The question is: Why do we continue to call underdog teams Cinderella teams? How has no one complained about this yet? Rags to riches aside, let's break down the analogy:
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| Notice the ... dress |
What defines Cinderella (Disney version):
1. She's a young woman tormented by vicious step sisters and evil step mother
2. She cleans her kitchen with the help of mice
3. She rides in a pumpkin coach to a ball
4. She loses a slipper after meeting a dreamy young man
5. The slipper fits, happily ever after, yada, yada, yada
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| Notice the tats |
What defines College Basketball teams:
1. They are made up of twelve young men from a variety of backgrounds
2. They play basketball with and against other human beings
3. They do not attend balls, they play with them
4. They wear sneakers that fit quite snugly and meet many dreamy women after games
5. See four.
I admit that both lists are far from comprehensive, but I feel my point has been made: Cinderella has nothing in common with College basketball teams let alone players, and yet announcers, analysts, pundits, talking heads, what have you still throw out the term liberally. I'm sure that's what high school players, many from the so called 'hood' mind you, strive for when they sign for the likes of Gonzaga, Butler, VCU, or other mid-Majors (another cringe worthy term): to be a part of Cinderella teams.
At first it was kind of cute: "O these teams go the 'Big Dance.' No one expects them to do well, and surprisingly they do. It's a real Cinderella story!" Don't these announcers know that "Caddyshack" is a comedy?
Are unlikely pairs between rough, rugged players and their more graceful teammates, think Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell or Derek Rose and Joakim Noah, Beauty and the Beast?
Should we call Girard Pique Snow White just because seven of his Barcelona teammates stand 5'8" or shorter?
Is Dan Bylsma waiting for his Sleeping Beauty to wake up? (On second thought, this one works quite well. Go Flyers!).
In a word, no. Yet every March we have to sort through this year's Cinderellas, waiting to see if, as Gus Johnson once said about the "original" Cinderella Gonzaga, "The slipper still fits!!!!!!!!!!"
Perhaps, as with many other problems in our country, we can blame the Great Depression. The Depression era boxer James J. Braddock rose from the shipping docks of New York to prominence as the Heavyweight Champion of the World. He held the title until a young Joe Louis defeated Braddock in 1937. His biography and the accompanying movie starring Russel Crowe are titled "Cinderella Man." The term should've died with the man (I'm afraid to say anything too harsh about this nickname given that although he's been dead for nearly forty years, Braddock could still kick my ass).
I challenge sports fans to boycott "Cinderella" not only this March, but for all Marches (fingers crossed 2012) to come. Don't say it, don't allow your friends to say it, and curse at every announcer who mutters the now hackneyed term.
Let me offer an alternative: Biggie Smalls. He has a similar rags to riches story as many of the best D-I players. His song "Juicy" contains such lyrics as "this [game] is dedicated to all the [coaches, analysts, haters] who told me I'd never amount to nothing," "it was all a dream," and "Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke I couldn't picture this." I feel that Biggie Smalls better encapsulates the hip-hop culture that defines many a basketball team. Who wouldn't love Gus Johnson screaming "V-C-U! If you don't know, now you know!" at the end of an upset?
-Dillon "Do they call going from riches to rags a T.O.?" Friday
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