l column and I have to go out on a high note. I thought about commenting on Tony Romo’s recent retirement and how his legacy stacks up with the other quarterbacks. But a friend of mine convinced me that I should write about something different. I thought about it and I took his word for it. This friend suggested that I write about UNC’s recent championship win and how great the teams’ “road to redemption” was. The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize how great the sport of basketball is. That is why I say there is nothing better in this world than sports, especially basketball.
I know that may seem like an obvious fact, especially to a sports fan, but hear me out. The drama, pressure and theatrics that come with watching sports are something that cannot be written even by the best Hollywood scriptwriter or director in the world. Take UNC for example and the story that followed the team. Just last year, UNC came into the championship as favorites over Villanova but a last second, game winning shot won Villanova the championship. If that isn’t heartbreak, I don’t know what is. Any normal team would have crumbled the next season, but not the Tar Heels. They came back even stronger, even giving Kentucky a heartbreaking loss of its own. Then UNC faced Gonzaga, beat Gonzaga and won its sixth championship in the process. It is the best comeback story in recent memory. I don’t know of any sport that has as much theatrics in it. Think about it, what sport has that much drama? What sport has gravity, chance, luck, mathematics and mere seconds decide the difference between winning and losing? What sport has such dramatic redemption stories?
Look at the 2013 NBA Finals between the Heat and the Spurs. Down three games to two, Ray Allen hit a last second three pointer to win Game 6 for the Heat. Miami would carry that momentum to win the franchises third championship and would give LeBron James his second, thus silencing the critics of who the best player in the world was. The very next year the two met up again and it was the Spurs that found redemption and won their fifth championship. There are other examples such as the Jim Valvano North Carolina State team beating the Hakeem Olajuwon Houston team in the greatest upset in college basketball history. There’s Larry Bird and the steal against the Pistons. The list goes on. That is why basketball is so great. If you need a story, if you need a miracle, if you need drama, basketball is the sport. Hopefully one day I will be able to write about the next great story.
