So, you think that Loyola-Chicago has no shot tonight against Michigan? Fighting Irish women give them hope


If you thought that Chicago-Loyola has no shot tonight in the NCAA Final Four semifinals against the Michigan Wolverines, just take a look at what happened last night in the women's game. 
Seemingly invincible UConn, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, winner of 11 national titles, fell to Notre Dame in the women's semifinals on Friday night, giving the Ramblers a burst of hope. 
Yes, this is a UConn team and Coach Geno Auriemma who ran up the score against 16th-seeded St. Francis of Pa. by scoring 140 points against them in the women's first round. 
The win accentuates the fact that the Lady Irish have a hex on the Lady Huskies in the semifinals. The 91-89 victory resulted in overtime on a jump shot by Arike Ogunbowale with just a second left on the clock. 
Luck of the Itish? Maybe not.
[The St. Francis women were probably delighted to see their fellow Catholics get some revenge on UConn, albeit from a distance.]
Now, the Loyola-Chicago men enter tonight's game as a prohibitive underdog to the Michigan Wolverines. They are considered to be underdogs because they were an 11th seed in the tournament. And because no one ever heard of them before their 98 year old team chaplain, Sister Jean Doloroes, started praying for them and became a national icon, and because they won three of their games on late-second shots. And that the Ramblers have not even been in the tournament since 1985 -- ironically, when Villanova pulled off one of the greatest upsets in an NCAA championship game with a win over Georgetown [probably my favorite title game]. And that Loyola has practically no budget for recruiting compared to the top tier teams. And because no one believes in them and Coach Porter Moser's "Pace and Space" offense -- they have no chance, right? 
Sorta like no one ever thought that anyone could beat the UConn women this year. I would love to see an all-Catholic championship game with Loyola against Villanova, but both teams face some odds, though the Wildcats are a number 1 seed. 
Many people forget that Loyola-Chicago captured the NCAA title once before, in 1963, in a different era. 
But, miracles happen, and perhaps the Ramblers are a 2018 miracle ... just like the Fighting Irish women may have been last night. 
Maybe the luck of the Irish can be transferred to a team a short distance west of South Bend, Indiana.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr. Chet Beres, M.D., the quarterback who gave of himself to so many people: Some Lilly Raiders who will not be with us on Saturday

Image
Chet Beres was a special human being … The 1968 championship QB is calling audibles from heaven On a few nights in late October 2010, I slept overnight at the Conemaugh Hospital palliative care unit. My brother, Father Jim, was clinging to life at the end of a long battle with cancer, and this unit was designed to make life easier for those in the final stages of disease — and for the families who wanted to spend their last days with their loved ones. It was at that time that while wandering through the hall, I noticed a plaque on the wall that warmed my heart, albeit in a sad way.  The palliative care unit was dedicated to Dr. Chet Beres, M.D., an advocate for those in hospice care. My mind flashed back to the Lilly Raider quarterback on the 1968 championship team, a young man who was bright, exuberant, and so popular with his teammates.  Chet went on to college at Pitt and to medical school after graduating from Penn Cambria. We knew that he was bright, but we also knew that he had c
Read more

Why did Tennessee-Chattanooga hire trainer Tim Bream despite his role in the alcohol-induced death of Tim Piazza at a Penn State frat?

Image
… was a live-in advisor at the fraternity On paper, Tim Bream has an impressive resume. Actually, very impressive — up to a point. That seems to be when Bream’s life appears to careen out of control. Bream, who resigned as Penn State trainer in Feb.,  was a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, specializing in athletic training. He then attended West Virginia as a grad assistant trainer, where he received a master’s degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on Sports Science. All of this information is from his bio on the Penn State athletic site. He then worked his way up the ladder impressively, working at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and finally at the University of Richmond, where he was the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. Then he received his big break, being name as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Bears in 1993, and four years later, Head Athletic Trainer. He was with the Bears for 19 years when inexplicably, he
Read more

Remembering the toughest loss I ever experienced in approximately a quarter-century of coaching football. George Pasierb was a great coaching adversary.

Image
R.I.P. George Pasierb, 1946-2020 Shade-Central City High School football coach Photo: Tribune-Democrat No high school football fan could ask for anything better than this. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 1982, in Nanty Glory, Pa., the battle featured a clash of two undefeated titans of the Appalachian Conference.  One was the preseason unanimous favorite to win the title, the other a veritable surprise that season, one that had built an 8-0 record entering that game.  This battle lived up to the pre-game hype, ending in a one-point decision that was not certain until the final play of the game.  I thought of this because the coach of the powerful Shade-Central City High School Panthers, George Pasierb, passed away earlier this week. He coached the Panthers for 20 years, but his best team was arguably that 1982 team that battled the Blacklick Valley Vikings on that Saturday afternoon before more than 3,000 ebullient fans.  And, the one-point loss was the to
Read more