On Butler

Don't worry, I will be back to all-Yemen all the time, tomorrow.  Just give me a few.

Ahh...

Well, I can't be too disappointed.  They gave us a hell of a run.  They played their hearts out, and made it level with that All-American team of giants.  Almost won, too.  What did Hayword miss by on that fadeaway with 3 seconds left- an inch?  And the desperation three nearly, nearly clanged in.  Basketball, man.  But for the cruel and inarguable physics of the bounce, the tiniest movement of the finger, the imperceptible difference between the net swishing perfectly and the hideous season-ending sound of a miss...

Yes.  I know that there where other reasons they lost.  I can analyze basketball and point to the difference.  But not tonight. 

I'm proud of those guys.  I really am.  That should have been a heart-breaking loss- and, at the moment, I am fairly gutted- but for some reason it wasn't, entirely.   Not every sports story ends up with a sepia-toned fadeout, with the shot falling, the impossible dream coming true and the legend-makers rushing the court, hugging and screaming.  Some sports stories fall short.  Some by the most agonizing inch.  These guys will live over their mistakes for the next few months, maybe for the rest of their lives.  But they shouldn't.  Sports talk and writing is full of hyperbole, but they did something no one thought they could, they made it further than imagined, and pushed a great team to the limit.   Nice work, guys.  Hold your heads high. 

Go Bulldogs.