Buzzer Beater

I'm not a huge college hoops fan, but I have to admit that two of the best endings in sports came from the game. Last night was one of them. My only rooting interest in the game was pulling for the Heels, as D2 had a bracket with her company, and out of more than 3500 entries, was perched in the top 10. The first five winners got paid days off, while the proceeds all went to charity. D2, not known as a sports junkie, somehow maneuvered well, but needed UNC to win. It was not to be... My friend and broker Pat texted and asked to get together to watch the game. My law partner John suggested a place his client owns, the Sports Grill, which last year took over the clubhouse of a local public golf course. My friend Mike joined us, and the foursome headed to the site previously occupied by Bogey's Barn, a huge building that had a restaurant and bar with live music == one of our college hangouts. Alas, Hurricane Andrew did away with that cavernous building, but they rebuilt, and now a sports bar is there. And it was awesome for us. We shared a few pitchers of beer and wings and sliders, true man food, and talked of sports and life. Mike, Pat, and I are all married forever, and John lost his wife to cancer young, but has had a serious girlfriend for awhile, so we compared notes on how the women in our lives are all far more logical, clearly motivated, and easier to understand and deal with than men are...Ha. As if! Our two waitresses were, well, buxom is the word, and both were Canes fans. Mike and I considered this a win over the Gators Pat and John... In March of '83, Dr. Barry and I watched the final on our tiny, black and white TV, in our apartment. Barry was a bigger roundball fan than I was, but we sat on the shag rug. The game ended spectacularly, as the NC State player grabbed a short shot and dunked it at the buzzer, giving the underdogs the win. Their coach Jim Valvano, ran around like a crazy man. I remember the next day Barry reading out loud from the paper the man's quotes, and savoring the writing. Looking back, this was probably a portent of Barry's future -- having a son who wanted to be a sports journalist, and is in fact doing it -- finishing his freshman year at Maryland... Have 33 years truly passed since then? Poor Jim Valvano would die soon after of cancer...but that shining moment remains in my memory. So back to last night. The game was close all along -- something like 15 lead changes. It got late, and Mike and John each left -- early hearings this am. Pat and I stayed and watched -- the buxom waitresses were ready to close, but even they wanted to see the final minutes. With 4.7 seconds remaining, the Heels tied the game, and it looked like overtime was coming. But then scrappy Vilanova hit a long shot, with less than a second remaining, and won. Pat and I headed to the empty parking lot knowing we had just watched a sports classic. More important was the memory of the evening, shared with fine company. Now if only the Canes can someday make it that far...