First things first. Kudos and congrats to the Loyala of Chicago Ramblers for having reached this year's version of the Final Four. At this point, how can anybody root against them?
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY could have seen this coming. An 11 seed that was supposed to be just cannon fodder in the tournament going to the semi-finals? Get outta here.
But ya gotta hand it to them. Four games up and four wins. Sure, they barely squeaked by in the first three. Three wins by a grand total of four points isn't exactly showing dominance. True, while they blasted Kansas St. in their South Region final to the tune of 78-62, after all, the Wildcats were only a #9 seed coming in. When's the last time you heard of a nine and an eleven seed slugging it out for a berth in the Final Four? You haven't, because its never happened before. Such is the strange nature of March Madness this time around.
Nonetheless, the Ramblers have officially punched their ticket to the Big Dance in San Antonio next weekend. They await the winner of the Florida St./Michigan game (in progress as this is written) to see who they'll face. Neither of those teams were supposed to get this far either, and they're both eminently beatable.
It's heartwarming to see Sister Jean, an elderly lady confined to a wheel chair, and officially the school/team chaplain, in attendance at the games. She was probably around when the L/C cagers last made the headlines. That was way back in 1963. Some guy named Kennedy was President. Very few homes had color TVs. Telephones typically had party lines, one a homeowner would share with a neighbor down the block somewhere. Leave It To Beaver days. How long ago was that? In other words, it's been quite a while since the small Chitown school has been in the limelight. And it's really cool how even the modern day players have shown dear Jean some serious loving in return for all her years of being the angel she apparently has long been.
Update. With about nine minutes remaining in the game, Michigan is leading Florida St. 44-38. A low scoring affair, it could go either way. At halftime, Charles Barkley boldly predicted the Seminoles would win this game. The Noles are too physical for UM and will outlast them.
Hmm. I'm gonna go watch the rest of it and finish this later. Time out.
OK, a half hour later, time back in.
The game's over and Michigan has prevailed 58-54. On to the Final Four for the Wolverines as well.
Maybe Sir Charles should get out of the prognosticating game and go work on his golf swing somewhere. Lord knows, it needs it.
Turrible, just turrible, on both counts.
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