As a North Carolina fan, I never would have planned this.  Somehow my husband and I ended up in Durham, home of the Duke Blue Devils and Coach Mike Krzyzewski, on the day of the men’s national basketball championship.  Carolina, who had won the title in 2009, did not even make the NCAA tournament this year, so my interest in March Madness wasn’t quite as mad as in years past.  But there we were, poised to take in a Duke victory with all of the Cameron Crazies.

The day of the game, the atmosphere was electric.  The waiters at our hotel wore Duke shirts as a uniform, balloons decorated the lobby, and men worked furiously to set up large screen tvs before game time.  At one point, I was considering cheering for Duke until I caught a glimpse of a student walking through the restaurant wearing a “Go to Hell Carolina” t-shirt.  Suddenly, all the old feelings of hatred came rushing back.  Some people, who are better people than I, claim to always cheer for any ACC team that makes it to the title game.  Quite frankly, I think that is taking Christian charity a little too far.  I never pull for Duke, ever.  The t-shirt reminded me of the reason.

That night, the Blue Devils went on to beat the Butler Bulldogs by a mere 2 points, and Coach K won his fourth national title at Duke.  My husband went down to the lobby to watch the second half of the game and experience the jubilation of the Duke faithful.  I stayed in the room, pouted, and asked God why He wouldn’t let poor old small-school Butler win a national title, just once.

The next morning, I got up and went to mass to try and get my mind off of Jon Scheyer and onto the Risen Lord.  Pulling into the church parking lot, I had to pass by the Krzyzewski Family Life Center.  It was a stark reminder that I have alot to learn about loving my enemies and even my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Chick B