running out the clock

One way to win is to stop “playing.”

You can still be in the game, and technically, the regulations allow you to stall, filibuster, or use the rules to maintain possession (of the ball) with immunity.

However, winning on a technicality is uninspiring. In the sense of fairness, it is always an asterisk of legality rather than achievement. A loophole of bureaucratic cleverness seldom inspires, which reduces victory until we bleed away what it means to have a hero.