I try not to watch too much college basketball before getting my fill during the NCAA tournament, but I got sucked into the Kent State–Akron conference championship game the other night. Kent State went ahead by a point with a couple of seconds left, and then one of its players, still thinking his team was behind, deliberately fouled an Akron player. As soon as he realized what he’d done, he was beside himself. At that moment, if you weren’t an Akron fan (and don’t have a heart of stone), you had to be rooting for missed free throws. Alas, since this wasn’t UVA at the line, Akron made both. And, then, rooting for Kent State to make a desperation shot at the end. Alas, no, again.
I love college sports but hate to see this kind of thing. It’s why I almost always pull for college kickers to make last-second field goals, even if it’s not in my rooting interest. And why, despite rooting for Alabama and after a brief moment of elation, I realized I really shouldn’t have welcomed the idea of the Michigan punt returner fumbling into the end zone to hand the playoff game to Alabama at the end of regulation, in what would have been one of the most heartbreaking flubs in the history of college football.
Anyway, may the Golden Flashes make new and better memories next year.