Court in session....how will they judge? Friday CARDINAL COUPLE

******BREAKING NEWS******

MARIYA MOORE LEAVING LOUISVILLE WBB

Sources close to the UofL WBB program have confirmed that junior Mariya Moore has decided to leave the Cards. She will leave the program at the end of the semester and return to California. Her hopes are to play her senior season closer to home. It is also being reported that her sister Minyon Moore is leaving USC. The news on Minyon comes from her father's Instgram page. 

Moore was a second-team All ACC selection in the 2016-17 season and averaged 12 points a game for the Cards. A check of the 2016-17 roster at gocards.com still has Moore listed...but several reports on Moore leaving Louisville began to surface last night and it has been confirmed that she won't play for Louisville in the 2017-18 season. 



LOUISVILLE PRESENTS CASE TO NCAA COMMITTEE ON INFRACTIONS.

Back on the popular 1960's television show LAUGH IN, there was a segment called "Here Comes Da Judge". The late Flip Wilson was "yer honor". The skit also produced a song by Pigmeat Markham called....wait for it...Here Comes Da Judge. 

SONG LINK: HERE COMES DA JUDGE!

I'm pretty sure I've still got a t-shirt somewhere with that saying on it...unless Sonja has donated it to one of the thrift stores she likes to give old stuff to. 

Yesterday, in Cincinnati, the Cards faced the judge...or, in this case, an 11 hour session in front of members of the NCAA Committee on Infractions to present their side of the prostitute/sex scandal that stunned the campus, community and college sports back in October 2015.

Nothing like swift justice, right? 

Decisioning should come in 6-8 weeks on the series of incidents where Andre McGee allegedly paid for women's to "entertain" in Billy Minardi Hall. 

The Cards went to these hearings and told the truth, according to athletic director and vice-president Tom Jurich (which is always a good thing to do...in court and in all other aspects of life, as well).  Chuck Smrt, Tom and Rick Pitino were on hand to answer questions from the committee...along with a few lawyers...and offer rebuttals. Also there was acting UofL President Dr. Greg Postel and former program assistant Brandon Williams, accused of a major program violation in the original charges and guy who refused to give up his cell phone. 

Andre McGee was not present. I wonder if he's still driving for Uber? 

Details of the proceedings are confidential. UofL officials are prohibited by the NCAA from answering questions about the proceedings. There was even confusion on where the proceeding were going to take place...some local television stations were headed to Indianapolis to cover the event (home of the NCAA) when they found out it was Cincinnati and a ballroom at the Hyatt. A quick right-turn at Columbus, Indiana ("Take a right on 46 and head to I-74, boys!") and off to Ohio. 

At least the Cards were at a hearing and not up in front of Judge Smails from the movie Caddyshack...as for Cincy as a locale? Maybe they had tickets for the Reds and Cubs...

Some say Pitino didn't speak about the hearings after all was said and done yesterday. Some say Jurich likes the new interim President Postel and thinks they'll get along fine. We'll come back to that.  All are wondering how this thing is going to turn out. Six weeks can't go by fast enough. Let's hope an organization that usually moves at a turtle's pace can proceed on this issue like Julian Leparoux guiding a horse down Churchill's stretch to the wire. 

-- Take a vacation, Rick...A lot of observers are speculating that Coach Pitino will be suspended for a few games next season. How many and when during the season is the big question. Three games at the start of the year? Sure no problem. Seven games during ACC Conference play? Could be a big problem. 

-- Take down the 2013 National Championship banner and vacate the title? That probably won't happen. A penalty too harsh for what happened. 

-- Monetary fines? Yeah, probably so. The NCAA loves to levy fines. 

Let's not forget that the Cards reported the violations on their own and took measures against themselves....sitting out the 2016 NCAA Tournament. There's been a board upheaval and former president James Ramsey is gone. 

Most Cardinal fans just want this chapter to be finished and the whole episode to come to closure. Other schools have "allegedly" done much worse, didn't self-report their actions and still haven't gone to trial yet. We want to be done with it.

Tom Jurich on his Thursday in Cincy: 

“It was a long day, but very productive,” Jurich said. “We said from Day One that we’d tell the truth, and we’ve done that. I was extremely impressed, this was my first time, really, to be around Dr. Postel, certainly in a very challenging environment. I couldn’t be more proud of him and look so forward to working with him now in the future. I always say to my staff, you like to evaluate people when you’re going through adversity. Well, this is adversity. Seeing him stand up for our institution and for our athletic department, and to stand for what is real, I was so impressed. So I look forward to (that) with Dr. Postel. I think our university is in great hands. And I can’t say that enough.”

On the subject of the hearing, Jurich, continued, “We exchanged all of our information and the enforcement staff gave all of their information. The committee on infractions listened, they asked questions when they felt were needed. I think it was very, very thorough, and I think it goes without saying that I can’t wait to get this behind us. I’ve been told, in there, that we are not allowed to answer any questions, I’m told that until this is resolved, the thing it looks like it could be resolved in 6 to 8 weeks.”

Well? We're waiting !

It seems this has been going on for way too long, in my humble opinion. The NCAA is a huge and ponderous entity that moves at their own slow and lumbering pace and reacts slowly, if not deliberately, on infractions. Let's go back to horse racing, everyone wants to see the results of the race posted as soon as possible...especially if a horse you liked might be involved in them.

 This whole Louisville vs. NCAA episode is like running the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May and then informing the attendees and watchers that the posting of the official results will be on the Fourth of July.

Well? We're waiting...

What say you, readers? 


*****************************************************


DID YOU NOTICE? 

Last night I was flipping around the cable channels looking for something to watch when I landed on the NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers. During a crowd shot, who do I see but UofL head women's basketball coach Jeff Walz and his lovely wife Lauren watching the contest...center court and about five rows up from the action.  

Although Walz wasn't there scouting potential players for the Cards...he'll get back to that this weekend...he did get to see an exciting contest (for some) where the Cavs overcame a 25-point halftime deficit to rally and beat Indiana. 

Lebron James. Wow, just wow. 

Not a bad Thursday night date, Coach. 
paulie
xxxxx