Spirit Squad NCA & NCA Results -- WNBA Draft -- Louisville Tragedy -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

What started off as a typical post-spring break, post-Easter Monday for the City of Louisville, things quickly went south as two separate incidents occurred in the heart of downtown. We will come back to that at the bottom of today's post.

Cheer and Ladybirds Find Success at NCA/NDA Championships

The Louisville Cheer and Louisville Ladybirds squads spent the last few days in Daytona competing at the NCA and NDA Championships. The various squads found quite a bit of success in their time there.

Louisville All-Girl Cheer Wins

The Louisville All-Girl Cheer squad took home the crown in the Advanced All-Girl Division 1A, pushing their reign to nine straight titles. They posted a final score of 96.9421.

Louisville Small CoEd Places Second

The Louisville Small CoEd Cheer squad placed second in the Advanced Small CoEd Division 1A. They finished with a final score of 94.8912.

Louisville Large CoEd Places Second

The Louisville Large CoEd Cheer squad also placed second in their respective division, Advanced Large CoEd Division 1A. They finished with a final score of 96.8148, less than one point shy of first place.

Louisville Ladybirds Places Second in Team

The Louisville Ladybirds placed second in the Team Division 1A. They finished with a final score of 95.65, just .05 points shy of first place.

Louisville Ladybirds Finishes Fourth in Hip Hop

The Louisville Ladybirds took fourth in the Hip Hop Division 1A. They finished with a final score of 94.0571.

Louisville Ladybirds Finishes 11th in Jazz

The Louisville Ladybirds finished 11th in the Jazz Division 1A. They finished with a final score of 91.7714. This is the first time in over 15 years that the Ladybirds have competed in the jazz division.

Louisville Cheer Places Three Teams in Stunt Groups

The Louisville Cheer squads had three teams place in the four-person stunt groups. Myah, Taylar, Shekinah, and Kristen placed second with a score of 93.7222. The group of Maddie, Mya, Kaylee, and Ella finished eighth with a score of 90.3333. The group of Aoi, Whitney, Meghan, and Madie finished 11th with a score of 73.25.

All Louisville groups compete at the highest level possible so these results are that much more impressive. Plenty of other Division I athletics programs competed in Division 1 (not 1A) or in the intermediate divisions.

WNBA Draft

The 2023 WNBA Draft was last night and we saw 36 players selected in the WNBA Draft. Alas, we had none of the six graduating Louisville Cardinals selected. 

Picks:

1- Aliyah Boston (South Carolina, Phoenix Mercury)

2- Diamond Miller (Maryland, Minnesota Lynx)

3- Maddy Siegrist (Villanova, Dallas Wings)

4- Stephanie Soares (Iowa State, Washington Mystics, then traded to Dallas Wings)

5- Lou Lopez Sénéchal (UConn, Dallas Wings)

6- Haley Jones (Stanford, Atlanta Dream)

7- Grace Berger (Indiana, Indiana Fever)

8- Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina, Atlanta Dream)

9- Jordan Horston (Tennessee, Seattle Storm)

10- Zia Cooke (South Carolina, Los Angeles Sparks)

11- Abby Meyers (Maryland, Dallas Wings)

12- Maïa Hirsch (France, Minnesota Lynx)

13- Taylor Mikesell (Ohio State, Indiana Fever)

14- Shaneice Swain (Australia, Los Angeles Sparks)

15- Leigha Brown (Michigan, Atlanta Dream)

16- Dorka Juhász (UConn, Minnesota Lynx)

17- LaDazhia Williams (LSU, Atlanta Dream)

18- Madi Williams (Oklahoma, Seattle Storm)

19- Ashley Joens (Iowa State, Dallas Wings)

20- Elena Tsineke (South Florida, Washington Mystics)

21- Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (South Florida, Seattle Storm)

22- Alexis Morris (LSU, Connecticut Sun)

23- Kayana Traylor (Virginia Tech, Chicago Sky)

24- Brea Beal (South Carolina, Minnesota Lynx)

25- Victaria Saxton (South Carolina, Indiana Fever)

26- Monika Czinano (Iowa, Los Angeles Sparks)

27- Destiny Harden (Miami, Phoenix Mercury)

28- Taylor Soule (Virginia Tech, Minnesota Lynx)

29- Kadi Sissoko (USC, Phoenix Mercury)

30- Okako Adika (USC, New York Liberty)

31- Paige Robinson (Illinois State, Dallas Wings)

32- Txell Alarcón (Spain, Washington Mystics)

33- Jade Loville (Arizona, Seattle Storm)

34- Ashten Prechtel (Stanford, Connecticut Sun)

35- Kseniya Malashka (Middle Tennessee, Chicago Sky)

36- Brittany Davis (Alabama, Las Vegas Aces)

Monday Tragedy in Louisville

*The thoughts and opinions by Jared Anderson may not reflect that of the entire Cardinal Couple team. This section talks about gun-related deaths in Louisville and may be triggering or upsetting to some.*

While our goal is to cover the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics, sometimes other events occur that we need to address. There were two separate incidents yesterday that happened within a couple hours of each other and just a few blocks from each other.

The first incident happened at the Old National Bank building on Main Street next to Louisville Slugger Field. A former employee entered the building before the bank began normal operating hours and opened fire, killing four and wounding at least nine others.

The second incident happened just outside one of the JCTC buildings near the corner of Chestnut Street and Market Street. The shooter(s) dispersed before emergency personnel arrived on scene and left one person dead and another injured.

We tend to avoid politically-related topics at all costs here at the site... but when something hits so close to home it cannot be avoided so I am speaking on my own behalf here. While all Louisville students, including all Louisville student-athletes, woke up and began a normal day today, five people in Louisville did not wake up today. Many of us have grown up in this city and have great love for the city and community and now we suffer a tremendous amount of pain. It hits worse when it's close to home.

Change needs to happen to prevent these senseless acts of violence from continuing on in the future. I urge you to get involved in the push for change by contacting lawmakers and making sure to vote better people into office. Doing nothing changes nothing. 

We here at Cardinal Couple mourn and offer our condolences to those affected by yesterday's tragedies.

Have a good Tuesday and Go Cards.

Jared

Softball Hosts Notre Dame -- NCA and NDA Championships - THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Hosts Notre Dame

Paige Geraghty, Ally Alexander, Easton Lotus, Sam Booe, Alyssa Zabala

Due to the Easter holiday on Sunday, Louisville softball gets an early start to their weekend series. The Cards welcome Notre Dame to Don Dobina Field at Ulmer Stadium for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday series.

Most recently, Louisville is fresh off a 2-0 series sweep at Syracuse after the third game was cancelled due to freezing temperatures.

The Cards are 24-10 on the year and 9-2 in the ACC and hope to improve on those numbers against the Irish.

Hannah File, Sam Booe, Alyssa Zabala

Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 21-10-1 record. The Irish hold a 5-6-1 record in the ACC with the tie coming against Syracuse due to a drop dead time. In their most recent ACC series, Notre Dame dropped two games to Pitt, but turned around with a mercy rule victory against Ball State on Tuesday.

As a team, Notre Dame is hitting .325. Eight players are hitting above the .300 mark (minimum one at bat per game). Extra base hitting has been a strong suit for the Irish, who have 49 doubles and 42 home runs.

Carlli Kloss has been the top hitter with 40 hits on a .364 batting average. Her 12 doubles are also a team-high. Karina Gaskins and Joley Mitchell power the Irish with 27 and 26 rbis, respectively, with both players batting over .300.

In the circle, Notre Dame has run on a three-person rotation. Micaela Kastor powers the pitching staff with a 1.78 ERA. Payton Tidd has the most strikeouts with 78.

Today's game is set to start at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be aired on ACCNX.

NCA and NDA Championships

The Louisville cheer squads and Louisville Ladybirds are down in Daytona for the NCA (cheer) and NDA (dance) national championships. The Cards will have several groups compete.

Louisville cheer will be split into three main groups- All-Girl, Small Co-Ed, and Large Co-Ed- with each group competing in their respective category. There will also be a few four-person stunt groups competing in a separate event.

The Louisville Ladybirds have competed in two separate categories in the past, but will be competing in three this year- team, hip-hop, and jazz.

The all-time winningest programs in Louisville Athletics history are the cheer and dance programs, powered by dozens of women student-athletes.

Prelims for cheer start today and finals tomorrow while the dance prelims are split up between today and tomorrow and finals going on tomorrow and Saturday.

We wish all the groups the best of luck!

LESTER IN TRANSFER PORTAL

She never stepped on the court as a Louisville Cardinal, due to a leg injury, and now she has entered the transfer portal.  Imani Lester.

 

The 6'3" forward was the 57th ranked overall in the 2022 ESPN Hoop Gurlz. 

Wishing her the best, wherever she lands. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

WNBA Draft -- Softball vs UK -- Two National Champions -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WNBA Draft

Last night was a big night in the world of women's basketball- the 2022 WNBA Draft. We kept a particularly close eye on the draft due to multiple Cardinals who were projected to get drafted.

Rd 1, Pick 4: Emily Engstler, Indiana Fever. Congratulations to Emily Engstler! Louisville knocked one out of the park when she transferred to Louisville to finish her collegiate career for the 2021-2022 season. The Cards' fourth Final Four appearance in program would not have happened without her. Engstler was one of four players taken in the first round by the Indiana Fever. The Fever had seven overall picks.

Rd 2, Pick 16: Kianna Smith, Los Angeles Sparks. Congratulations to Kianna Smith! Smith was on the court the last two seasons for the Cards after sitting out the 2019-2020 season due to the NCAA transfer rules. The California native reached 1000 career points early this past season. She heads back to her home state of California as one of four players selected by the Los Angeles Sparks this draft.

Louisville has had 16 players drafted in the WNBA in program history. The Cards have had at least one player selected in the last four drafts and have had eight total players drafted in that span. 14 of the 16 have come under the Walz era. 

The ACC had eight players taken in the 2022 WNBA Draft: Louisville (Emily Engstler, Kianna Smith), NC State (Elissa Cunane, Kayla Jones), Florida State (Kierstan Bell), Georgia Tech (Lorela Cubaj), Virginia Tech (Aisha Sheppard), and Notre Dame (Maya Dodson).

The SEC had seven players taken in the 2022 WNBA Draft. The Big Ten and Big 12 each had four players drafted. The Pac-12 had two players drafted. Baylor and UConn each had three players drafted.

Softball Hosts Kentucky

After an eventful seven-game weekend revolving around volleyball, softball, and baseball, plus a bomb threat scare, I'm ready to get back to campus for more UofL sports. Louisville softball welcomes rival #8 Kentucky to Ulmer Stadium at 6:00 p.m.

This game is rescheduled from last Wednesday, when weather was not cooperative. The weather appears to be not cooperative again today, but fingers crossed we will get this game in.

The game is marked as a RED out. Admission for chair back seating is $5 while outfield berm seating is free.

Kentucky is 27-9 on the year with an 8-4 conference record. They are 9-6 against ranked opponents, including a sweep over LSU. They boast a .318 team batting average with nearly the entire starting lineup batting over .300.

Erin Coffell has been the top offensive contributor for the Wildcats with a .415 batting average, 11 home runs, and 41 rbis.

Maranda Stoddard is their top pitcher with a 5-3 record, a 3.30 ERA and 30 strikeouts. Alexia Lacatena and Sloan Gayan have each had strong seasons with sub-3.00 ERAs. As a whole, UK's pitching corps has a 3.00 ERA with 159 strikeouts to 90 walks.

You can catch this game on ESPNU.

Cheer and Dance Have High Success at NCA/NDA Championships

Louisville Cheer brought back two national championships from their All-Girl and Small Coed squads and a third place finish from the Large Coed squad. The four-person stunt groups finished third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth.

The Louisville Ladybirds finished fourth in the team/pom division and second in the hip-hop division.

Between a pair of national championships and several other top-tier finishes, we would like to congratulate the unofficial athletics teams at UofL, especially since neither championship could've have been accomplished without women student-athletes.

                                   **********************************************

Circling back around to the bomb threat at Jim Patterson Stadium (baseball) on Sunday that I mentioned, I want to take a moment to praise the Louisville game day and operations staff for acting quickly and clearing out a 2000+ crowd out of the stadium in under 10 minutes. They were able to act a professional manner while keeping everyone calm. We never want to see an emergency situation at a game, but it is comforting to know that the staff and volunteers are all well-trained to handle a situation if it were to arise.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball vs UNC -- Directors Cup Standings -- Daytona -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Daryl is back to running the show with the Louisville Bats. They began their season this week and had a home game last night. To keep her from being up until the sun rises, I stepped in to help her out today.

Softball Hosts North Carolina

It appears to be North Carolina hate weekend on campus with both Louisville softball and Louisville baseball hosting the Tar Heels on campus. For the Cards at Ulmer, the weekend schedule features one game on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Louisville had extra rest this weekend with their game against Kentucky getting postponed due to weather. With Don Dobina Field a little too wet to get much fielding done, we can assume the Cards spent plenty of time in the batting cages.

North Carolina fell to 19-18 this week after falling to Charlotte in a midweek game. The Tar Heels boast a 4-8 conference record.

As a team, UNC bats .275 with 156 total runs scored and 16 home runs. They have four players batting above .300, but have struggled a bit offensively.

Like the Cards, North Carolina has had some pitching woes, with a 5.45 team ERA. Four pitchers have seen between 35 and 83 innings pitched. Hannah George has been their top player in the circle with a 10-3 record and a .234 opponents batting average.

Today's game is slated for 6:00 p.m. Based off the forecast, we hope that will remain the same, but you might want to bring a coat or blanket to account for the chilly temperature.

Louisville Moves to #20 in Learfield Directors' Cup Standings

Following a strong winter sports season, Louisville moved up to #20 in the latest Learfield Directors' Cup standings.

Women's basketball finished their season third after making the Final Four and contributed 83 points.

Women's swimming and diving finished their season sixth- a program best- and contributed 73.5 points.

Men's swimming and diving finished their season 12th and contributed 64.5 points.

Women's indoor track and field finished 40th and contributed 31.5 points.

Men's indoor track and field finished 60th and contributed 13.5 points.

The 266 winter points puts Louisville at 452 for the school year. The Cards moved up from 25th after the fall season and hope to improve it even more in the spring.

Volleyball (3rd- 83 points), women's basketball (3rd- 83 points), women's swimming and diving (6th- 73.5 points), and field hockey (9th- 53 points) have been the top contributors so far. I guess women's sports continue to dominate Louisville Athletics. It's not like we haven't preached that here at Cardinal Couple since before some of the current student-athletes were born...

Cheer and Dance in Daytona

Louisville Cheer and Ladybirds are in Daytona at the NCA and NDA Championships. The event began yesterday and runs through the weekend.

Louisville Cheer will have three groups competing in All-Girl, Small Co-Ed, and Large Co-Ed. Each group will be competing in the varsity team event. The three groups had their preliminary round yesterday. All-Girl hit zero, meaning they had no penalties/deductions yesterday. Hitting zero is pretty uncommon so it was a great start for them.

Louisville Ladybirds will be competing in the jazz and hip hop divisions. Jazz had prelims yesterday and finals today. Hip hop begins prelims tomorrow.

We wish all of the groups the best of luck and hope to see five team championships come back to Louisville this weekend.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

All Focus on Spring Sports -- Random News and Notes -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

With the conclusion of the women's basketball season- congratulations to South Carolina on their second national championship- all of our focus moves onto spring sports. Well, with volleyball, women's soccer, and field hockey all playing spring friendlies in the last week, you could turn your attention to fall sports too, but my attention span can't handle that much.

Women's Golf

Mairead Martin with the "hat trick" 

Louisville women's golf just wrapped up their regular season over the weekend. The Cards finished fourth at the Wolfpack Match Play at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course.

Instead of the normal style invitational, this event placed two teams against each other each round. Louisville faced Virginia Tech in the opening round and #3 South Carolina in the second round before closing out the invitational against NC State in the final round.

The Cards took a 3-2 (each player counts as one point) victory over ACC foe Virginia Tech with Gabbi Bentancourt, Mairead Martin, and Kendall Griffin won their match-ups, all three wins were tight.

Highly-ranked South Carolina (is this South Carolina hate week?) cruised to a 4-1 win over the Cards in the second round. Martin won her second match-up in as many rounds.

In the final day of the Wolfpack Match Play, Louisville was matched up against host NC State. The Wolfpack snuck by with a 3-2 win. Martin went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend while Lauren Thibodeau earned the other point.

South Carolina won the entire event, sweeping through the ACC with wins over Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Louisville.

The ACC Championship is next on the calendar and will be held at The Reserve Golf Club in Pawley's Island, S.C. from April 14-17.

Lacrosse Hosts Vanderbilt

Louisville Lacrosse closes out their home stand today with a noon start against Vanderbilt at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. This one will be on ACC Network Extra (online only).

The Cards are fresh off a 2OT heartbreaker to Ohio State at Cardinal Stadium last week. The Buckeyes scored the game winner with less than half a second remaining in the second overtime period.

Vandy is 7-4 on the year and started conference play with a running clock loss to Temple. Since the SEC does not carry women's lacrosse, Vanderbilt competes in the AAC. Kentucky's men's soccer team competes in Conference USA for the same reason.

The Commodores average 12.6 goals per game with half of those coming on unassisted plays.

Bri Gross has been the go-to player for Vandy this year. The senior leads the team with 21 goals and 49 draw controls. Grad student Gabby Fornia ranked second in the country with 34 assists.

For Louisville, the major keys to the game will be winning the draw control battle and forcing Vanderbilt to go deep into the 90-second shot clock for a bad shot or turnover.

Softball Hosts Kentucky

We will get more into this tomorrow, but Louisville softball hosts rival #8 Kentucky on Wednesday at Ulmer Stadium at 7:00 p.m. The forecast for most of the day appears to be wet, but should hopefully improve by first pitch.

The Cards are 19-15 on the year after a 2-1 series loss at NC State last weekend and are looking for their second ranked win on the year.

Random News and Notes

-- After taking the NCAA Pick Em title this year, I'll be hosting an autograph session at Hailey Van Lith's Player of the Year ceremony next season. In all seriousness, between quite a bit of lucky guesses  and a little bit of knowledge about NCAA women's basketball, it eased my path to the win. I was hopeful to see the Cards ruin my bracket in the final couple rounds to win the championship, but my bracket champion got the win in the Final Four before taking down UConn in the championship.

Also, shout out to Kenny S on also getting 47 wins! He has won or tied for first in the last three NCAA Pick Em's, so I'll be consulting him in the future on what picks to make.

-- Louisville Cheer (All-Girl, Small Co-Ed, and Large Co-Ed) and the Louisville Ladybirds are headed to Daytona for the NCA and NDA Championships this week and weekend. Louisville Cheer can bring back up to three titles while the Ladybirds hope to bring back two titles. Even though they are not a recognized sport at Louisville, we still hope to cover exciting news for these Louisville women's athletes.

Rivalry Week is a bit bigger than just softball as baseball visits Kentucky tonight at 6:30 p.m. We love a good rivalry win so let's hope the Cards return home as Battle of the Bluegrass Part 1 champions. The Cards host UK in a couple weeks at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Highlighting UofL Cheer Championships -- Charlie McAdams -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 UofL Cheer Takes Home Two Titles

As Paulie mentioned roughly a week ago on here, Louisville welcomed home two new titles recently. Louisville cheer took the crown with their All-Girl and Small Co-Ed squads. Due to the demanding schedule combined between fall and spring sports we did not get a true opportunity to highlight their accomplishments.

The Louisville spirit squads are well-known and can often be seen at football games, men's basketball games, women's basketball games, and various community outreach projects.

Louisville Cheer is broken into three groups: All-Girl, Small Co-Ed, and Large Co-Ed. The groups speak for themselves with All-Girl comprised of only women cheerleaders. Small Co-Ed and Large Co-Ed are a mixture of men and women cheerleaders with Large Co-Ed having more members. Each group can compete in a prelims and finals.

There is also the option for the cheerleaders to break into small four-person stunt groups, which is considered its own entity instead of an attachment directly to any of the cheer squads.

Louisville Ladybirds is the name of Louisville's dance team. They are not broken into groups like the cheerleaders. However, they compete in two different categories with Dance Team Performance and Dance Team Hip-Hop.

Earlier this month, all of the Louisville spirit squads traveled to Daytona for the NCA and NDA competitions. Like most years, the accolades came pouring in.

Louisville Large Co-Ed finished third in their division. The Ladybirds took second in both of their divisions. Louisville Cheer had a stunt group finish runner-up. Louisville All-Girl and Louisville Small Co-Ed each took home the title.

For Louisville All-Girl, this is their seventh straight national championship with a score of 95.5458. They beat out Oklahoma State by 1.5 points. They have won a total of 17 NCA Championships dating back to 1998.

Louisville Small Co-Ed saw their first national championship since 2017. After sitting in second after prelims, Small Co-Ed jumped ahead of Arkansas State to win with a score of 95.9709. Arkansas State finished well behind them by a margin of 6.1 points. This is their 11th NCA Championship dating back to 2005.

The routines performed by the groups is vastly different than what is seen at UofL games. At home games, UofL Cheer and Ladybirds are used more for entertainment and focused on energizing the crowd. During competitions, the groups focus on a much more strenuous and demanding routine with more tumbling and stunts.

Unlike most sports, these groups don't have a regular season or have multiple chances to qualify for the championships. What happens in prelims and finals at Daytona is all they get. These groups spend all year preparing for an event that happens over the span of a couple days.

Cardinal Couple had the opportunity to speak with Myah Rice, who recently won a national championship with Louisville All-Girl. Myah described the feeling of winning a title as well as the work they put in to get there.

As a site that prides itself on covering the Joy and Excitement of UofL Women's Sports we are thrilled to see these two UofL squads bring home the hardware to Louisville. Congratulations to both groups!

WITH OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES...

You all know our illustrious and Volleyball-loving writer Jeff McAdams here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

It is with our deepet sympathies and sad regret that we bring you the new that Jeff

s father -- Charlie McAdams-- has passed away. 

Charlie was 77 and a retired school teacher/ administrator  with the Jefferson County School Systems. A military veteran and college graduate from Western Kentucky, Charlie was married to his wife Vivian and had two sons, two grand-children and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, family, friends and former students. 

You can read the obituary at the link below: 

CHARLIE MCADAMS OBITUARY

From all of us at Cardinal Couple, our deepest sympathies on his passing to the family. If you'd like to leave a message for Jeff and the family in our comments section, or in the Dignity Memorial section, I'm sure that they would appreciate it. 

A Thoughtful Tuesday to you and Go Cards!

Jared

Todd Sharp Released -- Another One Bites The Dust -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

COACH OF THE LADYBIRDS DANCE TEAM TODD SHARP TERMINATED

If it's Tuesday, then there must be another coach on the rocks at UofL. Today we find out that Todd Sharp, who has coached the LadyBirds, Louisville's multi-national champion, award-winning dance squad, has been let go by the University of Louisville.

Personal reasons. No further elaboration or comments out of UofL 

There was a brief discussion between me and a patron of "an establishment" last evening on whether dancing is a varsity sport or not. I think I won the argument (with a "yes" stance) that it is. The LadyBirds practice (viewing any episode of the Lifetime series/television show SO SHARP about the 2016-17 squad will confirm the practice part). They compete against other dance squads, in scheduled events, to win titles and championships. They have a roster, leaders, various positions on the floor, coaches and people attend the events. 

I says "Yes" to the sport classification. And, the Cards have been a successful squad. They were the 2018 NCA/NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Champions. We've got a link for you below on that

LINK: 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPS

They've won 14 National Championships...way more than Rick Pitino and Denny Crum combined..and all under Sharp and Sheryl Knight.  

No official reasoning or statement has been released by the University yet, saying it is a personal matter. He's also gone at Floyd Central High School, where he allegedly stepped down as well.  His Twitter account has been deleted. 

We won't get into the ramifications of the "personal matter" wording. I'll let you, the reader, weigh and review the items and thoughts associated with that particular reason for dismissal. Speculation from a source close to the program offers a possible reason but we won't go into speculation here. 

The LadyBirds are a big-crowd ticket item only. I've never saw them at a Field Hockey, Lacrosse, women's soccer or tennis match. The competition to become a LadyBird is intense from what I hear. That probably won't change. 

So, who replaces Sharp and joins Knight? I got a few ideas... 


LINK: LAMAR ON THE LOOSE

LINK: STAYIN' ALIVE

LINK: BILLIE JEAN?

LINK: FOOTLOOSE

LINK: FLASHIN'


The LadyBirds are always a enjoyable, quite viewable and entertaining part of major sporting events including the Cardinals. We see them at Football, Men and Women's Basketball. Sheryl Knight is still there and employed, as far as we know...and had just as much to do with the successes of the squad as anyone. 

Just when he clears his plate...another heaping helping to pile on Vince Tyra's plate..at the University of Louisville, who is starting to resemble Pittsburgh in coaching changes. 

Young, Pitino, Jurich, Petrino, Lolla and now Sharp as departures at UofL athletics. Some very justified departures. Some we know not why yet. Like a game of musical chairs. 
paulie
xxxxx

Jared Anderson's Weekend Review...Robins, Softball, and more -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Weather, Weather Go Away

If you thought winter was over then guess again.  This weekend, the first full weekend of April (yes, April!), has freezing temperatures and potential snow in the forecast.  Unfortunately, the cruelty of the weather is unkind to outdoor sports.

Softball has altered their series with Virginia.  They will face the Cavaliers in a doubleheader today beginning at 2:00 p.m., with the other one happening following a short intermission.  Game three is still set for Sunday at noon.

Men's soccer had a spring scrimmage against Evansville on Saturday night.  It is been moved to today starting at 7:30 p.m.  Unlike the regular season, admission for the spring events is free.

Lacrosse, playing on the road and a little further south in Chapel Hill, will still play on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Baseball is still set for their single game each day this weekend, but is on alert with potential schedule changes, weather pending.

Women's tennis has moved their event indoors with admission still being free at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.


Hanging on for Dear Life

Louisville softball begins their series against Virginia today.  Their season seems to have taken a turn for the worst recently.  Virginia is bottom of the barrel when it comes to terms of ACC teams.  The are 11-25 and 2-10 in conference play.

The Cards' speed has been the extent of the offense lately.  Sidney Melton is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases and Celene Funke has successfully stolen base 11 times.  Melton is three stolen bases away from moving into Louisville's Top-10.  Nicole Pufahl has had success driving runs in throughout her career and has 99 career rbi's.

Danielle Watson is still listed as questionable with back pain, leaving Megan Hensley to handle the bulk of the work.

Louisville hopes to get a sweep this weekend, which would improve their record to 27-11 and 7-5.

Remember, schedule change today where the squads will play a Friday doubleheader, beginning at 2 p.m. and the third game of the series on Sunday. Walk right in, it's a freebie.


Bass-Rudd's Indoor Warmth

Right around the corner from Ulmer Stadium is one of the finest tennis stadiums in all the land.  Bass-Rudd features eight outdoor courts as well as a complete interior facility with six indoor and climate-controlled courts.

Women's tennis hovers around the Top-50 in the country.  The duo of Abbie Pahz and Mariana Humberg have been dominant on the court.  Aleksandra Mally has been the top singles player on the team all season.

Grab some snacks and hot chocolate and head on over to watch some future Grand Slam Champions compete.

Future Basketball Stars

If you want to see UofL WBB recruits in action before they join the ranks of the Red and Black they will be showcasing their talent at Thomas More College tonight and tomorrow.  The Slam Jam Fest is tonight at 7:00 p.m., and the Ohio/Kentucky all star-game is Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Thomas More is a northern Kentucky college located in Crestview Hills, KY,. It's not far from Erlanger and not too far off of I-71 or I-275.

Molly Lockhart (Butler High School, Louisville), Seygan Robins (Mercer County High School, Harrodsburg), and Mykasa Robinson (Ashland Blazer High School, Ashland) will all have one last go-around before their high school days conclude.

Daytona Days

Louisville cheerleaders and Ladybirds are in Daytona competing in nationals.  They have been there for a couple of days already and will remain there through Sunday with the multiple competitions and events.

The cheer-leading events include the Louisville all-girl, small co-ed, and large co-ed divisions.  They have completed their 45 second school support cheers with the longer, more acrobatic events coming up.

The dance events include the Louisville Ladybirds competing in multiple genres, where they have had a high rate of success since Todd Sharp became their leader.


A few random holidays today include National Walk to Work Day, National Twinkie Day, and Drowsy Drivers Awareness Day.  However, the most relevant holiday to Cardinal Couple is National Student Athlete Day.  We recognize the hard work, sacrifices, contributions, and successes that these few, proud folks that call themselves student athletes.

Paulie would also probably want me to add that today is the first day of the Keeneland Spring Meet in Lexington. This grand, old horse-racing facility brings in the best horses, trainers, owner and jockeys for a few weeks in the spring and fall. Nine races today, with the eighth being the Transylvania Stakes race for three-year-olds.

Paulie and the boys will be firing up HANDICAPPING HEROES again starting Saturday on the website and on WCHQFM. This informative half-hour show gives you a glimpse into the late Pick 4 sequence and who the fellas are thinking might make you a little money. You can read their picks at

www.paulsykes.com

and hear the show at noon Saturday.  They handed out a lot of profitable advice laast year and they're a great source to review and help you decide hpow to handicap and wager on Kentucky racing.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

-- Jared --