History Awesome / Sports

* The Ottawa Redblacks of the UsefulNotes/CanadianFootballLeague winning the Grey Cup in only their ''third year of existence''. Even sweeter for the city is that it's also the first Grey Cup win for an Ottawa-based football team in 40 years!

-->And here he is! The unconquerable, the invincible, the unbeatable Cigar!

-->And here he is! The unconquerable, invincible, unbeatable Cigar!

* Only 15 players in the modern era of MLB have pulled off an unassisted triple play, making three putouts all at once. Bill Wambsganss of the Cleveland Indians did it during a World Series game in 1920; as of 2019, it's still the only triple play in World Series history.

** The final in Munich was against Bayern Munich, who were heavy favourites, with Chelsea needing to win to qualify for next season's Champions League. A makeshift Chelsea side defend for their lives until Thomas Muller scores in the 83rd minute. Game over, one might think, but then Chelsea win a corner with two minutes left. Didier Drogba meets it with a header into the back of the net.

** The 2020-21 campaign, meanwhile, saw Chelsea concede just four goals throughout the tournament, being behind for just five minutes in total in a campaign which saw them face Atletico Madrid, Porto, Real Madrid and Manchester City. In addition, two of their starting players had risen through the youth team, their keeper, Edouard Mendy, had been unemployed five years previously, and the player who scored the winning goal, Kai Havertz, had struggled to find form after contracting Covid earlier in the season. This also meant that manager Thomas Tuchel and defender Thiago Silva, who were both part of the Paris Saint Germain squad that lost the Champions League just the previous season, could finally win it this time.

** Context: England have only ever won an international tournament a grand total of ''once'', back in 1966 at the World Cup, and have been desperate for another win. The fact that ''any'' England team have achieved this feat, ''especially'' at Wemberly, '''''especially''''' after the men's made it to the final the previous year only to lose on penalties, is nothing short of spectacular.

** Further context: The FA banned women from playing football in 1921 on the grounds of the sport being 'unsuitable' for them (when in reality women's football was popular thanks to World War 1 and the men were intimidated that they wouldn't be able to get spectators back to watch the men's game). When the ban was finally lifted after 50 years in 1971, no one was interested. For years women had to fund themselves from kit to travel expenses, facing constant scrutiny and most schools preventing girls from playing. Only in recent years has more funding allowed top players to go pro, but those starting out still had to take second jobs. To win a major tournament, over the men, in spite of all this, is not only massively deserved but is also one big middle finger to the FA who banned them over a hundred years ago. Now people in the sport are saying this win will change the country's approach to women's football forever.
** And to win the title they beat '''Germany''', their greatest rival, who have previously won this tournament ''8'' times - one of which was when they beat England back in 2009. England not only beat them, but they also beat their goal-scoring record from ''that very same tournament''.

** In the Round of 16, against Paris Saint Germain, they lost the first leg 1-0 with a goal by Mbappé. The second leg began with Mbappé scoring in minute 39' - and in the second half Madrid answered through Benzema scoring a hat-trick.

** In the semi-finals' first leg, Manchester City managed to get ahead 2-0 with De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus in the first eleven minutes. Benzema managed to score in minute 33, Foden's goal in minute 53 was answered by Vinicius two minutes later, and Silva's in minute 75 by Benzema eight minutes later, leaving the score 4-3. In the second leg, Madrid kept attacking with no way to score, only for Mahrez to put City ahead by one, forcing Madrid to score twice to go into overtime. Cue Rodrygo Goes scoring twice in a minute ([[DownToTheLastPlay with the game in extra time]]) and finally Benzema ending City's hopes with a penalty kick goal in overtime.
** The final game against Liverpool became very contested, with both teams proving to be very tough in their attempts to score with both goalkeepers (Courtois for Real Madrid, Alisson for Liverpool) stopping several amazing shots - when Valverde sent a long cross to an unmarked Vinicius for the winning goal.

** The UsefulNotes/IndyCar Series took the second leg at São Paulo, Brazil. Takuma Sato, fresh off his maiden victory at Long Beach, had to hold off fellow 2013 first-time winner James Hinchcliffe on worn tires. Hinchcliffe faked Sato out down the long backstraight and cut under him in the last turn hairpin to steal the win and regain momentum after contact in the previous two races.

* The 2001 World Series. Just the fact that it was even being played at all after dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 earlier that year felt incredible enough on its own accord. However, when you consider it's the New York Yankees, a then-26x champion team that won the World Series 4 out of 5 times from 1996-2000, including a three-peat, going up against an upstart Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that was only 4 years old entering the World Series for the first time ever, it truly felt like a David Vs. Goliath story for professional baseball. Whenever key pitchers Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling were on the mound for the games they played in, it made the Yankees' work feel that much harder on their end. However, in the games out in New York, it truly showed how not just the state of New York, but the U.S.A. as a whole was truly strong and resilient with themselves. Between President George W. Bush's first pitch from Game 3, Game 4 going from Halloween to November 1 with Derek Jeter's home run to win it for the Yankees, and another tense comeback win for the Yankees in Game 5, it showed how it was a World Series to remember everywhere. However, the highlight of the event came from Game 7, where after a tight pitching battle between Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson came in as a surprise closer for the Diamondbacks in the 9th inning, followed by some key hits from Diamondbacks Mark Grace, Damian Miller (from a bunt of all things), Jay Bell, and a double from Tony Womack alongside an unintentional hit on Craig Counsell making it all even again before a decisive hit by Luis Gonzalez (known for being a Home Run winner that season) won it all for them at the bottom of the ninth with a soft floater single under a situation most kids would dream of being under for a decisive World Series. Both Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling shared the honor of being named World Series [=MVPs=] together (a rare feat where the honor was shared by multiple players in one year only once before, as well as the first by two pitchers for the same team), while Game 7 of that World Series was later ranked as the best playoff game for the 2000's decade by [[https://www.si.com/more-sports/2009/12/09/mlb-highlightslowlights Sports Illustrated.]]

* October 3, 2012, the last day of the main season, ended up being one massive one for the Yankees, Nationals, and Miguel Cabrera. The Yankees played against [[ArchEnemy the Boston Red Sox]] in a game that would help determine whether or not the Yankees clinch the AL East. Not only did they defeat the Red Sox 14-2, the Orioles, the main threat to their chances, were defeated during the game. Miguel Cabrera became the first man to win the Triple Crown in over 40 years. And the Nationals clinched the NL East and entered the post season for the first time since the Washington Senators did so in the 30's. Not only that, but the RunningGag of Teddy Roosevelt always losing a race that is used for mid-inning entertainment was broken and Teddy finally won after receiving support from both John [=McCain=] AND one of Barack Obama's spokespeople, a Republican and Democrat, respectively. It was a DAY of awesome. Except for Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, who all lost in some way.

** And Sports Illustrated gets a special bit of awesome for predicting it would happen...''[[https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/10/24/houston-astros-sports-illustrated-world-series-prediction in 2014]]''. And the player they put on that cover, George Springer, was the World Series MVP. Call it the ultimate subversion of the ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'' [[PopCultureUrbanLegends Cover Jinx]].

** Though that victory would be tarnished in 2020 when it came out that the Astros had devised a scheme to use live video feeds of games to steal pitchers' signs.[[note]]It's an accepted part of the game for a team to try to steal signs if it can get a runner on second base, giving him a direct view of the catcher, but it's very much against the rules to use technology to steal signs in real time.[[/note]] That being said, commissioner Rob Manfred would not strike either the Astros' 2017 World Series or the Red Sox's 2018 World Series (who had some personnel from the 2017 Astros) from the record books... though their wins can still be considered black eye wins like the Cincinnati Reds' World Series win over the Chicago White Sox (a.k.a., the Black Sox) from 1919.

** It gets better when one remembers that VCU's crosstown rival, the University of Richmond, also made it to the Sweet Sixteen and happened to be in the same regional, both playing in San Antonio. After Richmond was defeated by Kansas, the entire city rallied around the Rams, who avenged their rival and solidified that Richmond, VA was indeed Hoopstown, USA.

*** Simone Biles of the United States wins her third straight all-around title, making her indisputably one of the best American gymnasts ''ever''. She's the first American gymnast to defend her All-Around title since 1994 and only the second to do so, and the first female gymnast ever to win three world AA titles back-to-back-to-back[[note]]Svetlana Khorkina of Russia also won three, but not consecutively[[/note]]. She has the most World gold medals of any American gymnasts, at 10, and with 14 medals total, she has officially beaten the all-time American medal count record held by Alicia Sacramone, who has 10. The kicker? It took Sacramone 6 years to win 10 medals. It took Biles only 3 years to win ''14''.[[note]]It does need to be noted here that these "all-time medal count" tallies are very misleading in one respect: prior to about 1990, the World Championships only took place every ''four'' years, not three years of every four as they do today, and throughout the '90s there was much confusion as the FIG tried out different formats and gaps between competitions. This means that many of the legendary names of the sport, like Vera Caslavska, Larisa Latynina, Ludmilla Tourischeva, and other legendary gymnasts had far fewer opportunities to compete at the Group-1 level. This is not to diminish Biles' achievements, mind, but going purely by medal total without considering the number of opportunities the gymnast in question had to earn them provides a very misleading picture of the history of the sport.[[/note]]

** Simone Biles winning five gold medals, a first for her despite her dominance in the sport[[note]]she lacked the difficulty on vault to win gold in 2014 and 2015, and stumbled on beam in the finals in 2016 and 2018[[/note]], and also breaking the record for the most World Championship medals won by any gymnast, regardless of gender. If that doesn't sound impressive enough, keep in mind that men's gymnastics has 24 medals available in each World Championships (team, all-around, and six apparatus finals) while women's gymnastics only has 18 (team, all-around, and ''four'' apparatus finals), so for a female gymnast to beat a male gymnast's record is that much more difficult because of that.

*** Simone Biles of the United States wins her third straight all-around title, making her indisputably one of the best American gymnasts ''ever''. She's the first American gymnast to defend her All-Around title since 1994 and only the second to do so, and the first female gymnast ever to win three world AA titles back-to-back-to-back[[note]]Svetlana Khorkina of Russia also won three, but not consecutively[[/note]]. She has the most World gold medals of any American gymnasts, at 10, and with 14 medals total, she has officially beaten the all-time American medal count record held by Alicia Sacramone, who has 10. The kicker? It took Sacramone 6 years to win 10 medals. It took Biles only 3 years to win ''14''.[[note]]It does need to be noted here that these "all-time medal count" tallies are very misleading in one respect: prior to about 1990, the World Championships only took place every ''four'' years , not three years of every four as they do today, and throughout the '90s there was much confusion as the FIG tried out different formats and gaps between competitions. This means that many of the legendary names of the sport, like Vera Caslavska, Larisa Latynina, Ludmilla Tourischeva, and other legendary gymnasts had far fewer opportunities to compete at the Group-1 level. This is not to diminish Biles' achievements, mind, but going purely by medal total without considering the number of opportunities the gymnast in question had to earn them provides a very misleading picture of the history of the sport.[[/note]]

*** Simone Biles of the United States wins her third straight all-around title, making her indisputably one of the best American gymnasts ''ever''. She's the first American gymnast to defend her All-Around title since 1994 and only the second to do so, and the first female gymnast ever to win three world AA titles back-to-back-to-back[[note]]Svetlana Khorkina of Russia also won three, but not consecutively[[/note]]. She has the most World gold medals of any American gymnasts, at 10, and with 14 medals total, she has officially beaten the all-time American medal count record held by Alicia Sacramone, who has 10. The kicker? It took Sacramone 6 years to win 10 medals. It took Biles only 3 years to win ''14''.

* There's a page on Website/ThatOtherWiki called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goaltenders_who_have_scored_a_goal_in_an_NHL_game List of Goaltenders Who Have Scored a Goal in an NHL Game.]] This is a feat so rare that it's notable enough to merit its own Wikipedia page in the first place. As of 25 February 2023 only ''thirteen'' goaltenders have a goal credited to their name, of the sixteen goals listed nine of them were shot by the goaltender himself (the rest were own goals credited to the goalie since he was the last opposing player to touch the puck), and of those twelve goalies Ron Hextall has ''two'' of those goals and Martin Brodeur has ''three''.

* There's a page on Website/ThatOtherWiki called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goaltenders_who_have_scored_a_goal_in_an_NHL_game List of Goaltenders Who Have Scored a Goal in an NHL Game.]] This is a feat so rare that it's notable enough to merit its own Wikipedia page in the first place. As of 12 May 2022 only ''twelve'' goaltenders have a goal credited to their name, of the fifteen goals listed eight of them were shot by the goaltender himself (the rest were own goals credited to the goalie since he was the last opposing player to touch the puck), and of those twelve goalies Ron Hextall has ''two'' of those goals and Martin Brodeur has ''three''.

** Then we had Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Los Angeles Rams. Although Matthew Stafford and Sean [=McVay=] got out to a 27-3 lead after halftime, they committed multiple fumbles and a botched snap that the Bucs were able to benefit off of that would allow them to tie the game with under a minute remaining, and it looked like it was bound to be Super Bowl LI all over again. But Stafford was able to complete two excellent passes to Cooper Kupp to get into field goal range, allowing Matt Gay to win it for them [[RuleOfThree at the gun]].

*** The Chiefs won the coin toss and proceeded to get it down the field easily enough for the walk-off touchdown to win the game 42-36 for the right to host their fourth straight AFC Championship Game.

** Very special mention should go to AFC Wimbledon. Consider first that team relocation is almost unheard of outside the USA and especially in England where the concept of "franchise sport" is highly frowned upon. Yet thanks to a number of circumstances leaving the club formerly known as Wimbledon FC without a full time place to play, the club owners relented and agreed to move the club in 2002 to the town of Milton Keynes, officially becoming known as MK Dons. Refusing to accept the 56-mile commute away from the southwest London neighbourhood of Wimbledon to support their relocated former club, a contingent of Wimbledon supporters chose instead to completely form a new club from scratch. This would mean having to start play all the way in England's ninth and lowest tier of organized football. Yet from AFCW's founding in 2002, they ascended all the way from that ninth tier league to the third tier - the same level the former Wimbledon club was in - by 2016. 2020 saw the club truly reach full circle when they finally opened a brand new stadium, Plough Lane, located about 200 metres from their former stadium, the original Plough Lane.

** The first team that should be mentioned was the one that hinted things to come going into this season after their time in the NBA Bubble: the Phoenix Suns. After seeing their improbable success from that period, the Suns made an all-in move similar to the Toronto Raptors trading for Kawhi Leonard: this time trading fan favorites in Kelly Oubre Jr. and Ricky Rubio (alongside Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque, and a future first-round pick) to the Oklahoma City Thunder for superstar point guard Chris Paul [[AndZoidberg and Abdel Nader]]. Not only that, but they also made a few key signings, with Jae Crowder from the Miami Heat being their main signing. Outside of a later trade in the season regarding another team down below netting them Torrey Craig, the Suns pretty much kept most of their roster from the Bubble intact throughout the season. Turned out it was a bet that paid off in dividends, ending a decade-long playoff drought by having the ''second-best record in the entire NBA'' at 51-21[[note]]only the Utah Jazz had a better record with a 52-20 record; no one else had a record better than 49-23 otherwise[[/note]] and being the #2 seed in the Western Conference [[DorkAge after having a tough time cracking through even a #8 seed throughout the 2010's]]! Former player turned general manager James Jones won Executive of the Year for his moves done this season, with Monty Williams winning the Coach of the Year by his coaching peers as head coach. By then, the Suns watched a play-in tournament game that guaranteed them a tough opponent between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers, with them being considered "lucky" to play UsefulNotes/LeBronJames, Anthony Davis, and the defending champion Lakers.

* No one can argue with the fact that Leicester City clinching the Premier League title in the 2015/16 season belongs here. As 5,000-1 underdogs and more likely to be tipped for relegation, they had the entire set up for a true underdog story. A first XI that cost less than just one of the star players in other more wealthy teams. A manager in perennial "nearly man" Claudio Ranieri, who had been lambasted in the media as never quite getting the job done for success. A proud goalkeeper in Kasper Schmeichel, constantly being compared to his extremely successful goalkeeping father. A fantastic midfielder in Riyad Mahrez that had cost only £350,000 compared to others being more around the multi million mark. A record breaking striker in Jamie Vardy, who four years before was playing non league football after being rejected by Sheffield Wednesday due to his height. And many others in the team, not to discredit their achievements. These men came together, battled, struggled and clawed their way to the top. Everyone who was anyone doubted them, constantly worn down by reality and saying that at any moment, the fairytale would be over. And come May 2nd, it did....with the happiest ending anyone could imagine.

* There's a page on Wiki/ThatOtherWiki called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goaltenders_who_have_scored_a_goal_in_an_NHL_game List of Goaltenders Who Have Scored a Goal in an NHL Game.]] This is a feat so rare that it's notable enough to merit its own Wikipedia page in the first place. As of 12 May 2022 only ''twelve'' goaltenders have a goal credited to their name, of the fifteen goals listed eight of them were shot by the goaltender himself (the rest were own goals credited to the goalie since he was the last opposing player to touch the puck), and of those twelve goalies Ron Hextall has ''two'' of those goals and Martin Brodeur has ''three''.

* Olga Mostepanova's blowout win over literally everyone else at the Friendship Games (aka Alternate Olympics) in 1984. She scored ''twelve'' perfect tens, including the only "Perfect 40" ever recorded in international elite competition in the all-around final, and won gold on the vault, balance beam, and floor exercise as well (she was two-per-countried out of the uneven bars final). To sum up: there were six gold medals available in women's gymnastics at that Games, and Mostepanova won ''all but one of them.''

** Further context: The FA banned women from playing football in 1921 on the grounds of the sport being 'unsuitable' for them (when in reality women's football was popular thanks to World War 1 and the men were intimidated that they wouldn't be able to get spectatrors back to watch the men). When the ban was finally lifted after 50 years in 1971, no one was interested. For years women had to fund themselves from kit to travel expenses, facing constant scrutiny and most schools preventing girls from playing. Only in recent years has more funding allowed top players to go pro, but those starting out still had to take second jobs. To win a major torunament, over the men, in spite of all this, is not only massively deserved but is also one big middle finger to the FA who banned them over a hundred years ago. Now people in the sport are saying this win will change the country's approach to women's football forever.

* And to win the title they beat '''Germany''', their greatest rival, who have previously won this tournament ''8'' times - one of which was when they beat England back in 2009. England not only beat them, but they also beat their goal-scoring record from ''that very same tournament''.

* England winning the Women's UEFA European Championships. At long last, football has come home.

* As they went into Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates trailed the mighty New York Yankees in every offensive category except for games won: the series was tied at 3. Game 7 seesawed back and forth throughout; the Pirates took an early 4–0 lead on a 2-run shot by Rocky Nelson and a 2-run single by Bill Virdon in their first two at-bats. The Yankees finally got on the board in the fifth when Bill "Moose" Skowron led off the top of the inning with his second home run of the series. Then in the top of the sixth, Mickey Mantle hit an RBI single that drove in eventual Series MVP Bobby Richardson. Yogi Berra followed that with a 3-run shot to right that was so close to going foul that Mel Allen had to correct himself, since he said it ''was'' going to be a foul ball at first. The Yankees added two more in their half of the eighth on an RBI single by Johnny Blanchard, then an RBI double by Clete Boyer. Then the Pirates had ''their'' half of the eighth. After a pinch-hit single by Gino Cimoli, Bill Virdon hit a ground ball to Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek. However, the ball took a bad bounce and hit him ''in the throat'', which forced his departure from the game. Dick Groat then hit an RBI single to make it 7–5 New York. The next batter, Roberto Clemente, hit a ground ball toward first base; however, due to Skowron and Jim Coates both trying to get the ball at the same time and Clemente's speed, the only thing Skowron could do was hold it as Virdon scored to make it 7–6. Hal Smith then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoisw4EjnGc hit a 3-run shot]], Pittsburgh's second of the game, to give them a 9–7 lead and set off a delirious celebration in Forbes Field. In the top of the 9th, Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long both hit singles that forced a pitching change. Mickey Mantle hit another single to drive in Richardson once again and make it 9–8 Pittsburgh. Yogi hit a grounder straight at Rocky Nelson, whose momentum led him to step on first base to retire Berra; Mantle dove back to first since he knew that he had no chance to beat a play at second (he also thought the ball had been caught in the air).[[note]]Also worth noting is the fact that Mantle was ''not'' forced to go to second since Nelson had already stepped on first to retire Berra.[[/note]] He barely avoided Nelson's tag (which would have ended the series) while Gil [=McDougald=] (who was pinch-running for Long) raced home to tie the game at 9. The Pirates came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. Leading off was the Pirates' #8 batter, the great-fielding but weak-batting Bill Mazeroski. On the 1–0 pitch, he hit a home run to become the first batter in World Series history ever to win the series with a game-ending homer.[[note]] Before the home runs that Nelson and Smith hit earlier in the game, Mazeroski had hit their only one way back in Game 1, which takes BookEnds UpToEleven, since it was (obviously) the Pirates' last in the series and the game.[[/note]]

* The 2019 Washington Nationals, the season after losing star player Bryce Harper, started out dismally, with a 19-31 record in May. They then proceeded to surge throughout the rest of the season and make the playoffs, where they were expected [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut to exit quickly based on their under-performance in elimination games over the last several postseasons.]] Instead, the Nats won the NL Wild Card game on the implosion of the Milwaukee Brewers' Josh Hader, defeated the [[TheAce 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers]] with the help of two road wins, swept the St. Louis Cardinals to make the World Series, and defeated the [[TheJuggernaut heavily favored, 107-win Houston Astros]] with [[UpToEleven FOUR road wins]] to [[EarnYourHappyEnding win the World Series for the first time in franchise history.]]

* April 6, 1996: [[http://www.goerie.com/bowling-journal-honors-learn-for-flagship-performance The finals of the Flagship Open]] in (ten-pin) bowling's PBA Tour, held in Erie, Pennsylvania on lanes set up in the city's main indoor arena, now known as Erie Insurance Arena. The first match of the five-player stepladder finals[[note]] where the winner of each match leading up to the championship match faces a new player[[/note]], nationally televised on Creator/{{ABC}}, featured Erie's own Bob Learn Jr. In front of a loud hometown crowd of 4,500, Learn began the finals by bowling a ''perfect game'' (12 strikes), earning a $100,000 bonus. It got even crazier from there—Learn went on to win the tournament, setting a new PBA record for a four-game series at 1,129. Taking the craziness UpToEleven: the combined scores of his four opponents (1,083) were higher than the series record that Learn had just broken (1,070).