Women's Basketball Tipoff Luncheon set

CARDINAL COUPLE TUESDAY:

-Lady Cards basketball luncheon

-Two targets for Lady Cards hoops

-USA goes to 4-0

-It's not easy being us

The University of Louisville Women's Basketball luncheon is set for Tuesday, October 26th., at noon, in the Spirit Room of the KFC Yum! Center. Tickets for the event are $25 or you can reserve a table of 8 for $250. Seats can be purchased by calling the UofL Special Events office at 502.852.8872. For those who prefer to do it by fax, a downloadable form can be found at http://www.uoflsports.com/

Jeff Walz should have plenty to talk about at meal time. A very successful recruiting class is on campus and will challenge the staus quo of Louisville starters returning form last season. High profile target Sara Hammond verballed to the Cards a couple of weeks ago for the 2011 class...joining Quaneisha McCurty and transfer Cierra Warren.

These are fun affairs, so hurry and get your seats reserved...since they are first come, first served.

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Speaking of the class of 2011, add a couple more names to the list of players that Walz is interested in. Erika Johnson is a 6'1" wing out of Holy Names Academy High School in Seattle, Washington. She's ranked 21st overall by ESPN and 3rd at her position. Walz recently made a in-home visit with Johnson and she's considering Louisville, North Carolina, Washington and California last we checked.

Johnson is very athletic and has versatile skills. Likes to drive to the basket but can pull up and hit the mid-range jumper with accuracy. No problem with posting up smaller players and can pull off Angel-type moves when driving in the paint. She's extremely quick and creates her share of havoc on defense. She was selected to first team All State in 2010. Could use a little more work from three point range but runs the transition game very well

Markisha Wright, a 6'3" post out of Des Moines East High School in Iowa is a strong, dominating player in the paint who also had surprising speed for a "big". She's an excellent defender as well. Wright looks for the ball down low and is ranked #23 at her position. She needs to improve her shot range and struggles in the half court at times...but is improving quickly as she enters her senior season. She dominated the other centers over the summer in AAU ball. Jeff Walz has scheduled an in-home visit with her...she has not narrowed down a list of final suitors yet.

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Team USA goes to 4-0 in the FIBA World Championships with a romp of Canada on Monday 87-46. This one was never in question...USA roared out to a 47-25 lead and was up 66-38 after three. Head coach Geno Auriemma used a lot of different combinations in this one and none of the players reached double figures.

Belarus awaits USA on Tuesday and the long awaited matchup with Australia happens Wednesday. Daily viewing packages (good for 24 hours) can be purchased for on-line viewing at http://www.fiba.com/

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It all started out innocently enough. CARDINAL COUPLE was ready and willing to get the word out about the Saturday "white out" in Field Hockey against Notre Dame. WE were good kids and fed the information to our allies in the cold cruel world of non-corporate blogging...namely Cardinal Dominance and UofL Card Game. Articles appeared at both sites, as well as here at CARDINAL COUPLE...giving readers the "411" on the event. WE were glad to do it. WE'D like a big "white-out" turnout and hope the attendance record is broken that day. WE'VE ensured that CARDINAL COUPLE will have coverage of the heralded event...even though a couple of us will be unable to attend due to a prior commitment.

WE had a little concern over the fact that a certain, un-named entity was hyping the event to a source that does very little with women's sports and chose them to contact with a request to help promote...while ignoring us. There is a daily quest that WE have here at CARDINAL COUPLE... to provide our vast readership of the "who, what, where, why, when and how" of Cardinal Women's Athletics. Maybe WE'RE not schmoozing the right people...WE got the information second hand.

WE addressed it. Maybe WE shouldn't have. WE did anyway. Do you call a plumber when you're looking for electrical assistance?

What WE got was a mixed bag of goodies. WE were granted access to and the promise of interviews with Cardinal Field Hockey coaches and players on Thursday and WE will post them up in Friday's edition. WE'RE looking forward to that. What WE also got was a rather brusque communique of the procedures involved in obtaining such interviews and the dichotomy of being granted updates of women's sports at UofL. WE were also informed of our failure to follow guidelines in the procedures of being granted such information. Although the intent was well meant and appreciated...it also left us with the feeling that WE'd done something wrong.

WE appreciate the daily efforts of those who provide information and handle the marketing of athletic sports programs. Theirs can't be an easy job. WE realize that "CC" is just a small fish (but with a voracious appetite) when it comes to media coverage.... be it corporate or not...for or not for profit...and the like...concerning UofL women's athletics. WE are non-profit, always will be and WE try to design our coverage with the fan's viewpoint in mind.

WE'RE like you..WE work for a living. WE have budgets, bills and "X" amount of money to go around. WE'RE prudent and selective on where our entertainment dollar goes. Sometimes, WE fear WE are a dying breed out there...in terms of independent blogging, but WE carry on with it. It's a passion, not a salaried position. WE can't even afford a "stand-alone" .com or .net website that would probably increase our readership. WE are proud of the meteoric increase of our daily traffic each month, though. The seedling has grown into a viable tree in the forest of independent sports blogs and sites. Our popularity amongst readers, coaches, current and former athletes is truly humbling and something WE are a bit amazed and honored by.

When CARDINAL COUPLE first began to post to the internet, WE decided that official women's sports news releases might be a good way to keep us informed...so WE could keep you the reader informed. WE requested to be included on the list of people, organizations and media outlets who get these reports. It never happened. WE were told that we did not request such communications. Maybe the requests got chewed up in cyberspace. All we know is that WE did request. WE saved the sent e-mails to the various people in charge of doing it. Maybe they went to spam. It's happened before.

WE'RE trying to provide you, the reader...with information on ALL women's sports at UofL. WE don't cherry pick the most popular ones (although WE have an affinity for women's basketball) and WE certainly don't play favorites. WE'LL continue to do so...whether WE get "included in the loop" or not. WE'D like to provide you with the best coverage WE can. WE'RE encouraged that WE'LL be able to do so and the fact that WE might possibly start getting official updates is appreciated and can only help us inform you better. Fingers crossed. WE'VE received the utmost in courtesy and respect whenever WE'VE requested coverage clearance and media access to UofL women's sporting activities. This, WE appreciate. It helps us provide you with better coverage and information. WE'D attend anyway...WE'RE fans as well as observers.

Never thought that promoting something WE love to follow and support could be so darned tricky. WE'LL be here, though...and hope you will, too. And WE encourage you to support all women's athletics at UofL. Go to the matches and games. Cheer on the student athletes participating. Represent your University proudly. WE'LL fill in the blanks for you when you can't.

This isn't a rant and it's certainly not an attack of the top notch, excellent work done by those diligent staffers and administrators on college campuses. It is merely a observation on the irony of how sometimes those 'who would like...don't receive' and 'those who don't care...end up with the goods'. Although WE do like to have fun with fictitious departments, characters and scenarios here at CARDINAL COUPLE...our reporting is serious and updated daily.

WE thank you for reading.