The Underdog

Any sort of competition and the word 'underdog' or 'dark horse' will be doing the rounds. Both words are similar in the sense that they refer to someone not really expected to win. But someone we would like to see winning. History is testament to the fact that man has a tendency to support the underdog. Let's consider a scenario of an Australia-Bangladesh cricket match. It is almost a foregone conclusion that Australia will be the winner. But somewhere in the depths of our hearts, we want the impossible to happen. We want to see the weaker team beat the stronger one. It's some desire to see logic being defied.
It has been witnessed many times some other examples being the support the racehorse Seabiscuit received. This horse was a freak, not built for racing. He had a imperfection in every part of his body. His running style was different, he was too small, too lazy and spent the better part of the day sleeping. Pitted against the superior pure-breed WarAdmiral from the East Coast, it was almost a no-contest. But riding with a new jockey, this horse managed to out run War Admiral on the home stretch by 3 furlongs(I think it was). This took place in America fresh out of the depression. Seabiscuit represented the working class. Those who were working hard to earn a living. The triumph of the underdog gave people hope, in their hearts that something like this is possible.
Another classic example are our movies, where the lone good guy turns from a nice guy to a hardened person and beats the bad guys.
We all live our lives trying to overcome hard times. We see ourselves in an underdog and his victory is proof that we have some chance of succeeding at achieving our goals.
On a lighter note I am happy the leading underdog of Indian Idol 3, Suhit Gosain is out. Being less talented and not being talented --there is a huge difference.