Congratulations to the Butler Bulldogs for their successful season and NCAA tournament! The Bulldogs captured the hearts and imaginations of college basketball fans nationwide with their improbable NCAA run. Upsetting a Syracuse team that many “experts” favored to win the tournament in the Elite Eight, and Big Ten power Michigan State in the National Semifinal was not enough; Butler knew they belonged with the “big boys.”

Looking back on the NCAA Tournament, I think we all learned, or re-learned, an important lesson thanks to Indianapolis’ own Butler Bulldogs. First, most every analyst predicted Butler to lose most every game they played starting with Syracuse. At that point in time, it was understandable. Syracuse has been a national power for years led by Jim Boeheim, a future NCAA Hall of Fame lock. Butler didn’t get the message… They won. Then they faced the Michigan State Spartans led by another future Hall of Fame coach, Tom Izzo. Still, Butler won a very close game and advanced to the Final Four. Again, someone forgot to tell them they were supposed to lose. In the NCAA Final, Butler faced Duke University, a program led by Hall of Famer “Coach K” and his three national championships. Duke is home to some of the most celebrated basketball teams and players in NCAA history. Butler would surely lose by 20 points… Experts were convinced that Butler just couldn’t hang with Duke… It was unthinkable.

Butler ignored all the negative sentiments and continued to do what made them successful… They played to their strengths and nearly conquered their modern day Goliath. Butler lost by only 2 points to the team that was supposed to thrash them by twenty points or more. They even had two chances to win the game at the end… Butler proved that it’s not the size of the dog, or Bulldog in the fight that really matters.

March Madness made me wonder why can’t we all be “Bulldogs”? If we stick to what we do best, focus on our clients’ needs, customer service, satisfaction, and have fun, success will follow.

Submitted By: Amanda Medlen