All hail the underdogs

So Philadelphia won... I'm lost for words, to be totally honest. When Brady's last ditch throw was fumbled around, and finally dropped to the floor, I collapsed to my knees in disbelief as to what had transpired on my TV screen. Over the course of four hours (including a decent but muted performance by Justin Timberlake), my emotions were all over the place, with the spectre of a Patriots victory nagging at me constantly. But through sheer willpower and just a touch of magic, the Philadelphia secured their first ever Super Bowl. If you want some more Eagles magic, check out the speech by Jason Kelce at the victory parade on Thursday- now that's passion.

Holy crap, what a game

This historic night in Minneapolis is just another chapter in the book of 'Greatest Underdog Stories', which grows ever larger year after year. As I mentioned last week, we all love an underdog story, as the odds are flipped like a pancake and the sweet sizzle of 'what the hell just happened?' fires up the senses. It really is an awesome feeling, as it just gives us all hope that not everything is set in stone and that, out of nowhere, something so weird and wonderful can happen.

Now I can finally go on to this week's topic; what can we learn from the underdog stories? There are so many examples that can be used, across the whole sporting spectrum, so we won't be starved for choice. I will be going on about some of my favourite underdog stories and how these inspirational moments have actually taught me some valuable life lessons. So make some sort of hot beverage, curl up under a blanket and get ready to do some reading!

Damn straight

SIZE DOESN'T MATTER (THAT'S NOT A SEX JOKE)

Fire up the time machine and set the coordinates for 2016. A lonely footballer sits in the changing room, reflecting on the journey he has been through. Casting his mind back, he imagines himself at 16, when he was called 'too small to play football'. Four years later, he was playing for his local non-league side with an electronic tag on his ankle. Yet nothing stopped him from achieving his goals, as he rose up through the ranks of English football to, finally, earn a spot in the Premier League by 2011. Fast forward to 2016, to where we find this footballer now. In his hands is a Premier League winner's medal, and his phone buzzes constantly as people wish him luck for the upcoming European Championships, where he will represent England. He can hear the crowd chanting his name, in one mighty voice- 'Jamie Vardy's having a party'.

Crack open the WKD, boys

Vardy became not just an icon of English footballer, but a modern day philosopher after his infamous saying 'Chat shit, get banged' entered the daily conversations conducted in the English language. The man has been on one hell of a journey, and at one point across his roller coaster of a career he considered giving up this whole football business and going out to Ibiza to become a rep- because why the hell not. But Jamie stuck to his guns, and was instrumental in leading Leicester City to their first ever Premier League title.

To be called 'too small' when eyeing a lucrative career kicking a ball around on a patch of grass can certainly knock someone down, but I will mention two other sportsmen deemed too short to succeed. The first is Shane Williams, Welsh rugby legend, who leads the way as the record try scorer for the Welsh national team. You have likely heard this story from that Guinness ad played on TV at the moment. At school he was called too short to play, and even when he first played for Wales in 2000, the man weighed just over 11 stone. To see a winger, standing at 5 feet 7 inches, and weighing that much, you would think it would be easy pickings, and this man would have no hope in becoming a legend. Williams went on to play 87 times for Wales, scoring 58 tries, along with playing on three British and Irish Lions tours and being instrumental to the success of Ospreys. Not bad at all.

Beast

While I'm going on about being 'too short', it would be fair to give a mention to Lionel Messi. He was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a kid, and only with the help of Barcelona (and a contract written on a paper napkin) were Messi's medical bills able to be paid for. It is fair to say that the rest is history; five Ballon d'Ors, 29 trophies with Barcelona and more records than Prince and Elton John combined (probably, I don't want to do the math), this Argentine magician has become a god of the game. Better than Cristiano Ronaldo- even Messi would have the decency to let France win the Euros after the year it had.

Awwww, their friends really

These three stories have one simple message; all had their physicality brought into question, and went through plenty of other hardships, yet they made their critics and doubters look like fools. These are just three off the top of my head, and I'm sure that with plenty of digging that more examples can be unearthed. I see these three as great role models, as my own physicality and appearance has made me, at times, an outcast. Only through hard work, never giving up and imagining the look on people's faces when they saw how much better I was than them (I sound petty, but fuck those guys), did I reach my goals.

IGNORE THE ODDS- SAVE THAT FOR ACCUMULATORS

We step into the time machine once again and find ourselves in 1980. This contraption has landed in a very strange place- Lake Placid, New York. It's a cold day in February, and the Winter Olympics have arrived on the shores of the USA. Inside the Olympic Center something incredible is happening, something that seems like nothing but meant everything to the American nation; they were winning a game of ice hockey. Their opponents were the Soviet Union, ideological rivals and the undisputed masters of the ice, confirmed by winning the last four gold medals in this event. But with the score reading 4-3 in favour of the USA, something magical had occurred. It may not have been the gold medal game, but it felt like so much more

Cold War took on a whole new meaning at Lake Placid

Al Michaels, who was commentating on the game at the time, uttered the immortal words of 'Do you believe in miracles? Yes!' as victory was claimed over the USSR. The game was dubbed the 'Miracle on Ice', and is commonly heralded as the greatest moment in US sporting history. The average age of the team was 21, and made up largely of players from university, primarily the University of Minnesota and Boston University. They forgot their college rivalry and united as one team to take on the Soviets and win that coveted gold medal, all in the name of capitalism and democracy. Also, Jim Craig was an absolute beast when he played as a goalie.

Now that's some sexy sporting attire

Victory here was exactly what the United States needed in terms of the Cold War. After the failure that was the Vietnam War, the United States needed something to celebrate. In the context of this titanic battle between east and west, the triumph of the US hockey team was that moment. In a 'war' that went far beyond military capabilities and relied on successes in fields such as culture and science, defeating the seemingly unbeatable Soviets in 1980 was on par with landing a man on the moon, and perhaps even Rocky beating Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

'Is it east versus west, or man against man?'

The fact that this team was made up of mainly unknown players just makes this underdog story even better. Much like the Premier League Leicester of the 2015/16 season, the likes of Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante soon became household names once these ragtag bunch of fringe players lifted the trophy above their heads. Led by Claudio Ranieri, who himself had been seen as a strange appointment due to being a manager who had managed sides like Chelsea, Juventus and Valencia (not to the mention the Greek national side), they overcame all the odds and won the bloody league. Absolute scenes, and many thanks to Chelsea for drawing with Spurs to confirm the title went to Leicester.

Expectations in sports are there to be broken. Much like last week, nobody thought that the Eagles would overcome Brady and the Patriots dynasty, but the Vince Lombardi trophy was covered in green confetti by the end of Super Bowl LII. In a similar vein to being told that you're 'too short' to be a successful athlete, the 1980 US hockey team and Leicester would have been laughed out of the door if they said they would go all the way and beat the best. So here's lesson number two; ignore the odds and take no notice of how great everyone else is. No matter how great and prestigious someone else is, their achievements should not intimidate you or make you jealous. As a great man once said, 'never tell me the odds'.

Bitch, I'm fabulous

OBSTACLES ARE THERE TO BE HURDLES, LIKE A FENCE WHEN YOU'RE DRUNK

OK, I think the time machine can have one more quick trip. We arrive in 1974, and the climate is much warmer than Lake Placid during February. It's October, and here in Zaire (modern day Democratic Republic of the Congo) another great scuffle is about to commence. In one corner stands George Foreman, who was once the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world before he brought his grill into our lives. His challenger is Muhammad Ali, former heavyweight champion and master of trash talking. Welcome to the 'Rumble in the Jungle'.

The challenger used a style dubbed 'rope-a-dope', meaning that George would slowly tire himself out while Ali stayed close to the ropes, being defensive and waiting for a time to strike. As the eighth round drew to a close, Ali unleashed a left hook that knocked Foreman to the ground and, even though the champion managed to get up, the referee waved off the fight. Muhammad Ali had won back his title. 'The Greatest' was back.

Mission accomplished

It had been seven years since Ali had his title taken away from him. He had refused to be drafted into the US Army to serve Vietnam as he had no reason to fight against people who had never called him a 'n****r'. As a member of the Nation of Islam (indeed, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali when he became a member in 1964), the teachings of the Qur'an were clear on the topic of war, as war only declared by Allah was acceptable. It was on 28th April 1967 that Ali was arrested for refusing to enter the draft, and the day that his boxing licence was suspended, and subsequently he lost his heavyweight title. He wouldn't be able to box again until 1971.

Muhammad Ali put his faith and beliefs before everything else, and the only thing he got out of it was exile. To return to the glory days of being a heavyweight champion is certainly an underdog story, as the man who had lost everything got it all back. Indeed, Ali isn't the only absentee that I find inspiration, yet this man was away from his sport not because of being a conscientious objector, but because of a horrific crash. His name is Niki Lauda.

Cool as anything

I don't go on about Formula One very much, but Lauda is a hero to me. The Austrian arrived on the Formula One scene in the early 1970s, and signed for Ferrari in 1974, winning his first Championship a year later. It was in 1976, at the Nürburgring in Germany, that Lauda crashed and found himself trapped in his car as it was engulfed in flames. He was alive, but his head was horribly scarred and he lost numerous facial features such as the majority of his right ear and his eyelids. This moment may have ruined someones career, but Niki returned three races later for the Italian Grand Prix, finishing fourth... after being in a horrendous crash. What a man.

But it doesn't stop there. Although Brit James Hunt (he was played by Chris Hemsworth in Rush) won the 1976 Championship by a single point, Lauda kept racing and won back his title in 1977. He left Ferrari and joined Brabham-Alfa Romeo in 1978, but retired a year later to focus on running Lauda Air. But the lure of racing was too strong to resist, and Niki returned to race for McLaren in 1982, even though their sponsors Marlboro were sceptical about him still being a competitive racer. Securing the 1984 title certainly showed his skill, and he retired for the second time a year later, but this time for good.

Good lord, he's awesome

Niki Lauda now holds the position of chairman of the Mercedes F1 team, who currently dominate the modern F1 scene. For a man to come back to racing after suffering such terrible injuries, and keep on winning titles, is beyond incredible. We all know athletes who have suffered potential career ending injuries and have come back to dominate their sport, but this is one of the most inspiring. The mental struggle to sit behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, have that thought in your head of 'this could go horribly wrong' but still race is just amazing. Niki, you are a hero.

These two men spent time away from their sports, whether due to their beliefs, being injured or even seeking different career opportunities. What we can take from these stories is that life will almost certainly throw you to the ground, but you need to get back up. There's no reason to be scared about getting hurt again, or that you may not be able to compete for titles and trophies after being away for so long, but that didn't stop Muhammad Ali and Niki Lauda. Hell, even Winston Churchill escaped from political isolation to become Prime Minister! God, that's a proper good underdog story.

Man knows how to live

These are just only a slither of the great stories of the underdogs. Sport is the perfect source for underdog stories, but there are plenty of other examples to take from politics, history, or even from more personal relations. Underdog stories have plenty of other lessons to teach us as well, such as the importance of teamwork and being passionate for what you do, even if you earn £250,000 a week less that Alexis 'I can't wait to warm the Manchester United bench' Sanchez. Sorry, still a bit sore. But my points still stand!

In conclusion, don't give up, and just know that things usually turn up good in the end. Life may seem like a complete shit show right now, but even the greatest people in history have gone through hell and back to reach the top. Embrace that underdog tag, just like the Eagles did, and stare the impossible square in the face. Give it the middle finger and take that bastard down. I shall leave off here with a charming quote from Muhammad Ali:

'Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing'.

Preach.

Ben G 😁 xo

P.S. Still over the moon with that Philly win, so let's all take a moment and watch Nick Foles show Brady and the Patriots the right way to do a trick play.

Much like the ball, that sixth Super Bowl just slipped through his fingers