The popular Final Four storyline that is No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago and its 98-year-old team chaplain on Friday did, in fact, relegate the Wildcats and Jayhawks to the back seat of media attention at the Alamodome.
Ed Graney
Sports columnist
Email: egraney@reviewjournal.com
Phone: (702) 383-4618
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Ed Graney came to the Review-Journal in May of 2006 as its lead sports columnist. He has covered all major sporting events, including Super Bowls to NBA championships to every Final Four since 1995. Graney also covered the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). A graduate of San Diego State University, he is a five-time Nevada Sportswriter of the Year and past winner of Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 for columns. He and wife Bonnie have two children, a son (Tristan) and daughter (Bridget).
Michigan plays Loyola-Chicago and Villanova meets Kansas in the Final Four on Saturday in San Antonio.
The mid-major is becoming less and less of a presence in the 68-team bracket, a shame when you consider the terrific storyline that has been Loyola Chicago this NCAA Tournament.
Some featured comments from Sister Jean-Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old team chaplain for Loyola Chicago, at a news conference featuring her on Friday at the Final Four in San Antonio.
Vegas is bound for the postseason, a fact stamped with a 4-1 win against visiting Colorado on Monday evening.
One way of thinking is that the former soccer prodigy landed in Las Vegas still thinking a shade of supremacy still exists within those once magical feet.
You figure if Rod Woodson had this many answers about all that is wrong with the Raiders, he would have imparted enough wisdom as an assistant coach last season to allow the NFL team a better journey than its 6-10 record.
After two tumultuous seasons, Stan Stolte has the Rebels at 19-3 and ranked 19th nationally as UNLV welcomes San Diego State for a weekend series.
It’s hard to figure any of the other 15 teams still breathing can match UNR for its unity and resolve, amazing when you consider the Wolf Pack offer a starting lineup of five transfers.
Marc-Andre Fleury records his fourth shutout of the season for Golden Knights in 4-0 win against Calgary, meaning any fan with a ticket to Sunday’s game is eligible for a free dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.
Ryan Carpenter is one of those players who has helped the Golden Knights not collapse among a string of injuries and illness, a guy who when needed most allowed a positive journey to remain on track.
The Vegas goalie skated off with 17:29 remaining in the second period, his team down 4-0 in a game it would lose to New Jersey 8-3 before a season-high announced gathering of 18,420.
The three winningest college basketball programs in the last five seasons are Villanova, Gonzaga and Wichita State, all of which have made financial commitments to be elite.
The team has more holes than Donut Mania, meaning head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Reggie McKenzie will look to land some immediate skill.
The made-for-television saga that was Chris Beard departing for Lubbock, Texas, didn’t do much for the immediate state of UNLV basketball, but it allowed Texas Tech to move swiftly forward among the better programs nationally.