Butler sports

Despite the country’s unconditional passion for “the beautiful game,” college sport is simply not a big deal there. Aside from the teams, players, and trainee media students looking to make names for themselves, interest is virtually nonexistent.

Everything you do is an event, chronicled on Twitter. Colts games. Pep rallies. Visiting a high-school chemistry class. Even now, as you are snorting, huffing, drooling, Michael tweets to your 10,000 followers, pretending to be you.

A slam-dunk stocking-stuffer for any true-blue Bulldog fan.

“I feel like I might be the most blessed person in the city of Indianapolis,” says Jim Peal, strength coach for Butler University. Peal was diagnosed with colon cancer last month, but after undergoing surgery on Feb. 4, he is now cancer-free. The surgery went “fantastic,” and Peal says he will not need to have any further treatment. Peal had an early form of colon cancer, and the surgeons were able to remove it all.

If ever there were a time to be strong, Jim Peal is facing it. On Jan. 29, the Butler strength coach announced that he has colon cancer, and the groundswell of online support was almost immediate. In addition to expressing encouragement on Twitter, people have been posting on the Facebook page “I Have Coach Peal’s Back,” which already has more than 800 likes. The creators of the page will compile the messages into a booklet to give to Peal, and they’re considering “PealStrong” wristbands and T-shirts.

Stevens never oversold his message, never pressured. Even when facing heavy-hitting competition, he never seemed anxious. He seemed honest.