Quick update on the Loyola Ramblers: the little school squeezed between the el tracks and the lake on Chicago's North Side has advanced to the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four. "Unlikely" doesn't begin to describe it.
Apparently getting bored with pulse-pounding, last-second-shot victories, the Ramblers changed it up this time by getting out to a 20 point lead against Kansas State and then stiff-arming them away from getting back into the game the rest of the way. Not that it wasn't stressful. Just different stress this time.
You know how annoying Notre Dame fans are when their football team is any good? I'm that guy tonight. I beg your indulgence as this may be the only chance I get for the next 30 years. But for the next week I'm going to enjoy this a lot.
Jim, Enjoy! You will never be that annoying Notre Dame fan; you learned humility from the Els rumbling by. Even my wife is excited, and she watches sports only when the Packers play.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Sister Jean got to see them win!
ReplyDeleteThe following is true.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin is a nun and lives in a hermitage on the property of her order's motherhouse. Today, she phoned me to exult in Sr. Jean's basketball exploits. To my knowledge, my cousin, age 85, has never been to a college basketball game.
There must be something about religious life that favors longevity. I found out this week that they're having a card shower for the sister who was my 1st and 2nd grade teacher. She just turned 100.
DeleteBernard, that is great. (And I am so happy to see you hanging around here :-)).
DeleteI saw your comment a couple of days ago but didn't immediately appreciate the implications: I assume that, if she lives in a hermitage, she is leading a relatively simple and austere like. Somehow the television or the news must be getting through the barriers to her.
AP story today: Sister Jean fading; the "technical" brilliance of the team coming to the fore. Does that mean they'll lose to Michigan
ReplyDeleteMargaret - I do worry about Sister Jean; she is 98 years old. All these media demands would be a lot for a person in the prime of life.
ReplyDeleteMichigan has some really tall players. I'm sure Loyola will be a significant underdog.
According to CBS Sports, Michigan is a five point favorite. I'm not a gambler, but if I weren't emotionally invested in Loyola, the objective part of me would say that the rational play is to take Michigan and the points. But I believe sports gambling is in fact pretty emotionally driven, and it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of bettors will take Loyola just because they like the team and the story.
Deletehttps://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ncaa-tournament-2018-early-final-four-betting-lines-odds-point-spreads-for-march-madness/
Btw, I see Villanova is also in the Final Four. I believe they're Augustinian. Hard not to pull for them, too.
No, Jim, forget the Augustinians. Yesterday I urged my friend, the former Republican political operative turned deacon candidate, to root for Loyola, and he said Villanova was still in it and he "had to" root for his alma mater. I quoted Charles Pierce at him: "AMDG, baby!"
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