“But time is short
and the road is long
in the blinking of an eye
ah that moment’s gone
And when it’s done
win or lose
you always did your best
cuz inside you knew…
(that) One Shining Moment, YOU REACHED DEEP INSIDE
One Shining Moment, YOU KNEW YOU WERE ALIVE.”
Throughout the history of the NCAA basketball tournament (aka March Madness), there have been many iconic moments etched in our collective minds. Some were universal – like Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating turnaround jump shot that took down Kentucky in the 1982 Elite Eight, or Magic vs. Bird in 1979. And, of course, Arike Ogunbawale’s last-second shot to win the 2018 women’s championship for Notre Dame.
Others may be a bit less known but equally memorable because of personal connections. For me, those would include Bryce Drew’s buzzer-beater in 1998 … Austin Carr’s 61 points against Ohio in 1970 … and the University of Dayton’s magical run in the 1967 tournament during which they upset several of college basketball’s blue bloods all the way to the national championship game where they finally fell to the UCLA dynasty and Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
But for all the highlights of March Madness through the years, there have also been many pictures of heartbreak. And possibly unseen by millions was the image of Notre Dame’s two injured guards on the women’s game against Maryland came to its inevitable conclusion – a loss to a very talented Terrapins squad.
Olivia Miles, ND’s uber talented point guard, and Dara Mabrey, the 3-point shooting phenom, have much in common besides their talent and positions on the Irish team. They are both from New Jersey. They both are intensely competitive. They both have enjoyed celebrity-like status throughout their respective careers. And they both suffered major knee injuries late in the season.
The differences? Miles has two more years of eligibility and a good chance at future long runs in the tournament. Mabrey is a senior and thus at the end of her college career.
What made the moment so poignant was the picture of these two talented young athletes, one black and one white, consoling one other. Mabrey was weeping profusely. Miles was rubbing her teammate’s back trying to provide some solace in this moment of profound grief and sense of loss.
While we tell ourselves that the beauty of sport is its ability to offer valuable life lessons, college sports today does not always live up to this aspirational standard. But, for a few minutes late in that otherwise forgettable game, there was one shining moment of what sport should be about.