Cortnee Walton verbals?...Tips for beating the heat...Dream fall to Liberty

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-So...what's the word on Walton?

-Tom's top 5 tips on beating the heat

-NY Liberty defeat Atlanta

CARDINAL COUPLE is getting reports from several readers that Cortnee Walton enjoyed her Aug. 1st trip to the University of Louisville so much that she verballed to the Cards during her visit. Obviously, the Cards can't comment on verbals...but thru tweets, e-mails and insider sources...it sounds like this story has some credibility. The Arizona Warrior post player participated in a tournament in Louisville last weekend and stayed the extra day to check out the Lady Cards and UofL campus. All-Star Girls Report is claiming the same, also...but no direct word out of Walton yet (at least that we have been able to find).
Gotta believe that UofL women's basketball assistant coach Samantha Williams had a big role in this, if it's true. Sam was hot on Cortnee's trail when she was at Duke.

Let us repeat this. No direct confirmation but we're working on it. Know something we don't? E-mail us at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

If it's true, both confirmed openings on the roster for 2012-13 seem to have been filled. With Monique Reid and Becky Burke's graduation after this season....the addition of Walton and Monny Niamke would have Louisville at 14 players. Room for another? Possible...since the roster can carry 15.

We're pretty sure that the Cards aren't finished looking at 2012 prospects. As we've mentioned in the past, the transfer rate out of UofL since Jeff Walz became head coach averages 2-3 per year. Rachel Hollivay is a name that keeps popping up. Tennessee may not have the lock on her that some "experts" are predicting. 6'4" and a force inside. Ranked #8th. Fits with our "go for the big girls" philosophy.

2013 prospects, of course, are many...but with Asia Taylor, Shelby Harper and Tia Gibbs being the only juniors currently on the 2011-12 roster, those spots could be in stiff competition for replacements. Here's how the current crop of Lady Cards break down:

INCOMING FRESHMEN:
Jude Schimmel
Bria Smith
Sara Hammond

RED SHIRT FRESHMAN
Shawnta Dyer

SOPHOMORES
Shoni Schimmel
Antonita Slaughter
Sherrone Vails
Cierra Warren
Charmaine Tay

Asia Taylor will be
a junior this season.

JUNIORS

Tia Gibbs

Shelby Harper
Asia Taylor

SENIORS
Monique Reid
Becky Burke

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It's been 90+ degrees here in Louisville since mid-July and no break from that in sight, according to those who make a living forecasting the weather. Summertime, right? Whatcha gonna do...Remember those cold days of January when you swore you'd never complain about high heat and humidity? Well. you're getting what you asked for.

So what do YOU do to beat the heat? Paul's favorite way to counter the temperatures is cold beverages. Sonja likes cool showers after work. CARDINAL COUPLE'S Tommy Boy weighs in with his five remedies to beat the dog days:

 1) Avoid outdoor work. A great time of year to employ the neighborhood kids to cut the grass, walk the dog and weed the flower beds. We all have to do our part to bolster our sagging economy and providing employment for those on summer break is an excellent way to provide stimulus.  



Avoid frying chicken in hot weather.
KFC has a drive-thru window.



2) Watch what you drink. Vodka and ice causes liver problems. Bourbon and ice gives you a red nose. Gin and ice messes with the kidneys. The common denominator here?

Ice.

Avoid ice in all beverages.

3) Hang out in the refrigerated areas of your grocery store. You'd be surprised how much relief you can get by opening frozen food doors and standing in front of them. Clear out a section in the cold beer aisle, set up a lawn chair and relax. If the store is doing promotional food samples, all the better. You've got dinner planned.

4) Avoid preparing fried foods. You just get hot in the kitchen frying up that chicken or standing over the barbecue grill cooking a steak or burgers. Much better to get your spouse to do that. And, most pizza places deliver.

Chillin' with Coolio

5) Avoid music that refers to heat. I've stopped listening to "Summertime Blues", "Summer in the City", "We're Having a Heat Wave", "My Baby's on Fire" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime". Going with "Summer Breeze", "Slim Shady", "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Let it Snow." Time to crank out the Vanilla Ice, Coolio and Ice-T.

(we also got this timely piece of hot weather advice from CARDINAL COUPLE reader Curt L., who tells us
"one way I've found to beat the heat is to cut way back on my caffeine consumption. Not just coffee...but iced tea, soft drinks with high caffeine content and I've doubled up on my daily water intake.) Sounds cool, Curt!

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Angel McCoughtry may be hot but the rest of the Atlanta Dream are not. After winning five in a row in July, they've lost their last couple...falling at home to the New York Liberty (11-8) by the score of 85-75 yesterday.

Atlanta will visit Phoenix and WNBA leading scorer
Diana Taurasi later this month.

Can't blame Angel, 24 points after coming off the bench...but Pierson, Poindexter prevail to drop the Dream to 8-11. Dream were in it, down by five with less than three minutes to go...but some long range bombing by New York's Leilani Mitchell closed the door.

Life doesn't get any easier for Angel and crew...defending WNBA champs Seattle come to town Sunday and then the Dream head out to finish August on the road for eight out of their next ten games. No pushovers either, with Phoenix, Indiana, Connecticut and Seattle on the itinerary.
.