Word: underdogs
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...Everything will have to go right to be honest," Siedlecki says. "We're the underdog and we know it, but it's important for us to believe...
Washington influence peddling is that rare arena in which Gates is a legitimate underdog. Sun, Oracle and Netscape--the ABM (Anybody But Microsoft) coalition's holy trinity--have emerged as a potent force with an unlikely assortment of top-drawer allies, from Nader on the left to the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Jeff Eisenach on the free-market right. Senate majority leader Trent Lott is an old college buddy of Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale's. House Speaker Newt Gingrich cooled on Microsoft after a private dinner in 1995 during which he was rebuffed by the notoriously apolitical Gates...
Clearly, there is a general appreciation for this sort of reversal of fortune; the urge to root for the underdog and against the favorite is a quintessentially human one which extends back to and probably even predates the story of David and Goliath. Still, it is worth examining the odd equalizing urge to hope not only that the little guy makes good in the end, but also that the big guy (i.e. Microsoft) suffers some slings and arrows along...
This sort of behavior seems strangely at odds with the ideal of the American dream, that perennial occupant of this country's collective unconscious which causes us to love the rags-to-riches, Horatio Alger, class of 1852, sort of underdog who beats the odds and from poor and humble beginnings acquires vast wealth. If we love successful underdogs as they approach fame and fortune, why do we not continue to love them as they attain ever-higher pinnacles of achievement, whether it be by doubling and redoubling their billions or by winning an increasingly ridiculous number of consecutive championships...
...There are always so many surprises and disappointments in the Ivy League Tournament," Hart said. "The structure itself tends to favor the underdog. It is their last chance to redeem themselves. As the first seed, there is a different attitude. You're playing not to lose rather than playing...