TERPSTRA – The glass slipper still fits for Sister Jean and Loyola

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

That smile — that’s probably what I miss the most from this year’s NCAA men’s college basketball tournament.

That and more upsets or potential shockers like Duke versus Central Florida — a thrilling game that came within an eyelash of becoming one of the all-time best upsets this tournament has ever seen.

This year’s March Madness hoops extravaganza has been relatively devoid of major upsets and buzzer-beaters — which oftentimes define the opening rounds.

That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been plenty of “shining moments.”

One need not look any further than Charles Barkley’s sparkling insight and in-depth analysis to ascertain that the best are clearly on top of their game at the most critical juncture of the season.

Rolls eyes.  

What did we need more of from this year’s Field of 68?

It’s not the “Round Mound of Rebound.” I love you “Chuckles,” but stick to what you do best — making people laugh and trying to make people believe we actually know what the hell you’re talking about.

But what’s really missing?

Cinderellas and Sister Jean’s smile.

There’s not one mid-major that made it through to the Sweet 16. Gonzaga, you don’t count and neither do you Houston.

The lowest seed to crack the second week was No. 12 seed Oregon and they were a preseason top-15 team.

This is a blueblood tournament.

Always has been, always will.

But we root for the little guy or people like Sister Jean and her band of merry Ramblers that took the basketball world by storm last March.

Loyola University possessed an unheralded, yet incredible team that won its play-in game as an 11 seed and rumbled all the way to the Final Four in San Antonio.

The Ramblers also had in its back pocket America’s No. 1 fan.

Sister Jean was born Jean Dolores Schmidt in San Francisco in 1919. The chaplain for the men’s basketball team at the private Catholic institution in Chicago will hit the century mark this August.

She even spent some time in Dubuque over in Mt. Carmel at the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

No, the Loyola University Ramblers didn’t make this year’s bracket.

College basketball’s most famous nun couldn’t again endear the hearts of millions like she did a season ago.

That’s a tough act to follow and repeat — especially for little old Loyola. Carolina blue they are not.

Sequels are almost never better than the opening act — at least in the cinematic realm. But I could watch Loyola’s 2018 postseason run over and over.

Without Sister Jean, we had to settle for our “other” celebrity basketball fan — Bill Murray. Yes, the former Caddyshack star made an appearance in Iowa to root on his Louisville Cardinals. His time in the stands was short-lived as Minnesota erased any doubt as to who would advance on to the next round in downtown Des Moines.

But Sister Jean – 98 years young back then and standing just right at five-feet tall — loomed large and took center stage in 2018.

How important was she to the tournament?

I’m writing about her, so obviously she’s important enough in my mind to take up a decent amount of copy.

So let’s get to it.

Sister Jean knew what she was talking about. That obviously came from years of experience mentoring young adults and helping shape their life for the better. Where there was commentary needed, there always seemed to be a microphone within arm’s reach of the darling of the tournament.

What was Sister Jean going to say next?

Sister Jean was with us for every upset and every courtside pregame and postgame interview — all the while grinning with the enthusiasm of a teenager.

During every interview, she’d break it down and tells us what her team needed to do to advance.

Sister Jean understands full well what survive and advance really means.

It’s too bad she had to settle for an NIT (National Invitation Tournament) loss at the hands of Creighton last week.

One and done isn’t a phrase I thought I would be saying about the Ramblers two weeks ago. I could say the same thing about Iowa State just last week.

But such is this fickle and unpredictable game we call basketball — we love it and hate it, often times almost simultaneously.

James Naismith knew what he was doing in 1891 when he created the sport.

He was driving us crazy.

When you thought maybe the insanity of each buzzer-beater was too much to take — Sister Jean was their to calm our nerves. She’d offer up her inspiring and kind words to help us remember it’s just a game and we were just spectators.

I found her humble words motivating, as I am sure a lot of you did.

One of my favorite moments occurred right before the Sweet 16 when Sister Jean sat down for an interview with Nevada Wolfpack head coach Eric Musseleman’s eight-year old daughter, Mariah.

The two sat down in anticipation of the Wolfpack and the Ramblers squaring off in the regional semifinals — a game Loyola would win by a single point. Mariah exclaimed to Sister Jean that she was famous and that she “had gone viral!!!” Mariah asked Sister Jean if she knew what that meant. Sister Jean replied that no, she didn’t.

Mariah then explained to the chaplain that she was super famous and she was all over television, the Internet and radio.

It’s that interaction from two people from completely different backgrounds that I found refreshing.

Yeah, it was a little staged for the cameras, but it was heartfelt nonetheless.

The friendly exchange between the two foes was sportsmanship at its finest.

It made me realize and reaffirm the principal that just because somebody’s background is different than yours or they’re far removed from your generation — that it doesn’t mean a bond or connection can’t be formed.

Whether it’s sports, politics or life — we all need to do a better job of meeting in the middle and finding more common ground.

Sister Jean and Mariah proved that it’s possible.

I would say that’s one of the things missing the most from our everyday society — realizing there are people striving for the same goals and dreams and to respect them if there is no ill intent involved.

There’s winners and losers in that attempt to succeed and find one’s path in life.

Basketball buckets swishing or clanking off the iron are easy life metaphors to understand.

When the final horn sounds, you take in victory or defeat graciously and live to play another day.

Sister Jean’s playbook teaches those many lessons.

Sister Jean retired from full-time work in 1994, but still lives in an apartment located in a freshman dorm on the campus of Loyola. That helps her interact more easily and minister to the student body.

Sister Jean filled out a bracket for this year’s tournament. She’s got Virginia, Kentucky, Duke and Gonzaga reaching the Final Four.

There’s no Cinderellas this year, so I think it’s all right for Sister Jean and her Ramblers to keep wearing that glass slipper for another year.

The clock hasn’t struck midnight yet.

Loyola and Sister Jean are still dancing at the ball.