It baffles me that the 3-point arc in the Women’s NCAA Elite Eight Tournament was drawn incorrectly by nine inches!
But even more surprising is that it was brought to the attention of officials by a fan who saw the discrepancy from his seats — in the fifth game of the tournament. Almost certainly, someone else had thought it looked “off” or noticed a difference, but only Michael McGrath persisted in bringing the error to the attention of officials.
It would have been easy for McGrath to post his pictures and let it go at that, or for the refs to dismiss such an outlandish claim from a fan, but McGrath cared enough to get his message through. He saw another fan waving to one of the tournament’s workers and followed up with the fan to get connected to the worker and then with an official. His perseverance paid off, and soon everyone was involved in the calamity.
The next time you see something that is amiss, take a lesson from Michael McGrath and have the fortitude to act on your observation. We need more people to care about making things right.
Source: NCAA women’s tournament game played on court with incorrect three-point line by Jesse Dougherty, The Washington Post, April 1, 2024.
