In hoops, to the victor go the spoils

Monday night something incredible occurred. By now, surely most people reading the sports page have seen it, even many who do not read the sports page as well.

The ending of the NCAA championship game will go down in history as one of the most dramatic endings to a basketball game. ESPN will make a 30 for 30 about it one day.

I unfortunately had class during the game, but thanks to a very caring and realistic professor, the game was streamed on one screen in our classroom. As the game wore on, my classmates’ attention spans waned and focuses shifted from the lecture to the game.

Class was eventually paused all together as the group collectively held their breath for the final three or so minutes.

When North Carolina’s Marcus Paige hit what has to be one of the most iconic shots of all-time, the classroom erupted. Most of the group — either with no preference of the victor or pulling for UNC — was ready to celebrate an uncanny and unprecedented shot.

But in hindsight, what could have been the greatest moment in sports of the year, became just that — what could have been. The photo would have been everywhere: Magazine covers, front pages of newspapers, profile pictures for some die-hard Tar Heels. But no.

Marcus Paige is destined to be remembered for the guy who almost won the National Championship. Almost.

Or will he even be remembered?

The last-second heroics of Kris Jenkins to win the game are what is being talked about because there is still a difference between a shot that wins a game and one that doesn’t. It may seem harsh in a world in which participation awards are given to every kid who participates in a rec league, but it’s the real world.

There is certainly a place for boosting a young child’s confidence and sports are a fantastic way to do that. However, when a national title is on the line, you either win or lose.

Marcus Paige lost. Even though, after seeing that shot, I wish he would have won. The shot was something incredible, dramatic and left spectator’s heads reeling with incredulous thoughts. And yet, all at once, it wasn’t enough, but it set the stage.

When Jenkins hoisted his 3-point attempt to give Villanova the lead and the win, it was set-up by the Paige shot just moments prior. While Villanova going on to win would have been incredible for them, the iconic way in which Jenkins ended the game would not have been possible had Paige not drained a shot so Stephen Curry-like that it left audiences leaping out of their seats.

This shot should be remembered for both the athletic prowess and superiority that is displayed as well as the role it had in creating the unfolding drama of the end of the game.

Surely the end of the game will be written about, talked about, filmed about, but how many will acknowledge that the beauty and drama of the winning moment came from what seemed to be an agonizing defeat just seconds earlier.

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people that have experienced such highs and such lows in that short of a time,” Paige told ESPN after the game.

Given what he had just gone through, Paige was fairly eloquent and composed about the situation.

It’s too bad that there can’t be a consolation prize or a participation ribbon that would make UNC and Paige especially feel better about what happened. Their performance will be remembered forever, but not for the reason any of them would have wanted.

Sports still holds a special place in our dreams for that reason. Both teams competing last night went through trials and tribulations and showed their survival skills for the past five months, but the last few weeks in particular.

For all the hard work that every man on both teams put into their championship dreams though, there can only be one victor. The enticement of winning, of cutting down the nets, of being remembered as the greatest of your time was enough to push these young men to excellence and will continue to do so for generations to come.

Yet, one whole side of that will never be celebrated or treated as champions. All of the accomplishments of the season will lead up to the shot that almost was.

Hailey Tucker is a sophomore majoring in broadcast and digital journalism. She is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Tucker Talks,” runs every other Wednesday.