Imagine the chaos that would ensue if the miserable Cleveland Browns (3-13 last year) won the 2017 Super Bowl. Or if the utterly hapless Philadelphia 76ers, who finished in the gutters of the NBA for a second year running, miraculously notched the league’s best record next year. It would be sheer pandemonium, for such things simply do not happen. That’s not to say that upsets are uncommon in sports—far from it. And every year seems to have its Cinderella story—where a team pegged to flop somehow outperforms even its wildest dreams. Both of these are part of the magic that makes sports worth watching, the enchantment that keeps audiences glued to their televisions and rooted to their seats week after week. After all, who doesn’t love a good fairy tale? And as far as fairy tales go, few in the past century have been as remarkable as Leicester City’s legendary escape from relegation in 2015. With eight matches to go, the Foxes sat at the bottom of the Premier League, having gone...
Musings about life, food, sports and travel