Women's Basketball releases game times

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-WBB releases game times for 2010-11 schedule

-Angel arrives in Hungary

-Some thoughts on 2011 recruiting

-And then there is this from UofL...




With the cool air this morning, thoughts turn to basketball. The Lady Cards have released game times for their 2010-11 schedule. Let's look at some of the highlights. Junior Becky Burke (pictured here) and the rest of Jeff Walz's squad will take to the KFC YUM! Center floor for their first opponent, Indiana Wesleyan, at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 30th. The exhibition game shouldn't interfere with UofL football on the road against Pittsburgh later that night. Might be a good time to check out the surrounding restaurants and bars surrounding the arena following the contest and make it a downtown Louisville afternoon and evening. The regular season kicks off on November 12th. against Tennessee. The Friday night contest begins at 7:00 p.m. and will be shown nationally on CBS College Sports. Louisville will also appear on CBS College Sports in a match up versus St. John's on January 4th.

ESPN has the Lady Cards hooked up for two contests. They'll show the January 9th. game against Pittsburgh on ESPNU at noon. The West Virginia game gets ESPN2 at 5:00 p.m. on Feburary 13th.

The BIG EAST network has the Cards appearing once. They'll face Rutgers at 6:00 p.m. on January 29th. It'll be shown locally on WHAS-11. WAZOO Sports Network will televise Shoni Schimmel and the gang four times. They've booked Southeast Missouri State on November 19th. at 7:00 p.m., Kentucky on December 5th. at 2:00 p.m., Cincinnati on January 22nd. at 7:00 p.m. and DePaul on Feburary 23rd. at 7:00 p.m.

WKRD Radio (790 AM/101.7 FM) and their network affiliates will handle all of the Cards on the radio. We're assuming Jim Kelch will return for the play-by-play and Adrienne Johnson continues handling her unique stylings of color commentary. Love these two!



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The Angel has landed. She's arrived for Euro hoops in Hungary and will suit up for MKB-Euroleasing Sopron. McCoughtry will team up with former Middle Tennessee and WNBA standout Amber Holt. They play their first game October 28th. Hopefully, Angel will still be able to return to the 'Ville for the hanging of her jersey in the KFC YUM! Center during the November 12th. game against the Tennessee Lady Vols. If you are good at translating Hungarian, you can read more about it at http://www.wb-sopron.com/ There are a lot of pretty pictures on the site.

Frankly, though...it gave me a headache. And Angel & Amber will most likely give opponents the same.

The team is excited about the addition of the two and re-taken the team photo to include them. McCoughtry and Holt engaged in one of the most exciting battles between two scorers that I can remember in Freedom Hall a couple of years ago. Pairing them together should make Sopron unstoppable.

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Who is Jeff Walz recruiting for the 2011 class? A reader recently asked this question. Here's what we know. Quaneisha McCurty and Sara Hammond have verballed to the Cards. Walz has also recruited players from Seattle, DesMoines, France and Germany but no word on them yet or what year they'd be arriving. We wonder what the interest level is on Jude Schimmel...Shoni's younger 5'5" sister who will be the point guard at Portland (OR) Franklin this year. She's still uncommitted and may be waiting to see how big sis does here at the 'Ville before deciding. The synopsis on her is that she's a talented point guard who can direct the offense and fill up the hoop but her size might be a hindrance with some of the more elite D-1 programs. I don't buy it. Remember Sara Nord? Patrika Barlow? Angel Bradley? Jessica Huggins? They weren't giants but they were quite capable at Louisville.



What I do wonder about is how she'd fit into the current logjam on the Louisville roster at the guard position. The Cards lose only Toya Johnson to graduation after this year at the guard spot. That means Shelby Harper, Becky Burke, Nikki Burton, Rachel Story, Charmaine Tay, Tia Gibbs, Shoni Schimmel, Antonita Slaughter and maybe even Dez Byrd return to the front court.

Then, there is the transfer factor. The Lady Cards have had 2-3 players transfer out of the program each of the three years that Walz has been here. Girls looking for playing time. And getting it at programs other than Louisville. With Keisha Hines being the only other senior on the roster...one has to wonder just how many spots will be available in 2011-12? And, the Cards only have two juniors on the roster as well...Becky Burke and Monique Reid.

It's way too early to guess and speculate but I'll offer that McCurty and Hammond, plus one more (to be named later) restock the Walz roster to 16 jerseys. Don't forget Cierra Robertson Warren gains eligibility for the 2011-12 season and it's possible Byrd could return.

After last year, this multiplicity is a good thing to have. As long as it doesn't get into problems and attitudes about playing time and roles. As Denny Crum is fond of saying, it's better to go too long in recruiting than too short. With Walz's depth in this area, he's nailed one 350 yards down the middle of the fairway.

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Interesting things going on with the recent announcement that Rick Pitino is taking a year off from his televised weekly coach's show on WHAS TV and that Terry Meiners will no longer be doing the show or asking Pitino questions at halftime on WHAS TV broadcasts of UofL men's basketball games. Hey, I guess even Jay Leno and David Letterman take breaks from their shows occasionally. Of course, Pitino isn't quite as funny as those two. Rick knows what is best for Rick.

I'm still waiting for the phone call to step in and take the show over. Deener? Flash in the pan...

As far as it goes with Meiners, I used to contribute occasional entries to his web site under the alias of "Your friend -P" Even got the chance to talk with him once or twice, albeit briefly and very generally. Then, there was that whole messy incident with him and Bill the Goat last year at the St. Stephen Martyr summer picnic. Terry is a wonderful guy, dedicated to this community and our signature charity...The WHAS Crusade for Children. My late father loved that charity, loved the telethons each year. He even liked Meiners...'that guy on the radio who smokes a crooked pipe so he can blow smoke up his own a$$' according to Pops.

I doubt Meiners will have to apply for unemployment insurance because he lost this gig.

Meiners is a comedian. A funny guy. He has also been critical over the selection process for seats in the new KFC YUM! Dawntown Arena. What did he expect...for Jurich to grin broadly and welcome him to UofL related broadcasts with open arms? You catch more flies with honey that you do with...well, you know the saying. And, I'm getting tired of putting an exclamation point behind YUM! also...Eric Crawford and et al...

Sonja got in hot water once, at another site...because she made a remark in an article about a former coach's spouse. She was subsequently banned from doing the 'YMCA' dance during timeouts at UofL women's basketball games for 2 weeks. Fortunately, the Cards were out of town on a road trip during the suspension. And, she didn't win the John Deere riding lawnmower either last year when her name was drawn as a final participant at one of the games. She still carries a grudge. And I still have room in the garage for that elusive white whale. Oops, green whale. Are ya listening Hartland Equipment? Can you hear me now?

Coincidence? I think not. You see, there is this massive conspiracy plot down at UofL to silence all media and communications about the program unless Tom Jurich authorizes it with the secret handshake, word, repetition of the loyality oath and ceremonial "Cards First Down" signal. Been that way since he got here. Yes, I'm sure that's right. Doesn't matter if it is positive or negative. They've been spying on CARDINAL COUPLE for quite some time now...I see them out there in the taxus bushes. They tap my phones, follow me to work and tell fast food cashiers to give me incorrect change at the drive thru windows. They make it difficult for me to cross the street from the Parrish House before UofL football games. That guy who stopped by yesterday to give me an estimate on tree removal. He was a UofL secret service agent. I'm sure of it. We've been on double, secret probation with the university since John L. Smith took the head football coaching job. Oh, yeah...it's going on. Meiners is in on it, too. And so is Lachlan McLean. Maybe even Becky Burke. I may dig out my UK hat and t-shirt and wear them to Churchill opening day.

Please...people. Quit making this an issue. Things change. What once were vices are now habits. Terry Meiners will still continue to be the funniest guy and clown prince of Louisville media. Tom Jurich is still the best athletic director in the nation. And if Rick Pitino needs a break from TV, so be it. Quit wasting time on this. Randall Cobb is getting ready to tweet again....

I'm still waiting for that phone call to host the show. And why not offer the UofL women's gig to Meiners? I'd be proud to be his co-host. Even if I still have more hair than him. And Sean Moth.