Butler vs. Duke: The Team Game Is Still Alive, For Now

In this day and age of prima donnas attacking the bucket one-on-five like they’re trying to re-create LeBron James versus Detroit in 2007, it’s little wonder that two humble, efficient, and well coached teams met in the NCAA Championship game.

Neither had an abundance of superb athletes.  Neither had a player who needed to dominate the ball to be effective.  Neither had a roster full of first round draft picks.  Hell, most if not all of the players will graduate college, silly!

No, this isn’t a script or a joke, it’s the oh so refreshing truth about Butler and Duke.

I’m no fan of Duke, no fan of Coach K, but I respect achievement when I see it.  Duke did it the right way and shouldn’t be chastised just because they happen to be the big bully from Durham.  Besides, it’s not like they’ve done anything since 2001 (I had to say it).  You all saw the passion  every Duke player played with.  They knew they weren’t playing David. They knew what they were up against.  Duke understood.  They played like they were the underdog.

I wasn’t sold for one second on the whole David vs. Goliath motif forced down our throats, and not because I didn’t think Duke was that good, but because I knew Butler has been good for a long time. It wasn’t surprising they made it this far.  Four straight appearances in the tourney and three Sweet Sixteen appearances in the last eight years isn’t exactly the formula of a flash in the pan.  Butler was due for this.

Sure, Butler was an underdog, you can’t argue with that.  But they were more than a jump on the bandwagon underdog we are so all accustomed to.  Butler represents a pure devotion to the cause that is more than just toppling the giant, taking down the empire, or sticking it to the man. The cause is longstanding, always in motion, not secular.  It’s not about us versus them.    It’s about doing it the right way without the resources that others have, and doing it better, doing it collectively.  It’s not about defying the odds and shocking the world.  It’s about defying the world and shocking the odds.

In the end one of these teams had to lose.  It’s how it works.

But the only losing that took place was on the scoreboard, because it was so much more than a game between a favored historically powerful private school and sweetheart little private school.

Butler vs. Duke was the perfect game, played at the perfect time.   Because the game as we know it is changing.  It’s quickly becoming something treacherous, something undeservedly treaded on, something headed towards unfamiliarity, and fast.

 

So this game, this moment, became about justice.

No,  I can’t let you say there was injustice in Butler falling short to Duke.  I may have thought about injustice immediately after the game because I wanted Butler to win and make Mid-Major Nation proud, but remember—it’s not about us versus them.

But I guarantee Mid-Major Nation has never been prouder.

The injustice would have been the one-and-doners with their dollar signs crashing the party during the last verse, eliminating Butler and Duke from knocking down that brick wall together and being able to show what truly makes college basketball so spectacular and pure.

The Battle

Butler and Duke made it known that the illustrious game of college basketball will not go down without a fight.

A damn good fight.

The Future

Is this really the end, or is it the new beginning?

A new reality?

I think we all know the answer.

But it’s not up to us.