J-Dub's Tobacco Road Point-Of-View

((HT: Examiner.com))

It's hard to call a team with a 20+ win streak a "Cinderella" team. However, most sports pundits are doing just that to Butler University. Just because they've never been to the NCAA national championship game 2010 before doesn't make them a "Cinderella" team. Just because they're playing perennial powerhouse Duke University doesn't make them a "Cinderella" team. Just the fact they've made it as far as they have - with many people doubting them - makes them winners overall.

The stories about the national championship game have been brandished all over the Internet ever since the teams were set. Several local Duke fans from the Raleigh-Durham area are very excited that Butler won instead of Michigan State. One excited Butler fan created a Facebook page entitled "ANYONE but Duke."

In the Triangle area, college basketball is king during the months of February and March - now part of April, too. With Carolina and Duke getting to finals of the N.I.T. and the NCAA Tournament respectively, Tobacco Road has been electrified over recent days. When the Tarheels lost last Thursday night, I think a strong gale-force wind blew through Raleigh - half fueled by the collective groans of UNC fans, and the other half coming from the pleasure-filled cries of ABC fans (ABC = Anyone But Carolina). In this area, you either love or hate UNC, Duke, or NC State - usually loving one and hating the other two.

The Indianapolis Star, for example, tried to play on the "I hate Duke" mystique by taking a picture of Coach Mike Krzyzewski and putting it on the cover of their sports section. This was no ordinary picture, though. The sports editors decided to have a little fun - albeit misguided - by "drawing" a moustache, devil horns, a bullseye target, and some other doodles onto Coach K's face. Other fans in the history of anti-Duke-ism have done the same thing, but the newspaper felt it was in poor taste.

Editor and vice president of the Indianapolis Star, Dennis R. Ryerson, apologized to the Duke populous on Saturday, and ran the following retraction:

"The image was out of line.

It ridiculed one of the best and most respected coaches in college basketball. Had we used the Blue Devil mascot, it may have been a different story, but using the coach's image was indefensible.

It represented only one aspect of the story while ignoring the other -- the incredible success of Duke basketball.

Our news desk notified me of the image shortly after midnight Friday morning. I asked that we pull the image out of remaining newspapers, but nearly 30,000 copies already were out the door.

Even one newspaper would have been one too many.

We have traced breakdowns in our editing process that allowed the illustration to get into print. Adjustments are being made to ensure that these kinds of lapses do not happen again.

I met with a very gracious Coach Krzyzewski and others from the university Friday afternoon, and, on behalf of The Star, apologized for the error. I also apologize to Duke, the team, Duke fans, and to our readers."

It is what it is. The game will be what the game will be. Duke will still be Duke, and Butler will still be considered the underdog - regardless of their record or talent level. Butler's head coach, Brad Stevens, said one of the most telling quotes of the entire championship weekend: "[Butler doesn't] have to be better than Duke 364 days a year. We don't have to be better than Duke for 24 hours, or even one hour," Stevens said to ESPN. "We just have to be better than Duke for 40 minutes."

By the way, Stevens has local ties to the Raleigh area. He was born in Greenville, NC, and many Greenville-area residents have sent emails and letters of support to the Butler head coach. His father has made sure to pass them on.

“He really appreciates the Greenville connection and all the prayers from that part of the world,” his father, Dr. Mark Stevens, told the Greenville News.

Regardless of the outcome of the NCAA national championship game, people just need to recognize the accomplishments of these two teams. Whether you love or hate Duke, whether or not you know anything about the "Cinderella" squad of the Butler Bulldogs, you have to respect the tenacity each team has shown that got them both to Indianapolis.

Many, many Triangle residents will be pulling for the Blue Devils, and probably just as many will be pulling against them. All that means is that life is completely normal along Tobacco Road.

((ed. note- And this is how close it got to being abnormal across the country...))
((HT: CBS Sports/NCAA))