And the ESPY goes to....Valpo?

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Ryan Rosenbaum

A player hitting a three-point shot at the buzzer to win an NCAA tournament first round game? Or a quarterback running nine yards and doing a flip, landing in the endzone to win a game with four seconds left in a regular season game?

If you answered the first one, then you and ESPN once again decided to shutout the West Coast and the Pacific 10 Conference.

Valparaiso's Bryce Drew's three-pointer to beat Mississippi won the 1999 ESPY Award for "Play of the Year." If you were watching that afternoon tournament game in March, no doubt you jumped out of your seat. If you didn't catch it, and nobody blames you for not watching Valpo play Ole Miss, the shot was played over and over again, and was one of the highlights of the college basketball season.

But the best play of the season? Three-pointers at the buzzer are made all the time - Jason Terry's three from half-court just before halftime of the UA-LSU game Saturday night, Miles Simon's miraculous buzzer-beater in 1996 against Cincinnati (which, incidentally, didn't win an ESPY, either) and at the end of the quarters in virtually every NBA game. Some are more important than others, but a three-point buzzer-beater isn't the rarest thing to see.

On the other hand, Ortege Jenkins (a quarterback), not finding an open receiver and deciding to run it in from nine yards out, jumping over three defenders just before the goal line, doing a flip and landing on his feet in the end-zone, is one of the most athletic and outrageous plays of the decade. Arizona 31, Washington 27.

Things like that don't happen all the time. Drew said he has practiced that play with his coach (his father) for 10 years, and it never worked until that game against Ole Miss.

I don't think O.J. ever spent time after practice doing flips into the endzone.

I know, I know, the NCAA Tournament is a little bit bigger than a regular season college football game. But is it? In college football, teams play for the national championship every week because they can't afford to lose a game. O.J.'s flip kept Arizona in the national championship and the Pac-10 race.

Maybe we're biased. Of course we're biased. Both plays were incredible, both plays made us hold our breath and both plays are worthy candidates for the Play of the Year Award.

But hey, you try doing a flip.