(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
If you are like me, you have already reached the stage in your life when you realize that life isn't fair. You shit your pants in second grade and spent the rest of your adolescent life being called "Shit Slacks?" Tough, that's life. The only school you got an acceptance letter from was your "safety" school, a private Catholic-Marianist school located in Dayton, Ohio? Well kid, them's the breaks. You shit your pants again, this time during your freshman English class? You should go see a doctor. Seriously.
In a sense, this point of your existence is both the best and worst period of your life. Possibilities have been eliminated, opportunities no longer knock, and your fate has more or less been sealed. On the plus side, disappointments have less impact, expectations are tempered, and the sweet kiss of death is just around the corner. Simply put, you know your place in the world, or at least you should, and there is a sense of comfort in that.
Such is the life of a mid-major basketball program. Big wins get characterized as flukes. Losses get overly scrutinized. A mid-major's resume gets examined like a ballot with dimpled chads come March. (Yes, I just made a chad reference ten years past its expiration date. That's what mid-major bloggers do.) For a Dayton fan, winning twenty-six games last season and barely sneaking into the NCAA tournament affirmed UD's status by absolution. The experience cemented the U. of D.'s status in the college basketball world. That is to say, the University of Dayton basketball Flyers are as mid-major as it gets.
Pushing aside fatalistic proclivities, is there a way to change course? Is there a practical manner in which to level the playing field? According to CBS Sports writer Gary Parrish, the answer is a resounding no. Parrish's recent article, "Money--lack of--Proving Root of all Evil for Mid-Majors
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