The Allure of The Underdog

I'm a lifelong Duke fan. Well, almost. I started rooting for Duke back in the Johnny Dawkins days of the mid 1980's, becoming a die-hard Dukie when they knocked off the presumably unbeatable Runnin Rebels of UNLV to win their first title in 1991. My home in Zearing where I grew up may still bear the marks in the ceiling where I nearly jumped through it after Christian Laettner's miracle shot against Kentucky in 1992.

But tonight? Tonight, I was a Butler fan. There's nothing I love more than a great underdog story. Hoosiers, The Rookie, The Blind Side--all some of my favorite all-time movies. And Butler definitely fit the mold. It really was David against Goliath. Duke, with all its tradition and Final 4 appearances and titles. Butler, having never even been there before. The game itself had all the makings of a storybook ending. A remarkable game, back and forth, with the underdog having the chance to win on a miracle shot at the buzzer. That shot was supposed to go in. Can you imagine if it would have? It may have been the most remarkable moment in college basketball history. I wanted that shot to go in, I truly did--Duke fan and all. It just goes to show: We all love an underdog. Congrats to Butler on an AMAZING season.