a guaranteed win but instead pulls out his driver and shanks the shot, followed by additional high-risk shots that failed miserably.
If you're not a golfer, that's like having the chance to win a million dollars by simply walking to and giving someone a high five but you instead choose to try and do it while sprinting and doing a back-flip...
He barely makes his 6th shot, goes into overtime and loses the round.
Leicester We Forget
Leicester City winning the Premier League a few years ago. They were given 5000 to 1 odds, and only escaped relegation the previous year by nothing short of a miracle. The thing that makes this the greatest upset is it happened over the course of an entire season (38 games) rather than just one game or a series.
We are unlikely to see anything in sports even close to as profound as their title win again.
Its also easy to forget that had Leicester not won the title that year, It likely would have been Tottenham, who haven't won the title since 1962. An absolutely insane year in the premier league.
The Third Year
Since everyone's said Miracle on Ice, I'm gonna throw Super Bowl III into consideration.
If the Jets don't win that game, the Super Bowl might not exist. The first two Super Bowls were blowouts, and the talent gap between the AFL and NFL was so large that the NFL threatened to call off the merger.
The Jets were underdogs by close to 3 touchdowns against an NFL team that was considered unstoppable in the Baltimore Colts. Across their last 16 games, they were 15-1, and were coming off of a 34-0 victory in the NFL Championship.
Nobody gave the Jets of the "Mickey Mouse League" a shot.
A Horse By Any Other Name
Living in upstate NY, I'd have to go with the original "Upset". Man 'o War, one of the greatest racehorses that lived, won 20 out of 21 races. His one loss was at Saratoga in 1919 to a horse named Upset.
Allegedly, up to that point the word "upset" had no connotations with sports. It meant you were angry, or riled up (as in upset stomach). After that race, whenever a long shot or underdog beat out the favorite, it was just like that horse that beat Man 'o War. I'm not sure if that is entirely true, but I like the story so I'm sticking with it.
The End Of The Curse
2004 ALCS, the Red Sox losing the first three games and facing elimination, then winning four in a row to beat the Yankees 4-3. I believe they were the first team to ever pull this off. I'm from Boston, but I was away at college at the time, and was watching with a group of other Red Sox fans/sympathizers. I was all set to go "Well, wait 'til next season", as Red Sox fans had for 86 years, and endure the mockery of the Yankees fans on my dorm floor, and then out of nowhere we won Game 4, in extra innings, mind you. I remember seeing a guy on the screen at Fenway, after the victory, chanting "Three more times! Three more times!" and envying his optimism because, while it was nice not to be swept, the Sox couldn't possibly pull that off.
And then they won Game 5. And then Game 6. And then took such a huge f*cking lead in Game 7 that I thought it was either a foregone conclusion or another cruel trick the universe was about to play on us (f*ck you, Aaron Boone).
But they did it. I struggle to recall any time in my life when I felt that level of building excitement, that impossible hope, that realization that something historic (in a good way) was happening. The World Series and ultimate victory against the Cardinals, ending the Curse after 86 years, felt more like an afterthought compared to that.
Taking Down The King
Rulon Gardner defeating Alessandro Karelin in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Greco Roman Wrestling.
Karelin went 13 years without losing a match, at the highest level. He won world level titles from 1988-1999. He had never even given up a point in the 6 years leading up to the loss to Gardner.
Gardner had never finished higher than 5th and had lost 5-0 to Karelin before. People were surprised he even made the finals.
Gardner won 1-0 and made history.
What do you think is the biggest upset in sports history?
Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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