4/1/2008
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Be a Bruin
<br><br>So, how is your tournament bracket looking these days?   Let’s just say that mine found its way to the bottom of file 13 just a few days after March Madness began.  I don’t understand....really I don’t, I mean....c’mon....surely I wasn’t the only one who thought Clemson and St. Mary’s would cinderella their way all the way to the final game in San Antonio.  Oh well, maybe that one was just me.  Contrary to my pitiful handicapping skills though, this years Division 1 tournament has been as fun to watch as any other.  In this year’s installment of the games, the big boys came to play.  It is the first time in tourney history that all four number one seeds have made it out of their respective regions to the Final Four.  I guess for me, the most exciting part of the “Big Dance” is pulling for the underdog.  You know....the match-ups of modern day David and Goliath.  In NCAA Division 1 history, no “16 seed” team has ever made it to the second round by defeating a number 1 seed.  Also, there have only been four “15 seed” teams to make it to round number two by defeating their regions number 2 seed....in other words, it is an almost impossible feat to accomplish.  Apparently this year, no one made the Belmont Bruins aware of that fact.<br><br>Talk about David and Goliath....I doubt many folks inked the little Nashville college into the second round of their tournament brackets.  Fact of the matter is, I’m sure most folks in Durham N.C., where game opponent Duke University is located, had never even heard of Belmont University.  The entire country knows who Mike Krzyzewski is....though few know who Rick Byrd is.  The nation can see Duke play almost every game on major network television throughout the regular season....but as far as the Bruins go, if you don’t have Fox Sports South, then you are out of luck.  Die hard basketball fans can spit off names like Laettner and company....but Dotson and company?  Who ever heard of them?  Well, now the entire sporting world has.<br><br>From the tip, the Belmont - Duke game was nip and tuck.  All of a sudden, it wasn’t David and Goliath....it was Goliath and Goliath.  With 2:02 to go in the game, Belmont went ahead 70-69.  Unfortunately, Belmont would not score another point.  Duke’s Gerald Henderson scored with 11.9 seconds to go to give the Blue Devils a slim margin of victory, 71-70.  But was it really a Bruin loss?  It may have been on the stat sheet, but that was about it....you can bet they were sure winners in every other category.  Our own Matthew Dotson once again made us proud....he scored 14 points, had a bunch of rebounds, and like the rest of his teammates, played his heart out in front of millions of people on CBS in the prime time game of the night.  Not only that, according to his momma and daddy, Susan and Roger, about half-way through the game everyone in the building decided to become Belmont Bruin fans....suddenly it was cool to be a Bruin.  Belmont T-shirts began selling like hot cakes and Nashville became known for something other than pick’n and grin’n.  Belmont may have lost the game, but they sure won a bunch of hearts.....and a bunch of respect.  <br><br>If you are like many, you most of the time probably feel more like a rock slinging teen-ager than a  spear-wielding nine foot giant.  You may feel like that 15 seed playing a 2.  You may feel out-numbered, out-classed and out-weighed.  But guess what....there is probably a little Belmont Bruin in all of us.  We, like Dotson and company, can stand toe to toe with our enemy and fight the fight of a lifetime.  Sometimes we will win and sometimes we will lose, but either way, the opposition will come away not wanting to “Duke” it out with us again.  Remember, there are still some victories even in the worst defeats.  Read your Bible....both the Old and New Testament alike are full of “cinderella stories”.  You see, I think God loves it when the glass slipper fits an improbable foot.  I think he enjoys pulling for the underdog.  Remember, Christ said  “with God...all things are possible.”  You may feel like St. Mary’s or Belmont, but that doesn’t mean Jehovah isn’t inking you into the finals.  You gotta believe.<br>                                                                                                  <br>Go the extra mile - Devin<br>             <br>