I thought I’d go with something non-political this morning.
Confession: I’m a sports fan. I played a college sport at the Division 1 level (captain of the team my senior year) and have always played both team and individual sports since I was a wee lad.
I especially love the camaraderie of team sports and the unpredictability of the outcome of any given game. With that in mind, I can’t stop thinking about a recent game in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament affectionately known by sports buffs as March Madness.
In a game to see which team would make it to the Final Four, #2 seed UConn (University of Connecticut) was playing the overall #1 seed in the tournament - Duke. Duke led by as many as 19 points in the second half, so it seemed as if the winner was a foregone conclusion. In fact, in the 134 previous games where a #1 seed led by more than 15 points in the 2nd half of a game in the history of the tournament, that team had never lost.
The UConn coach - Dan Hurley - said he told his team at halftime to view the 20-minute second half in 4-minute increments., He told them if they won each 4-minute section by 3 points, they would win the game in the end.
Easier said than done.
Perhaps there is a political lesson here on perseverance, tenacity and putting in the hard work when the chips are down to get the final desired result - in policy, politics and elections as well as in sports.
UConn kept chipping away and closing the gap. Nonetheless, despite their incredible effort, with 10 seconds left in the game, they were losing 72-70 and Duke had possession, taking the ball from out-of-bounds under their own basket.
It was essentially hopeless. All Duke had to do was get the ball inbounds and then hold onto the ball for 10 seconds and the game was over. Even if UConn fouled a Duke player, Duke would likely make at least one if not two free throws and UConn would have perhaps a 2% chance to get the ball the length of the court to try and score.
But UConn didn’t give up. They went into a full court press, forcing a Duke player to into a pass that was deflected by a UConn payer into the hands of a freshman named Braylon Mullins. There were roughly 3 seconds left in the game when Mullins got his hands on the ball.
Mullins passed the ball to a teammate who immediately pass it back to him. From 35 feet away from the basket, Mullins - who was “Mr. Basketball” as a senior in high school in Indiana and known as a pure shooter - launched a desperation shot with perfect form (please watch the video below - its short).
In what seemed like an eternity, the ball arced through the arena air and, in as perfect an angle as any shot I’ve ever seen, swished through the basket with 0.3 seconds to go.
Instant pandemonium. Instant legend.
I’ve watched this video an untold number of times. I can’t seem to get enough of the ball silently swishing through the net so perfectly. It stuns me how (some skilled) humans have the ability in the blink of an eye to subconsciously make all the calculations, physical adjustments and movements to gauge what is necessary to get a ball that is 9.4” in diameter cleanly through a basket that is 10’ high and has a diameter of 18” from 35 feet away. It’s everything I love about sports and competition.
Whatever happens in Braylon Mullin’s basketball and career, he will forever be known for this one beautiful, improbable and perfect moment.
