‘Bring the hobo back’: Loyola’s amazing Final Four run

Loyola fever will take over Chicago again this weekend for the Ramblers’ Final Four game against Michigan, so our hosts Rick Telander and Rick Morrissey devoted this week’s “The Two Ricks: Unfiltered” to breaking down their many thoughts on the biggest story in college hoops.

The episode covers a wide range of topics from how head coach Porter Moser put together this Loyola team to the history of race in Ramblers basketball to the time that Morrissey spent a miserable inning watching the Rockies with Bill Murray.

“The poor guy just wanted to watch a baseball game,” and shockingly Morrissey’s attempts to bond with the legendary comedic star of Scrooged and Charlie’s Angels didn’t work. Still, if Murray wants to come on the show sometime, it appears he’s more than welcome.

The hosts also discussed the comments of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, a.k.a. Screamin’ A. Smith, and whether they should create their own nicknames. “What rhymes with Rick?” unfortunately doesn’t yield the most promising of answers, though.

And if it were up to Telander, the Ramblers would ditch that Wolves mascot in favor of bringing back Bo Rambler, the hobo mascot Loyola used from 1982-90.

Morrissey: “Are you the guy that’s going to lead the charge for ‘bring the hobo back’? Everybody’s talking about what a great story this is, and there’s one brave man who stepped forward, one brave man who said, ‘Bring the hobo back.’”

On a more serious note, a latter portion of the episode covers the history of Loyola basketball and its relationship with race dating back to the 1963 team that won the national championship.

Check out all of that and more in Episode 5 of “The Two Ricks: Unfiltered,” brought to you by Sun-Times Media Productions.

Legendary Sun-Times sports columnists Rick Morrissey and Rick Telander are co-hosts of a new podcast called “The Two Ricks: Unfiltered.” Don’t miss their gritty, no-holds-barred takes on everything from professional teams tanking to overzealous sports parents and more. Download and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Google Play.