"It Ain't Over Till the Fat Lady Sings"

An expression in sports that "It ain't over till the fat lady sings," has been variously ascribed to Mike Ditka, Yogi Berra, or other sports raconteurs like Paul Finebaum. Anyway, this is a well-accepted axiom that only when the final score is tallied will the outcome be assured. It's like the old adage, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."

What is referred to by this? Apparently, it's an operatic reference to the fourth part of  Der Ring des Neibelungen, called Götterdämmerung, which ends with a twenty minute aria by Brunnhilde. 

Brunnhilde is typically cast as a full-figured woman carrying a spear and shield, and wearing a DD- or larger-sized breastplate or sports bra and horned helmet. Because Der Ring des Neibelung seems to go on forever, it truly ain't over until the fat lady sings!

It's nice there is this unexpected link of sports with Germanic opera!

An air from another Wagnerian opera from the Ring cycle also made its appearance in an old war movie, Apocalypse Now:

Will horned helmets come back in style someday? This would be perfect for wear in Washington or Minneapolis. Or perhaps Spring Break attire for guys!