Scream wrote:
63, I was in Louisville rather than on Sheridan Rd on March 23, 1963, but I have proof from p 53 of the 1963 Loyolan that Sheridan Rd was indeed blocked. I have scanned the page but due to a lack of technical skills, I can't attach it here - too big I am being told by Ramblermania. The picture you have was possibly before students took to the streets or possibly after CPD brought in the police dogs. If you can help me share this, I'd love for everyone to see it.
Yes, I've seen that photo from the yearbook. I believe it was in front of the Grenada Theater, right?
I'm not saying that Sheridan Road wasn't blocked for a while, I'm saying that the depiction in the article by Tribune college basketballl reporter Roy Damer was entirely off base. Damer was a demonstrably pro-Illinois writer (the Tribune gave awards for Big 10 players in football and basketball, and actively promoted the Big 10 over schools like Loyola and DePaul). In the pages of the paper, he repeatedly tried to diminish Loyola, its fans and players over and over again. Here's a rough section of the draft I wrote for a book about the '63 team-- discussing Damer-- back in 2002:
Quote:
Tribune Loyola beat writer Roy Damer claimed that Loyola fans or players instigated incidents in three games, and that fans acted improperly in their celebration of the Loyola championship. He claimed that Loyola fans caused a disturbance in the February 27, 1963 game against Ohio University and the March 2, 1963 game against Wichita State. Yet his accusations in every case are not mentioned in any of the other Chicago newspapers.
On March 17, 1963, the day after Loyola beat Illinois to advance to the Final Four, Damer wrote that “part of the glitter [of the Loyola victory] was taken off when Hunter elbowed Bill McKeown in the face near the end of the game. McKeown wisely held his temper and the two shook hands, averting an incident.”
There was no mention of this near-incident in the other Chicago papers, and the Loyola players on the team at that time say they have no idea what Damer is talking about. Obviously, people get elbowed in the face quite a lot when they’re fighting for rebounds in a Division I basketball game-- it’s curious that Damer was the only one that thought it was intentional. It seems like journalistic malpractice-- at a minimum-- to print the incident as though it was intentional without supporting comments from participants. Why mention this supposed incident without any supporting evidence or charge that it was intentional? Would the same standards apply for white players or University of Illinois players?
On March 24, 1963, the Chicago Sun-Times reported this about the Loyola championship celebration: “Police reported that the Saturday night observances were noisy but orderly. The focal point of Loyola’s celebration was a university parking lot at Winthrop and Loyola where a loud-speaker blared music for a post-midnight dance. Summerdale District squad cars and a Canine Corps unit were on hand—just in case. But they were not needed except to keep traffic moving.”
In contrast, the Damer of the Tribune reported on March 25, 1963 that “24 extra policemen and two dogs from the canine corps were brought to the airport… [because of] the ‘celebration’ held by Loyola students Saturday night… During the students’ festivities, police blocked off part of Sheridan road, which borders the campus.”
The “celebration” was for a national basketball championship by a small, private university that came from 15 points behind against the two-time defending champions-- a juggernaut team. Would Damer’s reporting have been different if Illinois had won the championship-- sending several tens of thousands more students into celebration-- instead of Loyola?
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