Butler Bulldogs

Tonight, the men's basketball team from Butler University literally
missed winning the Division One basketball championship by
inches, when a last second shot that would have one the game
bounced off the rim as time expired. I'm not a huge sports fan
but I was cheering for Butler not only because they are a small
school from Indiana, but because they were one of the first college
teams I ever saw play basketball. Growing up, my parents were
long time backers of Valparaiso University's basketball team. We
saw lots of games at the old Hilltop Gym. I saw the DePaul Blue
Demons play there in the 80's when they were the number 1 team
in the nation and I saw Larry Bird play there when Indiana State was
an up and coming power. Most of the early games when I was young
though were against other tiny schools, before Valparaiso was a
Division 1 team. They played in the Indiana Collegiate Conference,
which included Valparaiso, Evansville, St. Joseph's, Indiana Central,
Wabash, DePauw and Butler. Over the years, Valpo and Butler have
always played each other and now they are back in the same
conference. Butler has been very good the past few seasons and
Valpo made it to the Sweet 16 a few years ago. As Butler progressed
through this year's tournament, I'm sure they made all of the the
other small schools, especially in the Midwest proud. I know my
Dad would have been glued to the TV, watching them. I'm sure he's
proud of them and the great effort they made tonight.