In sports, there is a play or a sequence where everyone will point out as a player's lowest moment.
-Bret Hart had a legendary wrestling career that no one can match, but he is constantly asked about the Montreal Screwjob.
-Tony Romo had stellar years in the NFL and a good job in broadcasting, but will always be remembered for the botched hold on a field goal attempt in the playoff game against Seattle.
-Andre Iguodala is a multiple time world champion for the Warriors, but he will be mentioned as the recipient of LeBron's game-changing block in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
For athletes in the spotlight, a gaffe can follow you until your playing career has ended. In Chris Webber's case, it will probably follow him till the day he dies.
The 1993 National Championship featured a hungry Michigan squad led by Webber. He had a crew of Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King there to help the Wolverines reach the promised land. Dubbed the Fab Five, this ensemble took college basketball by storm the previous season with their relentless way of playing the game and their fashion sense, the baggy shorts. As sophomores, this was their last opportunity to win it all since Webber was swaying towards leaving for the NBA.
Michigan's opponent was the North Carolina Tar Heels. Led by legendary coach Dean Smith, UNC didn't really have the NBA talent that Michigan had, but they had clutch performers who were up to the task. Donald Williams, George Lynch and Eric Montross were trying to get North Carolina back to the days of Jordan, Worthy and Perkins with a championship victory.
Throughout the game, both teams were neck and neck as the Tar Heels took a two point lead with under a minute left. By many accounts, Michigan coach Steve Fisher informed his squad that they had no timeouts left. We all know what happened. Webber dribbles the ball into a double team and calls a timeout that Michigan didn't have. Technical foul and free throws for UNC, which clinched the game and the National Championship.
In a few months after this, Chris Webber will be the #1 pick in the draft, make millions and begin a successful NBA career. Unfortunately, in those few months, he will also be ridiculed, receive backlash and even death threats from people who will remind him of his mistake. After that game, Webber had his head down and looked dejected. He looked of a man who let his school and the nation down. On the best of SportsCenter, Chris Myers stated that the situation wasn't funny. At the time, Chris was still a kid and the burden of this mistake was probably weighing on his mind. It sucks that everyone had to continually bring it up.
Okay, for 30 years, something has bothered me about this and no one has mentioned it. The actual play should have never happened to begin with. You see, Chris Webber travelled at the beginning of the sequence. Even the UNC bench was furious that the travel wasn't called. If it was, the timeout would have never happened and a 50/50 chance of Michigan making a defensive stop or intentionally fouling the Tar Heels and putting them at the free throw line. If UNC made the two free throws, Michigan would have still lost the game, but it would have been legit.
So, everything that has been mentioned here doesn't really matter, considering the fact that this game, technically, doesn't exist. Michigan had to vacate the games from that 92-93 season, including the tournament contests, due to Webber's involvement of under-the-table payments from a now-deceased booster. This also led to a dissocitation between Webber and the University of Michigan for a period of time. Then came the infamous 30 for 30 documentary on the Fab Five. It featured the members of the Fab Five minus Webber. The doc had members of Michigan ask Chris to apologize to the university. This seemed to piss off Webber and caused a riff between him and his close friend, Jalen Rose. The two have seemed to bury the hatchet as time goes by.
For thirty years, the man known as C-Webb has been a staple in basketball and actually, became one of my favorite players to watch. Unfortunately, he will forever be known as the man who called a timeout when there wasn't one.
(Side note: While writing this, I learned via Bleacher Report that Eric Montross, a member of that North Carolina National Championship team, was diagnosed with cancer. Prayers go out to him and his family.)
(Another side note: This was the 200th blog for the Real Sports Marks AZ. Here's to another 200.)
(Sources: Bleacher Report, Wikipedia, Secret Base, ESPN, University of Michigan, College Basketball Reference)
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