underdog

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An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favourite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset. These terms are commonly used in sports betting.^{[original research?]}

Sympathy for the underdog

In a broader sense, "underdog" is used in reference to a social or ethnic group which experiences discrimination, persecution and/or economic disability, and which could therefore gain the sympathy of public opinion, either nationally or worldwide. Such sympathy has often proved of crucial importance in the struggles of national liberation, civil rights and social justice movements, and such movements sometimes significantly modify their tactics and strategy in order to gain "underdog sympathy".

The definition of a particular group as an "underdog" or (conversely) a "top dog" may change considerably over time and through circumstances. During the Boer War, the Afrikaners were widely perceived as the underdogs, a small group of people bravely defying the might of the British Empire.

In South Africa under apartheid, however, the Afrikaners became regarded as cruel racist oppressors, with the South African Blacks being the underdogs. Similarly, in its earlier stages, the Zionist movement was widely regarded in the West as representing an underdog, as Jews were the target of persecution, and later of Nazi genocide. The creation of Israel in 1948 was widely regarded as a victory for this underdog. However, Israel's occupations of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, along with the increasing visibility of the displaced Palestinians through the activities of Palestinian nationalist groups such as the PLO, has increased awareness and sympathy for the Palestinians. The governments of both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have successfully portrayed themselves to the rest of the world as the victims, and thus underdogs, the former by emphasising attacks on Israel launched by groups such as Hamas and other allied Arab groups such as Hezbollah, the latter by highlighting the actions taken against military and civilian targets in the occupied territories by the Israel Defense Forces.

The depiction of a conflict in the mass media, especially on TV, greatly influences who would be seen as the "underdog" and "favourite". Consequently, participants in various conflicts often accuse the international media of ignoring or downplaying the casualties on their own side, while inflating those of their opponents.

Underdogs

History

• King Sudas defeated the ten Rigvedic tribes during the Battle of the Ten Kings.
• The Greek states successfully repelled the mighty Achaemenid Persian Empire at the Battle of Salamis.
• The people of Rhodes in resisting the siege imposed by King Demetrius I of Macedon.
• Hannibal defeated the numerically superior Roman forces at the Battle of Cannae during the Second Punic War.
• The Parthians, who were outnumbered four to one, defeated the Romans at the Battle of Carrhae.
• The Arab army led by Khalid ibn al-Walid defeated the numerically superior forces of the powerful Persian and Roman empires during their conquest of Persia and conquest of Roman Syria.
• In 209 AD, in the Three Kingdoms era of China at the Battle of Red Cliffs, the combined 50,000 forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei were able to defeat the overwhelming 220,000+ forces of Cao Cao.
• The Scottish army of Robert the Bruce, outnumbered almost three to one, defeated the English force of Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn.
• The Knights Hospitaller triumphed against the overwhelming Ottoman forces during the Great Siege of Malta.
• In the 13th century, invasions from the powerful Mongol Empire were successfully repelled by both the Khilji dynasty of India and Bahri dynasty of Egypt.
• In the 1552 siege of Eger, 2,100 Hungarians were able to withstand the onslaught of 80,000 Ottoman soldiers.
• The defending British fleet was victorious over the "invincible" Spanish Armada in June 1588.
• Finland held out against the Soviet Union during the Winter War.
• The Viet Minh triumphed over French colonial forces in the Indochina War and the NLF and North Vietnam defeated the United States and South Vietnam in the Vietnam War.
• Afghanistan successfully repelled an invasion by the USSR during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
• Attorney Clarence Darrow made a famous career in successfully defending several famous and disadvantaged criminal defendants in court.
• The Battle of Aljubarrota that took place on August 14, 1385, 6,500 Portuguese troops defeated the invading Spanish army of 31,000 men.
• The ANZAC troops in the trenches of Gallipoli in WWI

American politics

• U.S. President Harry Truman in the 1948 presidential election.
• Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone in 1990.
• Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold in 1992.
• Tennessee Senator Bill Frist in 1994.
• Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura in 1998.

Sports

• In 1921 in American college football, Centre College defeated Harvard, the defending national champions, 6–0. The Associated Press called it the greatest sports upset in the first-half of the 20th century.^[1]

• In 1935, boxer James J. Braddock ("Cinderella Man") defeated heavyweight champion Max Baer as the 10-to-1 underdog in a major upset.

• On July 16, 1950, during the 1950 FIFA World Cup final in Brazil, Uruguay defeated the highest ranked team in the world and seemingly certain winners, Brazil, 2-1 to win the tournament in one of the greatest upsets ever in Brazilian football history. Another upset in the tournament was the USA victory over (then) highly-ranked England, 1-0.

• In the 1954 FIFA World Cup, Germany defeated Hungary 3-2 from 2-0 down to win the final. The amazing upset is called the Miracle of Bern. Hungary's Golden Team had dominated the sport for several years in the 1950s, including beating the Germans 8-3 in the first round of the tournament. The final was their first and only defeat during that period.

• In Super Bowl III, the New York Jets, led by quarterback Joe Namath, defeated the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts 16-7 after giving a "guarantee" to do so.

• In the 1964 Ali versus Liston and 1974 Rumble in the Jungle fights, boxer Muhammad Ali was expected to lose against Sonny Liston and George Foreman respectively, who were both formerly undefeated hard-punching heavyweight champions. Ali defeated them in major upsets. In 1975, underdog Chuck Wepner almost went the distance with Ali, which was later the main inspiration for the fictional character of Rocky Balboa in the films Rocky (1976) and Rocky II (1979).

• In 1980, the United States hockey team, consisting of amateurs and college players, defeated the Olympic hockey superpower, the Soviet Union. The amazing upset was called the "Miracle on Ice".

• In 1978, Irish provincial rugby union team, Munster, defeated the touring New Zealand All Blacks by 12 points to nil. The game was later turned into a stage play, Alone it Stands.

• In the 1983 Cricket World Cup, India defeated two time winners West Indies in the final in a low scoring match. The Indian team before 1983, had never reached the semi final stages. This is considered as one of the biggest upset victories in the world of cricket.

• In 1985, 8th-seeded Villanova defeated top-seeded and defending champion Georgetown in the championship game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

• Boxer James "Buster" Douglas, given odds of 42-to-1 by one Las Vegas sports book, handed the previously-undefeated Mike Tyson his first ever professional defeat in Tokyo, Japan on February 11, 1990. This was the largest upset in the history of boxing.

• In 2001, Goran Ivanišević won the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wild card. He is the first and only man to have done so.

• In the Euro 2004 football competition, Greece, which some sports books gave 150-1 odds to win at the start of the tournament, defeated the hosts Portugal in their opening match, also the defending champions France, then favourites Czech Republic in the semi-finals, and Portugal again in the final, to win the trophy in probably the most unexpected victory in football history.

• In 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays went from last to first in the AL East and into the 2008 World Series. Their underdog run ended there when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one.

• The Afghanistan national cricket team began 2008 in the World Cricket League Division Five, the fifth tier of One Day International cricket. In May of that year, they won Division Five, starting a fairy-tale year that saw them also win Divisions Four and Three, putting them in the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier. Although the Afghans' fifth-place finish in that event left them out of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, it gave them the consolation prize of official ODI status for the next four years, effectively placing them in the second tier of the sport.

See also

Look up underdog in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Contender (stock character)
• Cinderella (sports)
• Rags to riches

References