In-game contests are one of the great joys of attending a live sporting event. Fans get to participate, huge prizes are dangled in front of their faces, and the rest of the crowd gets to cheer on with little consequence.
Sometimes, though, a team raises the stakes. When the Idaho Stampede -- the D-League affiliate of the NBA's Utah Jazz -- offered a $25,000 tractor to a fan in exchange for hitting four shots from the court, things got serious.
A $25,000 tractor? That's a life-changer. As long as you own a farm. Either way, one lucky fan was given a shot at glory -- technically, four shots at glory. All he needed to do was hit a layup, a free throw, a three-point shot, and a half-court shot in 30 seconds.
And we'll be darned, that fan did exactly that.
Except it took him 32 seconds. And when he made that improbable half-court shot, the fan believed whole-heartedly that he won.
It's all here:
Granted, all of this information comes from the video's description on YouTube, which isn't quite Pulitzer-caliber journalism. But if the account posted is correct, an error with the game clock prevented the time from being shown to the fan as he went through his shots.
A small indicator on the side of the court showed that the time ran out before the fan drained the half-court bomb. Technically, this constitutes a loss -- a crushing loss, if you're a farmer and needed a new $25K tractor. A loss that's tough to bounce back from.
But since we haven't heard definitively one way or the other, it's possible the Idaho Stampede were gracious and gave the man the tractor he won.
Nay, the tractor he earned. With his bare hands.
