Cinderella (sports)

Cinderella (sports)

In American and Canadian sports, a Cinderella or "Cinderella Story" refers to a team or player who advances much further in a tournament or career than originally anticipated. 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 the fairy tale Cinderella, in which the protagonist is the honored guest at a party to the surprise of everyone. The term has been used at least since 1939, but came into widespread usage in 1950, in reference to City College of New York, the unexpected winners of the NCAA Men's Basketball championship that year. The term was used 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."

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. fail to win the prize and then return to its former obscurity. In the fairy tale, 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 beaten.

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, or is overshadowed by more successful neighbours (for example, Tranmere Rovers and Everton by Liverpool). 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.

Most Cinderellas send one strong message: a team or a player that has not had a good regular season can atone for the struggles with brilliance in a short period of time.