A Grip on Sports: When a game-winning shot drops through, is your first thought about the joy of the winners or the sorrow of those on the other end?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Big shots at big times. Comebacks for the ages. Mistakes too. Joy. Despair. Perspective is everything, isn’t it?

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• Not sure when mine changed. Or if it ever really did. All that sticks in my head is watching basketball as a youth, a newlywed, a new father, a middle-aged dude. And always celebrating a last-second shot. Wasn’t that cool? Look how excited those players are. What a fantastic finish.

Then why, late Sunday afternoon, didn’t I feel the same way when Braylon Mullins’ last-second 3-pointer slipped through the net in Washington, D.C.? A shot that sent the easy-to-hate Duke Blue Devils home another season without a national title, something I thought I was hoping for throughout the entire second half?

How did I become empathetic? When the heck did that happen?

Not sure. But as the CBS cameras focused on Mullins and the often-crazy Danny Hurley and the UConn faithful jumping around, powered by the joy only a seemingly impossible comeback can fuel, my eyes searched for Cayden Boozer. Was he alright? After a blunder for the ages – the freshman guard seemed to panic, throw an unnecessary pass that was tipped, stolen and converted – the smaller Boozer had to be hurting. Had to be wondering how he could have failed. Had to be aghast. He was. Though the cameras, as the old saying goes, were focused on the spoils of victory.

Look, I’m not sure there is anyone anywhere that holds more contempt for Duke’s smugness and holier-than-thou attitude. The program’s expectation of titles as almost a birthright. The years and years it built such arrogance through, darn it, success.

Seeing the Blue Devils flame out in the NCAA Tournament is usually not just a wish, but one of the true joys of life.

Except when it isn’t. That Duke lost is welcome, sure. How the Devils lost? Some might find bliss in it. Celebrate another meltdown under Jon Scheyer, the man with the toughest task since Gene Bartow. Revel in the Dukies’ second consecutive season blowing a large lead as the tournament reached its zenith without them.

For some reason I just can’t.

• There might be an explanation. One I stumbled upon earlier Sunday. It came from an insider’s view of another loss, that of Michigan State to the Huskies a couple days ago. And how it hit one veteran sportswriter who actually had some skin in the game. At least some genes.

Dana O’Neil’s epiphany came in the Spartans’ locker room as she experienced a senior’s season-ending defeat through new eyes. Those of her son, a MSU manager.

All things must end, sure. And all of the hard times pass too. All advice can’t help, though. Not in the moment. Not ever. Not in or out of the spotlight.  

• Did Mullins’ shot take you back? Back to some other NCAA-game-winning bucket? Maybe Jalen Suggs against UCLA in the Covid bubble? Maybe Julian Strawther’s two years later against the same foe? Maybe Christian Laettner’s or Kris Jenkins’ or even Bryce Drew’s?  

Yesterday’s shot was a bit different. More like Kihei Clark’s awful pass in 2023 that led to Furman’s game-winning shot, knocking Virginia from a tournament it only won four years before because Clark had made spectacular pass under pressure as a game wound down.

Why did that come to mind Sunday? Mainly because of the juxtaposition. One play makes a freshman a hero, one seven years later makes another a goat. But fame, or infamy, can be fleeting. Maybe in about a year Cayden Boozer will have another chance. Make another pass with an NCAA game on line. One with a different result.

And then I’ll feel for the whichever team is on the other bench.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the Times’ interview with Washington athletic director Pat Chun is on the S-R site today. … So is Matt Calkins’ column about college sports’ current popularity. … Of course, there is coverage of the men’s last two Elite Eight games, the UConn win and the beatdown Michigan put on Tennessee. Too bad Arizona and Michigan have to meet in the semifinals on Saturday. … Jon Wilner has his winners and losers in the Mercury News. … Recruiting never stops. Not for Oregon when Arizona State makes a coaching change. … Colorado will have to replace another player. … So will Colorado State. … The women’s Elite Eight began Sunday, with UCLA riding star post Lauren Betts to a win over Duke. The Bruins are back in the Final Four again. … In football news, Colorado seems to attract talented cornerbacks. There is a reason for that. … A Utah State receiver transferred to Utah and stepped right into a leadership role. … Arizona expects to be better this fall at the wide receiver spots.

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs’ baseball team is on a roll. And, as Colton Clark tells us in this notebook, so is junior Maddox Haley. … John Canzano’s column on the tournament focuses on Tommy Lloyd and his past with Gonzaga.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana State’s women fell at South Dakota in the WNIT quarterfinals. With that loss, Big Sky basketball is officially over for another season. … Montana football proves our adage that recruiting never stops.

Mariners: The first homestand ended Sunday with two surprising results. And, no, Brendan Donovan’s laser-like three-run home run wasn’t one of them. The first is simple. Fill-in starter Emerson Hancock threw six no-hit innings in the 8-0 victory. And Jacob Thorpe wrote about the series and didn’t mention it until the final third of his column. That’s appropriate, though. His theme was about the team’s depth. … The Colt Emerson story I linked yesterday? It’s on the S-R site today. So is the story about Angie Mentink’s bouncing back from an offseason stroke. … Here’s a tough question for American League managers: Cal Raleigh or Aaron Judge?

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• I can assure you of one thing. If UC Irvine ever hits a last-second shot to win an NCAA Tournament game, I will not be worrying about how the opponent feels. As I said right from the start, it’s all a matter of perspective. And I lost all that concerning UCI more than 50 years ago. Until later …