Literal magic

On my way home from Texas last Monday, I sat behind two women on the flight from Houston to Chicago. They were discussing football, which was a common topic that morning. Their conversation centered around the Chicago Bears. "Now, I like this team," said the woman directly in front of me, who had been volubly stating her views in the comfortable manner of someone secure in the belief that she is absolutely correct. "They're skilled enough. But the 1985 Bears were literally magical."

Literally magical. Literally! This was the most delightful thing I'd heard all morning. I spent the next five minutes or so ignoring the safety demonstration, imagining that she had been correct. Walter Payton secretly casting spells on opposing players, William Perry bewitching actual refrigerators, Jim McMahon's enchanted arm, Mike Ditka as a sort of shadowy Dumbledore-like figure. But then I remembered the Super Bowl Shuffle.