Even though Butler University lost last week’s NCAA Division 1 Men’s Championship, I’m still wearing
my 
favorite Bulldog t-shirt.
Go ahead. Make all of the wise cracks you like. There’s no denying this year’s final game was pure misery to witness; both Butler and U Conn had a lousy night. I’m not here to write a sports column, breaking the game down to worthless bits from my easy chair. Butler didn’t make the shots. Game over.
But I will admit that after the final buzzer, the game was far from done for me. I sat up half the night, feeling so horrible for the Mid-major Butler boys who worked their butts off to climb to the top of the bracket two years in a row.
You can’t help but want great things for exceptional people who push so hard. Butler’s loss reminded me of the pain I feel when I see an Olympic figure skater fall in the final performance or a dog musher scratch from the Iditarod or a marathoner fade just a mile from the finish line.
I, along with thousands of Butler fans across the country, ached to call, “DO-OVER!” I mourned for the senior players - Matt Howard, Alex Anglin, Zack Hahn, Grant Leiendecker, Shawn Vanzant - who would never get this chance again.
I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana not far from Butler University (4,500 students), and my parents still live there. My dad went to Butler (School of Pharmacy), my uncle went to Butler, and so have many of my friends.
My main connection with Butler though is purely and literally organic. Since I was in high school, the gorgeous, forested setting of the university has been one of my favorite refuges in the city. Holcomb gardens and the Central Canal Towpath provide a rural setting in the heart of a busy metro area. When I’m in Indy, I usually hike there several days out of the week.
I’ve spent so much time on the Butler campus that I feel like a fellow student. As I walk through Butler’s parks, I’m thankful knowing these green spaces will be here for future generations.
As both our countrysides and cities morph into an endless, generic suburban sprawl (what I call, “Anywhere USA”), historic college campuses endure as some of the last ‘”real” places around.
I love exploring the grounds of universities.
I remember my first day of classes at the University of Montana. I stumbled around campus wide-eyed and grinning a giant smile, trying to take in all of the scenery and excitement - I still couldn’t believe that I was actually going to school in MONTANA.
I used up an entire roll of film, taking photographs of the big “M” on the hillside of Mt. Sentinel to send home to my flat-lander family back in corn country.
Every morning throughout my entire college career, I’d ride my bike to school on the Clark Fork trail and admire Missoula’s giant “M.” When I looked up at Mt. Sentinel, my first “neighborhood” mountain, a rush of emotion always overwhelmed me.
It’s a great feeling to wake up every day thinking, “There is no place on the planet I’d rather be...”
When we connect with the land, we connect with the people. As a proud alumni of the University of Montana, I will always be a Griz fan.
And as a dayhiker of Butler’s historic grounds, I’ll always be a big Bulldog fan.
Next season, no matter where I am, I be watching and cheering, ‘Go Dawgs!”
( 2 Votes )
