It was very interesting to hear Steve Watson talk about Loyola basketball on that ten minute interview.
In particular I am glad that he mentioned the importance of having the right coaches. I am not sure what the status of Coach Moser's contract is in terms of years but I would sure like to see him get a healthy raise and extension.
For the last two/three years, Porter has conducted his own preseason event at a downtown restaurant and has used the occasions to raise money via silent auction items. Hopefully in the future the university will take that over and allow him to focus on other things. I applaud Coach for taking the initiative.
Three of us had breakfast with Porter in mid October to discuss basketball and while he never complained I know that if he had a bigger budget he would be able to do more with the program. Charters are a big deal especially given the distances between schools and the odd ball Wednesday/Saturday-Sunday type of scheduling. Long trips particularly by bus can take a lot out of the players and it is that little edge that can make the difference.
Not only did Steve talk about the need to get more resources for the teams, he made mention of a practice facility as a great need. I had heard various rumors about that in the last fifteen months and Steve's comments led me to believe that perhaps this need will be fulfilled particularly now that we have a new President in place.
I had an occasion to have lunch with Tom Sorboro, Steve's right hand man, about a month ago as there will be a major effort to expand the Varsity Club to make greater connections with the alums and also to raise funds.
My guess is like the old Backcourt Club you will see a pre and post game room for Season Ticket holders. Tom showed me some information on other Jesuit schools and the giving levels and premiums that those schools have. I know Tom is working very hard on this and my guess is that for the next season an expanded and meaningful Varsity Club will become a reality.
Grace Calhoun started an effort in this direction but her departure obviously ended the effort the lack of a permanent AD created a timeframe of no action.
I recently received an email about a season ticket holder event in the Norville Center prior to the San Diego state game.
There will be a "chalk talk" by one of the coaches and then a q and q with Steve.
This is very encouraging as the reach out to the alums appears to be starting. I hope we can all get behind this effort with our attendance and our checkbooks.
In my opinion we have the right people in the right positions and with some alumni support (particularly in terms of attendance and donations) they can make considerable progress. I just hope the politics at Loyola does not get in the way.
In any event, I am greatly encouraged by what I see happening and I think the arrow on athletics is definitely pointing up.

At my monthly brunch with Vlad (Putin), Big Papa (Pope Francis) and William Shakespeare (deceased), we all agreed that the Ramblers' arrow was pointing up too!

Be careful with Vlad since he just hired Steven Siegal as his body guard after he became a Russian citizen. I heard the Pope was interviewing at Trump Tower to replace Castro (Fidel) as the leader and Raul was coming to accept the Immigration job in the Trump administration. A lot of moving parts for sure. Maybe someone should draw up an org chart.

I'm on it!

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart