Blimps Full Of Money And 30 Other Sports Fantasias In 'Upon Further Review'
What if Bucky Dent's long fly ball in the 1978 American League East playoff game hadn't cleared the Green Monster at Fenway Park? What if John Paxson had missed the 3-pointer at the end of game 6 in the 1993 NBA Finals? What if Carli Lloyd had been injured in the final of the 2015 Women's World Cup?
Sports fans are particularly good at asking what if questions. Sports, after all, are full of counterfactual possibilities replete with drama.
"It's more as if we've hadand an NPR sports commentator. "Because in every league, there are many, many more losers than winners, right? Every season ends with a team either not making the playoffs or being eliminated from the playoffs. That means everyone's a loser. And in almost all cases, every one of those losers has a moment, and their fans have a moment, when they say what if — legitimate or not, and it's often legitimate. And sometimes the what if extends beyond one pitch, and it goes to that draft pick we didn't make 8 years ago. That's kind of the engine of sports."
