One game. Two teams. One trophy to win. Not one care in my mind on who I would rather see lift it. And because of that, I can say I enjoyed that incredible, tense, well-played, game that ended with dueling acts of brilliance, with open eyes and an awe-struck expression. What it taught me was both how much nicer it is to not care, and how incredible sports can be when we strip away rooting interests and legacies and view it for what it is: an incredible roller coaster of emotion and athletic exploits.
Sure, the ending grabbed the headlines. The shot by Kris Jenkins will live on in sports montages for decades. The brilliant, athletic feat that was Marcus Paige's game-tying three will be added to the list of great plays sure to be forgotten because their team ultimately lost (ie: Josh Hamilton's Home Run in the 10th inning of Game 6 in the 2011 World Series, or even the Hail Mary by Rodgers to Janis to tie the Divisional Round game this year). But what made that game so much better was how competitive, well-played, and honest it was throughout. That was a great basketball game, with an even better finish. Far too often, college basketball gives us the latter without the former - the iconic moment that memorializes an undeserving preceding 39 minutes of basketball. This was the opposite, where the ending only heightens the intense legacy of the entire game.
It has become fashionable to criticize the poor play in college basketball. It has become, if not always was, equally fashionable to parry that criticism with the retort of 'that's the beauty of collegiate athletics'. And certainly, that defense has some merit, but it is definitely a more enjoyable experience to watch players in any sport that are better, that don't make simple mistakes, that don't mindlessly pass the ball around the perimeter before chucking a forced three. This game didn't have that, or at least minimized the presence of such blatantly inferior play. Not that they were running truly recognizable 'offense', but it at least looked like it was players running around with a purpose and an intensity.
The best college basketball games in the tournament have a certain speed, a certain level of heat, that seems to present itself from the very beginning. One of the best games I remember watching was the National Championship in 2008, between Memphis and Kansas. From the opening tip, these were two polished, experienced, talented teams that could play within themselves. That was an intense affair, that is memorialized with a markedly similar shot to Jenkins's dagger last night, when Mario Chalmers ripped the net to tie the game at 63-63, sending it to an OT that Kansas would ultimately prevail. This game may not have been as well played from an empirical perspective - the 2008 game had more pure talent on the court - but this was well played from an end-to-end entertainment perspective.
Both teams fought hard for 40 minutes. North Carolina shot brilliantly on offense in the first half, and reacted well to Villanova's pressure, whipping the ball around to find open scorers. Villanova themselves were methodical, but effective. The 2nd half was Villanova staying their course, while North Carolina started to struggle against the Wildcats effective defense. Still, it wasn't pure sloppiness, or poor shot selection, but more missing makeable shots and losing to a better executing defense.
But then North Carolina decided to fight back. Down 67-57, the game seemed over, and while missed free throws certainly helped their effort, so did UNC just starting to play free. Marcus Paige hit a three, there were fastbreak and second chance points, two rarities all game long. There was that sequence where after a miss, Marcu Paige emerged from a forest of taller players with the rebound and put-back. And finally, there was the shot.
Invariably, college basketball becomes remembered for what happens in the last minute, easily superseding the previous 39. I note the strange dichotomy between the NBA, where the end-game is often so choppy from endless timeouts and intentional fouls (and the presence of still the most bizarre rule, that a team can advance the ball to half-court), but the quality of a great NBA game comes across all 48 minutes. Last night, Villanova and UNC gave us the best of both worlds.
Being able to enjoy all of this brilliance was nice, having that enjoyment not be at all altered by any emotional attachment to any team made it even better. Sure, had I been a Villanova fan, that ending would have been an elation only sports can give. But in a way, having been able to watch, enjoy and now look back on a sports event not in the lens of 'did we win' or 'did we lose' is as good. I can look back and just remember experiencing that game, the constant pleasure throughout, the pride at watching UNC fight back, the shock at Marcus Paige's three pointer to tie it, and the wonder at Kris Jenkins' shot to win it.
To say I was not rooting for any team is accurate, but I am happy Villanova won. They probably played better on the whole. They were a worthy champion, giving us one of the most captivating blowouts in Final 4 history in the Semifinal against Oklahoma, shutting down the nations best player, and surrounded that with two wins against the best two teams this year in Kansas and North Carolina, both times responding brilliantly to the challenges those two teams faced. Villanova coach Jay Wright had been criticized recently for losing a few times with high-ranked teams, something the man he ousted in the Elite Eight, Bill Self, knows a lot about. Self though, unlike Wright, can point to a banner in Allen Fieldhouse to quiet the doubters and critics. Wright now earned that, no pun intended, right, as well.
In the end, 2016 has started as an incredibly fruitful year for me as a sports fan. My favorite player finished his brilliant career with a second Super Bowl, and now got a watch a classic National Championship Game. Both experiences are examples both sides of the sports fan's life. Few events were ever as emotionally tied to the ultimate result, for good and for bad, than those last two playoff games by the Broncos. I can look back fondly on the games, and remember how great a defensive duel the AFC Championship Game was, but my experience of that game was one of nervousness that begat an expressive, pleasurable finish. This game was just expressly pleasurable from the opening tip.
