D.C. sportscaster
Glenn Brenner was a Roman Catholic who went to parochial school in Philadelphia, and graduated from
Saint Joseph's University, a
Jesuit institution in that city. In 1989 he heard from a
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School alumna that Sister Marie Louise had a talent for sports predictions, so he invited her to call into his "Mystery Prognosticator Contest". Each week, a different guest made picks for the week's NFL schedule, including
Dan Rather,
Maureen Bunyan,
Sugar Ray Leonard,
Pee-Wee Herman,
Mark Rypien, and members of the
Temptations. In Week 11, Sister Kirkland went 11–3, the best record of the season to date, and finished tied with
Santa Claus for the best record of the entire season. Brenner made her a regular, with the permission of Mother DeSales, and the story was picked up internationally.
Washingtonian reporter Barbara Matusow wrote that when Glenn Brenner was dying prematurely at age 44 in the hospital, Sister Marie Louise was one of his last visitors along with fellow WUSA broadcaster
Gordon Peterson. Peterson was also a devout Catholic, and had once considered becoming a Dominican priest. Sr. Kirkland's presence in the hospital surprised him, because he knew that cloister rules were so strict that even though she had long wanted to attend a
Washington Redskins game at Brenner's invitation, she wasn't permitted to go. "How the hell did she get out?" Matusow reported that Peterson wondered when he saw her there in the hospital. "Did she scale the wall?'" Sister Kirkland was included in the comments of U.S. representative
Constance Morella when the representative paid tribute to Glenn Brenner on the House floor: "Whether it was his 'Weenie of the Week' award, his constant pranks, or his guest football prognosticator interviews, Glenn kept it light. Who can forget his wonderful interviews with Sister Marie Louise, classics in the annals of Washington broadcasting." ==References==