1. MIRACLE ON ICE. The USSR had the biggest, baddest hockey team on the planet, and a bunch of college kids from the United States knocked them down and out, 4-3, in the semifinals of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y.
2. NAMATH AND THE JETS. The NFL was the big brother to the American Football League, and the NFL’s Baltimore Colts were prohibitive favorites entering Super Bowl III. But that didn’t deter the New York Jets and quarterback Joe Namath. The Jets dominated in a 16-7 win.
3. PATRIOTS PERFECT NO MORE. New England was going to become the NFL’s first team to finish 19-0. But Eli Manning led the Giants on a 12-play, 83-yard game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, capped by Plaxico Burress’ 13-yard touchdown reception with 35 seconds left.
4. SEAVER AND THE METS. New York had never won more than 73 games in eight previous seasons. The awesome Baltimore Orioles had Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and three pitchers with a combined 63 wins. But after New York’s Tom Seaver (right), who went 25-7 and won the National League Cy Young Award, lost Game 1, the “Miracle Mets” swept the final four to win the 1969 World Series.
5. VILLANOVA SHOCKS CHAMPS. The Wildcats were a No. 8 seed in the 1985 NCAA Tournament. Georgetown was a No. 1 seed and the defending champion. But in the NCAA title game, Villanova couldn’t miss, hitting 79 percent from the field (22-of-28), 90 percent (9-of-10) in the second half, to shock the Hoyas 66-64.
6. WYOMING NATIVE CAPTURES GOLD. He was known as Alexander The Great. Russian wrestler Alexander Karelin had not lost in 15 years of international competition and was the overwhelming favorite in the super heavyweight Greco-Roman event at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. But Rulon Gardner of Afton, Wyo., met Karelin in the gold medal match and scored the only point when Karelin broke the clinch in the second period. The sellout crowd was stunned, but not more than Gardner. “I didn’t actually think I could beat him.” Gardner told The Post.
7. PHI SLAMA LOSE-A. Houston had future Hall of Famers Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, part of the high-flying Phi Slama Jama team. But North Carolina State, a No. 6 seed, kept it close in the 1983 NCAA championship game and won 54-52 when Lorenzo Charles dunked an errant long shot by Dereck Whittenburg at the buzzer.
8. TYSON STUNNED. Mike Tyson was the heavyweight champion in 1990. Buster Douglas was a 42-1 underdog for this fight in Tokyo. After nearly being knocked out in the eighth round, Douglas came back in round 10 to knock out Tyson with a five-punch combo.
9. UPSET GETS MAN O’ WAR. Many consider Man o’ War the greatest thoroughbred racehorse of all time. He won one race by 100 lengths. But one day at Saratoga in New York in 1919, Upset handed Man o’ War what would be the only loss of his 21-race career.
10. NUGGETS SHOCK SONICS. Denver (42-40) entered the 1994 NBA playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference and seemingly had little chance against top seed Seattle (63-19) in the first round. Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five series. But the Nuggets won their two home games to force Game 5 in Seattle, which Denver won 98-94 in overtime.
Compiled from Denver Post staff & wire reports
