BRACKET RACKET

Duke wins! So does Butler.
The banner moves 14 miles from Chapel Hill and Coach K gets number FOUR.
However, now people around the world know about Butler and its heart.
Anybody whose NCAA Men’s basketball brackets were correct was on drugs when they made them up.
Shades of days gone by.
Back in the day when I was first aware of that thing called basketball and how it could not be separated from West Virginia and Jerry West.
Back in the late 50’s the basketball powers were teams like Richmond, Fordham, Providence and St. Johns.
Now, West Virginia University is back in next weekend’s Final Four. They did it by beating the big 3 super freshmen and the rest of the team from the higher-ranked team from the University of Kentucky. Maybe those Wildcat near sophomores will take another year of maturing before moving on to the pros.
I was born in WV and would love to see them win it all. I got most of my higher education in KY but they have a lot of banners and won’t be adding to the collection this year.
I liked the game Duke won, and I happily cheered for the Mountaineers. Michigan State got to watch.. They can’t help being yanquis, but are. Coach I ain’t Coach K.
The Butler story is also something else. It is a school 20% the size of Duke. It was started by an abolitionist and is a small school in Indianapolis. Their coach is a bright kid and they have marched so far past anyone’s expectations. Their Final Four appearance is on a court 17 minutes from their campus.
Duke’s ranking and the BD team from Durham is surprising everyone by being there – except Coach K.
The nation has to be happy with the surprising results of this year’s rounds of play. After all, the ball is still bouncing and next weekend it will bounce into another school’s history - in Durham. (c) tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com