Butler. Duke. Gordon Hayward’s last two shots.

At least one of those shots should have gone in.

As the game was winding down, essays and columns were being written in my mind. That’s what writers do. We have to make connections, even if they don’t occur to anyone else at the time.

So, maybe I should be writing something about how that game was a lot like the real world. You have your hopes and your perfect ending. It leads you on. You keep believing. But eventually, life brings the hammer down. The powers that be are still in power. It’s a never-ending game of us vs. them, and they always win.

I thought about writing how, after some games, the loser is also the winner. The loser is the team that everyone remembers. The winner is merely the footnote. After all, what was the first thing Jim Nantz said as the clock hit zero? “It almost went in!”

There could be something written about Jimmy Chitwood. Yeah, he was based on a real person, but he’ll never be real, not now. Even if you think he could be.

I even thought, maybe this is a game that makes you think God is a sports fan. Until you realize that He isn’t.

Yes, friends, all of these angles flashed before me. But one thought was strongest. Maybe it wasn’t as intelligent as the others, but it was the truest. And I thought it on two separate occasions.

That shot was supposed to go in.