I’ve been in a strange mood today.
In fact, ever since the last second ticked off the clock during last night’s Butler game, I’ve been unable to shake this feeling that’s been draped over me. I had dreams about it last night, woke up thinking about it this morning, and here I am with it still on my brain this evening. It seems to permeate my thoughts no matter how hard I try to bring it to a peaceful resolution.
I finally decided that writing a blog and getting my thoughts out would help. I haven’t written in this blog for more than a year since I have a paid freelancing gig that eats up my free writing time, but I needed somewhere to put it so here it goes.
I played a lot of sports as a kid and am very dedicated to my favorite sports teams, but never have I felt a sporting “hangover” like this. Had my beloved Packers lost in the Super Bowl this year (I grew up in Wisconsin) it would have been a major letdown, but I don’t think I would have had the feeling I have today.
It sort of feels like I’ve been having the time of my life at the best party ever and suddenly the music shut off and the lights came on. The problem is I didn’t think about it ending and now that it has, I’m not ready for it to be over. It just happened so abruptly.
I felt a real connection to this team. It has taken my alma mater to heights unimaginable to any of us fans just two years ago. Less than 10 years ago, as a student, I thought just reaching the Sweet Sixteen was the greatest thing ever. Now, here we are having made back-to-back national championships.
I've also read a million articles chronicling the players' quirks, backgrounds and aspirations. Since last year’s run, every possible story angle has been covered and each in-depth look into the lives and minds of the players has drawn me in closer and made me realize what good people they are. These are not pro athletes cashing million-dollar checks, win or lose. These are college kids balancing school and work -- with aplomb, might I add -- and exhibiting an incredible amount of determination and class in a program with a fraction of the resources of teams in the power six conferences. Like the NCAA commercials say, "almost all of them will be going pro in something other than sports."
The NBA is a possibility for some, and playing overseas will beckon for others, but this group will never again don Bulldog jerseys and step onto the Hinkle hardwood as a cohesive unit ready to slay Goliath. Never again will they ignite us fans and turn us into screaming fools with a barrage of threes, courageous comeback or feat of awe-inspiring hustle. With last night’s loss, this group will never take the court together again in the form of a Butler basketball team.
And even though this team was different than last year’s team without Willie, Avery and Gordon, there was still enough of the same DNA left on the roster to make it feel like it was a continuation of what we did last year. Now, losing Matt, Shawn and Zach, the other seniors, and possibly Shelvin, it really does feel like it’s the end of an era.
I feel genuinely bad that they didn’t get to hoist that trophy last night and that they had to shed tears of frustration and sadness rather than tears of joy and pride. The article Dan Wetzel wrote (http://bit.ly/butlerway) darn near had me in tears myself. I had to choke back a lump to keep from looking like a fool at work. They deserved that win more than any other team I’ve known, but deserving just didn’t convert to reality this time.
There will be many more great Butler teams to come filled with other young men that will make their school and us fans proud. Heck, there may even be more runs through the NCAA tournament, but there will never be another span quite like this. Never again will it seem so beautiful, so improbable, or so undeniably magical.
But even if this is the highest peak I reach as a Butler basketball fan, if this is what I remember years from now as I reflect back, I know I’m very lucky to have even had the opportunity to experience it. And, all that said, I look forward to what this program will bring.
The past two years of success, and the student-athletes that fueled them through gritty determination and sheer will, have forever changed the face of this program. Butler basketball is no longer an underdog. It’s a force to be reckoned with led by, in my opinion, the absolute best coach in the country. Other coaches may have more wins or championships, bigger contracts or more highly touted recruits, but nobody does it with as much class, integrity or as genuinely as Brad Stevens.
I guess what I’m trying to saw is I’m darn proud to be a Bulldog.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Friday, April 2, 2010
Of Basketball and Marriage -- A Butler Love Story
April 2010 will be the greatest month of my life.
Why? Well, for starters I'm a diehard Butler Basketball fan and my beloved Bulldogs will play in their first-ever Final Four tomorrow evening in Indianapolis. I’ve loved the Bulldogs through thick (NCAA appearances and Horizon League Championships) and thin (the Smalligan/Brooks years and watching Ben Grunst amble down the court at the end of blowout wins in 2002).
You’d think nothing can top that, but it just so happens that April 2010 will also be the month I marry the girl of my dreams. I’m my own biggest critic, so I consider the fact that I’ve managed to snag a girl as great as her as the biggest accomplishment of my life.
Laura is incredibly intelligent and talented, beautiful, loves sports – she WANTS to fall asleep to SportsCenter and thinks going to B-Dubs for wings and UFC fights is a treat – and, best of all, she loves me and all my quirks!
Strangely enough, these two monumental events in my life actually tie together, dating back to Butler circa 2002. It was then that a Butler freshman, and dance team member, named Laura was forever connected to yours truly at hallowed ground for any Butler alumna, Hinkle Fieldhouse.
A fellow dance team member recommended my soon-to-be wife introduce herself to me. For that piece of advice, I am forever indebted to Ashley.
After meeting Laura, and finding out she was on the dance team, I was in the front row of the student section for the next home game. Watching her out there on the Hinkle hardwood on a Saturday afternoon, with the sun streaming in from the west windows, I knew I had met a girl I never wanted to let go.
I also met her parents for the very first time at Hinkle, following the March 1, 2003 home game against UW-Milwaukee. Knowing I would meet her parents, I still couldn’t resist joining my fraternity brothers in dressing in “Braveheart” gear for the game. Donning a plaid bed sheet fashioned into a kilt and blue face paint I participated in my first, and only, court storming, after Avery Sheets hit a buzzer-beater to win the game for us. After the scrum, I promptly introduced myself to her parents, kilt, face paint and all.
You can actually see me at the :13 second mark of the video, most of my back is showing in my makeshift kilt ==> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jE2m_n_yHY
So, April 2010, I stand at your precipice with bated breath. I can hardly stand the anticipation of what you have to offer, and know that when you’re over you will be a month I never forget.
Why? Well, for starters I'm a diehard Butler Basketball fan and my beloved Bulldogs will play in their first-ever Final Four tomorrow evening in Indianapolis. I’ve loved the Bulldogs through thick (NCAA appearances and Horizon League Championships) and thin (the Smalligan/Brooks years and watching Ben Grunst amble down the court at the end of blowout wins in 2002).
You’d think nothing can top that, but it just so happens that April 2010 will also be the month I marry the girl of my dreams. I’m my own biggest critic, so I consider the fact that I’ve managed to snag a girl as great as her as the biggest accomplishment of my life.
Laura is incredibly intelligent and talented, beautiful, loves sports – she WANTS to fall asleep to SportsCenter and thinks going to B-Dubs for wings and UFC fights is a treat – and, best of all, she loves me and all my quirks!
Strangely enough, these two monumental events in my life actually tie together, dating back to Butler circa 2002. It was then that a Butler freshman, and dance team member, named Laura was forever connected to yours truly at hallowed ground for any Butler alumna, Hinkle Fieldhouse.
A fellow dance team member recommended my soon-to-be wife introduce herself to me. For that piece of advice, I am forever indebted to Ashley.
After meeting Laura, and finding out she was on the dance team, I was in the front row of the student section for the next home game. Watching her out there on the Hinkle hardwood on a Saturday afternoon, with the sun streaming in from the west windows, I knew I had met a girl I never wanted to let go.
I also met her parents for the very first time at Hinkle, following the March 1, 2003 home game against UW-Milwaukee. Knowing I would meet her parents, I still couldn’t resist joining my fraternity brothers in dressing in “Braveheart” gear for the game. Donning a plaid bed sheet fashioned into a kilt and blue face paint I participated in my first, and only, court storming, after Avery Sheets hit a buzzer-beater to win the game for us. After the scrum, I promptly introduced myself to her parents, kilt, face paint and all.
You can actually see me at the :13 second mark of the video, most of my back is showing in my makeshift kilt ==> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jE2m_n_yHY
So, April 2010, I stand at your precipice with bated breath. I can hardly stand the anticipation of what you have to offer, and know that when you’re over you will be a month I never forget.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
That’s Us in the Spot Light, Losing Our Religion
Whenever a friend finds out I attend church pretty regularly, I tend to get one of two looks. It’s either a, “I didn’t think anyone our age went to church every Sunday” look, or a, “that’s something I feel like I should be doing, I should get on that” sort of look.
I have to admit, I don’t get the looks very often because I’m not a very good Christian in the evangelical sense of the word. My faith is not something I talk about with others unless it’s brought up, and even if it is I don’t make judgments about others involvement, or lack thereof and don't say much about mine. It’s my opinion that religion is a very personal choice that should come from ones own feelings and convictions, not something rooted in pressure, guilt or any other motivation other than personal desire.
Yes, the irony of a blog about religion after those first three paragraphs is not lost on me. However, I write about it only to make a point. If only I could stop digressing, I’d get to that point.
It's important to make the distinction between religion and faith before I go any further. I used the term religion in the title only to quote REM, but religion to me refers to affiliation with a particular church, while faith can be had without a church.
I don’t have very many friends who practice religion in a traditional sense, or are religiously affiliated. However, most of them have faith, and I would be willing to guess at least 75% will return to regular church attendance once the kid explosion hits my circle of friends. I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot like when all of my friends were suddenly getting married, only with offspring this time.
An ABC News article from May of last year found that both Generation X and Y are claiming no religious affiliations a unprecedented levels. The number of “younger Americans” that do not claim an affiliation is between 30 and 40 percent, compared to between five and 10 percent for all Americans.
It’s not hard to confirm that, just go to any local church on any given Sunday. You’ll see pews filled with scores of quadra, quinqua, sexta, septua and octogenarians. What you wont see is an abundance of youth. Sure, you’ll see some, but they are always way outnumbered. I went to Ash Wednesday service last night and I had one young lady in front, one behind me, and three to my right, and that was it.
It’s also not hard to figure out why. We youngsters are products of instantaneous information, constant innovation and change, and millions of attention diversions. As I type this, I’m checking my Twitter account and my e-mail. So, the thought of sitting through a tradition-steeped church service that moves at a snails pace and hasn’t changed in many, many years is a bit contrasting to the way we live.
The truth is, I don’t care whether people go to church, it has no affect on how I view them. It would be hard for me to see eye to eye with an atheist or someone who worships on the opposite end of the spectrum. As I stated at the beginning, though, I’m not one to care about others' choices in this matter. It is, however, interesting to see this phenomenon taking place, and I’m curious as to whether our generation will end up attending church at the same rate as those before us. Perhaps only the big guy knows, err.. that is if you believe in that sort of thing.
I have to admit, I don’t get the looks very often because I’m not a very good Christian in the evangelical sense of the word. My faith is not something I talk about with others unless it’s brought up, and even if it is I don’t make judgments about others involvement, or lack thereof and don't say much about mine. It’s my opinion that religion is a very personal choice that should come from ones own feelings and convictions, not something rooted in pressure, guilt or any other motivation other than personal desire.
Yes, the irony of a blog about religion after those first three paragraphs is not lost on me. However, I write about it only to make a point. If only I could stop digressing, I’d get to that point.
It's important to make the distinction between religion and faith before I go any further. I used the term religion in the title only to quote REM, but religion to me refers to affiliation with a particular church, while faith can be had without a church.
I don’t have very many friends who practice religion in a traditional sense, or are religiously affiliated. However, most of them have faith, and I would be willing to guess at least 75% will return to regular church attendance once the kid explosion hits my circle of friends. I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot like when all of my friends were suddenly getting married, only with offspring this time.
An ABC News article from May of last year found that both Generation X and Y are claiming no religious affiliations a unprecedented levels. The number of “younger Americans” that do not claim an affiliation is between 30 and 40 percent, compared to between five and 10 percent for all Americans.
It’s not hard to confirm that, just go to any local church on any given Sunday. You’ll see pews filled with scores of quadra, quinqua, sexta, septua and octogenarians. What you wont see is an abundance of youth. Sure, you’ll see some, but they are always way outnumbered. I went to Ash Wednesday service last night and I had one young lady in front, one behind me, and three to my right, and that was it.
It’s also not hard to figure out why. We youngsters are products of instantaneous information, constant innovation and change, and millions of attention diversions. As I type this, I’m checking my Twitter account and my e-mail. So, the thought of sitting through a tradition-steeped church service that moves at a snails pace and hasn’t changed in many, many years is a bit contrasting to the way we live.
The truth is, I don’t care whether people go to church, it has no affect on how I view them. It would be hard for me to see eye to eye with an atheist or someone who worships on the opposite end of the spectrum. As I stated at the beginning, though, I’m not one to care about others' choices in this matter. It is, however, interesting to see this phenomenon taking place, and I’m curious as to whether our generation will end up attending church at the same rate as those before us. Perhaps only the big guy knows, err.. that is if you believe in that sort of thing.
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