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SLAM! Sports '99 Pan Am Games PAN AM GAMES INTERACTIVE CONTESTS ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Monday, August 9, 1999Hoop dramasSix little seconds make all the difference for Canadian
The difference between devastation and elation was six seconds for the Canadian women's basketball team. And it was that brief time span that gave me my most memorable moment during the Pan Am Games hoops competition. It was the semifinal and the 2-3 Canadian women were trying to get a trip to the gold-medal game by playing 5-0 Brazil, a team they had never beaten in any competition. Up 53-39 with 7:23 left, Team Canada's offence suddenly skidded to a halt. Try as they might, they couldn't hit another basket and Brazil fought back to take a 54-53 lead with eight seconds left. Foreseeing a flop, I admit I held my breath as guard Teresa Kleindienst rushed down the court and fired a pass under the basket to first-year centre Tammy Sutton-Brown. Sutton-Brown dropped it in with two seconds left and fans roared as she got a leaping hug from a teammate. She added a free throw after drawing a foul for a 56-54 lead. When Brazil's Hail-Mary throw hit the rim and bounced away, the Canadians hugged at centre court as the song We Are The Champions blasted through the Winnipeg Arena. "It was like we won the gold medal," an elated veteran Canadian forward Kelly Boucher summed up. But it was the men's competition that tugged on my heartstrings. In his team's second game, rookie Canadian guard Jordie McTavish's knee gave out as he planted his leg for a shot. The 21-year-old fell to the floor with an agonizing scream, his knee dislocated and anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments torn. It's questionable whether he'll recover in time for next year's Olympics. |