In Cutthroat College Hoops, a Shining Act of Generosity

For those having a people-are-lousy day, Frank Deford at NPR has an antidote in the tale of Gettysburg College basketball player Cory Weissman, a senior captain taking the court for senior night against Washington College. Which is all fine, except, as Deford writes, "it was, you see, the first start of his college career. Cory had played a few minutes as a freshman. But then, after that season, he suffered a major stroke." Weissman clawed his way back, and "by this year, he could walk without a limp and even participated in the pregame layup drills." Coach George Petrie put him in against Washington for "a token few seconds" at the start as a nice gesture—and the Washington team even applauded him. But then, with a comfortable lead in the game's waning minutes, Petrie sent Weissman back out on the court.

"Nobody could understand, though, what happened next, why the Washington coach, Rob Nugent, bothered to call time out," writes Deford. The reason? He told his players to foul Weissman as fast as they could. "And with 17 seconds left, Cory Weissman strode to the free-throw line." He missed his first shot but sank the second, scoring his first and only college basket, with fans of both teams cheering. "Cory Weissman had made a point," writes Deford. "Washington College had made an even larger one." Click here for Deford's full piece. (More college basketball stories.)