None of those events, as much as some want to believe, can claim the title of the world's greatest sporting event. Instead, that distinction has to fall distinctly to an event in England that most Americans have never heard of. The event? It's none other than the FA Cup, which began on Saturday with the Extra Preliminary Round.
You may be wondering what sets this event apart from the rest, and what makes it better. It's the sheer size of it all. Very few events have as many contestants as 762 from the start, and very few have as many rounds (14) as the FA Cup happens to have. The beauty of this all is not only the single round elimination format, but the fact that teams of all levels have the chance to compete with one another.
It is entirely possible for huge upsets to happen (including teams known as "minnows" stunning bigger teams). It is entirely possible, if the 9th tier team were to survive that long, that Manchester United could travel to the equivalent of a high school team in American football. Can you imagine the New England Patriots coming to town and playing your local high school? While that is strange to American sports fans and would never happen in this country that is entirely possible in the FA Cup. Upsets are also commonplace. Two years ago, Barnsley FC (a second tier team) made it into the Final Four of the FA Cup, beating giant Liverpool on the road and then beating another giant in Chelsea at home.
Giant killers have become urban legends, to a certain extent, in FA Cup history. In the 1988-1989 FA Cup, non-league(meaning that they were below the 4thtier of English soccer)Sutton United upset top flight team Coventry City. In 1969, third division Mansfield Town upset West Ham United (who were currently sixth in the top division) 3-0. Perhaps no better giant killing story exists than the story of 1975 Wimbledon FC. The team, who was a non-league team at the timebeat top division team Burnley 1-0 in the third round and then followed that up by holding reigning first division champion Leeds to a 0-0 draw before narrowly losing the replay.
One of my favorite things about this tournament is the opportunity that it gives non-professionals to share the big stage with some of the best clubs in the world. There are so few situations in sports that allow people to do this, and this is what the FA Cup is all about.
Imagine March Madness on steroids. This is like the NCAA tournament, only better. Instead of 64 teams (which we see as huge), it's 762. Imagine the possibilities with so many teams, and think of all the teams you'll never have heard of.
Do you want to watch ten months of March Madness? Do you want to see amateur teams take on some of the biggest and richest clubs in the world on an even field? The FA Cup has all of that and deserves your attention. An event this special is truly something that we would never see in American sports and that is a shame. However, thanks to English soccer, we all get the chance.
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