If you were part of the annual American television watching tradition known as “March  Madness,” you got to experience one of the more exciting and hyped final games of recent memory.  The billing on the arena read, “David v Goliath” as tiny new-comer Butler took on old powerhouse Duke.  Just about everyone was tossing around references to the movie Hoosiers, in which a local Indiana boy takes a small Indiana high school to the vaunted state championship against a large school.  Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted a final game for actual 1954 Milan Basketball team, whose championship season inspired the movie Hoosiers.   What’s more, the 1986 movie’s final game was filmed in the exact same fieldhouse at Butler. The comparison is alluring and also reveals something much deeper than simply “rooting for the little guy.”

When game-day arrived on April 5, people wanted to see reality mirror Hoosiers in every way. No one wanted to talk about how the game might end up like the movie at all, or might even be better than the movie.  All hopes rested in seeing the virtual fantasy of the movie play out before their eyes.

In the end Butler lost by a couple inches of ball bounce, and everyone groaned about what ‘almost was’.  Even though something real did actually happen, people could only grasp it in terms of how close it came to their virtual expectation.  If Butler had indeed won, millions would have experienced a deep satisfaction. Why?  Because what we really want is for the virtual to be real.

So if you found yourself wondering aloud how a man could fall in love with his avatar, ask yourself how good you would have felt if Butler had won.  Killin’ It is knowing the difference between the two is only a matter of technology and time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosiers