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 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 ending of the fairy tale Cinderella, and it implies unexpected 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."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. 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.