Rooting for the Underdogs

Start Cheering Now Sports Fans!

Boys and girls alike will enjoy page after page of New York Times bestselling author Len Berman’s The Greatest Moments in Sports: Upsets and Underdogs ($19.99, Sourcebooks, ages 9-12), and maybe even identify with a few of the figures covered in this new book and audio CD. Berman begins by reflecting back on perhaps history’s oldest “Cinderella Story,” David vs. Goliath. Certainly nothing plays out better than when the unexpected happens. This kind of excitement is captured for kids by Berman’s retelling of well known and lesser known success stories. Readers will find themselves, as I did, rooting for athletes that they previously never even heard of including Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner.

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Russian Bear Alexander Karelin was the Gold Medal favorite having never lost a major wrestling competition. Hailing from Wyoming, Rulon Gardner was the classic underdog. However, despite odds against him, Rulon remained determined as he faced the final with Karelin that he was going to get gold for the USA. If that meant breaking the Bear’s winning streak, so be it. Early on in the competition Rulon scored an unexpected point against the Bear, but then neither athlete scored the required three points to win so the game went into overtime. Within seconds to the match’s end, Karelin could not keep up with his competitor and conceded. From that day on Rulon became known as The Miracle on the Mat. Listen to that miraculous moment on the CD track.

There are so many other amazing stories recounted such as the Miracle on Ice when the longshots, U.S. Olympic hockey team, (which according to rules in 1980 could not consist of NHL players since they were professionals. Those rules have since changed.) came out of nowhere, made it to the finals and then beat the powerhouse Soviets 4-3  in what Berman describes as “one of the most famous play-by-plays calls ever made, as befits one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports.”

It’s dark horse stories like these that make The Greatest Moments in Sports: Upsets and Underdogs such an engrossing, gratifying read. I know it’s what kept me glued to my  TV during the London Olympics this summer and what will get me watching the World Series beginning October 24, 2012.  Gear up now by getting this book!