Sports almost never ends perfectly.
It's just not built that way. A ball bounces the wrong way, an opposing player gets hot, a referee misses a call, the clock runs out.
So the way Karen Shelton's coaching career at Carolina ended is as unusual as it is perfect. The legend—when you coach in a stadium that bears your name, you're a legend, even if you publicly shun any praise—announced her retirement on Wednesday after a decorated tenure that made her one of the most successful and instrumental coaches in Tar Heel history.