I know this is stupid, but what is a "hat trick?"

A hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts. In North America it is often rendered as hat trick, with no hyphen. (The Oxford English Dictionary has it unhyphenated and gives a variety of examples published in the 19th and 20th centuries both with and without the hyphen.) In soccer: A hat-trick occurs in football when a player scores three goals in a single game, although there are various contrasting interpretations as to the exact criteria of a valid footballing hat-trick. It is commonly held that the goals can be scored at any time in the match, whether in normal, injury or extra time, and for some this is the only condition necessary to satisfy the definition of a hat-trick. As with other goal-scoring statistics, goals in a penalty shootout are not counted. There also exists the widely accepted concept of the 'flawless' hat-trick, which differs in that all three goals must be scored consecutively within one period of play. Also referred to in football, particularly in South America, is the "Golden hat-trick" or "Perfect hat-trick". This relates to the scoring of three goals in a single match, one with each foot and one with the head. Perhaps one of the most notable hat-tricks of all time was scored by Geoff Hurst during the 1966 World Cup. It is famous for being the only ever scored in a World Cup Final match. See also: 1966 FIFA World Cup Final A hat-trick in football is also referred to as claiming the match ball as traditionally the scorer of the hat-trick claims the match ball as a souvenir of the feat. The world record for fastest hat-trick belongs to former Shelbourne player Jimmy O'Connor, who scored three goals in 2 minutes and 13 seconds, versus Bohemian F.C. in Dalymount Park on 19 November 1967. (from wikipedia)

The word owes its origin to the magician pilling out things from his hat.In cricket or hockey it means a bowlers 3 wickets on 3 consecutive balls and a player making 3 goals. I the phrase has come to mean something extraordinary. It used more often than not in sports.