Triskaidekaphobiacs of the Dance Fear the Mustangs!

      The brackets have been announced; 68 teams are ready to go to the Dance. All with dreams and hopes of victory, though based on records, very few have the Final Four chance. There are many teams with 20 plus wins and winning records but only one team with almost 20 games in its column and that team is the Mustangs of  Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, one of the students at that campus is none other than the oldest son of the Alaskanpoet. What makes the Mustangs appearance so special, their fist in NCAA history, is that the 19 alluded to is not the number of wins, only the number of losses, such that even with the three wins in the WAC Tournament to win the WAC Championship their record is 13-19.
        This poet, a herald of the human spirit is rooting for the Mustangs. Since 1955 some 21 teams with losing records have earned a berth in the Dance; save Bradley in 1955 as the first team ever with 19 losses also and ended up losing in the Elite 8, all have lost in the first round. Will the Mustangs overcome that history? Even if they beat Texas Southern to join the bracket, they will meet undefeated and number 1 seed  Wichita State in the first round. A tough row to hoe, but the human spirit and the spirit of the underdog can do wonders, just ask David.
        Here's hoping that all the teams the Mustangs will meet in their unlikely quest to the Final Four are superstitious and latent triskaidekaphobiacs to their very dribbling and shooting core. Go Mustangs---the underdogs of the nation are behind you!
Triskaidekaphobiacs of the Dance Fear the Mustangs!

Everyone loves an underdog; especially one with a losing record that barely knows how to dance

Mustangs as a symbol of the West to run free unreined, part of our history, our cowboy romance

By all rights going into a tournament with but 10 wins and losses 19

The Mustangs should have faded quickly from the B-ball scene

The player who is 7’5 and against whom no drive to the basket will survive

Is your own self, who does not believe, quits and whose faith is more dead than alive

In the human spirit there can lie within those that believe the magic arc for the three

Or the magic springs within to grab the bound and start the break to run free

Teams with losing records dancing may almost be ashamed

Do they belong, have they the dignity of the  dance defamed?

Cal Poly may be the Cinderella team but even if it wins its first match

An undefeated Wichita State from the jaws of dreams is waiting to snatch

Mustangs, though midnight may come sooner than you would like

With the pumpkin changing with the chimes a dream ending strike

Then again, many a player who awaits the sound of your hooves or fearless neighs

Might be superstitious and be fatally rattled when a 13 game winner comes to play

May the round ball gods look upon you with favor; do not ever quit

You have earned the dance card and the upset chance for you is a very well fit.

© March 16, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet