DAVID WATSON LOOKS AT THE BIG EAST..

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-David Watson looks at WBB in the BIG EAST.

-Tennis wins two on Sunday

-Know it all?

Jed Clampett and Jethro Bodine, pictured here, are big fans of BIG EAST womens' basketball. The two are dressed for a recent WVU game here and had their rifles handy just in case the WVU mascot experienced any difficulties or the officiating got out of hand...Wheeee Doggies!!!!

"Lookie, there...Jethro. Mr. Drysdale is teaching Miss Hathaway how to post up and set a pick down by the cement pond!"

(David Watson checks in from time to time to give us his unique and entertaining views on women's sports. He comments today on BIG EAST women's hoops):

I took the family to South Bend today to watch Notre Dame play womens' basketball against St. John's. At least it started out as basketball. Notre Dame turned the event into a lopsided romp and I found myself cheering for the Red Storm late in the game in hopes that they'd make a contest of it. They didn't.

Mind you, we are not Notre Dame fans. We cheer for Louisville and sometimes Ball State. Both are Cardinals, so we're pretty safe there. My oldest is contemplating applying to Notre Dame, though, so we thought a day on the campus might be a fun thing to do. She's a fairly decent soccer player, probably not good enough to play in the BIG EAST, but you never know, so we went for a look. Our student host for the day was a wonderfully delightful guide and we saw a lot of things in the few brief hours before tipoff.

The campus is lovely. Historic and pristine in the winter snow. It's a short ninety minute drive from the house also, in case homesickness sets in. Whether or not she'll follow through with the application process, get accepted and attend is anyone's guess right now, but I could handle attending a few more games up there. Irish fans support their teams. Loudly and proudly. The renovated Joyce Center is an excellent athletic facility. I give the trip a big thumbs up. I'll be watching, Irish.

I'll also be watching this BIG EAST women's basketball race pretty closely, too. It amazes me that half of the schools have only five overall losses or less so far. A couple of key games take place on Tuesday and Wednesday of the upcoming week. West Virginia goes to Georgetown. Was the Mountaineers loss to Marquette a fluke last week and can Georgetown do the same to WVU? Wednesday brings Louisville to Marquette and Connecticut to Rutgers. Tough road tests for each visitor and by Thursday morning, there could be some interesting changes in the top eight standings in the conference.

I did get back home in time to see Pittsburgh hold off the NY Jets. Honestly, by halftime, I thought about switching over and watching a movie. I'm glad I didn't. My dog in the playoff fight, New England, is no longer a factor but I did want to see the Jets do well. That being said and both teams I actually root for now eliminated, I'll just watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and halftime show. Don't we all?

Nice job by former UofL football player William Gay with the scoop and run with the fumble for a Steelers TD. Always good to see former Cardinals do well. I apologize for groaning about all those blown assignments when you were in the red and black, #22.

(David Watson sends us articles from time to time and whines and snivels like an overpopular drama queen if we don't post them immediately. Other than that...we're pretty fly with him.)

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The University of Louisville women's tennis team won a double-header Sunday at the Bass-Rudd tennis center...shutting out BIG EAST rival WVU 7-0 in the morning and then blanking Morehead State 7-0 in the afternoon. Mandy Brown, pictured right won both of her #1 seed doubles matches with Julie Fellerhoff and also won both of her#2 singles matches. The box score:

Louisville 7 - West Virginia 0

Doubles

Brown/Fellerhoff (UL) def. Chupa/Cardenas 8-3

Villajuan/Harris (UL) def. Tanil/Mathis 8-7

Miller/Shine (UL) def. Petterrson/Pilsbury 8-2

Singles

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Fellerhoff (UL) def. Tanik 6-1, 6-1

Brown (UL) def. Mathis 6-3, 6-1

Shine (UL) def. Cardenas 6-3, 6-3

Bokhari (UL) def. Chupa 6-1, 6-2

Miller (UL) def. Pilsbury 6-2, 6-1

Duncan (UL) def Pettersson 6-4, 6-0

Louisville 7 - Morehead State 0

Doubles

Brown/Fellerhoff (UL) def. Delaney/Antero 8-1

Villajuan/Harris (UL) def. Cran/Montemeyer 8-4

Shine/Miller (UL) def. Young/Rydberg 8-1

Singles

Fellerhoff (UL) def. Young 6-1, 6-1

Brown (UL) def. Rydberg 6-2, 6-2

Shine (UL) def. Antern 6-1, 6-3

Mandry (UL) def. Montemayer 6-2, 6-3

Bokhari (UL) def. Cran 6-2, 6-1

Harris (UL) def Delaney 6-1, 6-1

The Cards won 192 games on Sunday and lost only 60. That's a lot of serving. Louisville goes Friday to play Murray State and Southern Illinois in Paducah next. Looks like Mark Beckham has another powerhouse on campus again this year with this edition of the Tennis Cards.

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We're going to miss Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. His Countdown show weeknights was a refreshing and sometimes cynical look at our world. Keith and Dan Patrick also did some of the best Sportscenters ever back in the day on ESPN.

His final story on the show is a classic...we'll link it here for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnNEqoJxxtQ

(It is better to ask some of the questions than to think you know all of the answers)

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