Sunday Cardinal Couple - WUGs Update - WWC

WUGs Update

The WUGs, The World University Games, are a favorite of Cardinal Couple, mostly because it's fun to say.  Go ahead, "The WUGs", say it out loud, it's just fun to say it.

There are also a couple of UofL rooting interests involved, so let's get a bit of an update on where they stand.

Molly Fears has broken new territory for UofL Swimming and Diving by competing at a very high level, and now in international competitions from the diving side of the swimming and diving team.  At the WUGs, Molly was competing in the platform competition, and the finals in that event occurred on the 4th.  Fears wrapped up the competition with a very respectable 11th place finish.

I believe Molly will be a senior with the Cards this year.  She has already elevated the level of competition for UofL Diving quite a bit, and I can't wait to see what she accomplishes this year.

Shifting to another sport, incoming transfer junior Tori Dilfer is one of the setters for the Volleyball team at the WUGs.  In depth statistics are essentially unobtainable from these matches, but the US contingent fell in their first match to Itally in 3 close sets, (25-19, 25-22, 25-23).  The next day, they defeated Switzerland in 3 straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-16), and are, at the time of this writing, locked in a struggle with Japan, currently trailing 2-0 (25-15, 25-18, 2-2).

Tori will hit the court as a Cardinal in public competition for the first time on August 17th at 6 p.m. in the Red and Black Scrimmage.  The first official match for Dilfer with the Cards will be a week later, August 24th at 3pm against Miami of Ohio.

Women's World Cup

The Championship game of the Women's World Cup kicks off at 11 a.m. this morning.  There is no Cardinal rooting interest in this one, but this is a major event with women's sports and I wanted to highlight a couple of aspects of it.

There has been some public commentary, let's just put it that way, about these women and their role and message and how comport themselves on the International Stage.

These women are competing at the very highest level of their sport, reaching the championship match of the most prestigious event in their sport, and yet they are still having to fight for the most basic of respect from much of the public.  There is progress being made, don't get me wrong, they have more respect from the public than ever before, but just in this event they have had to weather idiotic comments about their goal celebrations being too exuberant...but soccer playing men are oh so restrained in their celebrations?!  They've continued to fight, both in the press and in the courtroom for something approaching equal pay for the men while, for the past 3 years, generating more revenue for the US Soccer Federation than the men.

FIFA made a big show, in October of 2018 of doubling the prize money for this year's WWC, and they just announced that it will be doubled again for the 2023 WWC, but let's look at those numbers.  The prize money for this year's WWC is a total of 30 million dollars, mean the increase from this year's WWC, is also 30 million.  The men's World Cup prize in 2018 was 400 million dollars, and in 2022 it will be 440 million, and increase of 40 million.  The pay gap is, in absolute terms, getting worse.  Will FIFA continue to double the WWC prize money in years to come?  I hope so, because that will result in the women's prize money coming into line with the men over time.  This is already an overdue change, and by the time doublings will resolve this it will be egregiously overdue, but if the trend continues it will eventually result in the correction

Meanwhile, in the US Soccer Federation, women make a fraction of what the men make, receive a fraction of the bonus money for the same accomplishments on top of a fraction of their base salary.

OK, so we have a long way to go, but I do want to take a moment to highlight a moment, that I think shows how far things have come, and I think may have been a spark for a subtle social change.

Almost exactly 2 decades ago, July 10th, 1999, the US and China were competing in the finals of the Women's World Cup, in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.  After 120 minutes of playing time, the teams remained scoreless and the game was to be decided on penalty kicks.  After 4 rounds of PKs, there had been only 1 save, by the US GK Briana Scurry, leaving the score at 4-3 in the US's favor.  China had the first kick and scored on their 5th kick, tieing the score at 4.  If the US player scored on the 5th kick, the US wins the game, and the World Cup...no pressure.  If you remember the event, the name alone will surely remind you of the outcome, and the moment.  The US left back would take the kick, Brandi Chastain.

You remember, right?  She puts the kick in the bottom right corner of the net and in an emotional and impulsive celebration, fell to her knees and ripped her jersey off roaring in celebration.  The rest of the team rushes to embrace her and surround her, but for a good 10 to 12 seconds Chastain was alone on the field in her black sports bra.

Its an iconic moment, certainly one that I will never forget, and I think that it was a spark that led to a change in the way our society generally, though still with odious exceptions, relates to women in sports, and particularly to the presence of visually athletic women.

In 1999, a visible sports bra was a social faux pas that gave sports opinion columnists full employment for months, meanwhile, in most places in the US, today in 2019, it's not uncommon to see a woman out for an evening run in jogging shorts and effectively a sports bra during summer months.

I make the claim that Chastain, at least in this country, jump started the conversation.  That conversation has led, in my opinion, to a much more healthy approach to women's athleticism in this country.

Yes, we've still got a long way to go, I still regularly see people complain about the WNBA, or other top level women's sports about it being "unwatchable", and when pressed are unable to give any reason other than, "it just is," or "it's not as athletic as the men's game."

We'll get there, I think, but it may take a long time, but thank you to Brandi Chastain, even if her actions were totally impulsive as she has claimed in interviews, I think your iconic moment has lead to a sea change for the better in this country.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Summer activities have thinned the ranks of the in-studio personnel for Cardinal Couple, with only Paulie and I being in the studio yesterday, but the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour continues on.  Basketball, Softball, and more were on the discussion menu, and, I think, a really fun quiz.

Check it out at Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/vb.123009984388960/2389724121298140/?type=2&theater

Curtis already chimed in with his respectable score of 60 on the quiz.  I matched Paulie's over/under with a 70, see if you can do better.

-- 

JMcA

Basketball here...basketball there -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WALZ IN COLORADO SPRINGS WITH FIBA U19 SQUAD

Yes, it is July and with July we see women's basketball coaches scurrying here and there to watch and evaluate the next class of collegiate players competing in events for their "club" squads. One coach that won't be jumping around the nation, though, is Jeff Walz. 

At least not yet. 

He's busy in Colorado Springs with the USA U 19 World Cup team...getting them ready for competition in Bangkok, Thailand from July 20-28th. Last summer for Walz,  it was the USA U 18 squad and several players from that team are back with Walz again to seek the USA's eighth gold medal in the event. 

Not to worry about Walz missing out or not being seen by the players at the various shootouts. He's seen most of them several times before, his assistants will be present and, in the words of Walz: 

"If me not being somewhere and someone crosses us off the list because I am coaching a National team, then that's the type of player we probably don't want." 

Walz has his same assistants back from 2018 as well, in Cori Close (UCLA) and Natashia Adair (Delaware) for the multiple nights in Colorado Springs, Tokyo and Bangkok.  

Notable on the 12-player roster is Rhyne Howard, who played for Kentucky, and was mistakenly quoted earlier this year for saying her Cats defeated Louisville last season. Others are Francesca Belibi, Aliyay Boston, Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Queen Egbo (Baylor), Naz-Hillmon Baker (Michigan), Diamond Miller, Jordan Nixon (Notre Dame), Celeste Taylor and Hailey Van Lith.  

USA U 19 is one of 16 teams that will go for the Gold. They are in Group C, which also consists of Australia, South Korea and Hungary.

Group A has Canada, Lativa, Thailand and Mozambique. Group B features Argentina, Belgium, China and Mail. Group D is made up of Colombia, Germany, Japan and Spain. Walz will get to see 2019 UofL signee Norika Konno (Japan) in action and the USA squad will travel to Japan to practice with and scrimmage the Japanese squad July 13-15 before arriving in Bangkok. They also have a pair of scrimmages planned against Argentina and Germany in Bangkok before the Cup tips off on July 20th. 

USA opens against Australia on the 20th. (1:15 a.m.) and takes on South Korea on the 21st (1:00 a.m.). After a day of rest they'll conclude the preliminary round against Hungary on the 23rd. (1 a.m.)  All times listed are EDT.

After the preliminary round, the Round of 16 begins on July 24th. The winners advance to the quarterfinals, with the semifinals scheduled for July 27th and the gold and bronze medal games on July 28th. 

Here's hoping the USA can bring back the Gold from Thailand  !!!


RUN FOR THE ROSES IN LOUISVILLE

No, they're not re-running the Kentucky Derby because of Maximum Security's owners objections. 


This Run for the Roses is a 32-team basketball shootout (at the top level) plus 100's more hoopsters from the seventh grade up...gathering at the K.E.C. Center here in Louisville (the place that changes names every year or so and where they have the State Fair). Top teams and talent are coming in from all over the United States for four days of hoops, starting yesterday. 

Over 1000 college coaches attend the Louisville stop on the Nike EYBL event, and it features over 900 teams and 80 courts all under one roof. 

If you want to go, admission is $20 a day to see the best-of-the-best in girls high school basketball, or you can get a four day event pass for $55. 

The Cardinals assistants Sam Purcell, Steph Norman and Beth Burns (filling in for Jeff Walz - she hasn't been named an assistant yet) will be there, as well as in other regional venues to watch and evaluate "the next big things". 

Olivia Cochran

Some 2020 PROSPECTS/players that will be in attendance and names Cardinal fans might want to get to know or catch in action here in Louisville: 

Olivia Cochran. TEAM AFFILIATION: FBC

Sarah Andrews. TEAM AFFILIATION:  PRO SKILLS

Priscilla Williams. TEAM AFFILIATION:  MISSOURI PHENOMS

Madison Scott. TEAM AFFILIATION:  TEAM TAKEOVER

If you live near near Indianapolis, NIKE EYBL events are going on up there as well. In Indy, the Cardinal coaches will also be watching: 


Kateri Poole  TEAM AFFILIATION:  NEW HEIGHTS

Maddy Westbeld. She recently named Louisville in her "final five" along with Notre Dame, UCLA, Tennessee and Ohio State. TEAM AFFILIATION:  CINCY ANGELS


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

It'll be a skeleton crew for this morning's broadcast of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and on Facebook Live. 



Jared is turning twenties into fives at the bank, Case is sitting on the banks of the Ohio in Indiana watching boats float (that's why I'm writing the article today instead of him) and Daryl is at a lake somewhere, banking on avoiding any of the poisoned water and dead fish from the Jim Beam Distillery fire and subsequent run-off into the Kentucky River.

So it's Jeff and I donning the headphones at the "magnificent, massive, media mansion on Mellwood".  You can still "bank on" a great show, though, despite the reduced numbers. 

We do have stuff to discuss and I'll present our weekly quiz to Jeff in the second half of the show. Play along at home and see if you can beat Sammy the Shark's buddy. 

Join us, won't you? It should be fun! 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

In addition to the station link above, we're available on local FM Radio, the WCHQ app and Facebook Live as well. 


Have a super Saturday! 


paulie
xxxxx

A History of Louisville Women’s Sports Chapter 6: Basketball -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A History of Louisville Women’s Sports Chapter 6: Basketball

We have reached the halfway point of our history lessons and the 12 UofL women’s sports. Today we look at the most popular of those sports- basketball. It seems as if basketball season is still ages away but in reality we’re just a little over four months from the regular season starting up.

Normally I start with the coaches and the founding of the program but I’m going to start with their home courts today. Currently, the Cards play at the prestigious KFC Yum! Center. The facility first went live for the 2010-2011 season. It plays host to both the women’s and men’s teams, including a host site for several NCAA Tournament games. The KFC Yum! Center has also hosted a few volleyball tournament games. Outside of sporting events the venue consistently brings in artists for concerts.

Prior to the KFC Yum! Center was Freedom Hall. Freedom Hall, located at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, had two outings as home to the women. It was the original home for the Cards from 1975-1981. After a stint at other venues UofL returned back to Freedom Hall from 1998-2010. Before the official move to the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville had played at least one game in Freedom Hall every year except the 1993-1994 season.

Smaller venues played home to the program between 1981-1998. The main one of those was Cardinal Arena. Seating just under 1000, Cardinal Arena was large enough to hold regular season crowds for quite some time before it no longer became suitable at the new millennium. Manual’s gymnasium and Bellarmine were also hosts for a few games on occasion.

Louisville has seen its fair share of conferences. They started off in the Metro Conference and have six championships (regular season or conference tournament) under their belt. They then joined Conference USA. During that brief stint they took home three regular season titles. Louisville moved to the Big East after that, but never won a conference championship after running into powerhouses Connecticut and Notre Dame. The Cards played in the AAC for one season, where they met up with UConn again. Since then, they’ve been a part of the ACC and have had success with regular season and tournament championships in recent years.

Now I am going to look at who the coaches have been... from when UofL considers the program to have started in 1975. There is a little further history to go back to before that, which I will cover later on...

Terry Hall is considered to be the first women’s basketball coach at UofL. She coached from 1975-1980 and never had a losing season in five years. There very first game was ugly as they were throttled by a well-respected WKU program. Their first victory came against NKU in Freedom Hall. During the early days most opponents were from around the Kentucky area and a few surrounding areas. Hal passed away in 1997.

Margaret ‘Peggy’ Fiehrer took over for the 1980-1981 season and stayed for nine seasons but struggled to find success. Fiehrer is the only coach to have a career losing record. She led the Cards to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in the 1982-1983 season. They lost to Texas in the opening round but a stepping stone had been reached.

Bud Childers came in as the first male coach for the program in 1989 and stayed for eight seasons. Childers held the honor of being the program’s winningest coach until Jeff Walz changed that a few years ago. Childers helped the Cards reach three NCAA Tournament appearances and saw home court time split between Cardinal Arena and Freedom Hall. Our senior editor and co-owners Paulie and Sonya began attending games at this time, as fans, and it was in the 1993 season that Louisville first beat UConn. 

In 1997, we saw a dual coaching situation. The husband-wife team of Martin Clapp and Sara White took the reins. White changed her job title to operations director after three seasons but Clapp stayed as head coach until the end of the 2002-2003 season. The Cards has a slightly better record under the two head coach look as opposed to one during this era, but their most successful season during this time was Clapp,s first sole season. They went undefeated at home and won the conference title with a 14-2 record. Clapp was named Conference USA Coach of the Year that season. White has been a part of the television broadcast crew, along with Don Russell for the last several years. 

Tom Collen came into the picture in 2003. He stayed for four years and had the best winning percentage of any UofL women’s basketball coach at the time of his departure. Collen oversaw the transition into the Big East and made the 20-win season a normal at Louisville. He is also the coach responsible for recruiting UofL greats Angel McCoughtry, Candyce Bingham and Jazz Covington.

Jeff Walz first took over for the 2007-2008 season. He had great talent to work with and got the Cards to an NCAA Runner-Up finish in his second year. After three seasons, Walz oversaw the move from “The Hall” to the KFC Yum! Center. He has since led the Cards to three NCAA Final Four appearances and several Sweet Sixteen appearances. He continues to produce WNBA talent where there are four former Cards playing currently (Angel, A-Tayy, MHA and Nite-Nite). With over 300 wins during his time here, Walz has doubled up on wins from the next winningest coach. He has become an advocate for equal rights and recognition for women in the realm of sports.

Now let’s rewind for a moment. Before 1975 there was a basketball team at UofL. Becky Hudson was an assistant athletic director at the time and coached the basketball team. How far back the program goes remains a mystery but it can be assumed that it was sometime before 1970. There was a major lawsuit between Hudson and the University so its hard to find much information from this. There was a major lawsuit between Hudson and the University and it is hard to find much information from this time. I found a Cardinal Couple article from August 16, 2011 where a former player who chose to remain anonymous gave us some history of the pre-1975 time.

Louisville has produced quite a bit of professional talent including the 2009 #1 overall draft pick in Angel McCoughtry. Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen, Shoni Schimmel, Asia Taylor, Antonia Slaughter, Candyce Bingham, Lori Nero, Jill Morton, Sam Fuehring and Arica Carter have all heard their named called in the draft at some point.

We will continue to bring as much Louisville women's basketball coverage as possible each year for you. You can find Paulie and Sonya on the sideline media row, Worldwide watches from his normal season tickets seat and I'm on the floor taking pictures. 

You can also spot some of our CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR regulars in Daryl Foust and Paige Sherrard present at some games on media row.

 When Cardinal Couple was debaating getting into the coverage of women's sports at UofL, Paulie asked athletic director Tom Jurich and assistant A.D. Julie Hermann their thoughts on starting Cardinal Couple. They both gave an enthusiastic "thumbs up" to the concept. So did Charlie Springer, who Paul and Sonya were doing occasional articles over at UofLCardGame.com. In the beginning, Paulie and Sonya found they were one of the very few places covering women's sports...beside the UofL website and an occasional newspaper article.  I'm pleased to note that this has changed for the better.  Although Sonya's duties are now administrative, she still posts and provides articles about women's basketball at a few sites under the name "Sonja". 

From the early days of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I'll also note that one so-called "expert" journalist in the area was dead wrong on his prediction that the site would last a year. 

Look to Cardinal Couple as your "go to" source for the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. 

I'd welcome any comments, reflections, suggestions or corrections on today's article in our comments section. 

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared 

Some Softball News -- INDEPENDENCE DAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Fourth of July!

Alex Morgan scored the go-ahead goal
against England on her birthday and
celebrated by 'drinking tea'.

Today is Independence Day, the day celebrated as when America formally declared its breaking of ties with England. The USWNT celebrated accordingly with a victory over the Brits on Tuesday, and the USMNT took a victory over Jamaica into the wee hours of the morning of July 4th.

We here at Cardinal Couple wish everyone a happy and safe holiday! Whether it's celebrating with a cookout and fireworks, lounging by water, or just chilling and enjoying the day off...have a great one and be safe around those things "that go BOOM"! 

UofL Softball Adds Another Tiger

Yesterday, Louisville formally announced the addition of another Auburn transfer. Carmyn Greenwood, an outfielder, joins the Cards and adds yet another set of sisters to the Louisville roster. Greenwood's younger sister, Cassady, was a freshman catcher this past season. Carmyn joins Louisville as a rising red-shirt junior.

No official word on whether she will be immediately eligible, but Louisville will be happy to add depth to the outfield positions. Greenwood started 13 times and had 52 appearances last season, with the best game of her career coming in the Tuscon regional, where she registered three hits. Look out for new names on the back of jerseys next year as we'll be seeing Car. and Cas. leading Greenwood.

Bloomer Heads to Duke

Following an outstanding season at Male High School, Josh Bloomer is taking a huge leap forward to be an assistant softball coach at Duke University. Bloomer led the Bulldogs to a 39-0 record en route to a state and national championship. Those who follow the site and show may be aware that Cardinal Couple regularly hosts two male alums in Jared and Daryl, who will likely be sad to see their alma mater lose such a talented coach.

Either that, or they're sad for the Cards to now have to face said coach. Duke softball is new in town, joining the league in 2017. The Cards played the Blue Devils in Durham in 2018, taking 2/3 games. The two did not compete last season, setting up a return to the Ville for Bloomer this year. Good luck to the former Louisvillian in all aspects except for when he plays the Cards.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Bits and Pieces -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Wednesday and a happy pre-Fourth of July! In preparation for tomorrow’s big day I will keep today’s post short and sweet for you.


SHE'S BACK! 

The biggest news from yesterday is that a Cardinal Couple favorite, Asia Taylor, is back in the WNBA. The former UofL star signed with the Minnesota Lynx. Minnesota is fifth in the league at 7-6 and is riding a three-game win streak currently. Best of luck to A-Tayy with the Lynx! It's her second time joining the Lynx in her career. The signing of Taylor comes courtesy of a roster exemption by the WNBA because of multiple injuries on the squad. 

Asia started her WNBA career with Minnesota, picked in the third round of the WNBA Draft. She should have an immediate impact, since the Lynx are without Damiris Dantas, Karima Christmas-Kelly, Seimone Augustus and Jessica Shepard...all on the injured list. 

IN THE CIRCLE

Softball announced a transfer coming in for the upcoming season. Chardonnay Harris joins the Cards from Auburn. Harris has a long list of awards and accomplishments including multiple high school state championships, several double-digit strikeout performances and a couple SEC Pitcher of the Week honors. The left-handed pitcher, something UofL has been missing, will have two years of eligibility remaining.

GETTING THEIR KICKS...

Congrats to the USWNT (that's the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team) on a 2-1 victory over England yesterday. Christen Press and Alex Morgan each scored in the victory that saw an injured Megan Rapinoe sidelined with a hamstring injury. The US was fortunate to have an England goal called back because of offsides and a spectacular save by keeper Alyssa Naeher on a penalty kick.

USA waits to see who they will meet in the finals of Sunday. Today's semifinal match between The Netherlands and Sweden will provide the answer. 

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLPARK...

Case Hoskins or Andrew Luck? -- We're not certain. 

 Case Hoskins among the masses at a Louisville Bats game.  The Bats games have sevveral Cardinal Couple contributors out therre on a regular basis. 

You can find Daryl Foust out there regularly as well, behind the camera. 

Or, wait patiently and I'll probably be by to take a photo of you, like I did of Case last night.  Or was it Andrew Luck?  

COMING ATTRACTIONS

A History of Louisville Women’s Sports --  Chapter 6 will be out this Friday. It marks the halfway point of the coverage, and if you’ve been following my seasonal approach to the sports you have probably figured out that this Friday will be women’s basketball.

Why are you setting off fireworks at midnight
on June 30??

As we approach tomorrow’s holiday please remember to be smart and use common sense when celebrating. But also have fun!

Case Hoskins will have the Thursday write-up, swapping days with Paulie this week. Case will venture to Indiana and attend the Madison Regatta...to watch boats go fast with no left turns. Last we heard, there is no parimutuel wagering available for the event, but, camping is involved. S'mores, anyone?  

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Thoughts on Vince Tyra -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VINCE HIT THE GROUND RUNNING...AND HE HASN'T SLOWED UP YET. 

The question was a simple and innocuous one. 

While my dear wife and I were at dinner the other night with a couple of friends, I was asked "So, what do you think of Vince Tyra and the job he's done so far?" 

(In case you aren't aware of this, Vince Tyra is the athletic director at the University of Louisville. He was appointed permanent director on March 26, 2018 -- replacing Tom Jurich. Welcome to the 21st. century...by the way...dear reader...if you didn't know. You're gonna love Asia Durr, GPS on your phone and Twitter. So glad to see you've come out of your coma...my unaware compadre). 

I thought about my response a moment and replied (to the effect of): 

"My thoughts about Vince Tyra are pretty irrelevant in the scheme of things. It's the opinions of the board of trustees, coaches and well-heeled donor that matter. I like Vince. He's always been kind to me. So was Tom Jurich. Let's face it...Vince was tossed into a viper pit and emerged unbitten. That, in itself, says a lot." 

Our dining partners nodded in agreement. The next question was a bit more difficult. 

"What do you think about all the coaches he's fired or have resigned"? 

I took sometime before I responded. My response was something like: 

"I don't think you can lump all the reasons for these changes into one category. Different circumstances were involved. Some of these coaches, I hated to see go, honestly, but I will say that, when in a position of power and authority...you have to make some tough decisions and accept actions that are out of your control." 

Fortunately, our server arrived with our meals right after that and the topic changed to culinary talk. 

We deal with Louisville women's sports here at CARDINAL COUPLE. In that vein, I will speak, now, of the changes on that side of the mountain. I can understand the reasoning behind the reasons of departure of each of the four coaches who were at their respective helms "pre-Vince". 

One was the center of a lot of allegations and controversy. One wanted to spend more time with her husband. One decided that private business was the next chapter in her life and pursued it. One chose to retire after a long and successful career in college athletics. The four replacements have great promise and are likable, have their players respect and admiration and were good hires.  

One of the seven departed ACC WBB Coaches since 2015

Here's the thing about college athletics. Change is inevitable. I looked back at the head coaches of the 14  ACC Women's Basketball squads (besides Louisville) that were in place in 2015. Seven are still at their schools, seven have been replaced, resigned or retired. 

I also realize there is a contingent out there that still laments the departure of former athletic director Tom Jurich. And, yes, Tom changed the campus, it's facilities and many programs successes in many ways. We owe him a hearty handshake and a huge "Thank you!" for all he did while at Louisville. He was accused and recommended for termination, in part, because of accusations from then-UofL President Greg Postel of "ineffective management, divisive leadership and unprofessional conduct that caused substantial damage to the school"...but the board of trustees gave no reason for the actual firing except for the nebulous term..."for cause".  

Things change. For example, when I was at Louisville as an undergraduate, the athletic director was Dave Hart. He left Louisville for the same position at Missouri. 

Understand this, also. No one ever has 100% of the population's approval of a job they are doing. That's the beauty of a free-thinking society. The adage "You can't please all the people all of the time" is so true. 

One thing about Tyra is that he is a huge supporter of the programs under his watch. 

He's been seen in Omaha, on the lacrosse, field hockey, baseball and softball field...just to name a few, in his time here. A friend of mine usually tells me (without any request or prompting), in e-mail form, whenever she sees him at a sporting event.


Vince usually makes a point of saying "Hi" to me whenever our paths cross at a UofL athletic event. I celebrated with him on the floor in Greensboro when the Cards women's basketball squad won the 2018 ACC Tournament. 

In this first year, plus a few months, of Tyra's tenure as athletic director he's had to make quite a few tough decisions (along with the board of trustees) about Louisville Athletics. Respect him for that, readers, and know that his first and prime concern in his role as Athletic Director is the well-being of Cardinal Athletics. He's weathered the rumors about the most successful coach on campus being recruited by other schools, the head coaching replacement of the two largest revenue-producing programs on campus and, now, the chatter currently going on about a long-time coach who has been placed on paid leave amid investigation.  

Ultimately,  Vince has done what needed to be done. 

In the final analysis, of course, it matters not what I think of Vince. Believe me, I've heard it from all sides about him. Our mission here is to cover the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports. Vince has done nothing to deter with that coverage, so that's a good thing. And, it's also all about the student-athletes in the final analysis, as well. The story begins with them and ends with them.

Jeff Walz will tell you he's never made a basket or grabbed a rebound in his time as the Cards WBB skipper (although his shooting choices have been bad selections...from the sidelines in front of the UofL bench). Neither has Vince.

College sports are about the student-athletes. Yes, they needed guidance, coaching and encouragement during their relatively short stay on a college campus. I'd like to think that Vince remembers the days when he was a student-athlete and some of the things he went through when he thinks about the players and the coaches. 


So, I suppose we'll include him in our list of possible "alternates" on the 4 Man Cardinal Couple Bobsled Team (with other proposed alternate in Jeff Walz, Scott Teeter, Donovan Mitchell, Jerry Abramson and Curtis Franklin) for now. Sadly, practices haven't gone so well and we probably won't get a qualifying team or time. Too much arthritis and weight involved. 

I'd like your thoughts on Vince if you'd like to share them. Feel free to leave them in the comments section below or e-mail them to me.

cardinalcouple@wtwc.com   

Have a terrific Tuesday! 

paulie
xxxxx

What They Are Doing Today -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CATCHING UP WITH.....SHONI SCHIMMEL

(PAULIE CONTINUES WITH THE SUMMER WEEKLY FEATURE OF "WHAT THEY ARE DOING TODAY" WITH A LOOK AT ONE OF LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL'S MOST-LOVED STARS -- SHONI SCHIMMEL) 

When one thinks of the history of University of Louisville women's basketball, the name Shoni Schimmel quickly comes to mind. 

A 2010 high school All-American out Oregon and featured in the independent documentary/film Off the Rez...Schimmel came to Louisville for her career as a student-athlete and created some very impressive stats and memories in her four years as a Cardinal. 

As a junior, she led the Cards to the 2013 NCAA Women's Championship game. Who could ever forget her eye-popping move over Brit Griner and the subsequent verbal add-on Shoni directed at Griner after the score? Schimmel went on to score over 17 points a game her senior season and was an All-American. Her 2174 college points  placed her third on the all-time scoring list at UofL and she was selected eighth in the first round of the 2014 WNBA Draft by Atlanta.

As a member of the Dream, she played along side another "Cardinal Forever", Angel McCoughtry, made the 2014 WNBA All-Star game anD was selected MVP after her 29 point performance. She led Atlanta in assists in 2014 and 2015 but the Dream, despite these two and stars like Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza were upset in the first round of the 2014 playoffs by Chicago and did not make the playoffs in 2015. Schimmel was also selected for the 2015 WNBA All-Star game, thanks in part to the huge Native America vote and fan adoration of the flamboyant shooter from Pendleton, Oergon. 



2016 brought changes for Shoni. Then head coach for Atlanta --  Michael Cooper -- expressed disappointment that Schimmel showed up for training camp "out of shape" and she was traded to the New York Liberty. Her role and stats diminished in New York and she missed the second half of the season due to a concussion. 

In 2017, there were more changes in store for Schimmel. She didn't report for the New York Liberty's training camp. She released a statement that she would be taking the 2017 WNBA season off to deal with some personal issues. Her grandmother, a strong force in her life, had recently become ill and Shoni wanted to spend time with her and her family before she eventually passed away.  Shoni indicated she would return for the 2018 season, and did...but she failed to make the Liberty's roster and was picked up by the Las Vegas Aces...playing in just two games before getting waived. 

Undaunted, she went overseas after being waived by the Aces and played briefly under contract in Israel but she returned to the USA and went in a different direction. 

Coaching. 

She accepted the job of girls basketball coach at New Town High School in North Dakota on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Details are skecthy and hard to find on her year of coaching there but, it appears the Eagles went 14-18. She is not listed as the coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season. 

Shoni's mother Ceci Moses and father Rick Schimmel were successful coaches on the high school level until a controversial firing in 2016 at Santa Fe (NM) Indian School. Click on the link below to read about the Schimmel's side of the incidents.

LINK: SCHIMMEL SIDE OF THE STORY

Shoni did return recently to Spokane's Hoopfest this summer...her first time playing in the outdoor basketball tournament since 2008. Playing in the Elite Division with other former NCAA DI standouts and ex-WNBA players, she teamed up with a couple of Eastern Washington ex-players and New Mexico forward Abby Scott and formed the All Rez team. 

After losing their first game, Shoni's squad met and sent her sister Jude's squad (Air Natives) to the losers bracket in the double elimination format. Hoopfest is the world's largest outdoor 3-on-3 basketball tournament. 

Shoni's team won the Elite women's bracket. Here's a recap. 

LINK:  All Rez wins

Will Schimmel play competitively again in the WNBA or overseas? 

"I'm just chilling right now. After playing basketball for 23 straight years, I think I deserve a break after everything. I'm getting ready to possibly get another coaching job." 

The Jeff Walz player-to-coaching tree sprouts another branch. Honestly, I didn't think it would be Shoni, but, when you consider the facts, it makes perfect sense. A love for the game. tremendous knowledge of the game. The ability to pass on what she's learned to younger players. Her parental influence and her knack for being a leader. 

I remember seeing Shoni work the summer Jeff Walz camps "back in the day". Her easy-going smile and love of children made her a mecca...a "gravitate-to" source on the court for the younger players. Maybe this was Shoni seeing the "younger Shoni" again. 

We've seen the transition from player to coach in Becky Burke, Candyce (Bingham) Wheeler, Sara Hammond, Cortnee Walton and more. All of them have paid dues and are still paying dues to be where they are and where they dream of being eventually. Here's hoping Shoni has the "stick-to-it" mentality to continue to follow this new avenue in her life. Maybe someday we'll see her on the sidelines as a DI NCAA coach.  The big question is: how much does she want it? 

Baby steps first, though. Remember Jeff Walz got his start coaching middle and high school teams. 

The best of luck to Shoni Schimmel. Here's hoping she can develop a new set of "shake 'em" prodigies for women's basketball in the future. If it turns out not to be coaching, her (and Jude's) work and efforts with the Native American tribes across the nation could be a venue to examine and continue to build upon. 

A young woman who has seen so much, so fast in her 27 years. What will the next 27 years, or even next 27 months bring? 

(Acknowledgment to Ryan Collingsworth's article on Hoopfest for information on today's article. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/29/former-wnba-all-star-shoni-schimmel-happy-to-retur/ )


paulie
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