Saturday Cardinal Couple - Joy and Excitement

Don't Forget the Joy and Excitement

Kelsi Worrell Sets More Records

Kelsi Worrell is competing for the United States at The Duel in the Pool at IUPUI. This is a US vs Europe format of competition...sort of like the Ryder Cup in golf.

Our own Madame Butterfly, Kelsi Worrell has already made a successful trip of it, and has already set 2 record times. The first in the 100m Butterfly, Worrell touched the wall in 2nd place behind a Danish swimmer, but in doing so set the American record for the 100m Fly with a time of 55.42 seconds. This pairs nicely with her 100yd Fly American record that she set in May.

Later in the event, Worrell would compete in the 4x100m medley relay, swimming the Butterfly segment, of course. The team just barely edged out the European team, but in doing so set a world record at 3:45.20. Worrell's Fly split was 55.01. If I understand correctly, that is not eligible for record setting because it is not an "official" start for the individual leg. (For comparison, the backstroke leg, the first leg of the relay set a new US Open record, the first leg is eligible because it has an official start.) This was quite an impressive set of swims, with the team beating the previous world record (held by the US 2012 Olympic swim team) by a whopping 7 seconds.

Ayeisha McFerran Expands Her Cap Collection

Freshman Field Hockey GoalKeeper Ayeisha McFerran will be collecting more international caps as she has been picked to represent her home Ireland in a 5-match series against Spain in January. McFerran has already competed in 32 international competitions at the senior level.

McFerran was the first player in Louisville history to earn All-American honors her freshman year. She was named to the All-West Region First Team. With the help of the stout UofL defensive squad, she led the ACC and tied the UofL record for 9 shutouts this season.

Basketball Commentary

I guess it's time I weigh in on the current situation of our Women's Basketball team. There has been plenty of great discussion in our comments (and email!) over the past couple of days, much of it with great analysis. I think some of it misses, however, a big part of what it means to be fans of a team. It's fine to analyze and discuss what went wrong and what needs to be improve, but let's not let us lose sight of the fact that we're here to support this team and encourage them to do well.

I mentioned in my article last week, the drastic change that came over the Volleyball team in the 4th set of the Illinois match when the crowd got up on their feet and started cheering them on. A rally from 15-21 to tie it at 24-24. So let's look at some positives from the game against KY Thursday night, and yes, I believe there were some positives.

Rebounding

I know, everyone is talking about how we got out rebounded and how our rebounding needs to seriously improve, and I'll say very clearly that I agree, but I also saw some improvements in some of our rebounding. There were possessions where UofL aggressively and completely blocked out UK under the glass and got rebounds. This team has learned how to rebound, now they just need to do it consistently. Allowing a guard from outside the 3-pt line to come slashing in completely untouched to get the rebound after a free throw is just not acceptable, but on some possessions, the Cards blocked out and rebounded well.

Myisha Hines-Allen Jump Shot

Where did that 15-18 foot jump show from Myisha Hines-Allen come from? I'm not sure, but I love it. This will make opponent bigs think twice about sagging off of her on defense in the future. Combine that with her ability to handle the ball pretty well for a big (she's no Attack Yorkie, but she can handle the ball reasonably well), and that jump shot makes her an even bigger threat. OK, this pairs with the complaints about shooting lay-ups, which again I agree with, so at this point, if I'm an opponent big, I probably go out and close-guard her at 15 feet and let her drive past me. OK, maybe not, but it would be mighty tempting with how we've been not shooting the close ones.

Briahanna Jackson's Action Passion

She didn't have her best game, "only" scoring 18, and Coach Walz, again justifiably, railed on the team for their lack of passion and drive in the game, but Action Jackson showed why we're hanging that nickname on her. I'm not a huge fan of singling out one player as a contrast for what the rest of the team did wrong, but we're looking for positives, here. If I have a complaint about BJ's passion and drive in this game it's that I feel like she tried to do too much and put herself in no-win situations. A dribble-drive under the basket with no possible outlet. Hanging onto the ball trying to make something work for too long and getting trapped. These are the things a player does when they're trying, desperately trying, to inspire their team and fire them up to play better. Let's hope the rest of the team gets the message and keeps Jackson from having to go to such extremes to try to lead the team, and if the situation happens again, hopefully BJ has learned the limits of what a single player can do for a team.


Thursday night's game was ugly for UofL. I suspect UK needs to repaint the visiting team's locker room after Walz was done with his post-game chat with the team, but that's his job as the coach. Our job as fans is to be supportive and cheer. Yes, it can be frustrating, and it's perfectly valid to analyze and discuss what went wrong, if for no other reason than it helps figure out what specific aspects of things to cheer for when the team does get it right, to reinforce the coach's points, but let's not forget that lesson we learned from Volleyball...the fans and the crowd can dramatically impact the performance of the team with their outlook and spirits.

RADIO TODAY

Be sure to catch The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today on WCHQ 100.9 FM and streaming live on the internet at 

www.crescenthillradio.com

We have Paige Sherrard and Sam Draut in studio with us to discuss UofL WBB. Plus audio from Walz after the UK game.

11 a.m. See you then! 

Go Cards!
-- JMcA