CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. Thanks for checking us out! Click the picture of Louie to hear the latest Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast!!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Cardinal couple returns after summer break...

SUNDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:

-The Boys (and Sonja) are back in town

-Fraser Valley will throw a mix at Louisville in Canada

After two weeks, over 2000 miles and one afternoon with the biggest flies and mosquitoes in
the nation, CARDINAL COUPLE is safe and secure back in the jolly ol' Ville...well rested, re-acquainted with family and friends and ready for what looks to be an exciting fall of women's
sports for the University of Louisville. By the numbers:

-7 gas stops...ranging from $3.53 a gallon to an obscene $4.02 a gallon (outside of Chicago).

Buffalo meat loaf !
-41 meals away from home...including an incredible buffalo meat loaf at a small restaurant outside Mt. Rushmore and a very forgettable 10:30 p.m. dinner at a McDonald's where the cashier wanted to charge me 99 cents for a cup of water.  Some great home cooking also from  the Johnson's and Hildebrandt's.

-3 athletic events...watching the Cubbies lose to the Brewers 4-2, seeing the Indiana Fever sneak by the Washington Mystics by two and having a relative completely destroy me in a game of "21". (Never did have an outside jumper...)


Free coffee! (Dine-in only) No Robbie Bartlett or 50/50, though.
 -6 state or national parks...the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, (incredible, incredible)
Lake Itasca, Custer and Devil's Lake.

-Touristy traps like The Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Al's Oasis and the infamous Sturgis, S.D. of biker fame (2 weeks too early and probably a good thing...)

The Badlands of South Dakota. Amazing rock formations.
-Seven Interstates , eight states and six major cities...Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Fargo and DesMoines.

-A trip to my mother's burial site and fond reflection on the years she was with us. Hooking up with relatives and friends that, like us...have aged...but still have great stories to tell and friendship to share.

Seeing where the Mississippi River gets its start and fleeing in panic from flies the size of baby birds and mosquitoes that swarmed by the hundreds. Deep Woods OFF didn't even help...

Nothing like arriving home, though...pulling in the driveway, seeing the flower gardens. Noting the yard that needed mowing...getting to sleep in your own bed after 14 nights and having a cup of coffee brewed just the way you like it. 

Special thanks to David Watson for his articles while we were gone, Donnie Yaste for his contribution and Charlie Springer for confessing he had forgotten how to log in as a writer. And now...on with the show. 

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For Abbetsford, Canada residents...a sure sign that the end of summer is near can be found inside the Envision Athletic Center on the University of Fraser Valley campus starting tomorrow. Training camp gets underway for the Cascades' women's basketball team, as they prepare for two tough exhibition tests...Mississippi on August 5th and Louisville on August 14th.

Fraser Valley adds freshmen
and returns depth.
The two exhibition games against quality DI WBB foes will give Cascades WBB head coach Al Tuchscherer a blueprint on how to proceed with a returning team that has six incoming freshmen and a talented returning nucleus that made it to the Canada West playoffs last season and advanced to the Final Four.

"Last year, we did some nice things to turn the program around a bit." Tuchscherer reflected. "There's just an excitement more than anything. When it comes to expectations, it's what we always do and that's to prepare and do the best we can with the talent we have. You want to have those veteran players who will go through the system and learn things and then keep adding pieces."

Tuchscherer became the Cascades head coach in 2002, but got his college degree from Fraser Valley and was an assistant coach there before assuming the head role.

(Parts of this article are from Cam Tucker's column in the Abbotsford, BC Times.)

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Mapquest shows the trip from Pendleton, OR. to Abbotsford, BC to be a 400 mile, eight hour journey. How many of the Schimmel fans and family that will make the trip is unknown...but there will no doubt be fans in the stands who remember the Schimmel sisters' exploits from their playing days on the rez and in Portland, OR. A lot of the trip looks like Interstate, maybe our readers on the Umatilla will make the trip and give us a report...

CARDINAL COUPLE has contacted a sports-writer from the Abbotsford Times newspaper and will try to arrange first hand reports on the contest for our readers. Doubtful there will be any TV or radio for this one...the team will have a blog over at http://www.uoflsports.com/ about the trip to Canada.
.

2 comments:

  1. Well, in the words of one of my favorite mid- 1970's sit com ... "Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Wel-come Ba-ack!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the comment and the e-mails we've received. Good to be home and can't wait for the fall sports to kick it in gear!

    Paul

    ReplyDelete

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