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VICE x GO-JEK

Introducing 'Underdogs,' a Series About Overcoming the Odds

VICE's Indonesia office partnered with GO-JEK to bring you our first sports series.

There are few things more inspiring than an underdog. Think about it for a second, born winners, you know those men and women who were born rich, talented, and beautiful, aren't exactly role models for the rest of us. They were born to a place most of us will work our whole lives and never reach.

But underdogs? That's a totally different story. Who wasn't an underdog at some time in their life? Maybe it was at work, where everyone underestimated you until you came up with that one good idea. Maybe it was back in university, where your professors thought you would never amount to anything.

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Or maybe it was on the pitch or in the ring, like the two men we profiled for the first two episodes of "Underdogs." Teuku Muhammad Ichsan was just another kid from a small town in Indonesia's Aceh province with big dreams when he was tagged to play for Bhayangkara F.C.

John Basan was another migrant from eastern Indonesia trying to find his way in a city that treated him with prejudice and fear before he stepped into the ring. Both of them rose above it all to achieve more than anyone thought was possible.

Inspiring stories like this are one of the reason we love covering sports. Sports stories are full of drama, of struggles, both over one's opponent and one's self. It's all amazing, captivating stuff, but these are the kinds of stories we rarely had a chance to tell. Until now.

We partnered up with the fine people at GO-JEK to create a pilot slate of new series that hope to inspire, educate, and most of all entertain our readers. "Underdogs," is the first of five two-episode series pilots that we'll be rolling out between now and the first few months of 2018. What's a pilot you ask? It's a few episodes to test the waters. If you want to see more episodes of "Underdogs," then let us know in the comments on your socials, or by tweeting at us and GO-JEK with the hashtag #underdogs.

We hope you enjoy the show.