On The Sly

March Madness - - The NCAA men's basketball tournament has that nickname for a reason! This year, more than ever, the underdogs have had more bite than bark, and that's great to see. Every year the tournament is highlighted by a few upsets and several nail-biters. This year's tournanment, though, has been better than ever. The top seeds were tested even in the first round against the #16s. For several reasons parity has reached men's college basketball. No longer are the #1s and #2s shoo-ins for the "Sweet 16" or the "Elite 8." Even Duke -- mighty Duke -- has been sent home. And last night the UConn players had lumps in their throats in the closing minutes of regulation. Only a miracle shot with 1.8 seconds left gave them new life in overtime.

But I think basketball history was made in one of the big games last night. Villanova and Boston College battled through forty-plus minutes and the game was finally decided on a referee's call. I'm not saying the call should not have been made. I'm not even worrying about whether the call was correct or incorrect. I'm just saying, when do you recall a big game being decided in the final seconds by a referee's call instead of a player making a game-winning basket?

Boston College was up by one in overtime and the clock was winding down against Villanova. With about 4 seconds remaining Nova's Will Sheridan caught a pass under the basket, turned and tossed a shot towards the basket. The BC defender batted the shot away, but was called for goaltending! Count the basket! Count the basket! And Villanova was suddenly ahead 60-59 with just 3 seconds remaining. Even Sheridan can't boast that he made the game-winning basket. It's likely that the ball would have gone in anyway. But if you watch March Madness you know that the ball takes some funny bounces sometimes. Can anyone recall a game where it was the ref's whistle that awarded the game-winner in the closing seconds?