WSOC hosts Coastal Carolina -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 4-1 KICKIN' CARDS FACE CHANTICLEERS AT LYNN TONIGHT

It has been a good start for Karen Ferguson Dayes and the Louisville women's soccer team, and the "Kickin" Cards look to keep up the scoring frenzy tonight when they bring the Chanticleers from Conway, SC to Bourbon City for a 7:30 p.m. match. 

So, what is a Chanticleer? A rooster, whose name literally comes from the French term "sing clear". The Chanticleers are also a American male classic singing ensemble. Oh, yeah...it's also the nickname for Coastal Carolina sports .

Away in the Manger - The Chanticleers

I doubt this group of Chanticleers that assemble on Floyd Street tonight will do much singing, unless it is the blues, when facing the Cardinals. They are 1-2 on the season and have scored just two goals in three games, against the likes of Richmond, UNCW and Belmont. They are also 0-2 at home. 

Louisville, on the other hand is 4-1 and has only lost to 3-1 Vanderbilt at Vandy. The Cards have 25 goals amassed in their five games and are led by Mackenzie Geigle with four goals. 

Amelia Swinarski has nine assists and that happens to led the nation. 

It should be another Cardinals romp in this battle of birds tonight.

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY HOSTS OHIO BOBCATS

Justine Sowry has her Field Hockey squad in action early today with a match against the Ohio Bobcats.

The Bobcats come in after a 5-0 loss at Michigan State.

This one on ACCNX. at noon

While I am speaking of Cardinals...boos and hisses to the ACC announcer who called the Louisville squad the Cardinal all night long on the ACC broadcast. . We are not Stanford (The Cardinal).Where do they come up with these guys?...when there are plenty of good announcers locally who could do the broadcasts justice.

Tonight's game goes to the ACC Network Extra, which means online...and maybe we'll get some announcers who know who we are. 

OK, rant over. Enjoy tonight's game and most likely tomorrow off, if you are still in the working class. 

And have a great rest of the Labor Day Weekend. 

(Photos by Jared Anderson) 

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

Three of us (Paulie, Daryl and Case) participated in the weekly podcast yesterday. Jared was out taking selfies of himself at Louisville football. 

You can hear the re-broadcast of the podcast on You Tube and many other platforms at Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. Give us a listen!

paulie

ZaKiyah Johnson leads Kentucky High School Basketball All-Stars to Win -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ...

JOHNSON'S 34 POINTS LEAD KY ALL STARS TO DOUBLE O.T. WIN OVER INDIANA

We've known for a long time here at Cardinal Couple just how good graduating Sacred Heart senior and LSU bound ZaKiyah Johnson is. Once again, last night in Indianapolis' Gainbridge Fieldhouse, she rose high above the rest of the players and scored 34 points to lead the KY Girls Basketball starts to a win (and sweep) over the Indiana squad.

 It took awhile...a double over-time 106-103 Kentucky win, but Johnson got the KY squad to overtime and eventually secured the win. She was fouled trying a three-pointer to tie the contest, sent to the free throw line with seven seconds to go in regulation...and sank all three free throw attempts. 

ZaKiyah Johnson

Johnson is headed to LSU for college (we wonder just wonder how long she'll be able to play for Kim Mulkey) and, once again...SEC NIL money has made the recruiting game more of an auction to the highest bidder than any school loyalty for the best players in the high school game...and even transfers by college kids out of Louisville and other schools in the state are lured to programs waving dollar bills. 

A noted college coach mentioned awhile back that N.I.L. had ruined the college game and the decision Johnson to go to the SEC bears fruit to that statement. We've even seen it in other UofL women's sports , like softball...where Korbe Otis left for a more lucrative NIL at Florida, and we are getting unconfirmed rumor that Cards pitching ace Alyssa Zabala may be on the move again, too. 

But, it was the Kentucky High School GBB stars night to shine last night and in addition to Johnson's big night, an Indiana star had a big evening. Maya Makalusky, out of Hamilton Southeastern had 29 points and is headed to I.U. for her college career. 

Headed to Louisville from the game and a KY All-Star is 6-5 forward/center Grace Mbugna, out of Danville Christian. Also headed to Louisville from the game is Peyton Bradley, out of Meade County. Bradley says:

"I've always dreamed of playing at the next level and Louisville felt like home the minute  I stepped on campus. The programs tradition, the coaching staff's energy and the way they push their players to grow...it's everything I wanted. I can't wait to compete in the ACC and give it my all." Bradley averaged 28.2 ppg a game in her senior year after coming back from an injury that kept her on the bench her junior year.

CCHRP RETURNS TO PODCASTING

It has been nearly a month since the last CCHRP podcast (those pesky commitments and vacations kept getting in the way) but Paulie and Case handled the Jun 7th version and discussed the lull in most UofL activities for the WBB program this time of year.

Hear the boys at the link below:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hiatus-leads-to-summer-slump/id1532090880?i=1000711947781

Check out Case's Saturday article for more links. 

paulie

Paulie in Gatlinburg --- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 YOUR FEARLESS SITE OWNER IN BEAR COUNTRY

Yep, it;s summertime and ol' Paulie and Sonya are on a well deserved vacation to one of our favorite haunts...Gatlinburg. So, what brings us back this year? To catch up with friends and get away after some hectic medical issues.  

Thanks to my kidney clinic for hooking me up with a "sister clinic" in Newmarket,TN., 45 minutes outside of Gatlinburg. The majority of the drive there on Wednesday and Friday was tied up in the traffic in getting to I-40 from Gatlinburg, going thru Pigeon Forge and Sevierville is never a fast drive...but we saw some beautiful scenery and one of the technicians at the clinic there cued us in on "the back way to get back to Pigeon Forge" and it really made the drive a lot less congested. 

We arrived Monday night and had a wonderful meal that evening at Crystal Creek.  Our server was engaging, a transplant from Boston who resettled down here several years ago. We had a lot of fun comparing the Boston College programs and Louisvile and he admitted that we had the best WBB coach by far in Jeff Walz. 

Tuesday we had a leisurely breakfast at Little House of Pancakes and then explored the Arts and Crafts community on the south side of Gatlinburg. The shops were all interesting and, dummy me, I left my walking cane in Louisville but found a great one at a shop on the Arts and Crafts Loop. We also founf a delightful coffee shop on the loop named Gatlinburg Grind and highly recommend it if you get down here. Our dinner Tuesday night was at The Best Italian Restaurant (the original one) located just off the main drag in Gatlinburg and the Shrimp Alfredo was a fantastic entree that I enjoyed immensely. Sonya got the eggplant parmesan and enjoyed it too. 

Wednesday started with another great breakfast at Little House and then after a day of sightseeing in NewMarket and Gatlinburg, we dined at the Split Rail on the art loop and had a great dinner there with fried chicken and slaw for me and fish tacos and fries for Sonya. Ww slept extremely well Wednesday night.

Thursday we took a drive to Cades Cove and toured the area. Traffic was as heavy as I have ever seen it there and noticeably slowed down when ever a bear or elk were spotted in the distance. We returned early and had an early dinner at DeLauders BBQ which was out of this world. The pulled pork was excellent and his sides are out of this world with green beans, slaw, and a baked potato as huge as you'll find in any restaurant. Another night of sound sleeping. 

Friday after my clinic visit, we returned to Gatlinburg and explored more shops on the loop. One of our favorite restaurants changed their name from Three Jimmy's to Smokehouse Jimmy's but the food was still fantastic. The Grind Burger is a humongous burger with all the fixin's , Sonya had the pulled chicken with baked beans and cinnamon apples. Don't go there without trying the aplles and lemon pepper pork rinds...what a great appetizer.!

At the Rampart Lion

Saturday we had a full day visiting shops and outlets plus driving the Cherokee Orchard Motor Nature Trail and ended up at the Rampart Lion for dinner. Our old buddy Brian Papworth, of the Fox and Parrot, owns this one also, and while the entrance is closed to the Fox and Parrot for bridge rebuilding,  he is holding fort at the Rampart Lion and we had a great visit with him and his staff of Jodi and Robert. The fish and fried green beans there are out of this world, and make sure you make a stop there.  

Today, we return to Louisville. It was a great getaway and thanks to the Cardinal Couple crew for running the site while Sonya and I were travelling. 

paulie

 

CARDS WTEN FALLS AT MTSU -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S TENNIS GETS RACK(ET)ED UP IN MURFREESBORO.

(A candid photo of me and Sonya, at football, from Jared) 

Paulie with you today on a Saturday, of all days, to cover the  -- ok, we won't call it "the joy and excitement" of Louisville women's athletic today -- but, instead...filling in on the daily write for a sick Case who is in the bed and the rest of the crew unavailable... involved in their normal Saturday, pre-podcast activities. As for me, I awoke at 9 a.m. to get the gleeful news that Case was out for the article and podcast. It normally takes me an hour to see straight on a weekend morning after rising, so this one may take awhile to write and it'll need a few proofreads.  Coffee, don't fail me now.

Since we have no hoops until tomorrow, at Virginia , for Jeff Walz's crew...I'll leave the preview article for that one in Charlottesville  for our Sunday writer Jeff McAdams. Let's take a look, instead, at the demise of Louisville women' tennis yesterday. A trip to Tennessee, to face mid-major MTSU, and a surprising and head-scratching loss to the Blue Raiders.

4-1 was the final score outcome, in favor of MTSU, and right off the bat, that appears to be a weird score for a college tennis match. We are used to seeing some combination of seven points in a final score...so why didn't we in Murfreesboro on Friday? 

The major reason for the shortened match score was because of illness on the Cardinals' squad. The Cards were down two players due to illness, and tennis isn't one of those collegiate sports where you have a deep bench of players...it's pretty much send out your six singles players, let them play and pick four for two doubles match...usually your best four players. So, a day of six total matches developed...four singles and two doubles match....for five points available. Five, you say? Should it not be six. Paulie? And, the answer is no...they count the two doubles matches as one point.  Confusing, right? 

In any event, the Cards dropped both of their doubles matches...Alice Otis and Elisabeth Iila falling 6-2 and Allie Gretkowski and Alena Noguero going down 6-2. 

The Cards finally got a win on the board when, their only win as it turned out, Allie Gretkowski took her matches 6-3 6-3. They automatically took a loss because of a absent #6 seed. Then, Otis and Noguero played their singles matches and were both defeated. And that was a wrap...the Blue Raiders gathering four points and UofL just one.  

The loss drops the Cards to 1-1 on the young season. They are scheduled to face UT- Chattanooga today on the Blue Raider courts. Just how many will grab the racquets for the Cards will be a match-time decision.  

(Humble Pie, without Frampton...yes, they could rock a bit) 

Conspiratory theorists will gather, i am sure, and discuss the odd phenonium of our writer Case out sick and two Louisville women's tennis players also out with maladies. I have been in contact with Dr. Pepper and basketball great Dr. J. to request a full diagnosis. I've even been texting Case the blues-rock band Humble Pie classic seventies rocker "I don't need no doctor" to help heal him.  I haven't heard back from anyone...which typically is about normal for me. 

So how's your Saturday been? 

I Don't Need No Doctor -- Humble Pie

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

We'll have four for the podcast this morning...me, Jeff, Jared and Daryl. You can expect we'll discuss women's hoops and maybe a preview look at Softball and Lacrosse. You just never know what will happen on our Saturday get-togethers, so tune in!  Find us at: 

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

PAULIE

 

Louisville 

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Cardinal News and Notes -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Hello readers and welcome to the weekend!   

Hard to believe it's the last weekend in the month of January.    

The Softball Cards are about a month out from hosting the home opener vs the neighboring Bellarmine Knights.   They'll be 18 games into the season by then.   

The WBB squad is on a week-long break as they have had some time to reflect and regroup on the loss at Virginia Tech this past weekend.  

They will be back in action when they head to Charlottesville, Virginia for a Sunday, 2pm tilt with the Cavaliers.  This one will be available on the CW channel.  

WGolf 

The WGolf squad was supposed to resume the season with their spring schedule this past week but the schedule has no results or stories from the rounds that included UofL as well as IU and UK.  

The only results from the match that I could find were from IU's student paper that reported  "The Hoosiers took first place with a score of 300 over the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky in the one-day, 18-hole match".    Both UofL and UK's athletics websites do not have results posted as of 1/22/25 night... which I thought was strange. 

I had assumed the round wasn't played due to the crazy winter storms in the southeastern part of the country.  

ON SCHEDULE

As you can see, Paulie added the 2025 Softball as well as the lacrosse schedule to the right side of the page.  Let's hope a lot of W's will be added in the coming months.  We know he had contacted the SID's who handle softball and lacrosse to see if he can get preseason interviews (that we will run here) but nothing had developed yet . 

As Always,
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Good to be back -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

A RETURN TO THESE PAGES

ok, maybe not but, Hello again..

Hello, and GoCards to you. This is your faithful editor and co-owner of Cardinal Couple  (Paulie) and..can you believe...it's been almost a month since I have turned in an article here? Seems longer than that to me...and, no, I wasn't under the commisioner's suspension. 

Open heart surgery will tend to delay a lot of things in one's life, and, in my case, I was faced with the arduous decision to "get rid of the blockage" or start breathing dry air.  (No, it doesn't mean I ran a quarterback scramble option..but I do feel as if I have been issued a new set of downs.)

First and foremost, I thank this wondeful crew of knuckleheads I have here for keeping the boat on a straight and steady course. It may read "Cardinal Couple" on the name, but...it's Jared, it's Jeff, it's Case and Daryl who are the best damn crew any fella could ever ask to write with and be friends with. Hey, they're the lead guitarists...I'm just glad to be on stage banging a tamborine and singing off-key. My dear Sonja, keeping the gang informed and reporting on my progress. She's my  MVP...no doubt. 

The crew that did the heart work are a great bunch of physicians and staff and I'd recommend them to anyone. I won't give such high marks to the hospital and it's staff, though, and I'll choose to never return there again, if at all possibe. (enough on that).There are some very good hospitlsi n our fair city...I wasn't in one of them. 

When I put on the gown and let them shave my chest...Louisville WBB had recently defeaed Washington and was getting ready to take on Miami. The Walz led group had just two losses and we were seein that the Walzian experiment of putting five, new to each other starters on the court was, actually going quite well. 

Today, i look at this team,fresh off a almost predictable loss at Ralrigh to NCST, and I still love the product on the showroom floor. They seem to have found a place in you, the reader's hearts too...,from what I can gather, too. I won't call them the "Cardiac Cards"...that brings a bit too close reminder to my personal sitution s...but  "no name Cards" has a nice ring to it. 

And, I've been to Raleigh as a visiting fan in WBB . That place is a snake pit for visiting, ranked teams. The Wolfpack Fans love their women's product and they let you know it the entire game. If, for some readon, I could no longer be a UofL fan, it probably wouldn't take much for me to don the Wolfpack sweatshirt and cheer for them. 

There isn't a Durr, McCoughtry, Evans, Hammond, Bingham or Fuehring on this UofL squad...but you have 11 gals who will fight you till the final buzzer and aren't afraid of anyone or anybody. My kind of squad. . 

Maybe that's why I like them as much as I do. They came here, just for a year in some cases, to see what playing with the bird on their chest and the love of 8,0090-10,00 fan each in their hearts was like. They felt a coach like Walz could help them acheive future goals. I think the best is yet to come for them, I hope to make a home game or two before they head to the ACC Tournament. With medical cleaarance, of course. 

(Hey, ma...your little guy is still kicking..). 

So, I go through the physical therapy, the cardiac diet ,and health and exercise scrutiny to make me better. I think this WBB team is going to get better, too. I don't know if they are Final Four quality yet...but, if you can pick the Final Four on this mid-Feburary day...I'll hand over the keys to the Cardinal Couple offices and marvel at your wisdom. 

I look forwrad to the spring schedule for Cardinal women's athletics, too. The "ping" of the bat at Ulmer and the hard-charging lacrosse gals storming up and down the L.L.S. Field. 

Shall we continue the journey together? It feels like a team made it possible for me to get this far and that team is ALL-AMERICAN in my book. Let's see how things continue. It's gonna be fun and I'll never take my health for granted again. 

Yeah...I missed y'all, so to speak... and glad I am able to be back profliferating on these pages. A big "thanks? to all who reached out to check on me, console, advise, suggest, make me smile and keep me abreast on things

I'll see ya at the game....

paulie

The Day After Christmas — TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Ah, the day after Christmas… or as I call it, Recovery Day. The Christmas season can often be so busy with cooking, eating, opening gifts, talking to friends and family, and traveling that a day off is much needed. Fortunately, I am off all week as we are currently in Fort Mill, South Carolina spending time with Katy’s family.

Hopefully Santa Claus had everyone on his nice list. My need for a new suit finally paid off this year so I’m excited to show it off sometime. My previous suit lasted me since high school and didn’t fit anymore.

Boxing Day is when Santa punishes everyone on the naughty list.

We head back to Louisville on Wednesday and will get home just in time to watch Louisville football in their bowl game. We will then spend some time with my family later in the week before I head back to work next week.

For Louisville women’s sports, we still have a bit longer before anything picks up. Jeff Walz has always preached giving his players time off during the holidays so they can go home and spend time with family. They usually come back to practice itching to get back to playing basketball. They resume play on New Year’s Eve at Miami, another ACC squad to make the Elite Eight last year.

We here at Cardinal Couple wish Paulie the best in his procedure today. He will be away from the site for a few weeks as he recovers both in the hospital and at home. You can check his status by contacting his wife Sonya Sykes on Facebook or emailing me.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Cardinal Couple website, you can email me in the meantime at eupherjared@gmail.com. I check my email daily and will get back with you and quickly as possible.

We will continue to actively cover the Joy and Excitement of Louisville Women’s Athletics in his temporary absence, including in-person coverage at all home women’s basketball games. Speaking of women’s basketball, we will be having our annual Cardinal Couple Pick ‘Em Contests for both the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament again. We are not sure what the prizes are yet, but we will announce those closer to tournament time.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Women in Sports; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Hello readers and happy weekend.  

I decided that for today's topic we will mention a couple Cards but the main topic will be, you guessed it, women - more specifically female athletes. 

We at Cardinal Couple dedicate an insane amount of time and energy towards covering and investing in the female athletes at UofL and beyond.  I've talked about it before but I am very proud of the men of Cardinal Couple who put in the work for the Louisville ladies, including myself.   Jeff has become an established figure at L&N Arena with UofL volleyball, even traveling to support them.  Case is a soccer and statistical guru and I learn something new in all of his contributions.  Jared is a staple on the sidelines of every sport in the book and enhances our daily posts at Cardinal Couple as well as the athletes and their parents' who aren't able to regularly come to games get to see themselves/their kids in action.  And then there's Paulie who is recognized by every coach in the press conferences, edits/shares our daily posts and steps up when the rest of us can't - Paulie IS Cardinal Couple. 

With all of that said, I wanted to talk more about women and their role in the athletics world - where we are, where we are going and how we can do better.  

We've touched on some topics at Cardinal Couple - mine being wanting to support the WNBA Cards by buying their jerseys and planning trips to see games.  In particular, buying female athlete jerseys for my avid jersey wearing boyfriend.  I think Kobe Bryant would agree that having a man wear women's jerseys can have a huge impact.  As seen below when Kobe wore the iconic Orange WNBA hoodie in 2019.  

Last December, the Sports Business Journal named it the “Best Fashion Statement of the Year.” It is the best-selling WNBA item ever, and it coincides with a period of digital growth for the W. Since the start of the 2020 season, the league has seen an increase in its digital footprint, gaining more than 275,000 followers across its social media platforms, and an increase in average actions per post across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Ratings for the WNBA Finals were also up 15% from 2019.

When Bryant donned the hoodie at the Lakers-Mavericks game, sales of the pullover spiked. After his and Gianna’s sudden deaths in January 2020, it popped off again. The image of Bryant wearing the WNBA hoodie with Gianna courtside became plastered across stories on the relationship between the two of them and his passion for women’s basketball.

“It was just a fan thing before he wore it,” says Jones, who is no longer with the WNBA and is now self-employed as a social media and marketing consultant. “But when Kobe wore it, it became a fashion statement.”

https://www.si.com/wnba/2021/05/10/orange-hoodies-kobe-bryant-aja-wilson-eb-jones

This week, I proudly gifted my guy with his next new summer 'fits. See the proud new owner of a couple pro-Cards, Class of '21 Dana Evans and Class of '22 Emily Engstler, who are blossoming into their roles with their respective squads.  

  

               

Emily Engstler averaging 5 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes per game.

Dana Evans averaging 5 points an assist and rebound in 13 minutes per game.

Even though these two did not get to benefit from the NIL world, we still try to support our Cards after they graduate. 

Speaking of NIL.. Eric Crawford put out an article this week covering NIL now that we're a year into the monumental decision.  You could probably guess some of the obvious facts from the first year of athlete endorsements.  Football brings in the most moolah, quarterbacks lead the deals and SEC country is leading the charge. 

-- The source of NIL deals for men and women is telling, with corporations and other brands spending more of their money on women, and fans and donors overwhelmingly backing men.

-- NIL LEADERS. In a section with more athletes who are leading in the NIL era, Opendorse listed two from the University of Louisville on a page with 25 others. One will not surprise you. Hailey Van Lith has long been reported to have major NIL potential, with 717,000 Instagram followers and 63,800 on TikTok, where she recently posted as a sponsor for Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The other Louisville name might surprise you. Katie Beiler was senior rower for Louisville last season, and her 16,600 TikTok followers had liked her posts more than 2 million times on that platform.

Check out the rest of the interesting facts from the article below.

https://www.wdrb.com/sports/crawford-nil-turns-1-a-first-look-at-some-national-data-and-who-is-getting/article_8cc8cce6-0328-11ed-bfa7-df9c37da9336.html

All in all, to say this is, that if you keep supporting women, women will support you.  These are our daughters, sisters, friends and mothers.  Women who have dedicated thousands of hours and years of their lives to wear that Cardinal bird across their chest.   Yes, its for education but its also for family.  I can think of several examples of new families and lifetime friendships that have formed because of UofL.  When we fan the flames of those unions, we inspire the next generations and find ourselves with something to cheer for for life. Buy that jersey, go to the game, even giving them follows on social media is a free way to show support!

These two in particular -

Dana Evans - Gary, Indiana
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sky/ct-chicago-sky-dana-evans-20220714-o5xjfbifjzfj5bmpqz7ao7wgpm-story.html

Emily Engstler - Queens, New York

The second I knew Dana was going to Chicago in 2021, I called and emailed the team store to inquire about purchasing her jersey since her name wasn't available online.  About 13 months later and many of back and forth with the merchandise sales team, it was in hand, and it is INCREDIBLE!  They explained that the jersey wouldn't be available for some time because the demand just isn't there.  It did help that the Sky won the championship in 2021. 
Just a few days after Emily was drafted, I called the Pacers (because the Fever do not have their own building EYEROLL) to inquire about a jersey.  I received the amazing Stranger Things themed jersey with a $30 discount for signing up for Fever emails within 3 days of purchasing. 

I am very pleased with my purchase and its the best way I could think to support the women who gave UofL Final Fours. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast 

I'm sure we will cover more of this on this week's episode.  I hope you can catch the show live or the recording shared on Sunday post. We should have a good crew on hand. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link
Anchor (podcast host): Link
Apple Podcasts: Link
Google Podcasts: Link
Overcast (free account required): Link
Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link
RadioPublic: Link
Spotify: Link

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Happy 4th !! -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

  HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

From all of us at Cardinal Couple, a happy and safe 4th of July to you. Be respectful of your neighbors, if you're one of those "set off a bunch of fireworks at midnight" types, remember, they may have to work Tuesday and get up early. 

Independence Day means a lot of different things to a lot of people. Enjoy it and treasure the freedom of not being oppressed and ruled by an aggressor or having to suffer war. 

paulie 

Officially Summer -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello readers!   

It's Daryl checking in on the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend.   It was my luck to work at my 9-5 so its still a 5-day work week for me. As graduations wrap up and vacations begin for the summer months, the sports seasons are dry but the hype is real looking ahead.  

The 'Reason for the Seasons'

THANK YOU to those who have served our country and lost their lives for it.  It takes a brave individual to put on those uniforms every day to make sure we are secure.  We appreciate those who serve.  

Cardinal Couple Family

A huge shout-out to Paulie for covering our daily check-ins on here when any of us are unable.  Between the five of us, seven days in the week and twelve D1 sports to cover, Paulie leads the charge to make sure everyone is happy.  

When I think about my involvement with UofL athletics, a lot of my time and energy has shifted over the last year.  I appreciate Paulie giving me the outlet to continue to cover my favorite team but also the freedom to take care of business when I need to.   I am a proud Cardinal Couple contributor and naturally part of a "cardinal couple". 

My long-time boyfriend and I are huge UofL fans and most of our partnership revolves around the Cards.   Game days spent with friends, trips to road games make life-long memories.  We also love watching actual cardinal birds when we see/hear them.  We like to see who can find it first when we hear them call.  (You can Youtube "cardinal calls" if you can't recognize them yet, its very recognizable!) It's a fun game we play.. its satisfying to finally find that red spot!

Out of Office

I did spend the weekend at the Waterfront for Forecastle.  I haven't yelled at anyone to get off my lawn yet, but I did have several of those 'becoming your parents' moments while I was down there.  

I usually go with the jersey/sport look for this festival as do a lot of those who attend but the WNBA/Women's names rarely make an appearance.  As you can imagine, the thrill I experienced when I saw Jack Harlow come on stage with the Hailey Van Lith jersey.  I did spot another person with a white HVL t-shirt jersey who deserves a shout-out as well, so major shout-out HVL for making an appearance in this year's festival fashion which has now flooded social media from Jack's performance.  

Summer Fun Ideas...

Not sure if you can make a big trip this summer with gas prices looking like they have been?  Below are some short trips up to Indy that can be made to see a couple former Cardinals in WNBA actions.  I got my eye on that match-up with the Sky for sure!  From what I can tell from social media, the players look to be pretty available for pics/autographs after games too! 

Mystics at Fever Tuesday and August 12

Emily Engstler coming off a 13 point, 9 rebound performance on Friday vs LA Sparks 

Myisha Hines Allen coming off a 26th birthday on 5/30

Liberty at Fever June 10 

Sky at Fever June 19 and July 7 

Have a great Tuesday! 

As Always, Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Christmas Hot Takes

Happy Boxing Day

In many locations, today is Boxing Day, traditionally the first weekday after Christmas, but more recently just celebrated the day after Christmas.  Where the name come from, no one is really quite sure, but there is likely some connection with boxes used to collect or convey gifts on the day, particularly to people in service roles such as postmen, servants, tradesmen and such.  It was a chance for people who benefit from the services of such workers to show a degree of appreciation and thanks for their work.

I find this a lovely sentiment, particularly in our Covid-present when so many people who have been working in such roles are necessarily exposed to greater risk.

Christmas Hot Takes

OK, so most of the rest of the Cardinal Couple gang got the share their favorite aspects of Christmas.  I thought I'd take a slightly different approach today, now that Christmas is in the rear-view mirror.

My Favorite Christmas Music

I have shared on this site, and on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, my take on Christmas music that I like.  Christmas music that in some acknowledges that the world isn't just happy go lucky all the time.  The music doesn't need to sound like funeral dirges or anything like that, indeed some of can be quite happy and joyous sounding such as "We Need A Little Christmas", which tells the story of two kids with their aunt (from the Broadway musical "Mame") who are decorating, early, for Christmas because it makes them happy, when life otherwise has them down.

One of my all-time fave Christmas songs is "Snoopy and the Red Baron", which is set, of course, in the heart of World War I, not exactly a joyous time on the whole.  Both of these songs are about uplifting and bringing joy, but they both give a nod to the fact that life can be rough and Christmas can come in the context of some very unhappy times.

Christmas Associated Food

Maybe my most controversial take....  Any dish that has turkey in it, would be better if it were ham instead.

Turkey can be enjoyable, without a doubt...my mother put together a turkey meal for Thanksgiving, on pretty short notice, and the Turkey that was quite good...but I'm of the opinion that ham is always better.

Even for iconic turkey dishes.  Have you ever had a Kentucky Hot Brown, but made with ham instead of turkey?  The only place I have found that will make a dish like this was the Boone Tavern Restaurant in Berea, KY, and oh my goodness it was so good.

Maybe I'm just a really big fan of ham in general, because I've also found the substitution of ham in place of chicken in traditionally chicken dishes can be quite good as well.  Ham Alfredo instead of Chicken?  Delicious!

Thanksgiving vs Christmas

Thanksgiving and Christmas shouldn't be pitted against each other, but due to their relative proximity on the calendar, roughly a month apart, and given the huge endeavor that Christmas has become over the centuries, it is somewhat inevitable.

I feel like Thanksgiving gets short shrift, getting overshadowed by the hype and commercialization of Christmas.

Maybe the Canadians have the right idea by giving Thanksgiving a bit more space from Christmas by celebrating it the second Monday of October.

I'm a big fan of Thanksgiving as a holiday.  Many people get stressed out by Christmas, and there can be a lot of pressure involved in gift buying.  It depends on how you go about celebrating these holidays, of course, but I feel like Thanksgiving brings with it a lot of the joy of being around loved ones and sharing in their company, with much less stress and pressure.

To be fair, preparing a lavish meal such as many have for Thanksgiving is not without its own pressure, but many do that for Christmas in addition to all of the extra

Regardless of your own hot takes or mine, I hope you have had a wonder Christmas celebration with loved ones based on whatever way you choose to celebrate it.  My Christmas day was very quiet with the family gathering that I am involved in happening on Christmas Eve.  And frankly, it was wonderful to just have a quiet day to spend with no pressures, no priorities, and not even any real schedule.  The Christmas Eve celebration was also wonderful with my family, so I was able to have the best of both worlds.

Louisville Women's Sports

We are all about Louisville women's sports here at Cardinal Couple, and there is, of course, no real news of note at the moment.  Women's Basketball will be back in action later in the week, on the 30th hosting Boston College, and the players will be making their way back to Louisville from their homes where they have been able to enjoy a nice Christmas break.

Enjoy your Christmas leftovers, and Go Cards!

JMcA