March Madness and Then Some

pitt-butler

Sports Saturday

Even though it happened a week ago, I am still shaking my head at one of the most bizarre endings I have ever witnessed to a sports event. The University of Pittsburgh, ranked one in its region, and Butler University, last year’s tournament darling and eventual runner-up, were in the final seconds of a tight duel.  The winner would go on to the sweet 16 of the NCAA championships.  The loser would go home. With eight seconds to go, Pittsburgh had a one-point lead.  And then . . .

And then the O’Henry ending.

O’Henry (pseudonym for William Sydney Porter) is the American short story writer famous for the crazy and unpredictable twists with which he ends his short stories. In “Ransom of Red Chief,” for instance, two men who have kidnapped a boy for ransom end up paying the father to take him back. He’s that awful. In “The Gift of the Magi,” a couple with little money sells their most prize possession to buy each other Christmas gifts—he sells his watch to buy her an ornament for her hair and she sells her hair to buy him a chain for his watch. Those kind of endings.

In the Pittsburgh-Butler game, Butler scores with seven seconds left and goes up by one. Pittsburgh, fumbling around with 2.2 seconds left, is saved by a stupid foul near the half court line. If their best player, at the foul line, makes both free throws, the Cougars probably win.

He makes the first, tying the game.  He misses the second.  The game looks headed to overtime.

Only he then commits a foul as the Butler player rebounds. Live by the stupid foul, die by the stupid foul.

With .8 seconds left, the Butler player goes to the foul line and wins the game.

For those people who watch a lot of sports, there’s often a sense that there’s nothing to new to be seen.  After witnessing hundreds of games, one can become jaded. But every once in a while, something new occurs. It’s not always elegant, just as this ending wasn’t elegant. But it has the freshness of novelty. It gives us something to talk about the next day. “Can you believe the ending of that game?!”

O’Henry’s stories are not always the most artistic of affairs. Too often the clever endings come across as gimmicks. But they do catch us up. We do not expect them.

The Pittsburgh-Butler game had an O’Henry ending.

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