You can't keep a good man down. Between a rock and a hard place, swimming upstream without a paddle, when you have no other place to go, you have the underdog. There is no one better to learn from when the options are close to none. Though their steps are small, their leaps have no bounds. Here are five underdogs we can't stop cheering on.
1. Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker's father wants to rule the galaxy with or without him, and distant relative Obi-Wan Kenobi just had to keep it a secret. Everyone goes through that hating-your-parent faze, but Luke never outgrew it. Living on a moisture farm on the deserts of Tatooine with smugglers and Tusken Raiders will force anyone to thirst for more. That deserves a swig of blue milk.
2. Marty McFly.
Exploiting the very fabric of the space-time continuum to travel forward to the past only to travel back to the future. Sounds heavy. Marty McFly is a hip square that's a little rough around the edges, but he always gets that Kodak moment in the nick of time. Who gets to meet their parents before they're born? My friend in time, Future Boy, that's who. Or Calvin Klein or Clint Eastwood if you prefer.
3. Daniel LaRusso.
The best defense is the best offense. That is, of course, if you decide to sweep the leg instead. Daniel LaRusso is the New Jersey newcomer to California and he's made some friends but more enemies. When you're the new kid, it's hard avoiding rumors and keeping and starting a reputation. Nothing like a little karate to kick start your life. Wax up some more cars, LaRusso!
4. Rocky Balboa.
Another Italian, this time from the humble streets of Philadelphia. Rocky Balboa taught us that life will knock you down, but you decide to get back up and to roll with the punches. Life is more than black and blue though. Sometimes it's red, white, and blue, or yellow, or Russian, but no matter what, even after the final bell, there's a champion in all of us. Going the distance, proving yourself for yourself, that's the true spirit of an underdog.
5. Rudy Ruettiger.
Faith without work is dead. No one knows this better than Rudy Ruettiger. Playing for Notre Dame started as a dream, then it became a goal. The mark of a good athlete is having a good an academic standing. The Irish get a bad rep, what with all the drinking and big families, but leave it to Rudy here to dispel the myths and fulfill his dream. In life, luck is only half of it.
Underdogs don't get the respect they deserve until they learn to respect themselves. When they do, they return that respect twofold. Rock the boat, but don't fall overboard.
man running in forestPhoto by 
