Butler's Big Dance (excerpt)

8/8/2019 Butler's Big Dance (excerpt)

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butler’s big dance • 9

rerd b bb ng x

r eace : O Joy x

Acnledgents xx

O F 1

T mm 5

T Booko 6

-h 9

Why Bk? 11

Bh h Hoo ky 11

ow Toy of I Bk 14

O B F 19

How W I? 25

oh Vo: m 26

O h 26

O Hoy 31

Hk Fho 32

Lh of B 37

T D 39

T D 44

contents



10 • butler’s big dance

Oh Vo: mo Ro 44

h I 47

Bk 4 7

Phy 54

Oh Vo: R 54

Ch 56

m Dy 56

h II 58

h III 59

w 61

Goo Hyw’ Do: O Voo 61

T Chmpohp Gm 66

oh Vo: m II 73

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline 73

B 76

Eil gue: B v Bk Cmp 79

Aterrd: Wh Do W k o

Wh W k o ? 83

Anter ice: B Uvy P Boy Fo’

ph o h m T Lo h Chmpohp Gm 87

e Scres, in ase Yu’e rgtten! 89

x • contents




on fire

At two o’cock on th anoon of th 2010 NCAA mn’s basktba cham-pionship gam, But Univsity stunts w fo th most pat attning

cass. Anyon wou hav unstoo if thy’ takn th ay o.

Outsi th winow of th thi oo smina oom in Joan Ha, th

w hicopts hoving, a th Bafo pa ts ha chosn that ay to

boom, on of th fatnitis ha bought out ticycs an ha takn ov

th siwaks, an th mia was tying to intviw anything that mov.

Insi Joan Ha, stunts sat with thi backpacks an thi aptops,

thi books an thi Fina Fou -shits, an thy knw thy w xpct

to b oing somthing int fom what thy w oing, which is to say,

what thy aways i on a Monay anoon. You’ ony young onc an it’s

sping on an iyic miwstn cog campus an it fs ik suny a

th wo’s attntion has scn on you. It fs that way bcaus it has.

Evn th tam mmbs w in cass that ay. A ay ong, whn a bas-

ktba pay mg fom Joan Ha o Faibanks o Gaahu, fom ca-

cuus o histoy, h wou b appau by th goups of visitos who wak

aoun with shopping bags of But mchanis (-shits, cas, mugs,

pnnants, stu animas, an so on) o by th facuty an sta sitting on

bnchs btwn appointmnts. But th pays an thi fow stunts

w tying vy ha to stay san.

T pots kp asking us why w’ h, on stunt sai, whn w

shou b oing somthing s. Lik what? I’v com to cass, th stunt

sai, bcaus if I in’t I f ik I’ just y away. It’s too una out th.

“Out th” was th But campus. Fo two wks, sinc But ma it

into th Eit Eight, th campus ha ft ik this. It ha stat to f ik a

movi st, an w w a xtas.You coun’t mak you way though th booksto to gt to th caftia

bcaus it was with pop buying But ga o asking to hav thi




pictu takn with you, a a But pson. Evy moning fo two wks

th ha bn at ast on aio station boacasting fom th qua, ask-

ing stunts to stop an sing th But Wa Song on thi way to cass. Onof thm, an aum who was now a aio psonaity, was outsi my oc

winow vy moning whi I ga paps. Somtims I’ cank opn th

casmnt winows an just watch him wok, mmbing whn his nam

was Dav, not Gunn. You’v com back! I want to shout own to him. It

was giy. It was fun. Each ay ha bcom a cbation.

Evn Bu, th ooing somtims snappish buog mascot who coms

to wok ach ay with his own, But’s icto of giving Micha Katn-

mak, ha bcom a cbity. Whnv th pays wnt onto th oo, thy

ha to touch his ha fo uck an at th sam tim kp thi hans fom

gtting bittn. No matt. T’s Bu! Bu, th og w mmb thow-

ing up in th aiss at a Swt 16 gam th yas ago bcaus h’ atn too

much popcon, now ha as much psonaity an coo as any catoon og.

H ha a bithay paty at Stabucks. H spnt a ay at a spa. Bu was su-

ny a sta. Whv h wnt, th w camas snapping.

Tis moning I wok up, on stunt sai, an th was a cama cw

ming th But sign in my boom winow. Anoth stunt ha sn

M. Panut with a m cw at a fatnity hous. A baista ha an to

aw a buog in th foam on top of a att, anoth stunt sai, an pop

w waiting in in fo n minuts to gt on an thn taking a pictu of

th foam.

T cama-toting pigims to th campus, both touists an mmbs of

th mia, sm aw-stuck. Tat was th ost an most moving thing

about it. Som of th visitos—most of thm, in fact—w amost woship-

fu of th pac itsf. It was as if it w th st tim thy’ sn a stunt o a

owing t, a book, a -shit, a comput, a pofsso, a ibay, a fountain

shap ik a sta. Ty stat aiving out of nowh, it sm, by ca an

bicyc an on foot. Som of thm sm to hav just appa out of som

oth tim pio, som oth cntuy. Ty bought thi chin an th

chin w quit, as if thy w in a chuch o a musum o on a tou

of som nationa tasu. It was ik on of thos scns in a movi wh

goups of pop stat aiving at th scn of a miac. You cou t thy

w waking though som aiant am of cog. Ty sm, oy,

ik spwaks. “Som of thm sm in shock,” on of my stunts saiat. Sh was a tou gui fo famiis consiing But. “It was ha to

gt thm out of Hink Fihous,” sh sai. “It was ik thy w tying to




conci th pac with th movi, o with o back-an-whit photos in

som abum, o with thi mmois.

“Chin wou stan in font of th basktba pictu in Hink an juststa at it, o thy’ stan on th cout an ook up an spin in cics.”

T visitos to campus mov fom on buiing to anoth: th whit

ibay that ooks ik a wing cak, th high monist auitoium, th

gans, th gnhous, th pantaium with its om y that opns on

th bightst of ays.

T a stunts paying gof with tnnis bas! On th ay of th cham-

pionship gam, a fousom ss in pppy shots an But -shits was

paying campus gof (t o at th statu of th hans hoing th book, tc.) as

siousy an quity as though thy w in Augusta.

A th bautifu fountains on campus w owing with bu wat. T

was an ach of bu an whit baoons at th ntanc to th ibay an a

giant bow-up buog at th ntanc to But Way, an vy sing soi-

tay human bing associat with th schoo was waing schoo coos. An

stunts w thowing Fisbs just ik you s in movis! Stunts aing

books on th gn gass! It was a pfct sping ay, an vyon, vy-

wh, was smiing.

An, too, th w th misty-y o mn who wak acoss th cam-

pus, som of thm with waks an oxygn tanks, som of thm ta an

staight-back but faing, ghostik, making thi way to Hink Fi-

hous, that gnay pac, as though it w th gats to havn. Ty spok

to on anoth in hush tons. Tis was, you cou t, an vnt thy’ bn

waiting fo thi nti ivs. It took you bath away to s thm, it ay

i. You knw which ons ha pay basktba yas ago. You knw thy

ha to mak this pigimag.

It was th at-tims quit awstuck attntion of th visitos that ft most

sua, th hush of it a.

On of th cativ witing stunts in th smina oom was a young

woman who’ bn in covy fo th yas an who sai that ight a

cass sh was going to th Cnt fo Faith an Vocation’s mitation oom

to mitat unti th gam bcaus th “wi ngy” was faking h out.

Sh was afai sh’ os h sobity. An honos stunt, sh was woking on

a spiitua autobiogaphy. As ong as I’ known h, sh’ sm an o sou,capab of tanscning whatv una thing was going on aoun h. Tis

ay was somthing int.




T w sva stunts in th cass woking on scinc ction novs

an sva on mmois an non of it—ith th fantasy o th a if—

cou kp ou attntion fom th wo outsi th winow. But w ti.W i ou bst. Stay in th momnt, w sai to ousvs. W w giy an

siy, but w bought ou backpacks an ou paps an w bought ou bst

gam.

Sti, th was somthing so suctiv about th sun uption of ngy

that th gam gav th campus. You ha to ov it an appciat how won-

fu it was, but you aso ha to min yousf that th was a a wo

unnath it an that you wn’t ay iving in a faiy ta. In a witing cass

w wit tas. W on’t n ousvs iving in thm. But th w w. You

want to njoy th faiy ta whi tying you bst to ho on to th if you

knw wou sum th nxt ay, no matt th outcom of th na gam.

You ft th was a ang you might gt stuck in Oz, on stunt sai. T

fing on campus was ik a wing, but an xtmy ag wing wh

a th stunt an facuty an sta an aumni w th wing paty, p-

haps a bit stunn by it a, phaps a bit too young an unppa. In an o

way it was ik ooking at th pictus of a wing though th patina an

sinc of somthing mmb.

But not that. You are on fre and we are on fre with you, on of th stunts

wot. Until now I thought my father’s television outbursts were indicative of a

certain psychosis that I could never have access to. My “Hoosierness” was always

distant, disconnected from the rest of me. Basketball felt as familiar to me as

cricket or camel races . . . But the fever grew, it spread to me, and I was, and am

consumed. Sh wot this an cou a it with ith sincity o iony, an

w wn’t quit su which on sh mant o how it shou b civ. T

ton pn on whth sh a th sntncs to you uing th two wks

of th tounamnt o ight a.

Bcaus thos two wks w mo than anything a spit fom cyni-

cism an vn fom iony.

Sh was ight whn sh sai w w on . W cou f it but ha

no ia what it mant o why it ha scn. It was th compt an

utt impossibiity of it. But Univsity in th Fina Fou? W just h on

an ti to o it w. T ay of th championship gam was on of thos

tim-stops-sun-uption-of-maning ays, thos histoica momnts

whn somthing thatns to pu vything into it an nw o stoy it. It might hav occu to you, on that paticua ay, how somthing can

happn in th wo that sns shock wavs though a community unti you




f ik you’ pat of a stoy, som sot of naativ that’s as unpictab

yt ssntia as foo. A naativ you’v bn waiting to upt again fo haf a

cntuy o mo.W cou asiy hav woshipp thos boys on th tam an thi bu-

y coach. W in’t, bcaus w knw thm w bfo th gos scn.

But w sti cou. Woship thm.

What o you o whn th gos scn without waning? You put on

foot in font of th oth an mt you sponsibiitis. An thn you tak

pictus of yousf in th haway with a gi who ha givn hsf ov to

th joy an paint h fac with bu paws.

Oh com on, you’ saying if you’v a this fa. It was just a gam.

the summit

T night of th 2010 NCAA mn’s basktba tounamnt whn But Uni-

vsity ma it to th Fina Fou, whn a th mia was on campus, you cou

s th pint pots in suits with thi pot notbooks in Hink, taking

own impssions; it was ha to wak in any iction without sing th

insct ys of sing tvision camas an th snappiy ss on-cama

tant. A th camas an th ys, both human an gass, w ict at

th campus, an w w ivi into two pats: basktba pays an fans.

Which was ssntiay tu, fo thos two wks. An that was th bauty

of that tim, that a communa sns.

But th campus cou b ivi in oth ways, incuing into cogs:

iba ats an scincs, phamacy, businss, ucation, an n ats.

Suzann Fong, a awy an th wif of Psint Bobby Fong, sai sh

wish that basktba cou b a knotho into oth pats of th univsity.

An so whn th psints of Duk an But sat togth in Bobby Fong’s

oc bfo th gam, th convsation btwn th two fom Engish

majos tun to compaab aas of xcnc, incuing, in But’s cas,

anc.

An so th was th atic about th mting in th Api 5 issu of th

New York Times. An anc got its momnt of basktba fam.

In th atic, Wiiam Rhon taks about th mting btwn th two

(i I say “fom Engish majo”?) psints, Bobby Fong an RichaBoha, in Fong’s oc th anoon of th na gam.

“You an I ma th sam choics with ou ivs,” Boha is quot




as saying to Fong. “In cog, w ci w wou pusu th sam sub-

jcts; w both wnt on to gauat schoo in th sam . Tn both of us

gavitat to taching an tun ou ov of taching into a int kinof job. You a th ha of on schoo. I’m th ha of anoth schoo, an

w sit acoss th tab as finy ivas bcaus tonight w’ hav this gat

contst.”

T gam was on.

Why did ootball bring me so to lie? I can’t say precisely. Part o it was

my eeling that ootball was an island o directness in a world o circum-

spection. In ootball a man was asked to do a difcult and brutal job, and

he either did it or got out. There was nothing rhetorical or vague about it.

I chose to believe that it was not unlike the jobs which all men, in some

sunnier past, had been called upon to do. It smacked o something old,

something traditional, something unclouded by legerdemain and subter-

uge. It had that kind o power over me, drawing me back with the orce o

something known, scarcely remembered, elusive as integrity—perhaps it

was no more than the orce o a orgotten childhood. Whatever it was, I

gave mysel up to the Giants utterly.

The recompense I gained was the eeling o being alive.

—red le, A Fan’s No tes

the bookstore

T 2010 mn’s championship tounamnt, whn But ma it to th Fina

Fou, was on East wkn. It was sping, th w booming ts an

coo ggs an chocoat, an fo th st East Sunay in its histoy, th

Sunay btwn th Michigan Stat gam (Satuay) an th Duk gam

(Monay), th booksto was opn.

On stunt cam to wok that moning staight fom chuch, waing

pas an a ba swat. Sh ha paint h nais bu. A an hou at

wok sh wnt into th back to chang out of th swat an into a -shit

bcaus it was so cow an hot that ay in th sto.

“W so ov two thousan shits that Sunay,” sh sai. Evyon who




cam to campus uing th tounamnt vntuay ma it to th booksto

in Athton Union.

At tims, uing th two wks btwn th Syacus gam an th Dukgam, th w twnty-v pop woking at onc. “It was manss whn

w ma it to th Swt 16, but w’ on that bfo,” th manag sai. “It

ay stat with th Eit Eight, th a manss.”

On East moning, whn th young woman in th ba swat an bu

paint nais opn th oo, an NBC nws cw was waiting fo h, an

th w ov two hun pop staning in in outsi th oo.

Ty so th championship gam -shits ight out of th boxs. Ty

w sti hot fom th pint.

Who was buying thm? Pop fom th nighbohoo, famiis with

babis, aums, stunts, an a ot of pop on oa tips, passing though

Inianapois fom oth stats an stopping at th But campus.

T young woman in th ba swat saw som fins fom h high

schoo on a cog visit, but th wasn’t nough tim to tak. Evyon was

xcit an vyon want a shit. Tat was vyon’s tickt into th cub.

“Now that it’s ov,” th booksto mpoy sai at, “I’v bn in a ot mo

convsations about th xcitmnt, what it was ik, but it’s ha to xpain it.”

It’s ha to captu what it was ik. T campus aiat ngy an nois

as w as a fakish cam, a at th sam tim. “T was a manss that

consum th campus,” on stunt sai.

“T way th pac wnt cazy whn w bat Michigan Stat to mak it to

th na gam was on of th coost momnts of my if,” sai anoth.

“Sing my vn-ya-o son on th big scn at Lucas Oi, pouy wav-

ing a But ag,” that was th bst momnt, sai on facuty mmb. “aking

my kis to Hink fo th viwing paty,” sai anoth, “an fing ik my

wok an my famiy if w pat of on thing, an that thing was goo.”

“Listning to 72,000 pop chanting ‘fns’ in unison fo But. Most

of a th sis of mmois of how w th tam psnt th univsity,

town, an stat”: that was th bst momnt fo on sta mmb.

“T who bautifu un was th constant fing of joy, xcitmnt, n-

vous anticipation, an pi that nguf an buoy ach of us. W w a

upi by th fv,” anoth ca.

“It was an xtn cbation,” Psint Fong xpain, “an th housw ong. By th n, most of us w just unning on anain.”




You want a unifom yousf, somthing that sai you w fom But-

. Evy stunt an amost vy sta an facuty mmb wo a But

-shit uing th na wk. Tat in itsf, th way it wasn’t scipt but just happn, was sua. Evy visito to campus took away bags of thm.

Whn you wait in in at th booksto, you’ b staning nxt to you an

o a phiosophy pofsso o a stunt fom you cass, o nxt to a fin

o nighbo you han’t sn in yas. Pants of chin in th oca ga

schoos an pschoos cam to th booksto to buy a bit of bu fo thi

kis to wa to schoo. “Ou Buogs,” sai butin boas in th Miian

Stt Unit Mthoist Chuch Pschoo, an butin boas in th caft-

ia at th Intnationa Schoo. Our Bulldogs.

T wk bfo th championship wkn, I saw stunts who’ gau-

at fom amost a th yas I’ bn taching, staning in in togth as

though tim ha a aong bn nothing but an iusion.

T was ong-hai Jason fom th yas ago, his hai cut shot now

fo his job. An Laua, th sint assistant who ha un fo homcoming

qun an wittn about it, an fom stunts with famiia facs an thi

own chin, a in in with stunts fom this smst.

An th w stunts fom way bfo my tim, mi-ag mn an

mn in thi svntis an ightis, mn who want to t you what it ha

bn ik tuning to Inianapois, an to But, a Wo Wa II, o a

th Koan Wa o Vitnam. Ty want to tak about what it ha bn ik

to y in thi pans ov Gmany in 1944, what it was ik to b bas in

Itay an thn to com back h to this iyic pac wh a th gis ha

bn waiting fo thm, to join a fatnity an pay pok an ink whisky

an tak casss in accounting an itatu an thn to gt mai an hav

chin who cam to But, as i thi chin’s chin. Ty want

to tak again about aing Miton in a foxho in Koa, th way th wos

chang thm, about th tachs who hp thm xpss that chang.

T o mn wak out into th sping of 2010. T pa ts w

booming an som of th cab app ts, an som of th whit ptas w

faing on th siwaks, bowing in th opn cassoom winows, o aning

in thi hai as thy wak on th siwaks, ik tick tap.

It was as if th was no such thing as gauation. It was as if w ha a

bn suct an w togth in on pac, this bit of havn in th

hat of th hat of th hat of th county wh no on gw o o io v gw ti o iscouag bcaus th w young pop who i

you hat an cai it fo you.




W wnt to th booksto to buy hoy ics. W wnt into th booksto

to mmb th past. No matt how cynica w ha bn th wk bfo,

no matt how hopss w’ ft, no matt if w w basktba fans o not,no matt if w w Rpubicans o Dmocats o Amican o Koan o

Chins o Fnch, no matt if w w Hoosis by bith o by choic o

kicking-an-scaming-a-th-way fat, no matt if w w th psint

of th univsity cow-sung on stunts’ shous a a victoy, o a

wo-nown pofsso of igion woking on a book uing th gam o

an a-hous mpti of wastbaskts o a foo svic wok swiping ma

ca a ma ca a ay ong, w w a fo on wk on boy.

t-shirts

An w a want shits, no matt what pcntag thy took fom ou

wky paychck. Whn w ach th Fina Fou, th w sva signs

to choos fom, incuing th popua Fina Fou ogo with th outin of a

han bun into th cnt of th tts. W got a Swt 16 shit an thn

a Fina Fou shit an on anoth. W knw, a of us, whn th book-

sto an out of shits an whn nw ons w coming in. “Tis anoon

at 2:30!” w wou shout, an at 2:30 w’ b th in th ins. T Fott

booksto woks w bus in fom a ov th stat an fom nighbo-

ing stats. On wou b unpacking th boxs an anoth stocking th tm-

poay mta shvs. A woman stoo by th shvs of sma an mium

an a man by th shvs of ag to XXL. T stacks w fou to v shvs

high, an th w stacks of unpack boxs bhin th shvs. I n two

ags, you wou say, an thn you wou mmb a nic o nphw o a

fin an you’ a a mium an, what th hck, thow in a sma ik an

xta Chistmas gi in cas you n it.

T woman who uns th maioom in Joan Ha spnt ays shipping

out boxs of -shits to pop a ov th wo. Ty hav to b th by th

wkn, somon wou say, an spn haf a wk’s saay on th shipping

f. It in’t matt! Somon somwh n th ic, a bit of th magic

fo himsf.

Bginning with th navy Swt 16 shits, Nik snt int signs to th

booksto, an whi at st thy ook ik But shits as th ays wnt onthy bgan to ook a bit, w, Nik-squ, a bit copoat. Unik th un-

goun -shits that show up at Sigma Chi, which w mo psona an




ha funny sayings (Matt Howard: Fear the Beard!) that t you know th pson

who ha sign thm knw th schoo, th Nik shits w mo imp-

sona. T Fina Fou -shits w gay o whit with “Fina Fou” appaingtwic, at on point staming ik a ac ca, an th wo “Inianapois” an

th back an whit chcks of th Iny 500 ag an a bit of oang with a sam

that ooks ik a basktba. A of ths gaphics w bigg than th Buog

o th nam of th tam (“Butler Bulldogs,” th shit whisps unnath th

acing tts of “Fina Fou”). T nam of th schoo was th on pat of th

sign that th gaphic atist to fat o to uck o ski. You ook at that

-shit an aiz it cou hav bn som oth tam’s nam. It cou hav

bn any tam. An that was th wonfu thing about it: th absout an

utt supis that ou nam was pint on th shit.

Tough why shou it hav bn a supis? In som ways it wasn’t. T

tam was unfat in confnc pay. Ty ha gat pays, a gat coach.

Ty’ bn ank a sason. Ty’ pay ik thy coun’t os. T su-

pis wasn’t that thy won, xacty; it was that thy ha won an wou b

paying here, in thi own city. But is a sma uban schoo. W’ us to

bing un th aa.

But no matt. Now w wn’t invisib, an whn th -shit whos

sign was mant fo anyon was on a But stunt, it bcam a But

shit. It was fogivn a its copoat sins.

Fo $35 you cou buy a pint of a ching cow (Hink Fihous?

Lucas Oi Staium? Not quit ith) with Buogs pint ov it, o fo

$8.95 a inking gass. Fo $20 a Rac to th Finish post, fo $8.95 a mag-

ntic ca, fo $6.95 a mium foam basktba. As th wks wnt by th

Nik swish bcam mo pominnt.

Evn Bu, th buog mascot, wo a -shit with a Nik swish out on th

oo at Lucas Oi. It was cut on th buog th way a sma pai of ban

tnnis shos a cut on a to. Litt Niks! Litt Rboks! A itt Coach

pus, a Noth Fac jackt.

I bought a Buog pin an immiaty an amost instinctivy cov

th swish with it. Tis tounamnt was not about any copoation. It was not

about anything outsiz o anything that cou b bought. It wasn’t about

non-coo Gatoa swat o about absu spctacs at haim.

It was, I aiz now, th ban’s attmpt to m itsf. It’s impossib to

spaat th tounamnt fom th oth athtic vnts of th sping of 2010.ig Woos, that swt-fac gof, th athtic fac of Nik, ha fan

as a ou hos sm to fa, an now h was th swoosh ying away




fom th coasts an th wo stag an aning in th mi of ou paty,

which was—an w w awa of this vn as w w iving in th mi of

it—about vything in th wo that Nik was not.

why basketball?

With nough pactic an ov an som athtic tant, any sma town can

pu togth a tam of v boys o gis fom thos scatt famhouss.

You wou think phaps that a spot of on—tnnis o unning—wou b

th choic. But w ack th his of Knya an th wath associat with tn-nis, an basktba osn’t y on that on biiant pay. It’s th community

that matts, th tam. An that w can o. W smi whn w on’t hav to

in th Miwst, not bcaus w’ hiing things (though somtims w a)

but bcaus w’v bn ais to biv that th oth pson mans w. So

w can put togth a tam. It’s tuy somthing goo about us. It is.

W’v biv th was somthing pu about this gam.

beneath the hoosier sky

I ook at th post fo th m Hoosiers an it siousy bings tas to my

ys. I know it’s not a. It’s th iconic imag of th awn-gn s cut into

pfct squas with that on staw-coo squa to th ight. Ty’ too

manicu, thos s, but it’s a pfct abstaction of a paticua am of

En: Iniana, a hoizonta fti pans. Ys, uing sping gowing sason

it somtims fs that gn, an ys, thos pfct ows an thos pfct

cons f ik misumm cons an th on staw-coo squa is

th coo of th con in autumn whn it tuns that whitish go with th

gay tanish, ight bfo it’s cut an o into bas that shin ik siv.

An th’s that whit famhous on th fa hoizon. If w iv th, w

think, w wou nv b unhappy.

In th fogoun of th post, th’s th vtica po of th basktba

goa just hint at; th hoop is not in th fam bcaus to th boy who

his back an whit basktba shos unti at its bas it is, of cous, som-

thing to b woshipp an th shos a as sacics an th hoop itsf is ta than th sky. T boy has —gon insi th famhous to at, to

th ban o th city to wok, to th cog to an a g, away fom his

Documents

Butler's Big Dance (excerpt)