8 1/2 and the Killing

I was not there, but the last seconds of yesterday's Kentucky--Louisville semi final must have been wild in the las vegas sports books. The final was 69-61. The spread was 8 1/2. Louisville took a shot with six seconds left and missed. Kentucky got the rebound. I was seated 2500 miles away and I could hear the bettors screaming "foul" all the way across the country. It made no sense for Louisville to foul. Even if Kentucky had missed both foul shots, and Louisville scored a last minute 3, they still would have lost by 5. Nevertheless, teams sometimes with a "never say die" attitude try to extend the game. Had Louisville fouled, Kentucky might have gone to the foul line and extended the lead to 9 or 10 making winners out of losers. That is why I am positive that all along the strip, bettors for Kentucky were screaming FOUL at the end of the game.

But there was no foul and bettors for Louisville won by a half a point. There was closure. And as I have written before what is attractive about sports is that at the end of the game there will be a winner determined based almost entirely on the rules of the game with the only subjectivity a function of referees decisions.

Not so in other aspects of life. Last year I got hooked into watching a Sunday night serial show called The Killing. I saw the first episode reluctantly and then the second with a little more enthusiasm. Then I was hooked. The last episode was sometime about a year ago. I am still seething because the producers promised that the last episode would explain who had done the deed. And it did not. In a clear attempt to keep you hanging, the last episode threw another clue into the mystery but not the solution to the mystery.

So, tonight the producers are starting season 2, now promising that this year we will find out who killed Rosy. Not sure I will watch. If I watch the women's final four instead, I know that there will be closure at the end of the evening.