Sam Calvert

Just before the game started, I looked around at the crowd and promptly assessed there must have been 20 Butler University fans for every one Duke University fan.  Don't believe me?  Just take a listen to the differences in the crowd during the two teams' introductions:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCXFxJ_eBOk]  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sQXeRXE2wk]

And if that wasn't proof enough, listen to the difference in coach introductions:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtDCKH2g-e4] Butler was the hometown hero, capturing the hearts of viewers across the country.  It seemed as though whenever a team was knocked out of the tournament, Butler adopted its fans.  Suddenly, come championship time, Butler had an entire nation on its side.

Everyone, that is, except Duke.  When Duke took the court tonight, it was the enemy, the team looking to crush America's newest sweetheart. Duke against the world.

The battle raged on in the game, the point difference never exceeding six.  The energy and passion extended off the court and throughout the entire stadium.  I've never heard a crowd so loud in my life.

And so with 13.6 seconds on the clock and the score at 60-59, I could probably count the number of people still in their seats on one hand.  Everyone was on edge, waiting to see if the Bulldogs could pull off the upset.

When sophomore Gordon Hayward's final shot went up and the buzzer sounded, all 70,930 people in the stadium waited to see how it would end.  It was Duke who prevailed.  The Blue Devils took on the world -- and won.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfrd5hD19Gs]

It was then, as the confetti dropped and the NCAA National Championship trophy, that I remembered what made college sports so great: pure joy.  The camera panned across the team, and the beaming faces of seniors Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek filled the big screens around the stadium.  Nothing compares to the smiles of a bunch of college athletes who played their hearts out in a sport they love and came out on top.

That's what's so great about college basketball.  Those men on that podium tonight, after playing what Butler head coach Brad Stevens described as an "epic game," wouldn't have traded the moment for anything.  And everyone watching them could tell.  The joy that abounds out there is contagious, and it makes the sport worth watching.