With West Virginia’s defeat at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils, you have to ask, is their any justice? I mean, this is a movie where the bad guy wins! This is the one where Goliath beats down David, the Yankees take the championship, and Brock Lesnar is a good athlete. I could keep going forever (Reggie gets the girl, Wickwire gets his picks right, etc…) but you get the picture.
Enter the Butler Bulldogs; they are a mid-major school with less than 5,000 students. These guys have never even sniffed a national championship, losing in the sweet sixteen twice in the last 6 years.
Duke is the giant. They have 14,000 students and three national championships under their belt already. Their endowment fund is almost forty times the size of Butler’s. Forty.
A good friend of mine gave me a passionate argument about why I shouldn’t dislike Duke so much, why they are a great basketball team, and why I should be cheering for them instead of against them. Storied basketball program, great fundamental basketball, terrific coach who doesn’t get that upset, good role models and a few more.
Those are all the reasons why I DON’T like Duke. I want to see a team like Baylor that is so undisciplined but so athletic that it makes for pandemonium on the floor. Guys are putting up shots six seconds into the shot clock, flying in for dunks, celebrating on the floor, arguing with referees and just showing their passion in visible ways.
I want a coach like Bob Huggins of West Virginia who is an angry mess, but he cares about his players. When De’Sean Butler went down with a knee injury and couldn’t get up off the floor, ‘Huggs’ was on the floor kneeling over his guy, consoling him, wiping his tears. He just cares about his guys. Duke seems to be stone cold. No emotion on the floor except for their seven footer, Zoubek.
I just can’t take it. When this article appears, it will already be decided. I just hope it’s like that movie where Average Joe’s puts a beating on Global Gym.
In the words of Lauren Hamilton, and avid UNC fan, “if Duke wins today, it will be the worst day of my life.” And ain’t that the truth.
