Well, this just isn't fair. After beating Montana, Houston, Texas A&M and Florida State, the Michigan Wolverines now have to defeat God.
OK, maybe not God, His or Herself. But one of God's more dedicated servants. A nun. And not just a nun. A 98-year-old nun. And not just a 98-year-old nun, but a sweet, charismatic, not even 5-foot tall, 98-year-old nun named Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who wears Nike sneakers with her name on the heels, who has been at Loyola University Chicago for more than 50 years, and who is the chaplain for its basketball team, the Ramblers, the biggest underdog story in years.
Michigan has to beat all that on Saturday in the Final Four.
Noah had an easier task.
"What did you give up for Lent?" a reporter asked Sister Jean.
"Losing," she said.
Come on. How do you beat that? How do you take on a great-grandma-aged Sister who wears a backwards baseball cap and a team jacket? You'd get scolded for forgetting to say hello to her. But defeat her basketball team?
I fear for the Wolverines' souls.
And that's not a sentence you often read in a sports section.
But this is no ordinary team chaplain. Ever since a miracle last-second shot went in to end its first-round game in the NCAA Tournament, Loyola-Chicago has become better known for its chaplain than its box score. Last weekend, a reporter suggested Sister Jean had become a national celebrity.
"International celebrity," Sister Jean corrected.
Oh, boy.
