The original "Glory Roaders"...

While the national and very politcally-correct sports media goes ga-ga for the Glory Road movie, I wonder if one of them will take the time to talk about the 1962-63 Loyola Chicago NCAA winners, who went through everything, if not more, than Texas Western did three years later.

Check out the referenced link, and read the capsules about the NCAA tourney games vs. Mississippi State and Illinois, and then the recounting of the post-title celebrations on the quaint little campus by the lake, and how the various Chicago media outlets of the day covered the events.

I haven't seen Glory Road yet, but I'm hoping there is some mention of George Ireland's 1962-63 Loyola Ramblers somewhere in the movie.

By the way, as I listened and watched the Loyola-Butler game the other night on the internet, Jerry Harkness was the special halftime guest, and stayed with the Loyola announcing team into the 2nd half. I have heard nothing but good things about Harkness, and what a fine gentleman he is, and that certainly was apparent in the interview. Harkness lives in Indianapolis these days, where he owns a couple of sporting goods stores, and occasionally does the after-dinner speaking circuit. He was back at Loyola last week to talk to students about MLK, whom he apparently had met in the '60s, perhaps after King moved to Chicago. Harkness' type of story is one we hear too little of in the media, how he became a successful businessman and credit to society. His story is one that should be told, and one that the hip-hop generation of today could learn from...