What were the odds of the miracle on ice? And would you say it’s the biggest upset in sport history?
Posted by Tmansters456@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 39 comments
Would you say that the miracle ice is the biggest upset ever? As if you ask a person from Europe especially England they and I would say Leicester city winning the premier league in 2015/2016, as the odds were 5000/1 and the odds of Elvis being found alive were 2000/1 then which meant it was over 2x less likely for Leicester to win the premier league than Elvis being found alive,
iowaman79@reddit
The US were not even expected to make it to the medal round in the first place, and the Soviets had throttled them a week before the Games, so they had very little chance on paper. I don’t compare upsets between the US and Europe but it is certainly the greatest upset in American sports history.
BTW, didn’t you always try and ask this once?
idster@reddit
It’s not the greatest upset. Buster Douglas might have been 42 to 1. And there have been even bigger upsets.
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
5000/1 Leicester winning premier league?
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Wouldn’t the miracle on ice have been much bigger odds if they were a thing then? Than 42/1
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Definitely in American sports history I agree
AnotherPint@reddit
The Red Sox comeback against the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS is right up there too.
cntodd@reddit
2004*, but yeah, that was a huge comeback.
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Yes but it kept on getting blocked I believe
alittledanger@reddit
Leicester is still bigger in my opinion. Especially when you consider the economics of international soccer and the Premier League specifically.
I would also put the U.S. beating England at the 1950 World Cup a little bit ahead of the Miracle on Ice.
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
I don’t know, weren’t the USMNT quite good in the 1940s and 1950s?
alittledanger@reddit
The guy who scored the goal, Joe Gaetjans, was a part-time dishwasher lol. The USMNT had lost their previous seven international matches by a score of 45-2 so….no lol
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Ok, I thought they got to a World Cup semi final around that time
alittledanger@reddit
That was in the first World Cup in 1930.
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
👍
Libertas_@reddit
I just looked it up and Leicester is still a professional team. The separation of skill and experience between the U.S and USSR was much bigger.
alittledanger@reddit
Totally disagree. You have to turn off your American sports brain I think. What Leicester did was unprecedented and is very unlikely to happen again. They had far, far less money and resources than the big six teams in England and had to do it over a 38 game season.
The American players weren’t professional sure, but that was because of how the American sports system worked. They were still extremely talented hockey players. 13 of the 20 ended up playing in the NHL IIRC. They were also playing at home and it was a one-off game. There was a gap but not as much as what Leicester had to do.
Libertas_@reddit
This has nothing to do with my “American sports brain”
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
There cost for leicesters was like 28.8 million which is here is a great example of how much less money Leicesters team was than Man City that season
InterviewLeast882@reddit
I’ve seen speculation that the Soviets threw the game in an effort to get the US to go to the Moscow summer Olympics.
norecordofwrong@reddit
Sooo you believe Soviet propaganda?
quietude38@reddit
Indiana winning the CFP National Championship is a bigger upset. Indiana? Football?
norecordofwrong@reddit
You know Indiana did good when a Kentuckian turned Michigander talks well about them.
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Just to mention, that was apparently 100/1 for Indiana to win, Leicester city winning the premier league was 5000/1 that is like 50x more likely,
as1126@reddit
$25 million dollar payroll.
VeteranYoungGuy@reddit
They had almost no chance. College kids most of whom never went on to play professional hockey vs the best team in the world. The Soviets were kicking the shit out of NHL teams dude.
norecordofwrong@reddit
The Soviets kicked the shit out of most NHL teams… but not the Flyers.
The Flyers woke up that day and chose violence.
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Hats basically just like Leicester, mostly all of the players were rejects from bigger clubs who got dumped because they weren’t good enough, and went on to win the entire thing by 10 points which is a lot
norecordofwrong@reddit
It’s definitely somewhere up there on biggest sport upsets.
My favorite Soviet/American hockey game though was the Flyers vs. the Commies where a standard US team beat the Red Army show team.
The flyers knew they couldn’t win by skill alone. So they went with extreme violence instead. Such extreme violence the candy ass Soviets tried to quit in the second period.
The Flyers went on to stomp the shit out of them and win 4-1.
I’ll let a professional give you the details.
The Miracle on Ice is a nice feel good Disney story. The Flyers/Commie game is like whatever the opposite of that is.
footballwr82@reddit
Not sure, but betting odds are just people betting. Not actual predictions
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
It’s bookmakers odds not the fans,
Ill-Butterscotch1337@reddit
I don't think sports betting was as big back then, but I believe the odds were close to +1000. However, a 5000-1 payout or any odds doesn't mean the team had a 5000 in 1 chance of winning, its just what the bookies decide. That said, I don't consider the miracle on ice to be a huge upset; any number of things can happen in a one game playoff in hockey. I don't think team USA wins very often in a 5 or 7 game series in that matchup. The miracle on ice game is a perfect example of how anything can happen in a one game series because the Soviets outplayed team USA tremendously in that game.
In my opinion, the biggest head to head upset is Buster Douglas v. Tyson and the biggest series upset is Red Sox over Yankees in the ALCS. Leicester has to be the biggest Cinderella story I guess it's an upset but it's not like they came out of nowhere and took it. But I don't put much weight in the prediction market so that's only my take.
Libertas_@reddit
I'd say it was the biggest upset in sports. It can't be said enough about how a bunch of college kids beat THE best team in all of hockey.
SuperKmartCenter@reddit
For me, Leicester is bigger because it was a 38 game season. Crazy to see they're about to get relegated to League One.
AcidaliaPlanitia@reddit
Yeah, crazy shit can happen in almost any single game, but a whole season...
Tmansters456@reddit (OP)
Could be as early as Tuesday
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
10% according to the coach.
oarmash@reddit
Being in first place after 38 games and winning a single game are two different events, comparing them would accomplish very little.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
The miracle on ice would be like if a second division US soccer team beat prime Barça
On the flip side, every team in the EPL should theoretically be world class
So I feel like the former was a bigger upset. Leister winning is still insane though
dangleicious13@reddit
I don't know what the odds were, but it was a huge upset. I'm not sure if I would say it was the biggest. There are definitely other feats that could be put in that category, like the US beating England at the 1950 World Cup.