Best Sports Surprises of the Year
Great things happen in sports all the time, but sometimes it’s the things you don’t expect that are the very best.
Here are some of those moments from 2014—moments that both came as a surprise and made you feel great. Well, they made most people feel great. Take caution if you’re a Duke fan or Rafael Nadal.
From a Little League underdog story to an American hero at the Boston Marathon, from a March Madness Cinderella to the most unlikely of World Series contenders, these stories took us by surprise in a good way.
Mercer Beats Duke
1 of 12
March Madness is always good for a surprise—or two or three. In 2014, one of the best upset specials happened thanks to a little school in Georgia (I had to look that up).
No. 14 seed Mercer shocked the almighty Duke in the round of 64, winning by a score of 78-71. It was the team’s first tournament appearance since 1985.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game, as reported by John Feinstein of The Washington Post, “They’re men. They’re strong, and I don’t just mean physically. They have a great coach. Honestly, what they did was beautiful to see. I applaud them and I applaud their fans for what they’ve done this season.”
Plus, this is how they celebrated. Awesome.
Michigan State Wins the Rose Bowl
2 of 12
Before January 1, 2014, Michigan State football hadn’t had a Rose Bowl victory since 1988. But things started to look up when Mark Dantonio came on the scene as head coach in 2007. The Spartans won 11 games in both 2010 and ‘11. But the 2012 season represented a bit of a downtick—the team finished just 7-6.
Quarterback uncertainty loomed, and expectations were rather tepid leading into the 2013 season. Not many predicted the Spartans would go 13-1 and beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
This was unexpected, to be sure, but it was also great because of how MSU got there. What’s that they say about defense winning championships? The Spartan defense was the only unit to finish in the top three nationally in four defensive categories: total defense, rushing defense, scoring defense and pass defense.
Plus, their Rose Bowl victory came on a fourth-down stuff.
Jeff Gordon’s Great Year
3 of 12
Jeff Gordon is a NASCAR legend—no doubt about it. But in 2013, it looked like the legend’s time was up. Gordon won just one race and led for only 434 laps, his lowest total since 2002.
So it came as a surprise to many when in 2014, Gordon won four times, led for 1,083 laps and racked up 14 top-five finishes.
In August, Gordon told Jeff Gluck of USA Today, “I don't know how many more years I have racing in this series, and certainly to be this late in my career and be this competitive, it's something I didn't know whether it would happen.”
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Costa Rica’s World Cup Run
4 of 12
In May 2014, FIFA had the Costa Rican men’s national soccer team ranked No. 34 in the world. As the World Cup got underway from Brazil in June, Costa Rica upset two top-10 ranked opponents in their group—Uruguay and Italy. It won the group and advanced into the round of 16.
At that point, Costa Rica won again, defeating Greece on penalty kicks and moving on to its first World Cup quarterfinal, ever. It lost to the Netherlands, narrowly in penalty kicks, but the Costa Ricans were still able to prove to the world that they were more talented than some expected—and that CONCACAF soccer should not be taken lightly.
Odell Beckham Catching That Ball
5 of 12
The Dallas Cowboys were in New Jersey to face the rival New York Giants on November 23, 2014. On the first play of the second quarter, Eli Manning threw up a prayer toward the pylon. Cowboys defensive back Brandon Carr interfered with receiver Odell Beckham Jr., but it definitely didn’t matter.
Now, if you were watching that game live, tell me you thought Beckham would catch that ball.
No way you did! No way was he catching that ball. It was out of bounds in the air; plus, he was getting mauled by the defender. But Beckham reached back and somehow caught the ball with one hand and fell backward into the end zone for a touchdown.
Obviously, Twitter exploded instantly, and many called it one of the best catches they’ve ever seen. Also, Beckham’s jersey from that game is now hanging in the Pro Football Hall of Fame—for real.
Slopestyle Sweep in Sochi
6 of 12
In the history of the Winter Olympic Games, the U.S. has only swept the podium three times. The third came in Sochi when Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper accomplished that feat in the men's slopestyle skiing event.
Christensen won the gold medal, and believe it or not, he was the last person to make the team. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times reported that Christensen said, “I just wanted to make the team, that was my goal this year. I can't believe I ended up winning.”
The three medals helped the U.S. climb out of a bit of a slow start to finish second in the overall medal count.
Nick Kyrgios Upsets Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon
7 of 12
Nothing against Rafael Nadal, but it’s always awesome to see a young rising star upset a legend on a big stage.
Nineteen-year-old Nick Kyrgios did just that at Wimbledon when he defeated No. 1 Nadal, 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals. Ranked No. 144 in the world, Kyrgios was an unlikely candidate to even make the tournament. He secured a wild-card spot after winning the Nottingham grass-court ATP Challenger Tour title.
According to ATP.com, the victory represented just the second time ever that a player ranked higher than No. 100 defeated a No. 1 at a Grand Slam. Not only that, but prior to the victory, Kyrgios’ best win had come against an opponent ranked No. 52. Oh, and also, apparently even his mom thought Nadal would win.
Michael Sam
8 of 12
Michael Sam played football at Missouri and was the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. In February 2014, Sam announced publicly that he is gay. This announcement was unexpected by the public, but not by Sam’s teammates, who had known for some time.
Three months later, Sam became the first openly gay player to be selected in the NFL draft when the St. Louis Rams selected him in the seventh round. The outpouring of support was swift. The White House even released a statement, via ABC News, congratulating Sam.
Sam was eventually cut by the Rams before being signed and subsequently released from the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad. Following his release from Dallas, Sam tweeted his gratitude for the opportunity and stated that he would continue to seek a place in the NFL.
Throughout his journey, Sam has exuded confidence and has served as an excellent role model.
Jackie Robinson West
9 of 12
The 2014 Little League World Series featured an inspiring team from Chicago that made it all the way to the final.
Jackie Robinson West is a member school of the Little League Urban Initiative, a program developed to provide assistance to low-income, urban teams. In 2014, JRW made just its second appearance ever in the LLWS and its first since 1983. It was the first Urban Initiative team to play in the tournament since 2002.
The unlikely success of JRW prompted support in Chicago and around the country. Following the team’s comeback victory in the U.S. final, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement, via CBS Chicago, “Today the Jackie Robinson West All Stars have made history as only the third team ever from Illinois to reach the championship game of the Little League World Series and the City of Chicago could not be prouder of them.”
The team lost to South Korea in the final, but the players still made their city—and their country—proud.
Dayton's Cinderella Story
10 of 12
Everyone loves a Cinderella story.
The Dayton Flyers came into the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball tournament as a No. 11 seed. So just by virtue of the seeding process, they weren’t expected to advance past the first round. Instead, the Flyers proceeded to knock off Ohio State (No. 6), Syracuse (No. 3) and Stanford (No. 10) to reach the Elite Eight.
They ended up losing to Florida, the No. 1 seed in the tournament. However, Gerry Ahern of USA Today reported that Dayton coach Archie Miller said, “They’re going to go down as one of the best teams in the history of Dayton basketball. I think the blueprint is now set that we know how to do it now, and we can do it.”
Meb Wins Boston Marathon
11 of 12
The 2014 Boston Marathon was a very special, very memorable event. It served to honor the victims of the bombings that occurred just one year earlier. The race helped revitalize a city, and it also featured a very surprising winner.
An American man hadn’t won the historic race in over 30 years. Meb Keflezighi changed all that. It’s not just citizenship that made his victory unlikely but also his age. Keflezighi was 38 at the time of the race, and he was the oldest winner since 1930 (possibly earlier), according to Peter May of The New York Times.
To top that all off, Keflezighi’s time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds was a personal best. Not bad for an old dude on tail end of his career.
Kansas City Royals
12 of 12
In 2013, the Kansas City Royals finished 86-76 and third in the American League Central. They had not made the playoffs since 1985. Suffice it to say, no one expected them to be good in 2014 because, hey, it’s the Royals.
In 2014, the Royals went 89-73, took second in the division and locked up home field for the American League Wild Card Game. They won an insane, back-and-forth, extra-inning nail-biter against the Oakland Athletics to advance to the American League Division Series.
They went on to sweep both the ALDS and American League Championship Series, becoming the first team in MLB history to start a postseason 8-0.
Many referred to the 2014 Royals as “America’s Team,” and indeed almost everyone outside the Bay Area was rooting for them, hard. The Royals won as a team and without scandal or controversy. They won with good pitching, good managing and good defense. They were very hard not to like.
The Royals came about as close as you can come to winning a World Series, but they fell 90 feet—and one pitching legend—short.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
