Crazy finish.

Down the stretch

I’m not hating on Phil just to hate on Phil. He won, so this critique probably makes me look like the jackass. But I am shocked that he didn’t call a timeout with St. Joe’s up one and under 45 seconds to go. Their three previous possessions went: turnover, block, and turnover. They had one timeout left when they got the ball back with 48 seconds remaining. To me, this is where you call a timeout, drain the clock, and try to take a three-point lead with a drawn-up play, otherwise there’s mass confusion about what kind of shot you want:

No timeout, and they got yet another shot blocked, allowing Cincinnati to get the ball back and take the lead. Luckily, St. Joe’s did use their timeout to draw up the game-winning shot.

But still, it was too close for comfort.

Mother Russia

For no reason whatsoever, here’s how the end of the game sounded on Russian TV:

Here's how the end of the UC-Saint Joe's game sounded on Russian television. pic.twitter.com/QNKJErX6eq

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 19, 2016

Partying in Clearwater

I requested reaction vids from what were surely crazy watch parties in Clearwater. [Someone responded and asked why I didn’t request Philly reaction videos– because, the reaction of a bunch of drunken Philly fans at beach bars on vacation will always be better.] A few came in, including one of my good high school and college friend Woody, who earned his cred with me when he took one for the team and went to jail for the night barefoot rather than return to my Bryn Mawr apartment to get his shoes (he was peeing outside) because the cops said that if he did they would bust all of the 18-year-olds inside. This is Woody, a St. Joe’s alum, at the bachelor party of PAYING SUBSCRIBER reader Paul, who was unwittingly spotted on the plane by Jim wearing a veil and handing out snacks Wednesday night:

@CrossingBroad I have one of Woody pic.twitter.com/gBNipdXmdn

— Paul Getz (@getzy89) March 19, 2016

@CrossingBroad pic.twitter.com/ij1AfGxY8p

— Paul Getz (@getzy89) March 19, 2016

It's this dudes bachelor party so he was put in a veil and made to hand out snacks pic.twitter.com/dCYXniBhYO

— NBCs The Slap (@NBCsTheSlap) March 16, 2016

Luckily Chillwagon, the one Nova fan in the group, is there to balance things out:

@CrossingBroad Wagon is still focused on the prize pic.twitter.com/YL74V9c87Y

— Paul Getz (@getzy89) March 19, 2016

The Hawk

Dude, St Joes mascot unmasked & he is not flapping wings? I feel like someone just told me Santa doesn't exist. pic.twitter.com/qYL6CyrxY2

— Maximiliano Bretos (@MaxBretosSports) March 19, 2016

Guess not, Woody.

Conspiracy

I thoroughly enjoy reader Rudy’s conspiracy theory about the clocks:

@CrossingBroad conspiracy!! There's a tenth of a second left pic.twitter.com/ht7ogTfEbo

— Rudy (@17erudolph) March 19, 2016

I see two possibilities:

The arena clock is not directly synced to the game clock.
The arena clock is directly synced to the game clock, but runs a fraction of a second behind because of the time it takes THE SPEED OF LIGHT to get from the game clock switch, presumably on the floor, to wherever the control is for the arena clock. This sounds crazy, but high-speed traders are well aware that even feet can mean microsecond differences in timing.

Either way, the clock on the basket is the official one, so that’s what matters here. But seeing the arena clock literally change from 0.1 to 0.0 while the ball is going in is nuts: