UPSETS

I am a huge fan of upsets.  I do not really have a favorite sports team.  More often than not, I root for the underdog.  I love seeing upsets and I love upset stories.  Well I have one for you.

It’s a snow day.  I am playing the card game “War” with my ten-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter.  We play with the jokers – they act as the highest two cards. 

 Starting off the game, I had both jokers, my son had three aces, and my daughter had one lowly ace.  It did not take long for me to take my son’s three aces through a war and shortly thereafter my daughter’s sole ace as well.  The game was clearly in my hands when my son bowed out, holding strong for awhile though with a jack as his high card.  So the table is now set for a quick finish.  I held the top six cards (four aces and two jokers).  My daughter had a few face cards and a bunch of low ones.

What happened next, I still cannot comprehend.  It was a triple, yes triple, war.  I had been involved with numerous double wars, but never a triple.  It was crazy.  My son and daughter were going nuts at the table – likely waking my wife from her nap upstairs.  And I lost it.  I lost one joker and two aces.  Bad, but not horrible.  I was still in the game – it was even.

Up next – a double war.  In it, yes, I lost my final joker and another ace.  All I held now was an ace as my high card and a few other face cards.  There is no way this is really going to happen.

But it did.  In another war, I lost my final ace.  It literally took all but 3 minutes for my daughter to wipe the floor with the rest of my cards and I was out.

How does that happen!?!?  She started the game as a clear, clear underdog.  And at one point it was just her and I and I held the top six cards!  The top six!  No one in their right mind would have said that the eight-year-old is going to beat “pops” (longstanding veteran of the card game war).  But she did.

And I love upsets, so I quickly set off to my computer to record it. 

So the next time you think you are going up against an insurmountable foe, think of my eight-year-old daughter who never quit even though the cards were stacked against her.

 

What is your greatest upset?