NCAA Tournament: Dear Knitwit,

[ChiO]

Salt Lake City...Saturday...March 27...3:30pm CST

The small but Mighty Mighty Bulldogs of Butler University, coming into the tournament with the nation's longest winning streak and one of the highest graduation rates, play some state school from some Great Plains state.

Go Dawgs!!!!

Your friend (except on Saturday),
ChiO, Class of '73

[knitwit45]

As a K-State Mom, I can only laugh...Since the all-powerful Jayhawks fell like a rock, who knows what will happen?

GO WILDCATS!!!!

Mother, class of '92

and you know I'll love you forever....we might hit a rough patch, but we'll survive

[ChiO]

Wildcats? That sounds dreadfully close to that hated Kentucky team. Now the juices really are flowin'.

Wonder which team Klondike is rooting for? Hmmmm.... There's the Wildcats and the BULLDOGS. Tough choice, but even our Tinkerbell knows from whence her food comes.

From 3-Point Land,
Son of Class of '72 (MA), Brother of Class of '79, and Brother-in-Law of Class of '78

P.S. Don't go mushy on me. As Tina says, "What's Love Got to Do with It"? This is BASKETBALL, dangnabit!

[knitwit45]

"THEY" also say...."Whatever it takes"

[knitwit45]

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[moira finnie]

Sorry about Kansas State, knitster. There's always next year.

I felt terrible for the players as they tried to wave away the cameras. I always think "leave 'em alone. They played well enough to get this far! They are among the best. Nothing will really change that."

[knitwit45]

sniff. thanks, friend.

[ChiO]

Joined a few score of my nearest and dearest friends in a local North Side establishment catering to the Butler alumni crowd to stand and watch the game. Upon my return home, Mrs. ChiO inquired as to the diversity of ages in the crowd, to which I responded: "There was a great range of ages -- from about 22 to 28." But the youngsters were tousling this oldster's white hair at the end because...

WE'RE A WINNER (The Impressions)
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GO DAWGS!!

[knitwit45]

I think this is the rough patch......

[ChiO]

WOO-HOO!!!!

GO BULLDOGS!

[knitwit45]

If the 'Cats had to be skinned, I'm glad it was the 'Dogs....and if ya can't beat em, join em......GO BULLDOGS!!!!!!!!! SNIFF

[ChiO]

Our rough patch is definitely over. May the Dawgs and 'Cats meet in the final game in 2011.

[ChiO]

Fewer than 9.5 hours to go.

1954: 32-30 -- Final score as Milan H.S. (enrollment: 161) defeats Muncie Central (enrollment: 1,600+) for Indiana H.S. Basketball Championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse (nee Butler Fieldhouse) on Butler's campus. Milan's star, Bobby Plump, enrolls at Butler and, in his senior year, is a member of the College Basketball All-Star team.

1986: 42-40 -- Final score in HOOSIERS, a movie filmed in part at Hinkle Fieldhouse and loosely based on Milan's 1954 championship season.

April 3, 2010: 52-50 -- Final score of Butler-Michigan State game, sending Butler into the final game of the NCAA tournament for the first time.

April 5, 2010: 62-60 -- Book it!

We'll sing the Butler war song,
We'll give a fighting cry;
We'll fight the Butler battle--
Bulldogs ever do or die.
And in the glow of the victory firelight,
Hist'ry cannot deny
To add a page or two
For Butler's fighting crew
Beneath the Hoosier sky.

[knitwit45]

um, ChiO? Are you ok, hon? The announcer said it best: Duke won the game but Butler DID NOT LOSE the game. A team to be proud of, in many ways. Congratulations on going the distance, Bulldogs! An absolutely outstanding championship game.

ChiO, I'm here for you if you need to talk.....

[ChiO]

Thank you.

As we say at Wrigley Field: Wait 'til next year. Hayward - back. Mack - back. Howard - back. Nored - back. Losing only one starter and, I think, only one or two guys off the bench. The comparison this year was with tiny Milan H.S. winning the 1954 Indiana H.S. championship by coming out of nowhere to beat one of the largest state high schools. That's a HOOSIERS myth. In 1953, Milan was in the Final Four. So, really, wait 'til next year!