Butler is the Kanye West of college basketball.
Image by Brent Smith / Reuters
So, Butler University is pretty good at basketball. They went to two championship games in a row in 2010 and 2011, and this year, they've offed #1-ranked Indiana University on their way to a #19 AP ranking. Their coach, Brad Stevens, is college basketball's premier wunderkind, inspiring envy and lust alike in fan bases across the country. We all know Butler's pretty good at basketball, and it looks like they do too.
In response to rumors that Butler might join the much-ballyhooed CATHOLIC 7 — the hilariously nicknamed conference that will be made of the Big East escapees — Butler issued a press release today. Over the course of five grafs, Butler president James Danko neither confirms or denies that it would join the Catholic 7 but leaves open the possibility through a series of increasingly hilarious brags. (They're not even really humble brags, just straight-up boasts.)
I greatly respect—and agree with—the collective conviction of the “Catholic 7” to control their own destiny or someone else will. Butler, too, has controlled its destiny proactively, for example, when it made the decision to join the outstanding Atlantic 10 Conference and through its values-based approach to athletics.
Translation: I greatly respect what the Catholic 7 is finally doing, a.k.a. something that Butler has been doing since the Cretaceous period. The Catholic 7 always could've done this EARLIER, you know? But better late than never. With any luck, and maybe the grace of Butler, the Catholic 7 will one day be as good and pure and wonderful as our conference, which rocks — because of us.
The fact that Butler is now being mentioned prominently as a potential candidate to join the “Catholic 7” universities in a new athletic league, is a tribute to the success of our athletic program overall and our men’s basketball team, in particular.
Translation:
Source: youtube.com
Our team has proven consistently and continuously that it is one of the very best in the nation, and that they are one of the biggest brands in men’s college basketball. This national prestige naturally leads to speculation about Butler’s athletic future.
Translation: "No one small Indianapolis university with a Division I-AA football team should have all that power."