For the Bulldogs its the Final Four once more

First appeared on March 30, 2010
in The Lebanon Reporter

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack and you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile or you may find yourself in the Final Four and you may ask yourself ‘well, how did I get here?’ In what many thought was an anthem for Butler’s 2010 NCAA Tournament run, these are words from the iconic Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime”.


OK so maybe iconic is a stretch, and yes I added the part about the Final Four, but for what Bulldog fans thought was ‘once in a lifetime’ has proven otherwise. After defeating a surging Florida Gators squad, Butler is headed to Houston for their second consecutive Final Four. And aside from being impressive, this feat also stands as validation that Brad Stevens is one of the best coaches in the country.

The Dogs have punched their ticket to Houston and nothing, including a ruptured oxygen tank or really bad portrayal of an Astronaut by Bill Paxton, can slow down their arrival in ‘Space City’ now. And yet the experts continue to wonder aloud “How did they get here?” They didn’t dominate the Horizon League as they have in the past and, after losing to 3 tournament qualifiers early, Florida State became their only quality win in the non-conference season.

It also bears mentioning their first two victories in the NCAA Tournament were by a total of just 3 points. Butler is perhaps best explained as the closest thing we’ve seen to an “Unsolved Mystery” since the days Robert Stack was chasing down Nessie and D.B. Cooper .

So what makes Butler so good? How have they won 12 straight games in March since 2009? Another Final Four? I could try to explain the offensive patience Butler plays with or break down their excellent on the ball defense, but what really separates these Dogs from the teams they’ve beaten to this point is they simply don’t quit.

We hear the word resilient repeated time and again. But these guys are resiliency personified. They are like cockroaches in tennis shoes. It doesn’t matter if you stomp them with the heel of your size 14 Dingo, unload half a can of Raid on them, drop the business end of a sledge hammer on them so hard you crack your ceramic tile or get their 6’10 center to foul out of the game after you’ve already been dominating them inside, you simply can’t kill them. There is no quit in these Dogs.

Outwork, out hustle, out-tough- whatever the terminology you choose, they all describe Butler. Gator Coach Billy Donovan was fully aware of it after his team fell to the Bulldogs 74-71 in overtime, “…there were an enormous amount of loose balls that we did not come down with that they came down with” Donvan admitted afterwards.

There is no magic bullet to explain the Bulldogs. They are a kaleidoscope of hard work, resiliency, toughness and a fundamental trust in each other. If you wrapped all this up in a burrito and sold it in a roadside taco stand the wrapper would read “The Butler Way”.

Of course I think they’ve trademarked that so I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s probably not wise to be taking business advice from a part time pretend sports writer anyway (in other words I’m not taking the fall for your failed taco stand). Note to VCU coach Shaka Smart, if you don’t know what “The Butler Way” is, you might want to look it up before Saturday. Or have a taco and hope for the best.


© 2011 Eric Walker Williams