Against The Odds

No WWE fight is satisfying unless the hero comes back from being completely demolished to somehow beat the bad guy. I can't think of a single Hollywood sports movie ("Rocky", "Major League", "Tin Cup", "Cool Runnings", "The Replacements", "Miracle" - have I missed out a sport somewhere?) where the eventual victor is anything but a rank outsider in the beginning. Any number of Hindi movies depict, with widely varying degrees of accomplishment, the same thing. David and Goliath, St. George and the dragon, Tolkein's hobbits - the win-against-all-odds hero is everywhere, in history and in fiction.

What is it about the underdog that fascinates the human race? Are we a bunch of losers who therefore relate to the prospect of an unexpected victory? Are we eternal pessimists trying with all our might to be optimistic? Or is it just the element of surprise that we, as vicarious thrill-seekers, crave?

It's all Greek to me:
I was delighted when Greece won the Euro Cup semi-final, and I would dearly love to see them win the whole thing. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to be pretty upset that Greece has reached the finals of the Euro Cup. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's just a case of sour grapes because all the so-called powerhouses didn't fare too well.

Granted Greece is not the most attacking or fluid team in the world, but they're extremely good at what they do and their defence thoroughly deserved to hold France and the Czech Republic goalless. Their tackling is crisp and on target (I can't really remember a single missed tackle in either match), and the marking is absolutely phenomenal. To be able to completely shut down such accomplished forwards as Zidane, Thierry Henry, Milan Baros, Nedved and Poborsky is not just commendable, it's a revelation!

And so what if their attack plan is somewhat predictable and ineffective. If they can score when it counts, I see no reason to deny them their just reward. They have now beaten all three of the "favourites" to win the Cup at some stage and it's fitting that the last match of the tournament will be a rematch of the first one.

Unfortunately, if the officiating in the final starts up from where it left off in both of the home team's knockout stage matches, then I don't see how Greece is going to win. While I will admit that Portugal did deserve to beat Holland and England just got unlucky, I have to say I was disappointed with the referees, especially in the semi-final.

Sharap as a knife:
Moving on to another underdog, Maria Sharapova completely blasted Serena Williams off the court in the ladies' singles final at Wimbledon. I haven't really watched her play at this year's Championships before this, but I couldn't believe the power of her groundstrokes. It takes a lot to out-hit Serena and more still to drive her so far out of a point and off the court that she gives up the chase. Going by the semi-finals and the final, women's tennis may not be doing so badly after all.

The Chronicles of Roddick... not:
Underdog or not, I hope Andy Roddick loses tomorrow. Not a big fan of his and a loss would give the American commentators, especially Cliff Drysdale and Mary Carillo, a little less to crow about on Independence Day. I shudder to think what would have happened if Serena had played Lindsay Davenport in the ladies' final.