A pummeling at Papa's...Cards football down Charlotte 70-14...Clash tonite at Lynn...Hooray A-Tayy! -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LAMAR JACKSON'S EIGHT FIRST HALF TOUCHDOWN A NATIONAL RECORD.

PHOTO BY SAM DRAUT

The picture pretty well describes it.

It was a beat-down, a yawner after the first half. Our newest columnist Case Hoskins will go into much more detail in his Saturday column about the Free-for-all on Floyd last night. The real question was Paulie trying to negotiate his smartphone, get a few winks in or contemplate in reverence how badly the 49er fans and players must be feeling. 

Thanks to our former intern and now sports editor of The Oldham Era Sam Draut for catching such a pristine shot and sending it to me. If Anne Kordes needs any additional motivation tactics for the Louisville Volleyball team, she could hang the photo in the locker room with the caption: "Our mission is to create blowouts so big this year that they'll put Paulie to sleep." As to what's going on in the mind of the guy behind me...I'm not really sure I want to know...

56-0 at the half. Maybe the highlight of the second half was when backup Louisville quarterback Ethan Horton entered the game and the Crunch Zone got up the Dr. Seuss framed chant  "Horton hears a Who?" . Sonja thought it was the name of the 21st. president of the United States. I'm pretty sure he owns a chain of furniture outlets in the Midwest. 

Hang in there, kid. It'll only get better for you. 

LOUISVILE WBB representing at football game! 

Louisville Football is now 1-0 on the season. Lamar Jackson...if he hadn't already...has poured Tabasco sauce in College Football's oatmeal and definitely gotten their attention. 16 different receivers caught passes last night. I'm pretty sure I was one of them and that's why I was so tired at the end of the game.

Yeah, we'll go with that...

Be sure to catch Case's views tomorrow. Here on the web site and on Crescent Hill radio Saturday 11 a.m. He'll join Worldwide and I broadcasting live from the KFC YUM! Center on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR during the Louisville vs. Stony Brook Volleyball match. 


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BATTLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH TONIGHT AT LYNN

Louisville Women's Soccer is off to a great start with a 3-0-1 record and a total of 13 goals scored in the young season. They'll put that undefeated mark on the line tonight against Kentucky. First kick is 7:30 p.m.

It would appear the the Kickin' Cards might have a chance to win one against the Cards for the first time since 2010. UK is 0-2-1 and South Florida hung their latest loss on then...a 3-2 defeat. The UK v Northwestern game was cancelled because of inclement weather in Lexington.

An interesting side note. UK's head women's soccer coach Jon Lipsitz was formally the head coach at Charlotte. After last night, he may not want to come out of his hotel room. 


FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: 

1) Louisville goalie Taylor Bucklin has allowed but one goal this season. There have been on six shots on goal by the opposition in four games. 

2) It's Foam Finger Night...so get there early! It's also Red-Out night, so dress appropriately. 

3) There is a great playground on the north end of Lynn Stadium, so don't hesitate in bring your kids. 

4) The Cats took a 2-0 win last year in Lexington and lead the overall series 13-5-1. Time for some payback! 

5) Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes has started up to five freshmen this season in games. A youth movement that is producing results. 


....and...

If soccer isn't your thing, perhaps you would like a little Volleyball? Plenty of that for you over the next two days...starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. with the Louisville wide netters against Santa Clara. The VolleyCards are undefeated also at 3-0 and frosh sensation Melanie McHenry has been quite impressive. 

Case and I will be at women's soccer. WorldWide will be at Volleyball. Look for him...he's the guy leading the C-A-R-D-S cheer when the opposition takes a time out. Join him, won't you? Buy him some nachos...


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A-TAYY HEADED BACK TO THE SHOW

Sonja's favorite all-time UofL women's basketball player ASIA TAYLOR is back in the league...WNBA's Connecticut Sun putting her on the roster after Morgan Tuck's season-ending knee injury. 

The Sun are 10-17 on the season (6th. in the Eastern Division) and face the tough Phoenix Mercury tonight...so Asia jumps right into the fire (or sun?) immediately. I guess Australia will have to wait a bit for #31. 


I'm sure she doesn't mind.   

Tuck had been the sixth leading scorer for the Sun and was seeing around 16-17 minutes a game as a non-starter. Asia will have eight games with the Sun...and a possible playoff chance if they can catch on fire and win a bunch of their final ones.  They are only three games out of fourth place...with the Fever and Mystics above them. 

paulie
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Softball travels to Notre Dame...THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

PEARSALL'S CARDS ENTER CRUCIAL SERIES VS. NOTRE DAME




           ****** Schedule Update******

Due to weather concerns in the South Bend area, the teams will try to get in a single game today at 6 p.m. and a double-header tomorrow starting at noon. 

The University of Louisville softball squad is in South Bend, IN today for a very important three-game series against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish team that will have major implications on second place in the ACC.

Louisville (32-11, 13-5) are percentage points ahead of the Irish (36-8, 10-5) in the current standings. Notre Dame is ranked either 18th (ESPN/USA Softball) or 19th(USA Today/NFCA Coaches) polls, while the Cards are receiving votes but not ranked in the top 25 in either. 

Louisville enters the doubleheader today after a mid-week loss to Kentucky 2-1 Wednesday night at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards took a 1-0 lead into the top of the seventh in a contest that had a 54 minute rain delay...but the Cats capitalized on three Cardinal errors and got two hits to take the lead and win the affair. 

Notre Dame also stepped out of conference earlier in the week and shut out DePaul 8-0. Leading the way for UND is Karley Wester who has produced a .454 batting average and has scored 51 runs. She also has 36 stolen bases. Caitlin Brooks has slugged 10 home runs for the Irish. In the circle, Allie Rhodes has compiled a 17-5 record and averages a strikeout per inning. 

Pearsall will look for consistency and avoidance of late-game miscues from the Cards as they look to maintain their second place status in the ACC.

The contests will be on ESPN 3. First pitch today is 1 p.m. and the second game will be shown about 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener. Sunday's single game starts at noon. We'll offer a preview of the games today on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR and a full recap of the action in our Sunday column. Go Cards and stay away rain! 

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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

WE have a wonderful broadcast lined up for you today on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR starting at 11 a.m. this morning. While Worldwide Jeff McAdams completes his boat tour of Europe...Sam Draut, our CARDINAL COUPLE intern and sports editor for THE CARDINAL student newspaper will be in studio with me as we review softball, lacrosse and comment on the nearly 30 minute Jeff Walz press conference from Thursday.

Sam also stars in a moving YOU TUBE parody that covers the end of his reign as sports editor at the newspaper. Based on the Derek Jeter farewell tribute...Sam covers the UofL campus in one final lap and some pretty interesting things develop.


LINK BELOW

https://youtu.be/ae1HOwaXmXY 


We'll also air the final segment of the Churchill Downs Derby picks from some of the most astute and knowledgeable handicappers under the Twin Spires. 

You'll want to have your pen and pad ready to take down what these eight prognosticators think will happen on the first Saturday in May. We had a little fun with them and assigned each of them an alias. There is some very revealing information here as we are now eight days away from the fastest two minutes in sports.

The replay is up...listen to it here at the link below

LINK: THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR REBROADCAST 4/30/16

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Softball sinks Virginia Tech 12-3...Lacrosse falls at North Carolina -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NINE-RUN FIFTH INNING BLASTS CARDS TO WIN


The University of Louisville Softball team exploded for nine runs in a wild fifth inning to gain sole control of second place in the ACC with a 12-3 drubbing of Virginia Tech in Ulmer Stadium Saturday afternoon. A three-run homer by Megan Hensley was the game ending blow in a contest where Louisville actually trailed 3-1 early. 

The preliminary fireworks for the Cards got underway in the bottom of the third when Sidney Melton reached on a infield hit and trotted home on starting pitcher Maryssa Becker's towering blast over the left field fence to tie the contest at 3-3. It was Becker's seventh 'touch 'em all' of the season and was a prequel to the action that was to come. 

The Hokies threatened to take the lead in the contest in the top of the fifth when they pieced together two singled and Becker plunked Chelsea Whitcomb to load the bags with two outs.  Becker bore down, though, and got a strikeout to get the Cards back safely to the dugout still knotted at 3-3.

The Cards delivered the boom in the bottom of the fifth....batting around and winning the game on Hensley's second at-bat of the inning. She and Lillie Goetz started the inning by beating out infield hits and a fielding miscue allowed  Jenna Jordan to reach and fill the bags full of Cards. A walk to Nicole Pufahl brought home the first run of the inning and Brittany Sims cleared the bases with a triple to right-center that scooted past the diving Hokie center-fielder and bring the tally to 7-3 Louisville. Sims and Morgan Meyer found home when Jordan McNary benefited from another Hokie fielding gaff and Becker drew a walk to set the stage for Hensley's team-leading 11th. four-bagger of the season, a line shot that found the right field berm. 

The walkoff shot ended the contest at 12-3 and the joyous celebration at home plate was a significant contrast to the bewildered Tech team slowly stepping off the field. 

Becker goes to 14-5 with a workmanlike five innings where five hits and two strikeouts were charted. The Cards (25-8, 10-3) will tangle with Tech today for two...first game pitch should be delivered starting at 11 a.m. or so (this particular group of umpires seem fascinated with standing around home plate prior to a game beginning and yesterday's start was delayed by eight minutes for no apparent reason).  

If you can't take in the action live...ESPN3 will have the play-by-play. 



Be sure to check out Sam Draut's great write-ups on the game and his conversation with Cardinal infielder Sidney Melton for The Cardinal at the links below:


http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2016/04/sidney-melton-sets-the-table-for-the-cardinal-lineup/

http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2016/04/softball-swings-past-virginia-tech-12-3/



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LACROSSE FALLS TO UNC 15-5

"We didn't come to play today" was Louisville Lacrosse coach Kellie Young's summation of the 10-goal loss to the TarHeels in Chapel Hill yesterday afternoon and the score would certainly indicate that the Cards turned in one of their worst performances of the season. 

The #5 Cards did provide the first net-finder of the contest when Hannah Koloski took a Kaylin Morissette feed but the #3 UNC squad retaliated with three straight scores over the next ten minutes. It was part of a 9-2 Tar Heel run that had them comfortably ahead 9-3 before Cards Emily Howell scored at the buzzer for a 9-4 halftime score.

Young's halftime motivational talks usually have a positive effect on the Loucrosse squad but it was UNC who came out red-hot to start the final half with two goals within 40 seconds. Koloski's second score of the day drwe Louisville to within six at 11-5 but the TarHeels kept the Cards attack at bay after that and finished the game on a 4-0 run to convincingly take a 15-5 triumph. 


The TarHeels out-drew the Cards 11-10 and Morissette, the nation's leader in draw controls was limited to just seven for UofL. The Cards fall to 3-2 in ACC Play and 12-2 overall.

Both of Louisville's losses this season have come on the road to ACC foes (Duke providing the first loss) and have been by double-digit margins. Fortunately, Young and company return home for their next tilt...the Cards final home game of the season against Virginia at noon on Saturday April 16th. With the Louisville Spring Football Game and a softball double-header also going on that day....Floyd Street will be jammed and rocking from Brandeis to Central Ave.

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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

"WHO LET THEM ON THE AIR AGAIN?"

In case you missed Saturday's exciting broadcast (and shame on you if you did!)... it's available now on the Crescent Hill website or by clicking the link below:



LINK: THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 4/9/16

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT THING?"
"NOPE...GOT NO CLUE BUT IT'S SHINY!" 

Louisville Cardinal student newspaper sports editor, noted cereal killer and Cardinal Couple eternal intern Sam Draut was in-studio with Paulie and Worldwide Jeff McAdams joined us via smartphone from Louisville Volleyball spring play. 

We played the entire Jeff Walz interview and Sam provided his thoughts and insights on softball and lacrosse as well.

Give it a listen! 

paulie
xxxxx 

Hannah fires five as #5 Louisville Lacrosse beats Bearcats 11-7 -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

KOLOSKI KEY IN LAX WIN

The University of Louisville Lacrosse squad traveled to Cincinnati Tuesday afternoon on a perfect afternoon for Lacrosse and emerged winners over the Bearcats 11-7...aided by the first half scoring frenzy from sophomore Hannah Koloski. 

She and Kaylin Morissette combined for eight of Louisville's 11 scores in downing a pesky UC squad that was resilient on the attack. 

Morissette provided the first two points for the Cards before Koloski exploded for four goals in a twelve minute span that gave Louisville a comfortable 6-1 advantage with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The teams exchanged scores...UC getting a questionable net-finder with no time left on the clock to set the halftime scoreboard at 7-3 Louisville. 

Koloski picked up her final goal six minutes into second half action and the Cards weathered a UC rally that cut the lead to 9-6 with 12 minutes to play. Kelli Gerding and Heidi Smith added goals for Louisville to create a 11-6 advantage with 5:37 remaining....as Louisville improved their record to 10-1 on the season. 

Morissette continued her quick draw artistry...controlling 10 of the mid-field faceoffs and Brittany Read ended with three saves in goalkeep. The Cards scored on six of nine free position opportunities and out-shot the visitors 26-14.

Virginia Tech is next up for the Loucrosse warriors...who were slowed by a stomach bug making its rounds on the squad. Saturday 1 p.m. at the LLS for the ACC matchup. 

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THE SAM SHOW? 

We like it when one of our compadres gets a chance to polish their skills and such is the case for CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR intern Sam "Dry Weather" Draut...who is also the sports editor for campus newspaper THE CARDINAL. 

The cereal killer has done a couple of YouTube spots for Louisville sports and we caught his latest one and were impressed. 

Link below.

https://youtu.be/GwaOH9Sn4SQ

Not bad at all for the guy who tried to wipe out the Greensboro Coliseum's supply of Ben and Jerry's ice cream a couple of weeks ago.

You can catch his writings at the Louisville Cardinal campus newspaper (we've got a link on the Right Side of the Site) and he occasionally pops in to join us on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour with his comments and recordings. When he's not busy scouring the city for free parking, he is majoring in business at UofL and and has a co-op at GE...maybe testing refrigerators for ice cream cooling efficiency? 


paulie
xxxxx

8-0...how far can you go? Saturday Cardinal Couple

CARDS UNBLEMISHED IN FIRST HALF OF ACC SCHEDULE 

See how they run...this 2015-16 version of the Louisville women's basketball team...since the beginning of the new year. The Cards are a tractor...they keep mowing down the opponents. 

8-0 against the Tech's, the States, a couple of Carolina's, an Orange and a Tiger. 

How many saw that coming for the Louisville women's basketball squad? Especially after floundering through November? 

Yes it's true...Louisville women's basketball is out-producing the Pitino product and atop the ACC. Go gnash your teeth on that, underhand free throw fans. What ya got to counter? You're the second-best bakletball team on campus.

Wake Forest visits next. They might want to detour to the Jefferson or Bernheim forests nearby and spare the humiliation of a beating down by the river. No one has gotten within 10 against the Cards in the newly-formatted Stalag 13 (a.k.a. KFC YUM! Center) and the Demon Deaconesses don't look to be the one's to bust that up. If I have to take my pants off one more time at Checkpoint Charlie...aw, never mind...

Notre Dame, however...the next visitor to the lock-down after Wake goes home...does look quite capable of busting up the undefeated streak at the Pizza Palace. If Louisville doesn't go 8-0 in the second half of ACC play, you'll probably be able to wag that finger toward the Irish. One of these days, Walz will field a team that will muffle Muffet. It probably isn't the 2015-16 squad but we can still hope... 

Let's look at it. After Wake quakes on the Denny Crum Court, the Cards travel to face a UNC squad that has been plummeting. After the Notre Dame visit, Louisville WBB gets bottom-feeder Pitt, a non-conference tilt against a very good USF squad and then Virginia, B.C., Miami and Pitt again. 

If Walz can't go better than 5-3 in February, he might want to hand his clipboard to one of the security guards at the YUM! exit and take up lawn care or stand-up comedy. Maybe they lose to Muffett and Jose. Miami is tough on their home court. Anything past that is an expected win. 

You're seeing a team that is finally "getting it" and no longer needs the training wheels or the night-light when you look at these current Cardinals. Undaunted and un-intimidated.

And that equates to some very fun potential hoops over the next two months. Go be a part of it. Represent. 

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HELLO, RADIO! 

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour airs at 11 a.m. today. Looks like me and Worldwide, no Sam and a long-shot chance at getting Paige behind the microphone. Seems the Cardinal guys have a game today and...yeah, we're used to it...people got stuff to do. We're non-profit and we're used to it. It's not like this gig is going to lead us or our paricipants to the big time.

Nevertheless, we have a great show planned with recaps and preview of hoops, lacrosse, swimming/diving and more...plus our incredible audio of the Softball banquet, Syracuse and Clemson games, Sam's chat with Asia Durr and a quiz.

You know what we do and how to get there. Give a listen.

LINK: www.crescenthillradio,com

paulie

xxxxx

IUPUI faces Louisville Women's Basketball today at 2 p.m. -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

7-2 JAGS LOOK FOR THE UPSET IN THE YUM TODAY

It is a bird? Is it a plane? No...just the shot clock...

IUPUI (colloquially pronounced Ooo-wee Poo-wee) is the first roadblock for the redemption train Jeff Walz's Louisville Cardinal women's basketball hopes to get rolling for the rest of December. 

What does IUPUI stand for? 

1) Indiana University Professional Underwriters Institute
2) Indianapolis Unity Prayer Under Icons
3) Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
4) Indiana University Professor Union Inc.

If you picked (3), you'd be correct. What do you get when you combine Boilermakers and Hoosiers? A 7-2 squad that could give Louisville a challenge this afternoon. 

Former Louisville Butler star Danielle Lawrence is one of the three Jaguars who average double figures (11.0) for the Indy school. The sophomore who helped Butler High School win the Kentucky Girls Basketball crown a couple of year ago is complemented by 5'10" senior forward Akilah Sims (12.8), 6'2" junior center Mikale Rogers (11.1) and 5'11' senior guard Nicole Rogers (9.0). 

The Jags outscore opponents by an average of almost 20 points per game -- 76.2-57.1 -- and average 19 threes a game. Wins have come against Marquette, VCU, Oakland City, IU Southeast, Indiana St. Stephen F. Austin and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Defeats came from E. Illinois and North Texas. After the season open loss to Eastern Illinois, they won six straight before falling at North Texas. 

Mikale Rogers and Sims are workhorses on the boards and IUPUI out-rebounds opponents by over 9 grabs a game.

Yeah, sure...they've been playing mostly a bunch of directional and hyphenated schools so far...but 7-2 is nothing to scoff at and they can score and go to the boards...something Louisville has had trouble with lately.

The Cards lead the series 5-0 and travelled to Indy last year to deliver a 20-point 89-69 win. It was the Cards first game of the season and Mariya Moore debuted with a 22-point performance.

CARDS TV will supposedly have the broadcast and 790 WKRD handles the radio call. 

Louisville (3-5) needs a convincing win to get things rolling in the right direction again after the letdown in Lexington. Coach Walz promised two days of *fun* practices after falling to the Cats. We'll see if anyone had a good time or learned anything this afternoon down by the river. 

Walz called Friday's practice "probably one of the best efforts we had all year. Unfortunately, it's a shame it's got to come after a loss to your in-state rival. It's really disappointing – embarrassing that we competed with the effort we gave."

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We had a great time in the studio during yesterday's THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR with Sam Draut and Paige Sherrard joining me and Worldwide for a lengthy basketball discussion and Volleyball review. 

Both are very knowledgeable of what they speak....Sam the affable sports edition for The Cardinal student newspaper and Paige editorializes for Swish Appeal, SB Nation and Cardinal Sports Zone. Sam has made several appearances
with us on the show and is always a welcome and informative participant...it was Paige's first in-studio for THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR and she nailed it. 


We've extended an "open door" policy to both and hope they can be regulars with us on our weekly broadcasts when their schedules allow. Link for yesterday's show is below.

LINK  THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 12-12-15


paulie
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