Mountain - Mississippi Queen

THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:


-Mississippi Valley State vs.UofL LADY CARDS tonite.


-Volleyball prepares for NCAA 1st round against MTSU.

-GO CARDS BEAT PURDUE

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(In honor of the visiting Devilettes, we offer the classic MOUNTAIN song from the early seventies. If this one doesn't make you get up and dance with the coffee mug...check your pulse. And, no...that isn't Paul on the left...)



The University of Louisville women's basketball team seeks to improve to 5-3 with a Thursday night game versus SWAC Conference member Mississippi Valley State. The Devilettes come into the contest with a 1-3 mark...losing on the road big to Texas (92-6o) and Texas Tech (73-28) but playing Tom Collen's Arkansas team very close in a 55-54 loss in Fayetteville. Their win came against the legendary Toogaloo College 72-64 in Jackson, MS.. (Grateful Dead fans will relate...'Half step, Mississippi uptown...toodaloo.)

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The Devilettes are led by freshman guard De'Kisha Fondon, who recently received SWAC Newcomer of the Week honors. Fondon had 21 points and three steals against Texas, 10 against Toogaloo and eight vs. the Razorbacks.
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No need to duck. The Devilettes have one player on their roster 6 feet tall. They'll attempt the run and gun Paul Westphal up and down the court theatrics against the Cards. Could be a track meet in the KFC YUM Center tonight.

Louisville must stay on point and not lose focus of the opponent at hand. We all know who comes purring into town on Sunday and they are snarling for a fight. One step at a time, LADY CARDS. Dispose of the Devilettes and then concentrate on the Kitties.

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Louisville Volleyball begins NCAA play against Middle Tennessee State Friday afternoon in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Cards would face the winner of the Kentucky vs. Purdue match if they can defeat the Blue Raiders...who currently hold a 2-0 advantage over Louisville in NCAA Tournament play. The Cards will face a style in Blue raiders volleyball that they have seen several times in the BIG EAST this season...a style that is a little different than the Louisville attack and defense.
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Louisville has faced both Kentucky and Purdue this season. .losing to the Cats 3-2 in Lexington and 3-1 to Purdue in Cardinal Arena. Time for a little payback on either.
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Purdue brings back the memories of Freedom Hall and basketball from many years ago. Louisville defeated the Boilermakers one night and the cheerleaders used to hold up a sign at all four stations of the court....endzones and halfcourt. The signs read...respectivefully...GO... CARDS... BEAT... (Opponent) and the fans in that particular section would shout out what was on the poster board in front of them...creating a swirling cheer effect. After the Purdue game, someone forgot to switch the 'opponent' sign, so fans in the end zone were baffled, then amused when the cheerleaders implored them to beat Purdue again, even though the opponent wasn't Purdue. It became a tradition after that for the students and fans in the end zone to shout out "PURDUE!" each game when the cheerleaders did the cheer, no matter who the opponent was. Finally, after a couple of years... the cheer squad dropped the cheer from the repertoire. (Check Friday's entry for the official version of the Purdue legend).

Opponents were baffled by the cheer. It was great fun to hear it. I also remember an alleged story about a visiting media representative asking a UofL player during that time about the cheer. Maybe not verbatim here...and I can't verify the veracity of the event...but the player allegedly replied, tongue in cheek, words something like what is listed below:

"It really doesn't matter who we go out there to play. We hate Purdue. It fires us up each game, to imagine that our opponent out on the court is Purdue. We feed off our fans and when they get that cheer going, we get pumped. We'd play Purdue every home game if we could. Beating Gene Keady once or twice a week would be so cool. Beat Purdue."