Volleyball Ranked #2 -- WSoc Panic Time? -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Volleyball Ranked #2

With the most recent AVCA Poll getting released yesterday, we had plenty to celebrate as Louisville Volleyball moved up to #2 in the rankings. The #2 ranking is the highest in program history.

The Cards continued their undefeated streak as they swept Boston College easily Friday night before sweeping Syracuse in a tighter match on Sunday.

Pitt hosted Georgia Tech over the weekend and the Yellow Jackets took the upset victory in five sets, dropping the Panthers to #4 in the latest rankings. Georgia Tech moved up to #16.

Texas retained their top spot and held onto all 64 first place votes. Wisconsin rose to #3. Kentucky (#5), Purdue (#6), and Nebraska (#9), all whom the Cards beat, stayed in the Top 10. Miami (Fla) is in the receiving votes category, but no other ACC squads cracked the Top 25.

Louisville sits alone atop the ACC standings with Pitt and Miami both looming nearby in the shadows with one loss each.

Louisville  6-0

Pittsburgh  5-1

Miami  5-1

Georgia Tech  4-2

Florida State  4-2

Notre Dame  4-2

Syracuse  3-3

Clemson  3-3

NC State  3-3

North Carolina  2-4

Duke  2-4

Boston College  2-4

Wake Forest  1-5

Virginia  1-5

Virginia Tech  0-6

Louisville swept Miami in their only match against the Hurricanes this year. Louisville swept Georgia Tech on the road earlier this season and will host them in a rematch on November 12. The Cards swept Florida State in their only meeting this year. Notre Dame is still creeping nearby and the Cards and Irish will play twice- November 15 and the season finale on November 26.

The Cards' next three matches come against the bottom three in the conference and one should hope Louisville cruises by each of them. But you can never overlook any opponent or you'll be seeing the losses column rise.

Assuming Louisville wins those three matches and improves to 19-0, the big showdown will be on October 24 with Pitt comes to town. The two volleyball rivals will be vying for the top spot in the conference with the ACC Championship potentially on the line. A win against the Panthers would also tie Louisville's best start in program history at 20-0.

For now, the best approach would seem to be to take things one match at a time and keep playing the style of Louisville Volleyball.

Panic Time for Women's Soccer?

Is it time for Louisville Women's Soccer to go on Red Alert? With just four matches remaining and the Cards outside of the top six in the ACC, you could argue that it's time to panic.

The ACC shortened the ACC Tournament from eight teams to six teams this season with the top two seeds earning a first-round bye. The other eight teams get left behind. Why they decided to do this is anyone's guess. Maybe it was a message in a fortune cookie...or a dream that the ACC Commissioner had. I've got to think the coaches wouldn't have voted to do this. The mystery continues. 

At 7-4-1 overall and a 3-3 conference mark for nine points, Louisville has some... er... a lot of work to do. Sitting at seventh in the conference is "no bueno."

Boston College is next on the schedule. The Eagles come to Lynn Stadium winless in conference play. This is a must win for the Cards.

The Cavalier not known for his front-line blocking...

They head to visit a 12-1-1 Virginia team who is ranked #2 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and is third in the conference with 16 points after that. Like Florida State and Notre Dame, the Cavaliers are no joke and can score on you in a hurry. You hope for a draw at worst to walk away with one point.

The Cards remain on the road to face a receiving votes Clemson team. The Tigers are 8-5 on the year and have nine points in the ACC, like the Cards. Two of those losses came to FSU and ND. This is another must-win for the Cards to get the full three points and remain ahead of Clemson (sorry, Arthur).

The season finale and senior night welcomes #4 Duke. The Blue Devils haven't had as great of an ACC outing as they had hoped so far at 3-2-1 with seven points, but any highly ranked team is an immediate threat. Like Virginia, you hope to at least manage a draw.

By that calculation, the Cards would finish with 17 points (highest possible is 21, lowest possible is 12), which should be enough to get them in the top six, but it could still be a stretch depending how the higher teams perform.

So no Red Alert yet, but anything but a win this Friday night could easily end any postseason chances for Louisville.

Louisville Football Disappointment

We ARE NOT a football site, but, regular reader Arthur posed a question in the comments section yesterday that I will provide an answer for. It concerns Louisville football -- an item of intense discussion around the city since Saturday night.

To answer Arthur's question from yesterday, Paulie and Sonya were out in the stands cheering on Louisville Football Saturday as I was making my rounds on the field taking pictures.

It was a disappointing result -- after the Cards held a 17-point lead late in the game. Thankfully, for me, I have plenty of other photo opportunities with fans, band, cheer, and dance.

It was cool seeing many of the Louisville women's teams represented and recognized on the field. I got a chance to speak with a few players and coaches before they went out there. Louisville Volleyball also received acknowledgement and recognition for their 2020 ACC Championship. Goodness, that trophy is much bigger in person.

I do want to close out the article on a much lighter note and wish my better half a very Happy Birthday! Katy celebrates another year around the sun today and I'm fortunate to be able to spend part of the day with her and treat her to dinner.

It's no impromptu trip to Walt Disney World like her 21st birthday  a few years back, but we'll still make the most of it!

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!
Jared

Predicting Fall Records: Field Hockey -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Predicting Fall Records Part Three: Field Hockey

With two days remaining until the first UofL women's sporting event for the Fall 2020, we come to the third chapter of looking at fall sports and predicting their record.

Field hockey is the last of the three major women's fall sports to start their schedule.  Their first game is not until the very end of September, with a two-day double header beginning Sept. 26.

Of the three fall sports, field hockey appears to have the toughest schedule.  When it comes to field hockey, the ACC is THE conference to look to, with all seven teams being ACC contenders and national championship contenders every year.

As we discussed last week on the Cardinal Couple YouTube-Skype-SoundCloud-Anchor Hour Podcast, the ACC is only counting the opening game for conference standings, when they play an opponent twice, although teams will play a few more than the six-game schedule. Welcome to 2020...

The Cards kick off the season by hosting Duke for a two-game series on Sept. 26 and 27.  The Blue Devils have reached the Final Four six times since 2003.  Their 1-5 conference record last year is their worst record since before Louisville joined the ACC.  Pam Bustin, who used to coach Louisville before Justine Sowry, has had Duke as a national powerhouse every year.  This is a tough match-up for the Cards that I see them going 1-1-in, with Duke taking the first game.

North Carolina visits Louisville on Oct. 2.  Arguably the best program in NCAA field hockey history, the Tar Heels have four national championships in the last 13 years.  You can add five national runner-up finishes and three Final Four (non-championship game) appearances in that span.  North Carolina is incredible and is a favorite for a three-peat national title and the Cards will be one of the victims along the way.

The final home game is on Oct. 4 in a match-up with Boston College.  The Cards upset the Eagles in Chestnut Hill 3-2 during the regular season, but faltered in a sudden death shootout in the Elite Eight.  Boston College is no walk in the park, but I see the Cards finding a way to grind out a victory on Senior Day to improve to 2-2.

The road portion of the schedule begins with a stop in Winston-Salem for a two-game series against Wake Forest on Oct. 9 and 11.  The Demon Deacons were voted to finish last in the conference this year.  This is a team the Cards blanked 3-0 last year, but fell to twice the previous year.  Playing on the road in the ACC is tough but I see the Cards going 1-1 while getting the win in the first game.

Virginia is next on the list for the road trip, with games on Oct. 23 and 24.  The Wahoos finished second in the conference last year, advanced to the Final Four, and are preseason number two in the conference.  This is a team that has averaged about 2.5 losses at home per season over the last decade.  Like the Cards, a normal home schedule typically features 9-12 home games.  UofL will not be able to break through at Virginia, falling in both games to drop to 3-5.

Syracuse is the final stop on the schedule the day before Halloween.  The Orange are typically a middle of the pack or lower level team when it comes to the ACC.  Louisville fell to the Orange in overtime on Senior Day last year before winning in regulation to open the conference tournament.  Louisville won the three previous match-ups, with two of them going into double overtime.  This is typically an exciting game, but I think the Cards will come out on top.

If my math is correct, UofL will finish the season 4-5 by my prediction.  That also should have the Cards finishing 3-3 in conference play, which is on par for them.

So... with a tough schedule ahead here are some of my bold predictions:

-Madison Walsh will outscore Mercedes Pastor in goals scored.  With Bethany Russ graduated, the biggest offensive threat is Mechi, who scored nine goals last year.  The senior will draw heavy defensive attention.  Walsh finished last year with eight goals, but has flown slightly under the radar, giving her a good advantage.

-The Cards will average 1.25 goals per game.  This is a team that averaged 2.23 goals per game a year ago, but they don't have the luxury of dropping 3-4 goals against non-conference opponents.  They scored 10 goals in six regular season games last year, an average of 1.67 goals per game.  Carter Ayars and Bethany Russ, two of the top four scorers from last year are gone and the ACC is going to be tough.

-The sophomore class will be the most impressive class for field hockey this year.  The senior class is stacked so this is an ultra-bold prediction.  But look at some of the members of the sophomore class: Sam Minrath, Margot Lawn, and Julie Kouijzer, among others.  Only two players make up the junior class so much of the responsibility falls onto younger players.  This season will be a make or break year depending what the sophomore class does.  Coach Sowry is one tough cookie and she has high expectations and demands of them.  By them stepping up they will impress all of us.

How do you think field hockey will fare this season?  Are the bold predictions completely insane?

We still have some time before we find out, but it is coming quick.

Piggybacking Paulie

No, Paulie is not giving out piggyback rides.  He wouldn't make it too far if he tried.  However, I was in the same stadium as he was Saturday evening.

First of all, wear the mask.  The rules don't state that you can take them off altogether or pull them below your chin once in your seat.  UofL can quickly pull fans from all sporting events if they think the fans are responsible enough to handle themselves.  I'm sure Worldwide would love to keep up his volleyball tickets and Case his soccer tickets, but if fans cannot handle themselves at football then UofL has no problem putting their foot down on the other fall sports.

I, too, had some unpleasant experiences with WKU fans.  Mine involved four very drunk frat boys a couple rows behind me.  Their antics featured no masks and a 10-word vocabulary made up primarily of words I cannot repeat here.

Fans are typically better at women's sporting events with a few exceptions.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WNBA REGULAR SEASON ENDS -- SATURDAY REFLECTIONS -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 DOWN TO EIGHT

The final day of the regular season in the WNBA had three games, and involved all four of the former UofL WBB stars.

WASHINGTON 85 - ATLANTA 78

Another big afternoon for Myisha Hines-Allen, who recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to help get Washington into the playoffs as the eighth seed. The Mystics, who finished the regular season on a 5-1 run, will face #5 seed Phoenix on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. 

The Mystics held a 44-43 halftime lead and Atlanta was getting the majority of their points from the amazing Chennedy Carter. she fouled out for the Dream, after 26 points and Washington, who finished 9-13 on the season lives on for at least one more game. 

LAS VEGAS 86  - SEATTLE 84 

Angel McCoughtry saw just five minutes in the contest, being rested by Las Vegas head coach Bill Laimbeer. Seattle was without Sue Bird (bruised left knee) and Breanna Stewaart (left foot tendinitis) -- isn't wasn't exactly a true matchup between the top two teams in the league but the Aces get the win, the #1 seed, and rest to watch until Sunday's semifinals. 

So does Seattle, as the #2 seed. Both teams finished 18-4.

Angel did get five points and a rebound in her five minutes. A'ja Wilson and Dearica Hamby led Las Vegas with 23 points each. 

DALLAS 82 - NEW YORK 79

Jazmine Jones put a huge exclamation point on her rookie season with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Liberty, who are now eliminated. Kylee Shook saw 11 minutes but did not score for New York. Dallas need to win, and see Washington lose to get a playoff berth, the Wings did their part but the Mystics finish one game better than the Wings.

So, the playoff picture looks like this:

Tuesday games: 

#8 Washington vs #5 Phoenix                                                                            #6 Chicago Sky vs #7 Connecticut

Quarterfinals: 

#3 Los Angeles gets the winner of Washington vs. Phoenix                                #4 Minnesota gets the winner of Chicago vs Connecticut

Semifinals

#1 Las Vegas gets the quarterfinal winner (Minnesota, Chicago or Connecticut       #2 Seattle gets the quarterfinal winner )Washington, Phoenix or Los Angeles. 

FAN OBSERVATION AT FOOTBALL

In summation, it was weird...going to the UofL Football game Saturday. No throngs of people crowded Boxley Ave, the Parking lots, the UPS Flight Deck or outside the stadium 

My group of four walked over to the stadium a little after 7 p.m., walked right up to the gate, got our temperatures scanned (we passed!), clear bags checked, did the "hands up and get wanded thing" and went to the check-in-scanner.

And, that was the part that made me a bit nervous. I've had "paper" tickets since the days of Howard Schnellenberger and old Cardinal Stadium. I download the GoCards app to my phone was pretty sure I did it correctly but I explained to the friendly check-in-guy that I was a rookie at this.

We got through it without a hitch, though. I even printed out my e-mail confirming I had tickets and had it on me, but, it wasn't needed. 

In a minor upset, Paulie 1 - Technology 0

Walking a nearly empty concourse, going to my seat -- second row, Crunch Zone -- wearing a mask, and staring at all the empty seats around me as I walked down the steps. 

THE JERKS

So, I got to my row and there were two people standing in row 1 watching WKU warm up. Man and a woman, no masks. I loudly commented to my wife about the social distancing rule. They turned and stared at me coldly and then turned back around to watch WKU. 

In earlier days, I probably would have made an issue about it. But, I just waited. WKU finally went back to their locker room and the couple turned to leave. The man muttered something in passing, I won't repeat it here. I just let it go. The 2020 WKU fan base is a bunch of jerks, if these two are any representation of them. They probably weren't, in all honesty, but the "Paulie of 20 years ago" would have punched this lout right in the jaw and sent him face first onto the field. 

THE GAME

It rained off and on. It seemed like every time I would take my poncho off, the rain would pick up again. I finally just left it on. I wore my mask the entire game. There were two "mask patrol" guys on the field walking by about every five minutes or so, looking for mask-rule-violators. They were busy, pointing at selective groups in the seats, pointing to their faces and standing there until the groups put their masks back on. 

Louisville got off to a rocky start when the punter fumbled a snap early, WKU got the ball back right in front of us and score. But the Cards have weapons. Louisville responded with 28 straight points (Micale Cunningham was definitely on target with his receiving corps) and that was fun. We stood and cheered. That was a first half to remember. We got to see Louisville score three times, right in front of us, in the second quarter. 

The second half? Well, it just kinda happened. Nothing spectacular or game-changing. We left after the game ended, I walked right into one of the restrooms, no wait, did my business, washed my hands and that was a first for me, after 35 + years of attending Cardinal Football. No crowded restroom. We walked through another empty concourse, went straight to the truck, drove right out with no traffic delays and were home a little after midnight. 

The emptiness of the stands reminded me of how the stadium looked in past years during big rain storms. Indiana State, UK and FSU came to mind. It was eerie but it was football, we were socially distanced and it was a win. A good time, despite the different atmosphere and crowd participation.  

Were you there? Any other observations? Any other questions? You know the routine....leave a comment. 

paulie

 

And We're Off - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 Sports Return to UofL

We have results to report on for the first time half a year.  It's been a "summer slump" like never before, but we're, at least officially, past it.  OK, it's Football, which is not normally in our reporting scope, but let's celebrate the return of sports in whatever form.

Traditionally Soccer, and usually the women's soccer squad, is the official kick off of fall sports, and it typically would've happened almost a month ago, but of course these aren't usual times in any way.

It's always great to start off the UofL sports calendar with a win, and we did this year, with Football getting a...well...rather wobbly looking 35-21 win over in-state foe WKU.  There's plenty to clean up on the gridiron, but you've got plenty of places to go for analysis of that game. Anyone interested in playing on the punt team as a blocker, report to Scott Satterfield immediately.   After all, you come to Cardinal Couple for coverage and analysis that just doesn't exist anywhere else. 

The Week Ahead

In something that feels like a tip of the hat towards normalcy, the women's soccer squad will get things underway for the Olympic Sports this week on Thursday at Miami.  And Cross-Country gets going Saturday at Notre Dame.

Field Hockey and Volleyball don't get things started until next weekend.  They do get to have the first home competitions of the overall season, however, with Duke and Notre Dame coming to visit, respectively.

The UofL composite calendar is doing us no favors with several sports having schedules posted, but not showing up on the composite calendar.  If you go to the UofL site, don't count on the composite calendar showing you everything.  At the time of this writing, it appears that the Football, Field Hockey, and Men's Soccer schedules exist and are post on the respective team schedule pages, but are not appearing on the composite calendar.  It's just one tiny little way that 2020 is keeping people on their toes.

WNBA

Mystics-Liberty

All of the WNBA Cards were in action yesterday, and half got wins.  There was no way for all of them to come out victorious as Jaz Jones and Kylee Shook with the New York Liberty were playing Myisha Hines-Allen with the Washington Mystics.

Hines-Allen unsurprisingly, given the team records, came out with the W in this one, 75-58.

Mooks had a very fine game, getting the double-double with 25 points, and 11 rebounds.  Also add in four assists and three steals, and that's one you can be happy with.  About midway through the first quarter Myisha had more made baskets than the whole New York Liberty team.

Jazine Jones got her first career WNBA start, thanks in part to Layshia Clarendon not being dressed for this one because of back issues, and had a good outing.  Eight points is a solid contribution, along with a block and a pair of pilfers.  But perhaps her biggest contribution was in keeping the offensive system moving, with her seven rebounds giving the Liberty some extra possessions to do their best, and six assists to help others in those possessions.

Kylee Shook had a decent outing, coming up with four points and five rebounds.

Aces-Sparks

The Las Vegas Aces came out on top vs the Los Angeles Sparks, 84-70.  Angel McCoughtry showing us why her career in the WNBA has lasted as long as it has.  Part of the trio of top scorers for the Aces, Angel finished with 18 just behind A'ja Wilson's 19 and just ahead of Kayla McBride's 17.  Six rebounds and a trio of assists for Angel, and that's a darn good stat line for just under 24 minutes of playing time.

Bill Laimbeer keeps the playing time spread around the team pretty well with eight of the ten active players in the wubble for the Aces getting north of 12 minutes of playing time.

Today

Everyone is back in action today to wrap up the regular season for the WNBA.  The Liberty vs the Dallas Wings is at noon, The Aces are in what looks like it could be a very good game against the Seattle Storm at 3pm, and the Mystics get the regular season finale with the Atlanta Dream at 5pm.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

When our wonderful host, for many years, WCHQ, shut down at the end of the year, we decided we would keep the name "Cardinal Couple Radio Hour" with our tongue firmly in cheek since we would no longer actually be on the radio.  Now?  We also realized, as part of that transition, that we would no longer be tied to an hour schedule, either, and we've been taking advantage of that, of late, with the last CCRH that came in right at an hour mark was back in July.  We've been running about an hour and ten minutes, even as long as an hour and 20 minutes, of late.  We hope it's been fun for you, it certainly has for us, and it has let us dive a little it deeper into some subjects which has been very nice.

The latest is no exception.  It was an hour and a quarter of good fun, quite a bit of excitement about the return of sports to the UofL campus and a look into who to expect breakout years from and surprise teams with their contributions.  No quiz this week, it's probably time to pack it away until...well, let's hope it stays packed away until Summer 2021, because if it makes an appearance before then, things probably aren't looking great for the country on the Covid-19 front.

We had the full regular squad on the call and had good fun.  Check it out!

JMcA

Sports on Campus -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Football Season Getting Underway

We all know that Cardinal Couple's mission is to bring to you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. As such, we typically don't cover anything about men's sports, unless it's a very big deal. Today is a very big deal. The first athletic competition in UofL's fall season will take place today when Louisville hosts the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Barring something crazy happening in the next 12 hours (7:30 AM at time of writing), a football game is going to happen and sports will be underway at the University of Louisville.

This is a big deal not just for the football players, but for all of the fall sports, most of which we cover here. The first football game is a milestone that needed to be reached to act as an indicator that sports can happen here at UofL. How things go with the reduced capacity at Cardinal Stadium will also play into decisions that the University makes about having fans at the other fall sports as well. 

It is important to remember that everything is still in flux. Things can still change at the drop of a hat and it would almost be wise to expect them to. It was just announced that a pair Padres/Giants games have been postponed following positive COVID tests, despite MLB going a long time without any news of positive cases. Memphis announced yesterday that they have had an outbreak among their football team, leading to a reported 3-20 positive cases with an undisclosed number of players quarantining. They're currently assessing whether or not their game against Houston will be able to happen next Friday. Even UofL announced yesterday that they've had 3 positive results out of 697 tests this week. While that's an extremely low percentage, it's not zero, and it raises some questions.

I'm as excited as anyone else for sports to be underway. I made sure yesterday that the family plan with my sister-in-law was set up for our streaming service of choice so that I'd be able to watch tonight's game. Let's all remember, though, that things may change and that it's not impossible for you to do something about it. The more people that stick to following guidelines and reducing their risk of infection or spreading infection, the greater chance we have of seeing the sports we love continue throughout the year. That's not even to mention the unknowns surrounding the upcoming basketball seasons. 

I know that I constantly sound like a pessimist; it's one of my worst qualities. However, I'm like everyone else in hoping and wishing for the best. Things won't just go away, though, and we're going to have to accept that the good feelings of sports coming back may once again be met by the despair of sports being gone. Let's enjoy them while we have the opportunity and support all of the players that have been working hard on and off the field to make this possible.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back on the air this week with a full house. Jared will be freed from the shackles of banking for a number of weeks and Paulie has no tailgate to run off to. We'll discuss some of Jared's wild predictions for the year, the All-Conference announcements, and the schedules that have been announced since we last spoke. With sports actually on the calendar, your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not there will be a quiz. I suppose you'll just have to tune in to find out. Check out the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel at 11AM for this week's live show, or any time after for the rebroadcast.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

"Re-Opening" Plans Continue -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

As UofL Lays Out Plan, So Do Conferences

You'll have to forgive me, as today's entry won't be specifically about the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics, but the decisions made by other programs and conferences will impact the future of college athletics as a whole. You'll just have to take my word for it that it's related. You'll forgive me if I'm a little cranky today, as I should be on my way to Indianapolis for two great days of fast cars and fun for the Indy 500 Weekend. Alas, that will have to wait until August (I hope). Given the positive news over the last few days as reopening plans are underway, I'll keep today's article a bit more upbeat than last week's as we look on the brighter side of possibilities.

Paulie wrote yesterday about UofL's plan to reopen the campus to athletes under a phased capacity. It included a mention of the NCAA's plan as well, which should be viewed as the minimum restriction in this case. The NCAA has indicated that other plans created by schools and conferences should not exceed that restriction, explaining why UofL will have some student-athletes return to campus this week but they will not allow any workouts until the following week. We could get in to why the athletes that are returning were selected such as they were, but I said I'd keep it upbeat so we'll skip that conversation. 

As UofL announced their plan, though, many other bodies were at work coming up with similar ideas. In the ACC, Florida State has reportedly already tested its first wave of players on campus as they prepare for June workouts, which have not yet been announced. Syracuse is working on their return as well but do not have a firm plan in place. The ACC has decided not to hold a formal vote on the return of players to campuses, following only the NCAA guidelines and leaving the rest up to each school. FSU and Syracuse's plans are both for football only. 

The SEC held their vote on the matter yesterday, after the "Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force" that the conference established in April returned its recommendations. After a vote by university presidents, the conference commissioner issued a statement indicating that on-campus workouts will return in limited capacity on June 8th and that the conference is anticipating an on-time start for the fall sports calendar. The SEC's statement did not specifically indicate which sports were allowed under this plan but they did increase the amount of virtual film time allowed for football and basketball. While it appears that the move by the SEC was directed at football, Florida has created their own plan to reintegrate student-athletes onto campus in waves. Per ESPN, their plan includes football, volleyball, and soccer.

Also according to ESPN's sources, the Big Ten will not hold a formal vote, similar to the ACC, leaving it up to member institutions instead. A couple of those institutions, Ohio State and Illinois, have already issued their plans to varying degrees of specificity. Ohio State will return to action on June 8th, with Illinois setting a more vague "mid-June" timeline. In other news, Ohio State has apparently been doing some budgeting for the upcoming season, with game models for football trying to incorporate social distancing for fans. It's still unclear if there will be fans in any seats, but OSU is modeling between 20-50% capacity. 

Similarly, the governor of Texas indicated he expected "some level" of fans would be able to attend college football games when the sport returned to the state this fall. The Big 12 didn't mention much about that in particular, but they did vote on a plan to get student-athletes back to their campuses. Football players will be allowed to return on June 15th, with the remaining fall sports athletes being allowed back on July 1st. Winter sports have a return designation of July 15th. This was the most inclusive plan I could find.

That leaves us with just the PAC-12 in the Power 5 circle. What will they do? Well, their current plan includes a moratorium until at least May 31st. The conference CEOs will meet next week and will vote on allowing the conference to follow in the footsteps of the NCAA. The PAC-12 has long been one of the bigger question marks regarding the return to college athletics, as the West Coast has been hit by the pandemic relatively hard and the California college and university systems are usually leaders in regulation. There have been rumblings out of the state that schools may not even return to on-campus learning in the fall semester. No on-campus classes would certainly mean no on-campus athletes. The conference will be the last domino to fall on whether college football will plan on having a normal season, or if the 2020 college football season records will be filled with uneven records, full conference schedules, or a lot of local games. 

Another interesting point that has been brought up by PAC-12 adjacents is the cost of testing. An estimate showed that the cost of testing a football program for the coronavirus could be up to $300,000 over the course of the season. However, per NCAA regulations, student-athletes cannot receive additional benefits. There's also the bit that if everyone is on campus, you can hardly maintain an effective quarantine of student-athletes. Combining those two things leads to a need to test everyone on campus, probably more than once, which led to an estimate of over $100 million for the year. That's a prohibitive cost.

As Paulie said yesterday, all we can do is wait and see what will come next. That universities and conferences are making plans under the advisement of experts and working toward a smart and safe solution is encouraging. We'll keep looking for the bodies in charge to follow the likes of the Big 12 and UF to make these plans more inclusive and not so transparently fiscally driven so that we can get all of the athletes that deserve the opportunity to play back on the same level.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We'll be back this week with another episode of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, hopefully with fewer technical snafus than last week. Anticipate another quiz, where we may or may not steal each others' answers. We'll discuss the goings-on in UofL news this week as well as the aforementioned reopening plans in college athletics. Be sure to tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show. As always, the show remains on YouTube after so catch the broadcast any time after it ends.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Volleyball Continues Winning Ways at Wake -- Soccer ties the Irish -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEY CARDS SWEEP THE DEACS

Despite my best efforts to bribe Eric the bus driver, Tillie the Tour Guide and other influential persona on the bus, they declined my offerings to remain in Winston-Salem to watch Volleyball on Sunday.

I had to follow it through Twitter and on-line stat methods as we cruised back to the "Ville" after Saturday night's football game in the same city. More on my magical adventure later...some other dignitaries were in town to do work.  



It was a successful jaunt for Louisville Volleyball as they moved to 13-3 overall and 6-0 in the ACC with a three-game sweep of the Wake Forest squad 25-17, 25-19, 25-17.

No major worries or bad play by the Cards in the sweep. Your usual suspects performed well. Melanie McHenry, Aiko Jones...plus a couple of newer names to the list of Cardinal "over the top" performers in Claire Chaussee and Nena Mbonu...prevailed.

Louisville Volleyball watching Louisville Football at Wake

Cards got up early 10-5 in the first set and stretched that to a 20-14 lead. Another name from the arsenal...Anna Stevenson...had four kills for Louisville. 

In set two -- after some closeness in score early -- The Cards pulled away eventually and held on to to win by six. 

It was all Louisville early in the final set. They took a 9-3 lead, withstood a brief comeback by Wake  and forced Wake to call their final timeout at 19-14. Aiko put the final kill on the board and the eight-point win completed the dance. 

Notre Dame next in South Bend on Wednesday for the bunch that got ice cream after their win. A nice treat for a nice feat, right? 


WOMEN'S SOCCER

After 110 minutes of kicking on the pitch, the Irish and Cards were right back were they started with a scoreless match. 

Next, a brief bit about ties. This is where I probably differ from some readers and my fellow Cardinal Couple cronies. Not the ties you wear around your neck, which I don't particularly care for either, but the ties in soccer.

Look, someone deserves to win after 110 minutes of well-played, often amazingly fantastic stops, slides, corners, free kicks and mid-field mayhem and maneuvering. Let them just employ what they already do in the post-season and have a few players line up, try their luck on the goalie and whoever does the best wins the game. And do it after one extra ten-minutes session, not two.  Agree? Disagree? 

Would you want a tie for Jeff Walz's squad?  No. Let someone win.  

In South Bend, the Irish had a slight edge in shots in the first half at 4-2 and a huge corner kick advantage at 6-1. It did them no good. Emina Ekic did her best to break open the offensive drought with two "that should have gone in" kicks on goal in the second half but one sailed high (barely) and one was goalkeeper deflected. Notre Dame ended up with a 11-7 shot advantage and 10-2 corner kick edge for the match. That's crazy. 10-2 on corners? Were the referees wearing green? 

In any event, each team earns a point in the weird soccer scoring system and they move on. #16 Louisville women's soccer is now 11-1-1 on the season and 4-1-1 in the ACC and will host #11 Duke Friday night. Come on out, it's the second-to-last home game of the year.

And, of course....it's tie-optional. 


BACK ON THE BUS

Huge props to all who endured Paulie pranks and puns on the bus trip to see the Cards outscore Wake Forest Saturday night. You're the best and I hope this collection of crazies can do it again real soon.

Things we learned: 

1) Most people do not view peanut butter as a condiment. They are wrong. 
2) Wake Forest fans are crazy nice. They gave us a ton of food to tailgate with, in addition to the massive quantities we already had.
3) Louisville Football is entertaining as hell. 


Good to be back, but, due to my own stupidity and lack of correct reckoning for the drop in temperature, I have a doozy and a dinger of a cold/sinus infection/weather change crud/whatever you want to call it and I'm amazed I got through today's article. Maybe it was foreshadowing when a few of our party got sick from bad food Friday night at a restaurant and had to stay in their hotel rooms instead of going to the game.

Excellence in Tailgating. It's what Al Parrish stands for and it was delivered this weekend.

I'm praying one of my esteemed colleagues will gallantly step up and do Tuesday's write up for me. When you check in Tuesday and you still see this article staring at you, you'll know they didn't and I am too tore up to type. 

I'm going back to bed after I cough and blow my nose for a few minutes. 

Have a marvelous Monday !

Paulie






  

A Look into the Weekend -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A Look at the Weekend

With Thanksgiving over we are back to the fun of UofL sports.  Although there were no games for the holiday several teams had practice and other events going on, especially with such a big weekend coming up for some of the major sports.

We do hope your Thanksgiving was a good one, by the way and, if you're getting out early this morning to participate in Black Friday -- best of luck in finding those deals that are driving you out into the jungle of humanity in competition with you! When in doubt, buy Cardinal gear for people!



Friday, Nov. 23

Volleyball closes out their regular season when they host Georgia Tech at 5:00 p.m.  The game is
Senior Day for Molly Sauer, Jasmine Bennett, Wilma Rivera, and Amanda Green.  Sauer and Bennett have spent their entire careers in the Red and Black while Rivera and Green transferred in.  The Cards swept the Yellow Jackets on the road earlier this year.  Louisville needs a win to stay in the running for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Women's Basketball will tip off against Arizona State at 5:30 p.m. EST, although the game will be held in Las Vegas.  The Cards have had short break since their win at Boise State, but will now play three games in four days.

On Arizona State, they are 2-1 on the season but they've faced a grueling schedule. They fell to Baylor 59-65, beat Arkansas 88-85 and opened their season against Incarnate Word at home with a 81-43 win.

The Cards are 0-2 lifetime against the ASU squad.

Arizona State has never faced the Cards with Jeff Walz as the head coach, though...getting their last win against UofL in the NCAA Tournament in the final game Tom Collen coached at the "Ville". Leading the charge for the Devils of the Sun is Kianna Ibis. She's a 6'1" forward and wears #42.  To watch today's game, go to the link below:

LOUISVILLE VS ARIZONA STATE

Men's Basketball will take on Marquette in New York at 7:00.  Chris Mack's squad started 3-0 before falling to #5 Tennessee on Wednesday.  The former Big East foes will square off in the NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game.

Saturday, Nov. 24

Women's Basketball will play their second game in under 24 hours when they face Hartford at 3:00 p.m. EST.  What will be interesting to see is how Coach Walz uses his players and how much playing time each one gets with the quick turnaround and then having another game Monday.  With Jaz Jones out indefinitely this makes the task a bit tougher.

Football will finish their season in the evening against Kentucky with kickoff set for 7:00.  The 100th season of Louisville Football has been one of their worst in history.  At this point the Cards are hoping to finish on a high note by defeating their rival from down I-64.

It's going to be cold for this contest and a chance of rain, so dress accordingly. if you're going to put yourself through these three hours of torture.


Sunday, Nov. 25

There is nothing on the schedule.  That is probably a good thing as Louisville enters its final full week of classes.  The final day of classes is Monday, Dec. 3.  Finals will begin Wednesday, Dec. 5.  As much as we all love cheering on the Cards in their respective sports we have to remind ourselves that they are students first and academics is something Louisville athletics prides itself on.  A day off is never truly a day off in the life of a student-athlete.

Also, looking ahead to Monday: women's basketball has their home opener against Miami (OH).  Tickets and ticket packages are inexpensive and you get to watch one of the best programs in the country.  I would highly suggest you make your way downtown to see them play.


(Editor's Note)

Just in case you just plumb forgot about it or circumstances prevented the listening yesterday of Arlo Guthrie's class 18 minute opus about "Alice's Restaurant", I've linked it up below. I agree with Worldwide, it's mandatory for Thanksgiving for the Thanksgiving weekend. 

ALICE'S RESTAURANT


Donation Month

One of the things we at Cardinal Couple are thankful for are the generous donations from everyone.  If you haven't gotten your donation in there's still time!  Cash, checks, and PayPal are acceptable!

CARDINAL COUPLE
P.O. BOX 91521
LOUISVILLE, KY 40291

Happy Friday, let the Christmas music/movies/decorations/lights begin, and Go Cards!


- Jared -

Volleyball Wins Again -- A New Era -- An ACC Championship -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Wake Forest

They weren't perfect but the VolleyCards did it again, this time getting a 3-0 victory on the road at Wake Forest.  As Worldwide mentioned on the show Saturday, the Demon Deacons weren't a huge threat but you can't ever overlook anyone.

It wasn't until the final stretch of the first set that Louisville was able to pull away, winning 25-16.  Wake Forest kept things close for quite some time, bringing the score within 18-16 before the Cards used a 7-0 run to close out the set.

In the second set, Louisville used a 6-0 run to pull ahead 10-4 as the teams spent most of the remainder of the set trading points.  Most of Wake Forest's points in the back half of the set came on Louisville service errors, but the Cards won, 25-18.

The third set was the closest of the match although the Cards seemed to have control, winning 25-20.  Louisville never trailed in this set and lead by as much as seven.  Wake Forest tried to rally with a 3-0 run, but a service error of their own halted that and helped Louisville claim the final two points.

Claire Chaussee hit double-digits in kills with 10, but nine attack errors put her percentage well
below .100.  Jasmine Bennett and Amanda Green each totaled 11 kills with Bennett posted a .526 percentage.

Of their 55 points (75 points from three sets subtracted by Wake Forest's service and attack errors) 46 of them came on assists, a high percentage.  Wilma Rivera had 33 of those assists and Molly Sauer added 11.

Sauer also finished with 17 of the digs with Mia Stander contributing 10 more.  Sauer's digs on the year have reached 432, more than double the next closest player on the team- Melanie McHenry.

Wake Forest was held to .097 on the match.  They actually hit -.048 during the second set (wow!).

The Cards improve to 20-7 on the year and are 13-3 in the ACC.

Louisville will head to South Bend to face Notre Dame on Friday before having a week off to return home to host Georgia Tech on Senior Day on Black Friday.

The Cards have a few student/athletes that they need to get back onto the floor that have been essential contributors, but the group that is getting wins and performing fairly well are reason enough to get out to Cardinal Arena once they come home to play.


Bobby Petrino Fired as Football Head Coach

Men's sports has never been a primary focus here at Cardinal Couple, but football has been making
headlines for all the wrong reasons this year.  Louisville announced yesterday that Bobby Petrino was fired from his position effective immediately.  The buyout is estimated at $14 million.  Quarterbacks coach Nick Petrino, defensive line coach L.D. Scott, and director of operations Andrew Wagner were also relieved of their duties.

Associate head coach and safeties coach Lorenzo Ward has been promoted to interim head coach although there is now a nationwide search for a new coach.

"We want to thank Bobby for guiding our football program to some of the better seasons we have had historically at UofL during his two separate tenures here," said Vince Tyra.  "However, at this team we feel the program needs different leadership and we owe it to our student-athletes and fans to get this turned around."

Petrino's second stint in Louisville is one that we'll need plenty of alcohol to forget.  He is 1-11 against top 25 opponents and is 1-3 in bowl games.  Louisville is 2-8 and winless in the ACC this year.

*The following commentary on Bobby and Louisville Football may not reflect the views of the rest of Cardinal Couple and are personal opinions of Jared Anderson*

Thank goodness he is gone.  The deplorable record, the embarrassing attendance, and the mass exodus of players, which some might be salvaged, show how bad this year has been.  It also shows how great of a quarterback Lamar Jackson truly is.

This was a wise decision by Tyra and a great move as the leader of Louisville Athletics.  He is still cleaning up messes that Tom Jurich left behind including a men's basketball scandal that wrecked the name "Louisville" and a lacrosse scandal that should have been addressed years ago.

I still am a fan of Jurich and everything he has done for this university.  This athletics program became one of the top in the country and he was a leader in Title IX for UofL sports.  How many schools have separate facilities for field hockey, lacrosse, and volleyball?  Several women's sports weren't even around when he first arrived.

However, his time at Louisville appears to have been a little too long and the Petrino 2.0 era was just  one of the final of many mistakes made on this staff.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain," -Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight Rises

With these changes and a completely different atmosphere and mood we should see a completely different look by the team these final two Saturdays including motivation and pride.  Now is the time for fans to fill Cardinal Stadium to support the players and the program.


Men's Soccer Wins ACC Championship

Once again, this isn't women's sports related but we should give credit where credit is due. We know that a lot of the Louisville women's sports fans are also fans of the men's programs.

Coach Lolla and his men's soccer team won their first ever ACC Championship, defeating #4 ranked and 2-seed North Carolina, 1-0.

The Cards also defeated 16th-ranked Notre Dame and top-ranked Wake Forest along the way to claim the title.

Louisville is now in good shape to be named a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament for a third straight time, which will also earn them the right to host through the quarterfinals.


Donation Month

We are just over one-third of the way through November, or as we like to call it, Donation Month.

We will graciously accept any donations: cash, check, PayPal, you name it! We know there are a lot of very worthy causes to donate your dollars to. We aren't asking you to change your donation patterns. We're just humbly asking you add a small bit to that pattern to give us a hand.


If you choose to mail in your donation (preferred method) please address it as the following:

CARDINAL COUPLE
P.O. BOX 91521
LOUISVILLE, KY 40291

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

- Jared -