Most big-time games are slightly disappointing. Super Bowls are often that way. The hype is so great that the event just can't live up to expectations.
That wasn't true last night, was it?
What a marvelous game -- like the cliche of two heavy-weights slugging it out, where each one refuses to lose.
In your face.
No, in your face.
NO, in your face.
The score the first half was 33-32. The score for the second half was 28-27. It doesn't get much better than that.
The pundits didn't give Butler much of a chance. Most said things like they hoped for a close game. ESPN analyst and radio talk-show host Doug Gottlieb said before the game that he'd be "stunned if Duke didn't win." I wonder what he'd say now if they played a second time?
If Butler had won, the headline writers would have had a field day: David and Goliath, Cinderella, Hoosiers and so forth. Butler lost the game, but not really. When two teams play as they did Monday night, there isn't really a loser -- I'm just sayin'.
Congrats to the Duke Blue Devils, Coach K and the ACC. Hats off to Butler, Coach Brad Stevens and the Horizon League.
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Did you know?
* In the 2008-2009 NBA season, Duke had more players on NBA rosters than any other school.
* Kurt Vonnegut attended Butler and has an honorary degree.
Images from USA Today web site.
The intense interest in college football and basketball seems an American phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteI guess our (UK) students just do not perform at s high level in their sports and, hence, no television coverage with very little interest.
Perhaps the only exception is the annual Boat Race, where Cambridge beat Oxford last Saturday in one of the best races in recent memory watched by hundreds of thousands on the banks of the Thames. But it is only one race.
@Paul: I would have thought soccer would be a big sport in the UK.
ReplyDeleteGreat Cinderella story this year. Nice to see a small school make the Final Two
ReplyDeleteMan, if he just makes that last shot (not counting the shot from half court). I thought it was going in as he has made so many big shots.
ReplyDeleteGreat Game!!!
Free Throws... Make your free throws.
College football (aka soccer) in the UK is not the breeding ground of future stars. If a kid has not been signed up by a major club before the age of 13 then they are not going to make it.
ReplyDeleteThis has been true since time began.