Butler all the way!

Well, I bit the bullet and bought tickets for the Butler vs. Duke once-in-a-lifetime basketball saga--center court, near the top of the lower center sections. It's 4 p.m. on Easter Sunday and I am in the car, with my Butler junior daughter Erin, on the "road to the Final Four."

As a writer from the Indianapolis Star put it when they made the final 8, Butler Nation has been born.

There are two places I frequently travel to: Savannah and Butler. People look at me with a blank look on their face and say, "Why are you going there?" I always answer with, "You must go to Savannah to understand the city's charm." Regarding Butler and the glory of Indiana basketball, people will no longer have to ask me why I have cherished every trip to watch them play at Hinkle Field House the past four years. I am a RABID Butler B-Ball fan!

Add to that the fact that I grew up in Indy, three miles down 46th street from Butler. I used to ride my bike there, go there for grade school field trips and to concerts there with my mom. Once you have Indiana basketball running in your veins, you never lose it.

Butler's destiny was set ever since USA Today ran the cover two weeks ago with Butler guard Shelvin Mack wearing his jersey with #1 on the front page of the main paper, above the fold. You get the picture: Butler will be cutting down the nets Monday night.

If my prediction does not come true, it will still go down as one of the greatest basketball stories ever.

Go Dawgs!