Here is your fun Friday factoid: 2011 has proven to be fruitful for the underdogs in American professional sports.
The NFL started the trend off during the January playoffs. The Green Bay Packers, the wild card out of the NFC North, stormed through the playoffs. They beat the Michael-Vick-led Philadelphia Eagles 21-16, crushed the Atlanta Falcons 48-21, and secured a spot in the Super Bowl by beating their rivals, the Chicago Bears, 21-14. They faced a veteran Pittsburgh Steelers team and beat them in amazing fashion 31-25 in the Super Bowl. They were underdogs in every single playoff game and played them all on the road.
The NBA playoffs continued the trend on Sunday when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat for theMavs’ first NBA title. The Mavericks were the third seed in the Western Conference, and after sweeping LA in the Conference Semifinals, still played the underdog to the superstar Miami Heat.
The NHL added its piece to the puzzle when the Boston Bruins clinched the NHL title last night against the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver had the best record in the NHL at 54-19 and the most points, 117. Boston was able to figure out how to score against their ace goalie Roberto Luongo, to win the Stanley Cup.
MLB playoffs are not until October, but it will be interesting to see if the trend continues. Cleveland anyone?
Follow Kristen on Twitter @Call2theBullpen
