And Then There Were Two

Mulder
I love basketball.  But I’m not much of a fan of the NBA.  I got tired of the travelling violations, lack of real defence, lack of players willing to risk multi million dollar contracts to take a charge.  So I gave up on them.
But I HAVE been a big fan of the NCAA men’s finals (or March Madness as it is often nicknamed) since I was old enough to say Never Nervous Purvis or Earl the Pearl and I remember when Leo Rautens and Howard Triche were Syracuse Orangemen far before their sons played for ‘Cuse.  I remeber watching David Robinson single handedly destroy my Orangemen when he was with Navy.  I remember Jim Valvano’s NC State and Rollie Massamino’s Villanova winning the tourney as underdogs.
And I am incredibly proud of the fact that I can pronounce, let alone spell Krzyzewski.
And this years final is one of those Cinderella stories, a true David and Goliath.  Duke, the excellent basketball program that Coach K has turned into an institution vs. Butler, the little school with a total enrollment of 4700.  They are reminesscent of the Gene Hackman movie Hossier’s.  Indiana’s finest young men.  And they even get to play at home.  A mere 6 miles from their campus is the setting.
They took down mighty Syracuse. They eked past Izzo’s Michigan state machine.  Their 33 year old head coach, Brad Stevens is in his 3rd year coaching Butler.  Talk about a David.
And this year they face the Goliath Duke.  Coack K has lead Duke to 3 national titles and 11 final four appearances in his 30 years as the head coach.
Should be a doozy.  My brain (and my wallet if I were a betting man) would be on Duke to win going away, but my heart will be cheering Butler on from the tip off to the final buzzer.

I love basketball.  But I’m not much of a fan of the NBA.  I got tired of the travelling violations, lack of real defence, lack of players willing to risk multi million dollar contracts to take a charge.  So I gave up on them.

But I HAVE been a big fan of the NCAA men’s finals (or March Madness as it is often nicknamed) since I was old enough to say Never Nervous Purvis or Earl the Pearl and I remember when Leo Rautens and Howard Triche were Syracuse Orangemen far before their sons played for ‘Cuse.  I remeber watching David Robinson single handedly destroy my Orangemen when he was with Navy.  I remember Jim Valvano’s NC State and Rollie Massamino’s Villanova winning the tourney as underdogs.

And I am incredibly proud of the fact that I can pronounce, let alone spell Krzyzewski.

And this years final is one of those Cinderella stories, a true David and Goliath.  Duke, the excellent basketball program that Coach K has turned into an institution vs. Butler, the little school with a total enrollment of 4700.  They are reminesscent of the Gene Hackman movie Hossier’s.  Indiana’s finest young men.  And they even get to play at home.  A mere 6 miles from their campus is the setting.

They took down mighty Syracuse. They eked past Izzo’s Michigan state machine.  Their 33 year old head coach, Brad Stevens is in his 3rd year coaching Butler.  Talk about a David.

And this year they face the Goliath Duke.  Coack K has lead Duke to 3 national titles and 11 final four appearances in his 30 years as the head coach.

Should be a doozy.  My brain (and my wallet if I were a betting man) would be on Duke to win going away, but my heart will be cheering Butler on from the tip off to the final buzzer.  It should be on CBS somewhere in your neighbourhood starting at 9pm EST tonight.

<B>Addendum:</B>  Congrats to the Duke Blue Devils on their 61-59 win in one of the most exciting final games I have watched. A last second buzzer beater by Gordon Hayward just missed giving Butler the win.  What a fantastic game.