Sister Jean, 98, the face of a most-inspiring NCAA Tournament, held court on Good Friday in one of the best-attended news conferences ever held at the Final Four.
She is the No. 1 fan of the Loyola Ramblers — the 11th-seeded team whose magical, miraculous run to the cusp of the title would've made for great theater, even without a nun. On the eve of Loyola's game against Michigan, Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt fielded questions about everything from whether God cares about basketball — "more the NCAA than the NBA" — to some light trash talk with former Michigan star Jalen Rose's 100-year-old grandma.
A lot has changed, Sister Jean says, since the Ramblers last made history — back in 1963 when they upset Cincinnati for the national title. "I watched it on a little 11-inch black-and-white TV, and the game was (tape) delayed," she said.
Sister Jean has been on a whirlwind since the Ramblers started this unexpected return to the college basketball promised land.
That this is all happening on Easter weekend makes it that much more hectic. But, as she has shown time and again over the past three weeks, sports and religion really can mix, so long as you keep everything in perspective. "We're having a university mass together on Easter Sunday," she said. "You know, I said Easter Sunday because we hope to stay, and we're confident enough we will."
Sister Jean isn't the only Catholic going for glory at this Final Four. On the bracket's other side, the Catholic school, Villanova, is represented by Rev. Rob Hagan — aka Father Rob — who said the matchup is "kind of like fighting with your brothers and sisters. We're all in the same family."
Arnold recovers from heart surgery
Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after undergoing heart surgery. The 70-year-old former California governor had a scheduled procedure to replace a pulmonic valve on Thursday. He was in stable condition on Friday. "His first words were actually 'I'm back," so he is in good spirits," spokesman Daniel Ketchell tweeted. The operation was necessary to replace a valve that had originally been installed in 1997 for a congenital heart defect.
Cosby: The judge in Bill Cosby's sexual assault retrial hinted Friday that he could keep jurors from hearing the comedian's prior testimony about giving Quaaludes to women before sex, a potential blow to the prosecution's plans to portray him as a serial predator. Judge Steven O'Neill said at a pretrial hearing that he won't rule on the testimony until it's brought up at the retrial, set to begin April 9 in suburban Philadelphia.
