Oracle receive much-needed miracle

Many regattas ago, when Jimmy Spithill had not yet won the grandest prize in yachting, one of his mentors, the Australian Syd Fischer, gave him words to sail by. “Syd used to say to me when something was going good, ‘Be careful,’” Spithill said, “‘because you can be a rooster one day and a feather duster the next.’” A sailor had to be careful indeed in the 34th America’s Cup, which generated historically fast speeds and risks in carbon-fiber foiling catamarans that bore a greater resemblance to flying machines than boats. But while it once looked all but certain that Spithill, the Oracle Team USA skipper and helmsman, and his crew mates were going to end up as feather dusters in San Francisco, they were ultimately able to turn Fischer’s catchphrase on its head, pulling off the greatest comeback in America’s Cup history and one of the most dramatic in any sport. There have been comebacks before (for instance an NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers in 1993, where the Bills recovered from a 32-point deficit in the third quarter to win 41-38 in overtime) but none like this one. While this is a great disappointment for Team New Zealand, I'm surprised that Oracle could pull this one off especially with a two-race penalty for using an illegally modified boat in a practice run. Good job, bellends. Hope you enjoy your victory because you will be defeated one of these days.