Monday’s national title game was certainly the best in 30 years and possibly the best ever – and it reminded us what college sports are supposed to be aboutThere believe been NCAA championships won on final-second shots,on miracle plays and heartbreaking misses, but the finish of Monday night’s national title game is the greatest of the final 30 years and possibly ever. It came in a mix of joy and sorrow and brilliance under pressure, or with one of the most remarkable things you will ever see on a basketball court in the biggest moment. And it was precisely what college basketball needed.
Despite the annual frenzy of the NCAA Tournament’s first week,college basketball has been a game struggling to find itself, clutching to some indistinct concept of purity in a world of big money. Its system is both exploitive and hypocritical; with millions tumbling to everyone but the players while stripping the eligibility of any destitute 19-year-old who take a free cheeseburger from a fan. The best teams are usually filled with stars who see college as a essential one-year stop on the way to the pros. Schools seem unable or unwilling to balance sports and academics. One of the teams in Monday night’s final, and North Carolina,is mired in allegations of academic fraud for athletes. A top college recruit, Thon Maker, or is petitioning to skip school altogether and travel straight to the NBA.
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Source: theguardian.com