BOAM Nominee #6: Butler University

INTRO:
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On March 3, 2018, I will release The Best of Alma Mater, and I will need some help in selecting the crème de la crème. The best way you can assist in doing so would be to purchase each of the four Alma Mater volumes – Midwest, Northeast, West, and South, each docked at $0.99 and free for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers. Because the more pieces from the series you read, the more qualified you are to state whether or not a piece belongs in the “Best of.”

There were a total of 400 poems in the Alma Mater series, 100 from each volume: The Midwest, Northeast, West, and South. As it is now, the list sits at roughly 120 poems that will appear in the “Best of.” Ideally, I would like to cut it down to 100. So feel free to provide feedback either in the comments or, preferably, through my contact link, to let me know why a piece should be left out….or if you think a piece is a must-add, those comments are especially welcome. For the sake of selecting the best piece possible for this collection, if there is any piece that you feel could be omitted, please do not be afraid to add your feedback and it will be considered constructive criticism for the betterment of the piece. I am trying to put together the best representation of the series possible, so I do not mind being told that I could do without a piece either here in the comments through in the “Contact Author” page. On the flip side, when I say a piece is currently not planned to be included, also feel free to tell me that I’m crazy and that it’s a must include.
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Today’s piece is currently not set to make the cut but I’m unsure if I am underestimating its value. I believe the piece is highlighted by the connection of the beginning to the ending of the piece. It’s one of the more philosophical pieces in the opening volume of Alma Mater, as it, essentially, asks the question, “How many hands does it take to write history….even their own history?” And “How long will this history be recognized? And what contributes to its longevity?” In large part, the answer to these questions is what the Alma Mater series is all about. I present to you the answer to those questions in/and today’s piece, Butler University:

*Butler University*

The Butler Way is the understanding that it is much easier to make a clapping sound with the use of two hands. And when ten hands share the orange circle,
What results is a
Round of Applause.

Many hands have joined together inside the Hinkle Fieldhouse to pay reverence to
The basketball cathedral of Indiana. Like a chapel injecting a granted prayer, this Fieldhouse has been a house of healing with manufacturers of magic:

Bobby Plump’s game-winning shot for the 1954 Indiana State Championship.
Roosevelt Jones stealing a Gonzaga lob with 3.5 seconds remaining to drive down the court and nail the game winner.
The magic in this Fieldhouse has unleashed The Bulldogs to back-to-back Final Four victories, and we won’t stop running until we capture that championship banner.
Since 1928, the Hinkle Fieldhouse has hosted presidents, record-breaking Pan American games, and most of all:
Basketball.
Tony Hinkle shaped the basketball and the form of the game
with the Hinkle system that has sprouted throughout the sport.
In 1928, the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse was shaped;
Thereafter, through history—the Fieldhouse has shaped us.
Winston Churchill’s belief in the power of a building
Has taken life through the memories of us.
Today, Butler sells out Home Sweet Hinkle,
With Indiana’s history in our hearts.

GO DAWGS!

History is a shadow that every man wants to illumine,
But no man can light or write it alone.
The Butler Way is leading the Bulldogs to the annuls of Hoosier history,
And in this company,
The applause light will never fade.

Below, you can find the link to the entire four-volume collection. And stay tuned for the seventh nominee which will be released this week! And while you wait, go ahead and keep up with the poems in Alma Mater Vol. 1 The Midwest, and predict which poem you think will be nominated next after today’s nominee: Butler University!