Tom Ricketts awaited an interview before Tuesday's game at Wrigley Field when a local television producer approached the Cubs chairman.
"You just have to wait five more minutes and then Porter Moser will be done," the producer told Ricketts.
"That's OK, I know where I stand," Ricketts cracked with a smile. "Porter is the man."
Such is the life around Moser, the Loyola-Chicago basketball coach and still toast of the town 10 days after his Ramblers lost their Final Four game against Michigan. Ricketts knows firsthand the effect of Loyola's run; his brother, Todd, a Loyola graduate, flew to every NCAA Tournament game with a group of Rambler fans.
"I am going to enjoy the heck out of today, opening day, Cubs, are you kidding me? It doesn't get any better than this," Moser, a former coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said in front of the Cubs dugout.
Moser, a lifelong Cubs fan who grew up in Naperville, Ill., wore a No. 10 jersey with "Santo" on the back. He shook hands with Cubs Manager Joe Maddon and slugger Kyle Schwarber, mingled with Ricketts and acknowledged the hundreds of Cubs fans who yelled congratulations for his historic season.
He smiled as Wayne Messmer sang his 34th consecutive national anthem, this time wrapped in a maroon-and-gold Loyola scarf.
Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, Loyola's 98-year-old team chaplain, joined Moser and Ramblers players on the field during pregame festivities. Sister Jean wore a blue Cubs jacket, and the team presented her with a personalized jersey, No. 18.
She giggled after her underhand throw from the edge of the infield grass bounced across the plate. The crowd roared.
On the mound, Loyola senior Ben Richardson delivered a strike as Moser and three teammates applauded. Two Loyola players wore Anthony Rizzo No. 44 jerseys and clearly got a kick out of recording pregame introductions of the Cubs before retreating to the stands.
"I think I'm going to sit down with no cameras around, have some Big League chew, some bubble gum, and be a little kid," said Moser, who looked forward to his fourth stint singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.
Moser knows life never will be the same, though he has tried to maintain as much normalcy as possible. He hit the road to recruit quickly after Loyola's season ended -- "I've got to capitalize on the Final Four," Moser said -- and admitted he has yet to watch the season-ending loss to Michigan in the NCAA semifinal. He watched Villanova beat the Wolverines for the NCAA final at home with his wife, Megan, and four children.
"It's starting to set in but during so much of that run, I was in the moment, preparing, and it's really neat now to interact with people and see how excited they were," Moser said.
Loyola Athletic Director Steve Watson and Moser remain in talks about a contract extension likely to include a hefty raise. Watson told WSCR-AM last week that programs with vacancies had approached Moser but both sides felt confident about working out a new deal.
Asked how he is different after the Final Four run that generated millions of dollars of publicity for Loyola, Moser found himself at a rare loss for words.
"I'm the same person," Moser said. "I know I'm not any different."
The same can't be said for Loyola's basketball program.
Sports on 04/11/2018