WOW!!!!!!!!!!
Our University was truly ONE LOYOLA tonight. I am so grateful that I was in attendance with my beautiful wife and fellow alum, Jill.
The team Shane assembled played with such joy and a sense of fun that was so wonderful to watch. I want to emphasize how difficult that is to accomplish life. I believe it is a by-product when things are done correctly with honor and integrity. We don't get to see that pure joy very much in sports anymore. What I saw tonight was that spread from a team through every fan that attended. This is what sports is supposed to mean for a university, a clear reflection of who we are and what we are about. Even during the second set when things were not going so well for the Ramblers there was only a sense of being together driving toward a goal that was not going to be denied. I have not seen this at a Loyola sporting event since basketball in the 80's playing at DePaul's alumni hall. Four thousand strong going nuts for every point. I've waited 30 years to see that again. The crowd didn't really thin out until after the trophy presentation.
I stood and watched and remembered how much greybee and senex would have loved to be here.
I got a big hug from Jill and I thought of Brot and Longshot Lor.
I saw so many old friends and it was so cool to share this experience with them. I was walking down Sheridan well after the match and a group of students was with a volleyball team member. One of his friends was shouting as loud as he could "my best friend just won a national championship". How cool is that!
Congratulations Shane Davis and the men's volleyball team on a tremendous and special accomplishment. It's great to see one of our own come back and succeed at such a high level.

I watched the replay of it on ESPNU when I got home, since I didn't have any sound when I saw it earlier. Throughout the last part of the 4th set, the TV crew seemed in awe of the crowd, at one point (well before the end) saying "I can't believe how loud it is in here!"

Just a great, great thing to see

Just back from the match. It was such an emotional thing for Loyola fans. (I'll have pictures up soon, and there will be some audio from inside Gentile on the first podcast due Monday). It was really like an explosion of Rambler fans letting it all out for a team they were totally proud of. Seeing the National Championship trophy being hoisted on our home court with 4000+ screaming fans was surreal.

I saw so many people I haven't seen in years who came in for this event. It was wild to see so many people walking up and down Sheridan Road in Loyola gear. Bruno's was a total madhouse, with a line waiting outside the door to get in.

We should do this kind of thing again soon.

Loyola postgame news conference with the big NCAA National Championship Trophy centerstage on the table....


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So proud of these guys.

Last night was the coolest moment I've experienced as a Rambler. Bruno's was awesome. So many former Loyola athletes there to witness and be a part of it all. Many of whom played with or for Shane. Even some of the old Ramblermania guys like worm and ramblings came into town. Everything about my decision to attend Loyola was reaffirmed last night. Such a great feeling and I night I won't soon forget.

It was a perfect ending to a magical season, and I had maybe the best seat in the house to see it!

I was hanging around Norville before the game and struck up a conversation with a guy looking at our '63 National Championship Basketball Trophy. It turns out Gerry was a big shot volleyball guy with a press pass. I took him on a mini-tour of the campus, and he pulls out a ticket and gives it to me. I wound up sitting next to him in Section 109, Row G, smack dab at the net, and within spitting distance of Father Garanzini. Gerry knew Garanzini, knew the officials, both coaches, and basically anybody who was anybody connected with high-level volleyball. It was a real treat to watch the match with him, and listen to his insights.

And what a great match it was!. Loyola as on fire, and played so much better than they did against Penn State. Except for the second set, they just dominated Stanford. It wasn't even close.

And I couldn't agree more with 86's comment that the team played with joy and purpose. I don't think I ever saw our Libero Jasaitis without a smile on his face. All the players in fact looked like they were having fun and were constantly encouraging each other, even in those rare instances when somebody made an error. The contrast between the on-court demeanors of the volleyball and basketball players couldn't be more stark.

The crowd was great too. They were loud and partisan, but after the match was over, they were very respectful to the Stanford team. Very classy, and I was proud to be a Rambler fan.

If I might interject one snarky comment, I personally enjoyed the opportunity after the match was over to give a lusty "boo" to Grace Calhoun after she was introduced by Pat Schultz. And I was definitely not the only one in the crowd to give her a Bronx cheer.

Here's some post match interviews with Rambler players:

http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/ ... elebration

Thanks to 86 for the nice reference to Lor---I truly believe she and her Band of Angels were watching our greatest win since 1963 !!

As an aside, some folks saw my license plate guard--RAMBLERS--at Mass today--They mentioned our win of last evening--Seems they follow Buckeye VB and were aware that we had beaten them this season. Classy !

This entire thing is truly amazing.

86 mentions that the feeling was real true collegiate--old style. Great--but too much money now in Hoops and Football--HOWEVER LUC is rising and soon will be back in Hoops.

We now have TWO Championships--Who else in Illinois has as much ??---Other than Rose Bowl wins which meant a ton back in the day.

This is absolutely the coolest photo showing the Rambler players' reaction immediately after winning the championship. Loyola should make a mural out of this photo and display it in Norville.