Swimming leads, Softball falls, Sypher sentenced..

SATURDAY at CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:


-Swimming still #1 after Day 3 of Championships

-Softball drops two in 'Bama Classic

-Sypher gets 87 months in extortion case.

-Watson's take on South Florida hoops vs. Lady Cards

-And the Panera winner is.....

-Pitino's Cards cage the Huskies in the YUM

The University of Louisville's men and womens swim squads still lead after Day 3 of the BIG EAST Championships. 'Sharin' Karen Sypher, pictured above, had to miss the competition...trying to swim out of her own cesspool down at the courthouse yesterday. She sank...

The women's swim squad has a commanding lead over Notre Dame 623.6 to 430.50 as the final day of splashing starts today. Several Lady Card swimmers touched the wall first in races yesterday in the Ralph Wright Natatorium. Let's look at the action:

Raine Thompson took the women's 100-fly with a new conference record 53.10. The Cards also had good finishes from Mary Mittel (5th), Esther Povazsky (7th) and Lacy Bobo (8th) in the final.

Therese Bergstrom captured the 100-breast stroke, defeating last year's champion from Notre Dame, Samantha Maxwell. Cardinals Giselle Kohoyda, Aileen Cole and Kameron Chastain also picked up points in the event.

The Cards also got a third in the 400-IM, second in the 200-free and second in the 100-back. The highly heralded 400 medley relay team of Bergstrom, Thompson, Cole and Krissie Brandenburg just missed against the Irish...who set a new BIG EAST record with 3:35.89.

The men go into the final day clinging onto a 591-570.5 lead over the Irish..


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Tough Friday for Sandy Pearsall's softball team in Tuscaloosa, Al. at the 'Bama Bash. Losses to Syracuse and Alabama drop the Cards to 3-4 in the young season. Against the Orange, Louisville jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning...Alicja Wolny's double scoring Jennifer Esteban. 'Cuse roared back, though, with a 3 run blast from Stephanie Watts in the top of the third. The Cards got back within one and had a chance to win it in the top of the seventh. Tanner Fowler, Esteban and Katie Keller reached on infield singles to load the bases with two outs. An error got pinch runner Chelsea Jordan to the plate but Syracuse reliever Jenna Caira stopped the rally...leaving the Cards one run short. Caralisa Connell (1-1) took the loss, allowing three runs, five hits and getting five strikeouts in seven innings. The 3-2 win pushes the 'Cuse to 5-0.


In the nightcap, Alabama jumped on Cards hurler Tori Collins early with four runs in the second inning. A two run double by Kendall Dawson and two run homer from Jackie Traina did the damage. 'Bama added two more in the third and led 6-0 until the top of the fourth when Louisville countered with two runs. Colby Wherry put one over the fence, bringing Katie Keller to the dugout with her. The Tide would add two more in the fourth and fifth innings for the final 10-2 score. Collins took the loss...giving up ten runs, 14 hits and fanning five in 4 innings.


The Cards look to rebound with a noon game against Texas-San Antonio today.


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Sharin' Karen Sypher received a seven year, three month sentence for her extortion attempts on Rick Pitino in Federal Court Friday. Her attempts back in 2003 to force Pitino into forking over cash, cars, college educations and a house for her and her kids is going to put the blond bad girl away with no chance of parole or reduced time served, since it is a federal case. Sypher plans to appeal and won't have to start serving the sentence immediately...as was pleaded by the prosecution. Think she takes a southbound to Georgia and dyes her hair black?


WE at Cardinal Couple feel that she got what she deserved. Although WE do NOT approve of Pitino's indiscretion with her, or the fact that money was provided for what ultimately turned out to be a Sypher abortion...what Sypher did, six years later, was much more severe. Her bizarre attempts to present the facts in a totally opposite and implausible reenactment and her equally strange appearances on obscure radio and TV talk shows indicate to us that she needs some serious psychological observation and help. She's isn't the sharpest pencil in the pile and her alleged previous 'gold-digging' attempts and successes on others show us she needs to be sequestered to a place where following the line in an orderly fashion and doing laundry eight hours a day is the agenda. (See 'ya and wouldn't want to be 'ya.)

Hey...she'll be eligible for AARP and Shoney's breakfast bar discounts when she gets out.....


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Shoni Schimmel and Monique Reid search for their missing shooting stroke today in the Sun Dome against USF. Our special correspondent David Watson provides his take on running with the Bulls below. You can e-mail David at mrwatsonipresume@insightbb.com if you get extremely bored...





Call me irresponsible or foolish (both usually apply) but I see good things in store for the University of Louisville's womens' basketball team Saturday in Tampa. It's Florida, for goodness sakes, who wouldn't be happy to be there in the middle of February? South Florida isn't exactly the Beast of the BIG EAST this year. They've notched one win in the brutal BIG EAST so far this season. They have a win over Seton Hall. I conservatively figure that my son's Catholic Youth team could give a respectable run for the money against the Pirates.

Andrea and Andrell Smith are the two main horns on a Bulls squad that won't be running with the crowd in the NCAA Tournament. They weren't present for USF's stunning upset over UofL last year in Freedom Hall and they might want to consider heading over to Sanibel Island and collecting seashells instead of suiting up for today's impending rout. Louisville is desperately seeking win # 8 in conference play and they'll get it if Walz can convince the Cards to block out, be patient in the offensive sets and not take a deep sea fishing expedition in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Say what you want about the road woes for the Cards this year. This is no Marquette, Syracuse or Connecticut that Hines and company are tipping it up against this afternoon. These Lady Bulls (excuse the oxymoron) are not proficient in rebounding, shooting or playing defense. At home or on the road. If Louisville can manage to lace up both shoes, find their way out of the locker room and shoot at the correct basket each half...then they stand a excellent chance of winning.

(David Watson occasionally sends us his views and observations on Louisville sports when he isn't too busy trying to persuade his oldest daughter to attend
Louisville instead of Notre Dame in two years.)

WE'LL HAVE FULL COVERAGE HERE LATER TODAY AFTER THE GAME IS FINISHED
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A tip of the tap and free Panera Card to Kenneth Stark, Sr. for having this week's winning entry in the random draw. His was the final entry that Bill the Goat tried to eat after a wild night on the Drunken Amish farm. Ken wrote:

"OK. Hope you don't actually have to have a favorite since I have never actually been to one. Maybe a coupon or something free will entice me? If/when I do go to one, it would be the Poplar Level Rd location.
P.S.-love your site!"

Well here's your big chance to break your maiden, Ken! We've got a Panera Gift Card headed your way and we're confident it'll be the first of many trips to Panera for you. We like the Poplar Level Road location, too. Even if we have to tie Bill the Goat up outside before we go in...
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We'd be remiss if we didn't offer the Pitino Cards a slap on the back and hearty "attaboy!" following their win over UConn in the KFC YUM Center last night. Gorgui Dieng with a double-double and Peyton Siva with some high flying magic for the 'Ville. 20 wins for Preston and the bunch and even Musburger and Knight gave Louisville some hearty praise on the four letter network. Always great to beat UConn in anything and Louisville has done it twice now this season in men's basketball. Boo-yah!
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