Today Tom Taylor of the highly-regarded and highly-influential Tom Taylor Report was kind enough to invite my thoughts regarding Loyola's incredible Final Four appearance. I focused on a unique aspect of this story, in that Loyola will have no local radio commercial radio coverage of their Final Four run that is thrilling the nation. They haven't had a radio deal for several years, and I think it reflects not only Loyola's meteoric rise in college basketball but changes in the dynamics of the Chicago radio market as well.

Below is the text of what appeared in the Tom Taylor Report:

No place to hear the Loyola Ramblers on Chicago radio –
Veteran sportscaster and production company owner Bill Hazen says “If you were in Chicago last night, you would have seen the words ‘Go Loyola’ in lights on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building. That means they've made it into the minds of people here. It's been a very long climb back for the Ramblers. One indicator is radio. For several years now, the Ramblers have been unable to entice any Chicago area station to air their games. As they go to the Final Four this weekend, they will do so as the only school in memory to not have their local broadcasts regularly airing on commercial radio. Of course, this isn't just reflective of Loyola's rapid ascendancy. Right now, nearly a dozen Chicago radio stations are operating in bankruptcy. The search is for quick cash, not new ideas or community involvement. Were Loyola to win it all, I don't know if the Ramblers will be able to solve the problem going forward, at least not on a major Chicago station.” As Bill sends that email to this NOW Newsletter, he says “I'm going to take up this topic on this week's College Sports Weekly program” from his Bill Hazen productions. (More about Bill here.)

If you'd like to look at the actual Report for 3/28/2018, use this link:

https://mailchi.mp/tomtaylornow/tom-taylor-now-123685?e=fd8d6a2ded