Cinderella (sports)

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In American and Canadian sports, a Cinderella or "Cinderella Story" refers to a team or player who advances much further in a tournament than expected. Cinderellas tend to gain much media and fan attention as they move closer to the championship game at the end of the tournament. The term comes from the end of the fairy tale Cinderella, and its idea is that one can unexpectedly achieve success after a period of obscurity. The usage was popularized by Bill Murray in the 1980 hit movie Caddyshack where he pretends as the announcer to his own golf fantasy: "Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion."[1] Murray is said to have improvised the scene in one take from two lines of stage direction. This movie quote has been named to AFI's Top 100, one of only a few that are sports related.

Referring somewhat inaccurately to the plot details of the classic Cinderella story, the media will debate whether the given "Cinderella" team or player will "turn into a pumpkin", i.e. to fail to win the prize, and to then return to its former obscurity. It was the carriage that turned into a pumpkin at midnight, not Cinderella herself. Another popular term is "strike midnight" when a Cinderella team does finally get beat.

Prior to the widespread use of "Cinderella" in this way, the more common term for unexpected and dramatic success was "Miracle", as in the "Miracle Braves" of 1914, the "Miracle of Coogan's Bluff" in 1951, the "Miracle Mets" of 1969, and the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980.

In the United Kingdom, by contrast, a Cinderella team is one which usually underachieves (for example the Spanish football team), or is overshadowed by more successful neighbours (for example, Tranmere Rovers by Liverpool and Everton). This refers to the early part of the Cinderella fairy tale, where the heroine is downtrodden. A U.S.-style Cinderella team would be a surprise package or surprise packet, and their success would be termed a fairy-tale run.

A related concept is the giant-killer, which refers to a lesser competitor who defeats a favorite. The name reflects such stories as David and Goliath, and Jack the Giant-Killer.

Contents

[edit] Examples of (North America-style) "Cinderellas"

[edit] Ice hockey

[edit] Baseball

  • Colorado Rockies (2007) - The Rockies were traditionally known for being the National League's perennial cellar dwellers, but in the month of September, the Rockies won 13 of their last 14 games. After winning the wild card tiebreaker game against the San Diego Padres, the Rockies went on to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS and Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS, and won their first national league pennant.
  • Boston Red Sox (2004) - The Red Sox broke their 86-year losing streak by winning the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was also the first unprecedented comeback against their long time rival, The New York Yankees, where they defeat them after losing the first three games in the ALCS.
  • Florida Marlins (2003) - The Marlins used a strong second half to win the World Series, after upsets against the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs, and the New York Yankees. The 2003 NCLS was especially memorable for the Marlins' rally and another Cubs collapse.
  • Anaheim Angels (2002) - The Angels win their first world championship in their 41-year history. The Halos finished the regular season in second place in the American League West standings to the Oakland Athletics, ending up making the playoffs as the American League wild card qualifier. Nevertheless, they put together a magical postseason run, upsetting the mighty New York Yankees in the ALDS, defeating the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS to win the American League pennant, and going the distance against the San Francisco Giants in the World Series to clinch the title.
  • New York Yankees (1996) - The Bronx Bombers win their first title in 18 years, upsetting the heavy favorite Atlanta Braves in the World Series.
  • New York Mets (1969) - The New York Mets win their first ever World Series title after beating the heavily favored 109 win Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series; previously the Mets finished last or next-to-last in the National League every year.
  • New York Giants (1954) - The then-New York Giants sweep the 111 win Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series in one of the greatest World Series upsets in baseball history.

[edit] American football

[edit] College football

[edit] Basketball

[edit] Football (soccer)

  • Denmark (Euro 92 champions) – Denmark won the tournament, having only qualified as replacement team for Yugoslavia, who were disqualified because of international sanctions during Yugoslav wars.
  • Greece (Euro 2004 champions) – Greece were underdogs who were heavily favoured to go out in the first round, yet they went on to win the final.
  • Iraq (2007 Asian Cup champions) – Iraq's unexpected run to the crown was widely viewed as either a respite or a beacon of hope for a country torn by war and divided by bitter ethnic and religious feuds.
  • South Korea (2002 World Cup 4th place) - South Korea became the first Asian team to reach the final four of the world cup. The South Koreans, who were ranked by FIFA at #40 at the time, advanced by upsetting some very high ranked teams; #5 Portugal, #6 Italy, and #8 Spain before losing to Turkey in the third-place play-off.
  • Once Caldas (Copa Libertadores 2004) – After taking out giants Vélez Sársfield , Santos and São Paulo, they went on to the finals against defending champions Boca Juniors, after a 0-0 tie in the first leg at La Bombonera, they went on to a 1-1 draw in the second leg, and shockingly winning 2-0 the penalty shoutout.

[edit] Examples of Cinderellas that did not win the championship

[edit] Basketball

[edit] American Football

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Soundclip of Bill Murray in Caddyshack", MovieSoundsCentral. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. 

[edit] See also

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