What A Ride!

It simply wasn't meant to be. When Gordon Hayward's halfcourt shot lipped out the finality of Butler's season smacked everybody in the face. What kept coming to mind was the old adage ‘so close yet so far away.'

How do you put into words the ride that Butler just took us all on? Our lives stopped for three weeks as we watched a group of 15 men playing an amoeba-like defense that seemed zone and man-to-man at the same time. They hit all the big shots and made correct decisions with the basketball. Can you blame all 70,000 in Lucas Oil for thinking that last shot was going in? Brian Zoubek's body language said it all. He didn't immediately celebrate. He first exhaled and felt relief, not joy, as Hayward's shot went awry.

For days, months, years, we'll be told how close Butler came to a national championship.

I'm reminded of a Mighty Ducks quote, yes I'm quoting Mighty Ducks.

Coach Bombay: I go in, I triple deke. I fake the goalie right out of his pads.

The puck's headed in, and then, Clang! Hits the post.

We lost in overtime.

A quarter of an inch this way and it would have gone in.

A quarter of an inch, Charlie.

Charlie: Yeah, but a quarter inch the other way and you'd have missed completely.

As close as Butler came against Duke they were a shot or two away from not making to the Sweet Sixteen.

That's the beauty of this run. Butler perilously toed the line of victory and defeat in almost every game in this tournament. There was a human element to this team. Their power forward was 6-3 and most 16 year-olds look older than their best player. The point guard might not win a game of horse at the YMCA.

That's why we loved this team. The sum was greater than the parts. They banded together and took down college basketball giants. They made it home and cam back with thousands of people on their bandwagon. We won't know the impact of this run for several years.

What we DO know is that we almost saw one of the most incredible games in the history of college basketball. Don't take my word for it.

My girlfriend was sitting one row behind Syracuse's coach Jim Boeheim. When Hayward's last shot went begging he turned wide-eyed to a friend and said, "if that shot went in it would have been the greatest shot in the history of college basketball."

This loss is tough to swallow in the moment but to have the ball down 1 with 30 seconds left for a national championship is something every single Butler fan would have taken at the beginning of the season.

Butler fans don't have to worry about this team or tournament run being forgotten. Anybody who followed any part of this tournament knows that Butler was the story and when this story is re-told over the years it will be Butler, not Duke, who will get the longest chapters in this narrative.

Basketball season is over. Thank you Butler for making it so memorable.