September 25th is the first anniversary of Oracle Team USA's incredible victory in the 34th America's Cu»p «. This victory has already gone down in sports history as one of the greatest campbacks. With the score 8:1 in favor of New Zealanders, Oracle Team managed to pull themselves out of the swamp by their hair and beat the kiwi with a score of 8:9. Only a madman would believe in such an arrangement, and such a madman existed. We publish his essay, in which he reveals the truth about the reasons why his favorite team won.
As a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, I know the power of Grozny Towel. The sea of Grozny Towels, deployed by fans at Heinz Field, makes opponents miss goals, encourages the home team to take impressive passes, and can even turn an imminent defeat into a heroic victory. And if your opponent's fans trample on Grozny's towel or otherwise misuse it, it benefits their team. There are plenty of examples of the «curse of the Terrible towel» on the Internet, check it out for yourself. I have the original Ghrozny towel. It's 40 years old, and it's only been washed twice.
I'm probably one of the few people who cheer for Pittsburgh Steelers and Oracle at the same time. I was there in San Francisco last year, sitting on a rock near the Golden Gate in early September, watching Oracle lose race after race. My brother's wife, a Pittsburgh native who now lives in Mill Valley, a town near the Golden Gate Bridge«», felt I was in a mood to cheer up and cheer on our home team.
So I got off my rock and went to pier 27. It was Saturday, September 14, the day of the eighth race. Together with the other spectators, I waited for the Oracle team to come out. And here they went!
I saw Skipper Jimmy Spithill, grabbed his hand and barked: «Go and show them, Jimmy!» Oracle won the second race that day and the third race the next.
When I felt that it was time for a radical break, I knew it was the banner time. The first day I turned it around, the race was canceled. But I wasn't embarrassed and came back the next day with a banner rolled up under my arm. And that's when it happened. Someone (I'm sure a New Zealand fan!) stole my banner while I went to the bathroom stall for a few minutes. Well, don't take it with you to the bathroom! But even though the Kiwis won that day (race 11), although they were only separated by one victory before the Cup, they haven't won ANY race in AC34 class since!
On September 20, standing behind the fence of Pier 27, I watched the full force of the curse banner with the inscription «Edie and show them, Jimmy!»In a race where the New Zealand team was leading by a mile away from the pursuers, a verse of wind and time came out. This race could have brought the «kiwi» victory in the Cup.
Let's be honest. New Zealand had a great team and a great boat. Given their early wins, they should have easily won the «America»'s Cup. When I had to return from San Francisco to Pittsburgh on September 23rd, I left with a light heart, knowing that my work here was done, that Oracle would take the Cup.
I made a video of the AC34 race - a fanatic look at America's Cup 2013. At 1:21 there's a historic moment when I yelled to Jimmy Spithill: «Go and show them, Jimmy!»
