Getting to Know Your Opponent: What Does Loyola Refer To, and How Many Loyolas Are There Playing D1 Hoops in USA?
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So to whom, or what, does Loyola refer?
Ignigo, baby, that’s who!!!
This from Catholic Online.org.
“St. Ignatius was born in the family castle in Guipúzcoa, Spain, the youngest of 13 children, and was called Ińigo. When he was old enough, he became a page, and then a soldier of Spain to fight against the French. A cannon ball and a series of bad operations ended his military career in 1521. While St. Ignatius recovered, he read the lives of the saints, and decided to dedicate himself to becoming a soldier of the Catholic Faith. Soon after he experienced visions, but a year later suffered a trial of fears and scruples, driving him almost to despair. Out of this experience he wrote his famous “Spiritual Exercises”. After traveling and studying in different schools, he finished in Paris, where he received his degree at the age of 43. Many first hated St. Ignatius because of his humble Lifestyle. Despite this, he attracted several followers at the university, including St. Francis Xavier, and soon started his order called The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. There are 38 members of the Society of Jesus who have been declared Blessed, and 38 who have been canonized as saints. He died at the age of 65.” http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=56
This puts Inigo in the belly of the beast that was the silver and gold trading based Habsburg’s of Austria’s western most monarchical head quarters for the Holy Roman Empire, which was the Vatican’s secular muscle partner engaged to help the Vatican find Christendom an all water trade route to China, after the Seljuk Turks took Constantinople and then shut off the silk road 1.0 trade routes overland in the late 1300s and early 1400s, through Asia and over land-and-sea through Suez and the Indian Ocean, thus starting the Age of Discovery 1.0.
Some say the Jesuits were for a time the Vatican’s private contractor Army. Others say they were just a fine bunch of guys giving up sex to do god’s work. Either way, the Jesuits ties to the Habsburgs and to Vatican made them a formidable bunch to deal with. And their emphasis on orders and highly disciplined education made their graduates and followers highly effective in war and peace.
And how many Loyolas are there putting the ball on the deck for Inigo all these years later in the greatest game ever invented?
I find:
Loyola of Marymount, Los Angeles (Lions) Loyola of New Orleans, Newahlins, LA (Wolf Pack) Loyola of Maryland, Baltimore, MD (Greyhounds) Loyola of Chicago, Chitown, IL (Ramblers)
Rock Chalk Saint Ignatius!
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And maybe the biggest Cinderella winner was Loyola of Chicago in 1963. Years before UTEP did their ballyhooed NC run with all African Americans was Loyola who started whites, but when the going got tough switched to a predominantly African American lineup.
They faced their fair share of drama as well including Mississippi St. having to sneak out of the state to play them in the dance. MSU had been prohibited by state law (I wish I was making this up, but state law prohibited them from playing against blacks) from playing in the tourney, and had actually refused to play in the dance the previous seasons. Loyola beat them of course and went on to come back from 15 down against 2 time defending champ Cincinnati and force overtime.
Loyola’s other time in the spotlight was earning a 4 seed in the 1985 dance. They had a solid squad which wilted at the end against Georgetown which went on and lost to Villanova.
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@wissoxfan83 I remember watching that game and thought it was cool that each player for Loyola received a watch at half-court. I was 15 years old at the time.
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I couldn’t pronounce Loyola until I was in my 20’s.
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@wissoxfan83 said:
They faced their fair share of drama as well including Mississippi St. having to sneak out of the state to play them in the dance. MSU had been prohibited by state law (I wish I was making this up, but state law prohibited them from playing against blacks) from playing in the tourney, and had actually refused to play in the dance the previous seasons. Loyola beat them of course and went on to come back from 15 down against 2 time defending champ Cincinnati and force overtime.
That story reminds me of my great grandfather Albert, who coached a semi-pro baseball team back in the 20s ? With Jim Crow fully in effect, it was one heck of an effort to get food at restaurants, or get a hotel room for his black players. My grandpa would come in with the white players to the hotel, get the room, and then sneak in the black players after dark…and then get them up and out of sight before sunlight. Mom told me that their whole team would go in the back of restaurants and eat together, since the blacks weren’t welcome up front.
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@KUSTEVE awesome grandfather!
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Just imagine how Barbara Walters says it!
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@wissoxfan83
PHOF for detailed recall from the event horizon of the memory hole.
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@Crimsonorblue22 On my mom’s side of my family, they did everything possible to help blacks - my dad’s side was quite the opposite. One of my father’s ancestors was Nathan Bedford Forrest.
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FYI Forrest is going through some re-evaluation. Not sure if enough evidence will be found ultimately refute his traditional assessment as a big time racist. But…the argument goes that he started the Klan as a legitimate militia in the disorder after the Civil War, but then withdrew when it began to be used as a terrorist organization to impose Jim Crow. One version I read had him leaving about a year after starting it. If he is kin, you may want to read up some. His stature as a pioneer and forerunner of special ops raiders tactics seems to continue unchallenged. I confess he makes me uneasy, but all these controversial civil war figures on both sides need revisiting from time to time.
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@KUSTEVE Well, old Nate must have been an MU fan then.
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@jaybate-1.0 Thanks for that update. I’ll tell my sister about that. She’s an ancestry nut.
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Loyola-Marymount gave us Kevin Young, right? The Fro, the Smile, the energizer bunny, all 185lbs of him.
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@jaybate-1.0 Didnt Kevin Young play for one of the Loyolas? I forget which. He is definitely one of my favorite Jayhawks of all time. And, his hair is still Epic!
