The Sporting Blogs Spencer Hall takes a look at some of the recent football coaching changes on the college and professional level and concludes:

... Do not deny the role blind luck and circumstance had in determining his (Bill Belichick) legend as a football success. It is a frightening admission to make either as a fan or a person, though. It essentially admits that you're not the person putting the chips on the table and making the wagers. Instead you are the wager, and could be swept away with one or two bad turns of the wheel. There's hard work, preparation, more hard work and preparation, and then the rest rides on the roll of the dice.

This excerpt sounds as if it could have come directly from the mouth of Gladwell. Or perhaps a more grim Gladwell.