Top Underrated Sports Moments/Teams/Athletes
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:30 pm
In light of the two active threads going on about most underrated Lions and most memorable sports moments, I will create another thread on what I think are the most underrated sports moments/teams/athletes.
When a particular team/athlete wins a championship, especially in international competition, then the biggest praise should come from those in their home country. Since I don’t live in Europe, Asia, Africa, or South America, then it wouldn’t be fair for me to make an accurate assessment on exactly how much praise the champion received from their home country/city. Therefore, I will make my list based on North American figures only. Because I grew up in Vancouver, Canada, then most of my assessments will be from what I observe when a Vancouver/Canadian athlete/team achieves a major milestone. In all cases, I will say that the said athlete/team doesn’t get nearly the amount of fame and recognition as I feel they deserve. The two American examples I will use involve my observations with American history.
#10. 1919 and 1975 Cincinnati Reds
The 1919 Cincinnati Reds World Series win will forever be overshadowed by the Black Sox scandal. But that’s not the only reason why I say they're underrated. The other reason is because everyone predicted an easy win for the White Sox had they not thrown the series, despite the fact that the Reds were by no means a bad team. At 96-44, the Red Sox had the better regular season record than the 88-52 White Sox. And then in 1975, while the Reds managed to win the World Series in seven games, that won’t be remembered nearly as much as when they lost game 6 to the Boston Red Sox on Carlton Fisk’s home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. The scene of Fisk waving the hit to be fair will forever mask any great plays made by Reds players in the series.
#9. 1982, 1986, 1997 UBC Thunderbirds
If there’s one sport where Canadians are so unpatriotic and apathetic compared to Americans, then Canadian college football would be the best case. Canadians seem much more interested in American college football teams and their annual BCS instead of their local college football teams and their Vanier Cup. In late 1982, I’m sure all the football talk in Vancouver was about “The Play” between Stanford and Cal. But instead, shouldn’t Vancouver be so proud that their local UBC Thunderbirds won their first Vanier Cup? The same goes when they won the Vanier Cup again in 1986 and 1997.
#8. Vancouver 86ers/Whitecaps
When soccer was revived in Canada again in 1987, the Vancouver 86ers became the powerhouse of the Canadian Soccer League, winning four straight CSL titles from 1988 to 1991 while establishing a record for unbeaten games from 1988-89. Their modern Whitecaps team won the 2006 USL Division 1 championship along with the women, but their fame in Vancouver certainly has a glass ceiling. On this board, it looks like I’ve been the only one praising the team after their 2006 championship.
#7. 2000 Vancouver Canadians
In the last year of their AAA existence, the Vancouver Canadians left with a bang by winning both the 1999 PCL championship and then the AAA championship. It looked like nobody tried to stop their move to Sacramento.
#6. BC Lions 1988, 2000, 2006 West Division Finals
There are some WDF’s that the Lions have played that get all the attention, and then there are those that are way too underappreciated. In the 1988 WDF, the Lions met the Eskimos in their invincible Commonwealth Stadium and in a very well-earned effort, came away with a 37-19 win with a fine performance in the fourth quarter. You all know about the 1994 WDF, but I’d say the 2000 WDF should be just as appreciated. The 8-10-1 Lions met the 12-5-1 Stampeders led by 2000 MOP Dickenson, and put on terrific performance that included 17 points in two minutes, 25 seconds in the second quarter on their way to a well-deserved 37-23 win. Finally, the 2006 WDF may still be fresh on your minds, but the reason I say that was underrated is because from my observations on this board, there seems to be only 1/10 of the discussion that has been made about the 2004 WDF.
#5. Canadian Olympic Medalists
Some Canadian medalists will forever be remembered as heroes, while some will soon be forgotten. It would be too numerous for me to list all the examples.
#4. Canadian Women Athletes
I’d say I’m correct in saying that in all countries, women athletes have much less fame and recognition than their male counterparts, and Canada is no exception. While certain Canadian athletes like Cindy Klassen has some recognition, she may not be remembered 30 years from now. In the other thread about most memorable sports moments, none of them involved plays women athletes. In the 2006 Winter Olympics, it was the Canadian women’s ice hockey team that managed to defend their gold medal while the men flopped out in the quarterfinals. So will the women players get much more fame than the men players? I think not.
#3. Grant Connell
Grant Connell becames the world’s number one doubles tennis player in November 1995. But I’d say I speak on behalf of all good doubles players when I say they don’t get nearly the same amount of fame and attention as singles players. It seems like the only doubles players who are well known are the well-established good singles players who occasionally engage in doubles competition. I’d say doubles players are definitely underrated because just like any team sport, in addition to great tennis skills, a good doubles player needs to establish good teamwork, cooperation, and chemistry with their partner and that adds an additional level of difficulty.
#2. Jacques Villeneuve
Canadian drivers have never been powerhouses when it came to auto racing. If a particular country has never had an athlete win a championship in a particular sport, and then suddenly one does, then it’s natural for that athlete to achieve instant fame in that country. I suppose if a Canadian tennis player won the Golden Slam all in one year like Stefi Graf for Germany in 1988, then they would get all the fame. In 1995, Jacques Villeneuve got the distinction of being the first ever Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500 and he also won the 1995 CART and 1997 Forumla One Championships. Yet, Villeneuve doesn’t seem to be getting all the praise and fame in Canada for someone who hold the such distinctions.
#1. 1960 U.S. Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team
Everybody knows about the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey team and their Miracle on Ice story. But I really wonder why there has never been any media attention at all on America’s other men’s Olympic ice hockey gold medalists – the 1960 team. It looks like that underrated team has been completely overshadowed by the 1980 team. I dare say that unlike the 1980 team, most Americans cannot name the coach or any players from the 1960 squad. Why is that?
It looks like the 1960 gold medal team is a totally unsung squad that has been totally ignored and forgotten. I think they deserve more attention considering: 1) They were the FIRST U.S. ice hockey team to win an Olympic gold medal. 2) Like the 1980 team, they also won their gold medals in their home country as the 1960 Winter Games were held in Squaw Valley, California.
Would anybody like to share what they know about the 1960 Gold Medal ice hockey team? Did any of them go on to fine NHL careers? I assume some members from the team are now gone. I wonder if the surviving members are jealous over the fact that they don’t get any praise, recognition, and fame compared to their 1980 counterparts.
I’ll share this page that I found on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey ... r_Olympics
It looks like the team went a purrfect 7-0 in all the games they played to win the gold. Yet, why have they been completely forgotten and overshadowed?
When a particular team/athlete wins a championship, especially in international competition, then the biggest praise should come from those in their home country. Since I don’t live in Europe, Asia, Africa, or South America, then it wouldn’t be fair for me to make an accurate assessment on exactly how much praise the champion received from their home country/city. Therefore, I will make my list based on North American figures only. Because I grew up in Vancouver, Canada, then most of my assessments will be from what I observe when a Vancouver/Canadian athlete/team achieves a major milestone. In all cases, I will say that the said athlete/team doesn’t get nearly the amount of fame and recognition as I feel they deserve. The two American examples I will use involve my observations with American history.
#10. 1919 and 1975 Cincinnati Reds
The 1919 Cincinnati Reds World Series win will forever be overshadowed by the Black Sox scandal. But that’s not the only reason why I say they're underrated. The other reason is because everyone predicted an easy win for the White Sox had they not thrown the series, despite the fact that the Reds were by no means a bad team. At 96-44, the Red Sox had the better regular season record than the 88-52 White Sox. And then in 1975, while the Reds managed to win the World Series in seven games, that won’t be remembered nearly as much as when they lost game 6 to the Boston Red Sox on Carlton Fisk’s home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. The scene of Fisk waving the hit to be fair will forever mask any great plays made by Reds players in the series.
#9. 1982, 1986, 1997 UBC Thunderbirds
If there’s one sport where Canadians are so unpatriotic and apathetic compared to Americans, then Canadian college football would be the best case. Canadians seem much more interested in American college football teams and their annual BCS instead of their local college football teams and their Vanier Cup. In late 1982, I’m sure all the football talk in Vancouver was about “The Play” between Stanford and Cal. But instead, shouldn’t Vancouver be so proud that their local UBC Thunderbirds won their first Vanier Cup? The same goes when they won the Vanier Cup again in 1986 and 1997.
#8. Vancouver 86ers/Whitecaps
When soccer was revived in Canada again in 1987, the Vancouver 86ers became the powerhouse of the Canadian Soccer League, winning four straight CSL titles from 1988 to 1991 while establishing a record for unbeaten games from 1988-89. Their modern Whitecaps team won the 2006 USL Division 1 championship along with the women, but their fame in Vancouver certainly has a glass ceiling. On this board, it looks like I’ve been the only one praising the team after their 2006 championship.
#7. 2000 Vancouver Canadians
In the last year of their AAA existence, the Vancouver Canadians left with a bang by winning both the 1999 PCL championship and then the AAA championship. It looked like nobody tried to stop their move to Sacramento.
#6. BC Lions 1988, 2000, 2006 West Division Finals
There are some WDF’s that the Lions have played that get all the attention, and then there are those that are way too underappreciated. In the 1988 WDF, the Lions met the Eskimos in their invincible Commonwealth Stadium and in a very well-earned effort, came away with a 37-19 win with a fine performance in the fourth quarter. You all know about the 1994 WDF, but I’d say the 2000 WDF should be just as appreciated. The 8-10-1 Lions met the 12-5-1 Stampeders led by 2000 MOP Dickenson, and put on terrific performance that included 17 points in two minutes, 25 seconds in the second quarter on their way to a well-deserved 37-23 win. Finally, the 2006 WDF may still be fresh on your minds, but the reason I say that was underrated is because from my observations on this board, there seems to be only 1/10 of the discussion that has been made about the 2004 WDF.
#5. Canadian Olympic Medalists
Some Canadian medalists will forever be remembered as heroes, while some will soon be forgotten. It would be too numerous for me to list all the examples.
#4. Canadian Women Athletes
I’d say I’m correct in saying that in all countries, women athletes have much less fame and recognition than their male counterparts, and Canada is no exception. While certain Canadian athletes like Cindy Klassen has some recognition, she may not be remembered 30 years from now. In the other thread about most memorable sports moments, none of them involved plays women athletes. In the 2006 Winter Olympics, it was the Canadian women’s ice hockey team that managed to defend their gold medal while the men flopped out in the quarterfinals. So will the women players get much more fame than the men players? I think not.
#3. Grant Connell
Grant Connell becames the world’s number one doubles tennis player in November 1995. But I’d say I speak on behalf of all good doubles players when I say they don’t get nearly the same amount of fame and attention as singles players. It seems like the only doubles players who are well known are the well-established good singles players who occasionally engage in doubles competition. I’d say doubles players are definitely underrated because just like any team sport, in addition to great tennis skills, a good doubles player needs to establish good teamwork, cooperation, and chemistry with their partner and that adds an additional level of difficulty.
#2. Jacques Villeneuve
Canadian drivers have never been powerhouses when it came to auto racing. If a particular country has never had an athlete win a championship in a particular sport, and then suddenly one does, then it’s natural for that athlete to achieve instant fame in that country. I suppose if a Canadian tennis player won the Golden Slam all in one year like Stefi Graf for Germany in 1988, then they would get all the fame. In 1995, Jacques Villeneuve got the distinction of being the first ever Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500 and he also won the 1995 CART and 1997 Forumla One Championships. Yet, Villeneuve doesn’t seem to be getting all the praise and fame in Canada for someone who hold the such distinctions.
#1. 1960 U.S. Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team
Everybody knows about the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey team and their Miracle on Ice story. But I really wonder why there has never been any media attention at all on America’s other men’s Olympic ice hockey gold medalists – the 1960 team. It looks like that underrated team has been completely overshadowed by the 1980 team. I dare say that unlike the 1980 team, most Americans cannot name the coach or any players from the 1960 squad. Why is that?
It looks like the 1960 gold medal team is a totally unsung squad that has been totally ignored and forgotten. I think they deserve more attention considering: 1) They were the FIRST U.S. ice hockey team to win an Olympic gold medal. 2) Like the 1980 team, they also won their gold medals in their home country as the 1960 Winter Games were held in Squaw Valley, California.
Would anybody like to share what they know about the 1960 Gold Medal ice hockey team? Did any of them go on to fine NHL careers? I assume some members from the team are now gone. I wonder if the surviving members are jealous over the fact that they don’t get any praise, recognition, and fame compared to their 1980 counterparts.
I’ll share this page that I found on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey ... r_Olympics
It looks like the team went a purrfect 7-0 in all the games they played to win the gold. Yet, why have they been completely forgotten and overshadowed?