Is all of this pain worth it?

The unwritten script of sports, never dull and often captivating, doesn't always allow for happy endings.

Hence, this question must be asked today, in the wake of Friday's news:

Was the last game Jim Calhoun ever coached at UConn the barfbag special from the other night at Georgetown?

The very suggestion that Calhoun has perhaps coached his last game will trigger yelping from the alarmists and scoffs from the cynics. It wouldn't be entirely unjustified, since this falls somewhere between speculation and rampant speculation.

But the confluence of Calhoun's spinal stenosis, a lower back condition that causes him severe pain and hampers mobility, with the specter of a possible NCAA-issued postseason ban in 2013 at least invites the question as to whether Calhoun is done.

It's certainly possible that Calhoun, who has beaten cancer more than once, will return soon, pending effective treatment of his back. But back ailments are infamously unpredictable, as anyone with back issues can attest.

Moreover, we'll know before the season ends whether the NCAA bans UConn from the 2013 championship tournament. That would come as punishment for an Academic Progress Rate score below the minimum standard of 900.

Suppose Calhoun's back is uncooperative.

Suppose the NCAA renders punishment.

Suppose Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond leave school for the NBA.

True enough: It's a buffet line of supposition. But it's also not a stunning upset if all three happen.

And so we ask: If Calhoun is healthy enough to coach next season, would he? Would he return at 70 years old, with his two best players gone and no chance at the national championship? Would his friends and family convince him there's really nothing left for him to accomplish?

School officials, who won't speak publicly in fear of further irritating the NCAA, grow less optimistic about next season. Some said privately this week that the longer the NCAA takes to rule on UConn's appeal of the APR issue, the greater the chance the news isn't good. As one person said: "If this goes into March, the NCAA is going to have a national stage to announce that not even the defending champion is immune from insufficient academics."

UConn's APR score last spring was 893. Many school officials are certain the score will be significantly improved, but not enough to boost the score to 900 for this year.

The APR, a number based on whether kids stay in school and remain academically eligible, does not penalize a program for players leaving early for the NBA. The next four-year rolling score will include individual academic year scores from 2007-08 (909), 2008-09 (844), 2009-10 (826) and 2010-11. That means UConn, even if it scores 1,000 (a perfect score), will be unable to boost its rolling score to 900.

UConn's most recent score of 893 came because Jonathan Mandeldove and Darius Smith not only left school, but were not in good academic standing. That's called an "0-for-2."

The NCAA has already banned five other schools from the 2012 postseason for APR issues: Cal-State Northridge, Chicago State, Grambling, Southern University and Louisiana-Monroe.

UConn is hoping for a "conditional waiver," which, according to NCAA bylaws, could be granted for "demonstrated academic improvement, active presidential involvement, meeting certain APR benchmarks and implementation of an APR improvement plan."

UConn meets all four at the moment.

But NCAA officials could easily say: So why haven't you been doing this all along?

Other members of the UConn athletic department believe that NCAA president Mark Emmert, once UConn's Chancellor and Provost, is plenty familiar with Calhoun's neglect of academic achievement and would enjoy making an example of him.

It's a little bit Twilight Zone to think this could crumble so quickly. It's not a year removed yet from last March's rainbow ride. The team is losing, the coach's back is aching and next season rides on the whim of the bureaucracy that has illustrated a growing contempt for UConn.

Maybe Calhoun, defiant as ever, comes back.

Or maybe we'll never see him coach another game.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.