For Boley, it's "Go NorthWest, young woman"...Green left out -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

6'2" E-Town star chooses Oregon 

The phrase..."Go West, Young Man" is attributed to newspaper publisher Horace Greeley.  Tweaking that a bit for women's college basketball...Hodgenville, KY McDonald's All-American and former Notre Damer Erin Boley has decided to "go Northwest" and join the Oregon Ducks to finish her college basketball career. 

It ends the speculation that be might be joining the Cardinals, Cardinal or 'Dores (Louisville, Stanford and Vanderbilt) squads and will put her on a Pac 12 squad that also has high-profile guard Sabrina Ionescu. Boley will sit the 2017-18 season and then have three years of eligibility remaining. She reveals: 

"I kind of knew what I was looking for this time around. I was there (Oregon) just this past weekend and felt like I fit in perfectly with the team and loved Coach Kelly Graves and all the coaches. I feel like it's a place for me to make my new home and Oregon's the school for me this time around." 

Boley, along with Ali Patberg, decided to leave the Irish at the completion of this past season...where Notre Dame reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament but were upended by Stanford in the Lexington Regional final 76-75. The Irish won't be hurting too badly with the defections, though...Marina Mabrey, Jackie Young, Brianna Turner, Arike Ogumbowale and Kathryn Westbeld all return for Muffet McGraw. 

Boley undoubtedly has the tools to make a difference at Oregon. Her former coach at Kentucky Premier David Tapley observes: 

"She's a complete player. She can play back to the basket. She can take you off the dribble, shoot the three-pointer and she's a 4.0 kid. She's a gym rat. She's a kid that wants to be pushed and she's a winner." 


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NYAH GREEN NOT PART OF THE 2016 USA WOMEN'S U 16 TEAM.

2019 Louisville verbal Nyah Green is considered one of the best, if not the best, of her class.  When the 18 player roster was announced for the 2016 USA Women's U 16 team on Monday, though...Green's name was not on the list. 

The 6'1" off-guard from Allen, TX is ranked #1 at her position by ESPNW for her 2019 Class. That apparently doesn't mean much to coaches Carla Berube (Tufts), Steve Gomez (Lubbock Christian U) and Vanessa Nygaard (Windward, H.S.).

What in the wide world of sports is going on here?  Green made the cut to 37 players...but failed to get to the next round? Politicking from a group of unknown coaches? Just a bad practice day? 

Some top 50 ESPNW 2019 players who are part of the final 18. #1 Samantha Brunelle, #6 Haley Jones, #8 Jordan Horston, #9 Aliyah Boston, #10 Ashley Owuse and #14 Zia Cooke.  

No players from Kentucky or Indiana are on the list of 18. Six of the 18 are 6'3" or taller. 

Shenanigans going on here? 

At the very least, a motivational factor for Green to carry with her over the next couple of seasons. 


paulie
xxxxx

Kakala, Duvall on campus...Robins, Robinson in action -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TWO 2017 COMMITS VISIT CAMPUS

Two of the three future WBB Cards were on campus over the Memorial Day weekend taking a visit. Retta Kakala and Lindsey Duvall got to spend time on the Belknap Campus and see the progress on the WBB Cards new digs over at the Little YUM! as well as spend time with their future teammates and coaches. 

For Duvall, the journey was maybe 20 miles...straight down Bardstown Road to the (presumably) Gene Snyder and I-65 North. That's the way I get there when I make my treks to Floyd St. Kakala covered a bit more ground...2281 miles, to be fairly accurate...we're assuming it was a flight and not a three-day drive for the talented center. 

Both will be important pieces of the 2017-18 Cardinal WBB squad. Duvall, with her excellent shooting and lock-down defense will battle and test the returning guards for playing time. Kakala, the only true center listed on the roster, will have the chance right off the bat to gain playing time and contribute inside for Jeff Walz and her teammates.  

The process begins again...I wonder if senior Myisha Hines-Allen ever thinks back to her first visit to the campus? She's the only senior left on this 2017-18 roster...her and Arica Carter the only two left from that class. No one left on that roster that experienced the trip to the Final Four and New Orleans Arena to play for the National Championship. No one remains that played in the AAC or Big East. 

What stories will Kakala, Duvall and Dana Evans have to tell or remember when they enter their senior seasons...possibly for the 2020-21 season? Will they still be on campus? Remember, Hines-Allen and Carter came in with Syd Brackemyre (University of Indianapolis), Ariana Freeman (Colorado) and Mariya Moore (USC).  

The names change. Can't avoid that...it is only a 4-5 (or less) year stay and process in a young women's life. If that. A time to be relished and enjoyed, though. A time for learning and for successes and failures. A time to grow. 

Who will be the Kakala's, Duvall's and Evans' four years from now? The coaches are already working on that list...will there be another Angel, Shoni or Asia in that group?  

The process. It is on-going. 


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A LOOK AT 2018

Is it too early to call them the "R&R Girls"? 

Thanks to regular reader T.J. we get a look at two of the 2018 verbals headed to Louisville WBB...Seygan Robins and Mykasa Robinson...playing for the Kentucky Premier team. 

Good stuff. Robins is deadly from trifecta range early on in the video and Robinson the consummate team player. 

Premier is undoubtedly one of the best AAU programs in the country and has helped develop a fantastic group of young women over the years to go on and play at all levels of women's college basketball. 

Enjoy the link below: 

LINK: KENTUCKY PREMIER with Seygan Robins and Mykasa Robinson.


paulie
xxxxx

Memorial Day -- Emmonnie Henderson -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

From all of us at Cardinal Couple...a brief Memorial Day Tribute. 


For those who gave their lives while serving our country...
We honor you.

To my Uncle Martin Busch, who died at Pearl Harbor .
I honor you. 

To my childhood buddy Ricky Hawkins, who died in VietNam
Your family and I honor you. 


To all who have served...putting their lives on hold to defend
our country and keep us safe from harm and free.

We honor you. 


To my father, father-in-law, uncles and cousins who pledged
to serve with duty and honor and protected our way of life.

We will never forget. 




HENDERSON QUALIFIES TWICE FOR NCAA

By now, the trip to Eugene, OR. is probably a pretty familiar
journey for UofL shot-putter and discus tosser Emmonnie Henderson. 


On Saturday, "E" qualified for the NCAA Championships for the
third straight year in the shot put...coming in second at the NCAA 
Eastern Regionals with a toss of 17.93 in Lexington, KY.  The day
before...she secured an additional berth in the NCAA Finals with a 
seventh place finish in the discus. She's one of six Cardinal athletes
that qualified to go to Eugene and the only one who qualified in two
events. 


She made a tough decision several years ago...and it appears to be
the right one. Coming to Louisville in 2013 as a basketball player in
addition to being a track and field star...she split time between the
two sports her first two years. Known as a fierce rebounder with inside
scoring skills...she made the AAC All-Freshman team her first year and
acheived her first double-double he sophomore year. 

She had a dream, though...and it was to represent the USA in the 2016 Olympics in field events. She knew that to try and make the squad,
it would require more than just a partial season of training and efforts.

The decision to leave basketball was a tough one...but Coach Walz encouraged her to pursue that dream and she sadly left the team after the
2014-15 season. 

Emmonnie fell a bit short of getting to Rio in 2016 but the drive and  determination to become one of the best in the world at the shot and discus did not die. She's back on the big stage again this upcoming weekend with one last collegiate chance to ascend to the medals platform. 

Give it a couple of last tosses, "E". Do your best...you've already cemented
your status as the best ever at Louisville in the events. Go show the NCAA
now...


CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

In case you missed the Saturday broadcast of The Cardinal Couple Radio
Hour on WCHQ 100.9...go to the link below. Had us a good time, we did and the Worldwide Quiz is back for the summer. 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 5/27/17


paulie
xxxxx

Team Allison and Cars Turning Left -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cars Turning Left

In the past few weeks, we've had weekends where the predominant sporting event in our culture has been all about horses running and turning left.  This weekend is still about turning left, but it's cars this time.  We here at Cardinal Couple emphasize women's sports, and car racing, and in this specific case, Indy car racing is one of very few sports where women and men compete on an equal footing.  OK, yes, the racing world is dominated by male drivers, but there is one woman running the Indy 500 this year, Pippa Mann.  Running in the Susan G Komen #63 car, Mann will be starting 28th, but she will be easy to spot as she hopefully works her way up through the ranks with a white and pink paint scheme.  Pink, as you would expect from a car primarily sponsored by the Susan G. Komen organization.

Team Allison

During The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday, Paulie were discussing the Women's Soccer schedule being announced and got to talking about some of the players returning on that squad.  Two Allisons were mentioned; Allison Whitfield, and Alison Price.

It's been a while since we formally named a Cardinal Couple honorary team, though we have talked
quite a bit about Team Sid/Syd/Szyd and Team Jordan during the Softball season.  But it's time to formally name another CC honorary team: Team Allison.  These are Allisons (or close variants of that spelling) that currently appear on the Cardinal team rosters on the gocards.com website.

We'll start with the aforementioned soccer Allisons.  Allison Whitfield plays in #23, and is a hometown hero, playing her high school soccer at duPont Manual, just across Cardinal Blvd from UofL.  Whitfield is a 5-9 sophomore.  Alison Price comes to us from West Forsyth HS in Clemmons NC.  She is a 5-5 senior and wears #20.  Both soccer Allisons are listed as forwards.

Our next Allison is on the Lacrosse team.  Allison Ferrara is, unsurprisingly for a Lacrosse player, from the east coast.  Playing her high school Lacrosse at Morristown in Morrisstown, NJ, she made the ACC Honor Roll in this, her freshman season.  A midfielder, Ferrara wears #8.

Rowing is always good for these all-name teams, with their expansive roster (they managed to come up with two unrelated rowers with the last name of DiTommaso one year), and sure enough, they make a contribution to Team Allison.  Allison Zimmerman hails from Florida, which generally makes sense for rowers, except that she comes from the only major landlocked city in FL, Orlando.  Olympia HS is proud of this one, having made the All-ACC Academic Team, and the ACC Honor Roll among other academic honors.  Zimmerman is a good enough rower that she spent some time in a seat in the varsity eight boat this past season, her sophomore season, and ended the season in the second varsity eight boat which claimed a 5th place finish at the ACC Championships.  Prior to coming to UofL, she was also a competitive gymnast, and pole vaulter.  Now that's an interesting combinations in multi-sports athletics.

Alison "Mike" Szydlowski gets, I believe, the honor of being the first person ever on two different Cardinal Couple all-name teams.  A CC favorite, Mike has cemented her place as a valuable member of Team Sid/Syd/Szyd, with the third variant being added just for her, as well has anchoring the Softball defense with an unexpected move from her normal catcher position over to 3rd base to be the answer for the Cardinals when they were looking for answers in the left side of the infield.  Szyd also sent several yellow orbs over the outfield fence this year contributing much to the Cardinals offense, while wearing #6.  I expect, and hope, to see her spending time back behind the plate next year in her junior campaign (when fellow Team Syd'er, Sydney Melton, comes back from recovering from ACL surgery to play SS, I expect Caitlin Ferguson, who filled in for Melt at SS and did a remarkable job, to take over the 3rd base position next year).  Mike is a 5-5 Junior out of Speckman HS in Imperial, MO.

We're going to stretch here to pick up an honorable mention.  Al Greener is the director of the UofL Pep Band. Greener originally hails from Iowa, something you will certainly learn about him if you hang around him much at all, he's a Cubs fan, and can frequently be found at various UofL sporting events, both men's and women's, even when the pep band isn't playing. He's a trombone guy.

Greener is also responsible for the fantastic organ music and interludes at UofL Baseball games. In addition to his pep band duties, he's the author of All Hail UofL, one of the fight songs for the Cardinals.

His full first name is actually Alan, so he doesn't really fit Team Allison, but "Al" could be short for Allison, right? We just generally like Al around Cardinal Couple, so we wanted to give him some attention.  Al is a fixture around UofL athletics.  Charlie Springer wrote a piece about Al back in 2012.  Paulie usually gets one or two interviews with him a year. 

Congratulations to Team Allison.

-- JMcA

Cards Fall to Noles, Henderson Qualifies -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Still Stumped by Florida State

After defeating Notre Dame on Thursday in a game that meant literally nothing to the outcome of the ACC tournament, Louisville fell to Florida State for the third straight game (over two weekends). Florida State jumped ahead early with two runs in the first and never yielded that lead. Louisville closed the gap to 2-1 and 4-2 at different points in the game, but were unable to get themselves going for much more. The final score was 6-2. Regardless of Thursday's outcome against Notre Dame, Louisville had to beat Florida State to advance to the semifinals because the Noles beat the Irish earlier in the week. Such is the nature of pool play, but I certainly don't like it. Perhaps the reason the Seminoles kept their mojo against the Cards is because they never actually left Louisville. Rather than fly back to Tallahassee after last weekend's series in Jim Patterson Stadium, Florida State's baseball team has been shacked up in the Seelbach Hotel waiting for the ACC Tournament to start. Savvy move, if you ask me. Keeping your team on the road can help them keep an edge they might lose if they head home. 

Despite the loss, Louisville still has an RPI of 5. RPI is usually the best indicator of how teams will be ranked by the selection committee, so there is a good-to-great chance that the Cards will earn one of the top 8 seeds. These top 8 host until the CWS (provided that they win), and Louisville has hosted super regional series in the last two years. Let's hope that they don't send us a California team if we do it again. The Cards will find out their fate soon enough. The NCAA Baseball Selection show starts at noon on Monday and will air on ESPN2. 

Emmonnie Henderson Moves On

Henderson threw discus yesterday better than everyone but 6 other people at the event. That was my
fun way of saying she placed 7th. Fortunately for her, 7th is good enough to advance out of the East Preliminary Event and move to the NCAA Track and Field Championships. This is her third straight year qualifying for the final event. She joins Holly Hankenson and Trevor Troutman, who qualified on Thursday. Also moving on are Martice Moore and Edwin Kibichiy who qualified in the Men's 400m Hurdles and the Men's 3000m Steeplechase respectively. Kibichiy placed first in his event. The Cards will hope to add to their qualifying total as the event wraps up today.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Returns

The guys will be back on the air today, likely replacing me with some sort of impostor. By the time you're reading this, I'll be headed north to watch fast cars drive around a circle a couple hundred times. Please think about me fondly and hope that the rain goes away. Tune into 100.9FM or the WCHQ app at 11AM to catch Paulie, Worldwide, and Mystery Player 3 talk about the joy and excitement of Louisville Women's sports.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

PS: Happy Memorial Day weekend. Take time to enjoy those around you and remember those we've lost. Celebrate their lives and sacrifices. Stay safe in your travels and revelries. 

McKay leads the way in Baseball 10-4 win...Henderson throws today in NCAA Regionals -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GRAND SLAM PUTS THE WHAM ON IRISH

The topic of conversation...when it comes to Louisville junior pitcher Brendan McKay...inevitably turns to whether he'll be both a pitcher and hitter when he goes to the major leagues. Or will he perform both duties? Yesterday, at Louisville Slugger Field, he showed once again that he's perfectly capable of performing both duties with aplomb...delivering a grand slam home run and pitching six innings of three run, eight strikeout ball from the hill in #4 Louisville's 10-3 pool play win over Notre Dame.  

McKay's blast to right field in the third inning plated a bag full of Cards. With two outs, Logan Taylor walked, Josh Stowers beat out an infield single and Devin Hairston took a pitch off the wrist to set the stage for McKay's fence clearer on the first pitch from Irish hurler Michael Hearne. It was McKay's second career grand slam and second home run of the game for UofL...Drew Ellis bagging a solo shot to left-center in the second inning. 

The Irish nibbled away at the 5-0 Cardinal lead with two runs in the third and a run in the fifth to get within two. McKay, scheduled to pitch six innings, gave way to freshman Adam Elliott in the sixth...who put the Irish away scoreless in the seventh and eighth. Another freshman, Shay Smiddy, completed the contest by keeping Notre Dame at bay in the bottom of the ninth. 

The Cards increased the lead to 7-3 in the seventh when Hairston provided a two out, two RBI single that scored Logan and Stowers. Three additional runs crossed the plate in the top of the ninth...keyed by a Stowers double and two sacrifice flies. 

The Cards, 1-0 in pool play, face nemesis Florida State today at 3 p.m. to try and clinch the semifinal berth for Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m. I watched part of it yesterday on Fox Sports South...and the announcers weren't too bad. You can hear Cardinal renaissance man Sean Moth provide the radio call on 93.9 FM...I tuned in for a couple of innings and never cease to be amazed on how smoothly and how easily he relays of all kinds of information during a broadcast.

The pool play concept is an interesting twist to a conference championship. One would also like to see ACC softball adhere to this type of format. Right now, with 11 schools participating in the sports, it would need a bit of tweaking...but Clemson is picking up the sport by 2020 and that's the number of squads that play in the ACC baseball championships. 


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NCAA EAST REGION TRACK CONTINUES TODAY

Six UofL women's track athletes participated in the NCAA East Regional preliminaries Thursday...but none qualified for the NCAA Championships. 

Morgan Zacharias finished the best of the six...getting 14th. in the pole vault. In the women's hammer, Cyerra Cassell finished 36th and Dolly Nyemah was 39th. Gwen Shaw recorded a 33rd place finish in the 400 meter hurdles. Bre'Yana Wash (26th) and Alexis Gibbons (28th) competed in the long jump.

Emmonnie Henderson will compete in the discus around 2 p.m. today. She has qualified for the NCAA Championships the last two years in the shot put and discus. THe women's shot put events will be held Saturday around 6 p.m. 

Still trying to find a broadcast possibility on these. I'll come back in and update the article if I do. 


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LOSING THEIR GRIP A BIT? 

We've talked here quite a bit about the ACC's dominance in several women's sports...primarily lacrosse, field hockey and soccer. So it does comes as a bit of a surprise the only one ACC school (Boston College) has advanced to the Final Four of the ACC women's lacrosse championships. 

The Eagles will face Navy in the second semifinal game today. Starting it off will be Penn State vs. Maryland. 

So...how did the six ACC schools that made the NCAA WLAX Championships do? 

Louisville and Notre Dame were eliminated in the first round. UNC and Virginia made it to the second round...where UNC defeated Virginia...but the Tar Heels lost to Navy in the quarterfinals.   

Syracuse advanced to the second round and lost to Boston College..who bested USC in the quarterfinals to get to the semis. 

A changing of the guard with two B1G schools in the final four? Maryland, of course, was ACC for years before jumping to the B1G. 

There is still the East Coast dominance present...to be sure...with two schools from Maryland in the final four and Boston College on the right coast. Penn State a bit further away from the Atlantic...but Pennsylvania a hotbed of talent for lacrosse...along with Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. 


Best of luck to the Eagles, soar high and take the title! 







paulie
xxxxx

Cardinal women's soccer schedule released...Some WBB news and transfers - THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS WSOC FEATURES 10 HOME MATCHES

It's schedule-releasing time for the women's fall sports at UofL and women's soccer has put out theirs for the 2017 season. 18 regular season games, two exhibitions and 10 chances to see the Cards at Lynn Stadium. Just in the ACC alone...the Cards will have a total of six matches against NCAA Tournament qualifiers from last season. . 


Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes recognizes the tests ahead: 

"Once again, our schedule proves to be very challenging and competitive. We're committed to playing a rigorous non-conference schedule to help us prepare for the ACC portion. The ACC is arguably the top conference in the country and we're thrilled to host FSU, Miami, Duke, Pitt and Wake Forest at Lynn this fall. We have a very experienced senior class, who have invested immensely in the success and development of our program. I am very excited for their senior year." 

It gets underway with an exhibition at Ohio State on Aug 9th. DePaul comes to Lynn for an exhibition on Aug. 12th. and the Cards open the regular season at home against Boston University on Aug. 18th. and Miami, (OH) on Aug. 20th.

Louisville takes to the road to face IU and returns home to finish August with a Aug. 27th. match against Marquette. 

September starts in Lexington against the Wildcats and a trip to Cape Girardeau, MO to go against SEMO. The kickin' Cards return home to close out the non-conference schedule with battles against Purdue and Gardner-Webb.

The Cards start the 10-game conference slate on the road at Boston College and comes home for a crucial and early three-game home stand against defending NCAA Tournament participants Florida State and Duke..plus Miami. 

October begins at Clemson and Virginia before returning to Lynn and ending the home slate with Pitt and Wake Forest. UofL ends the season on the road at UNC and NC State before ACC Tournament play starts on Oct. 29th. The top eight teams play for the ACC title. 

Louisville will not face conference members Notre Dame, Syracuse or Virginia Tech in 2017. 14 teams consist of the ACC women's soccer group...Georgia Tech does not participate in the sport. 

The Cards (7-7-4 in 2016) return top scorers Brooklyn Rivers, Gabrielle Vincent, Sarah Feola, Allison Whitfield, Kaela Dickerman and Alison Price. Key defender Inger Katrine Bjerke is back to direct the defense and the goal keeping battle should be interesting between Tori Gabor and Gabrielle Kouzelos. 

Transfer Kennedi Carbin, from Mississippi State, should add offensive punch to the lineup as well. She played her high school soccer locally at Waggener High School before going to MSU for two years. She also has extensive experience with Javanon and the Bahamian National team. 


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


TRANSFERS AND DE-COMMITMENTS 

Interesting news out of Harrodsburg, KY...where rising senior twins for the Mercer County girls basketball team Faith and Lexy Lake have backed of their verbal to SEMO and re-opened their recruitment. They were part of the nucleus that led Mercer County to the Kentucky State Girls Championship a few months ago and key components in Coach Chris Souder's squad for the 2017-18 season. 

No official word on why the duo have decided to switch directions. Pure speculation on my part here is that maybe the two would like to play closer to home or possibly saw that head coach Rehka Patterson at SEMO has four transfers on the roster for next year. Two key assistants that were influential in recruiting the Lake sisters and Emma Davis are gone now, as well . Emma Davis being another Mercer Co. player who verballed to SEMO, but backed out of her commitment earlier this month to the Cape Girardeau, MO school. 

The two would be a nice addition for quite a few 2018-19 college rosters. Along with Davis, Louisville commit Seygan Robins and NKU future baller Emmy Souder...MCHS looks perfectly capable of a repeat as state champs. 

Kiah Gillespie @Kiah15Gillespie

Next Chapter: Florida State University #BuiltForIt 

7:57 PM - 22 May 2017

 
•  5757 Retweets
 
•  188188 likes
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In the ACC WBB world, it looks like FSU has brought in yet another top-flight transfer with the announcement that Kiah Gillespie has left Maryland to be a 'Nole. Head coach Sue Semrau continues to attract transfer talent to Tallahassee...Imani Wright, Chatrice White, AJ Alix and Leticia Romero all headed south to the Sunshine State to don FSU jerseys. 

Gillespie played two years for Brenda Frese at UofM. She averaged 4.1 ppg her sophomore year. The 6'2" forward will sit a season before having two years of eligibility for FSU. 



paulie
xxxxx

International flair...UofL Field Hockey players in USA-Ireland Series...Paulie's "hippy" -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FOUR CARDS WILL PLAY IN INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Valuable experience upcoming for three current members of the Louisville Field Hockey squad and one graduate. Graduate Erin McCrudden, 2017 senior Nicole Woods and junior Taylor Stone participated in scrimmages against the Irish National team...which has junior Ayeshia McFerran on board as goalkeeper. 

McCrudden and Woods will be part of the 18-player roster that will face McFerran and Ireland in the upcoming three matches starting today at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Lancaster, PA. 

USA vs. Ireland Series

Game 1 -- Weds. May 24th -- 6:30 p.m.
Game 2 -- Thurs. May 25th -- 6:30 p.m.
Game 3 -- Sat. May 27th -- 6:30 p.m. 

The series will serve as the final round of preparation for the World Cup Qualifier FIH Field Hockey World League Semifinals...which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in July followed by the Pan American Cup...that will be held in Lancaster in August. 

A live stream (free) will be available for all three contests. You can find it game day at go.teamusa.org/2nnWToZ


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PAULIE TO I.R. LIST IN JUNE

We've covered our share of Cardinal athletes who have been sidelined by hip injuries over the years here. I never thought I'd be reporting one on our staff here, though. 

Me. 

Due to a degenerating right hip, I'll be going in for hip replacement surgery on June 8th. Too many QB sacks, diving for errant passes in the paint, long jump attempts and swings for the fence in my illustrious youth, I suppose. Or dislocation from prolonged bench-sitting? 

(We've all know I'm a degenerate of sorts, right?...now it has spread to my hip). 

Confidence remains high...the surgeon has done this for a couple of friends and they walk normally these days. That's something I'm looking forward to...recently I've had to resort to a cane to get around. 

Asia Taylor and Tia Gibbs had hip surgeries. They turned out pretty good, right? Just another thing I'll have in common with them beside our love for Cardinal basketball and ham and pineapple pizza. 

We'll keep you updated. What it will probably resort to is you, our readers, will be getting more articles from Case and Worldwide Jeff in a couple of weeks for a couple of weeks.

Which is probably a good thing...



paulie 

Louisville Field Hockey releases schedule -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

18 Games...11 top 20 opponents

No one could ever accuse Louisville Field Hockey head coach Justine Sowry of choosing an easy path. The 2017 Louisville Field Hockey schedule has been released and the StickCards will have nine home games out of the 18...and face 11 teams that finished in the top 20 last year. 

The Cards will also host the 2017 ACC Tournament plus the NCAA D1 Field Hockey Championships. They may have to do some serious sledding to reach the finals in Trager Stadium in each event.  Louisville brings in National Champions Delaware for a match and will travel to runner up North Carolina for an ACC contest. 

Sowry is optimistic: 

"There's a lot to be excited about this season. We're coming off a great spring with a lot of development and maturity both on and off the field. We bring in a talented and versatile freshmen group who will add depth and dimension to the roster. 

Things get underway when Louisville brings Miami (OH) for an exhibition game on Aug. 19th. The regular season starts Aug 25th. with Indiana visiting and two days later Delaware comes to town. UofL takes to the road for two after that...visiting Ohio State and Kent State. American comes to town on Sept 8th. and then the Cards take off for a three game road trip...facing Maryland, Duke and Northwestern. 

Late September features the Cards home for four contests...bringing in Wake Forest, James Madison, Syracuse and Central Michigan. They'll travel to Boston College, New Hampshire and North Carolina after that and end the regular season hosting Virginia, Michigan and Ohio. 

The ACC Tournament begins Nov. 2nd and goes through Nov. 5th. Two weeks later, the NCAA Final Four takes place at Trager. 

Springtime was successful for the Cards. With 14 returning players, Louisville went 6-0-2. It seemed like an audition for the Big 10 in some ways...the Cards defeating Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio St. and Iowa and tying Northwestern and Michigan. The Cards also beat Kent St. and Miami, OH. 

Returnees for Louisville include All-American goalkeeper Ayeshia McFerran and All-Regional team performers Minout Mink and Nicole Woods.  Other key elements for Louisville in the upcoming season are Abby Grimes, Carter Ayars and Taylor Stone.

Sowry was pleased with the overall effort in the spring: 

"All of the players contributed and showed growth while gaining confidence," said Sowry. "All three seniors stepped their leadership to another level. I'm sure there is the extra motivation that we are hosting the ACC Championship and the NCAA Championship. Everyone truly believes that we have a team that can win a championship, but also understands that there is a long way to go between now and then, but everyone is on board to do something very special next season."





paulie
xxxxx

Early Bird Story....Riggle to transfer...--MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BEFORE LOUIE...

The modern-day Louie the Cardinal Bird has undergone quite a few changes since the early version of him in the 1960's. I ran into Lloyd Collins recently...who was the third Cardinal Bird in Cardinal history. This is how it was...back then. 

Lloyd didn't grow up wanting to be the Louisville mascot. The son of a farming family in upstate New York, he came to the University of Louisville to play the trumpet in the University of Louisville band. His band director in high school was getting his Master's degree at Louisville and told the UofL director Leon Raper that he knew of a pretty good trumpet player. Lloyd auditioned, was accepted and received a small scholarship to come to Louisville in 1961. 

The Cardinal Bird originated out of the UofL Marching Band. The first two wearers of the outfit (Dick Dyson and Sam Badgett) were students in the Speed School of Engineering. When Sam was ready to graduate, Lloyd asked Leon if he could take over the "bird role". Leon said yes, but on the contingent that Lloyd would still continue to play in the marching band at half-time home games. 

Lloyd would perform as the Cardinal Bird...run into the locker room to change into his band uniform shortly before halftime, play with the band and then change back into his costume and resume being the bird in the second half. 

As the Cardinal Bird, Lloyd would go to perform at basketball games as well. The marching band didn't go to away games...but Lloyd would load up his 1956 Dodge with cheerleaders, scrape up enough money for gasoline and do road games with them. He also made appearances at Freedom Hall. His routine on the court often entailed him performing with a Hula Hoop. A crowd favorite was when the Cardinal Bird would lay a Cardinal Bird egg. 

Times were tough for a struggling college student and finances. Lloyd worked as a dishwasher in the school cafeteria in exchange for meals. For lodging exchange, he was the dorm counselor and resident manager at the old Stevenson Hall. For extra money he gave trumpet lessons at a downtown music center. He even worked out a deal with Spalding's Dry Cleaners to get his uniform cleaned at no cost. 

The costume consisted of white pants, white "spats" and black shoes. He wore a black, long-tailed colonel's coat pulled over a big pillow. The head piece was made out of paper-mache. It was attached to a pith helmet. Lloyd could only see out of one eye on the costume. It was a very hot costume. Lloyd estimates he lost anywhere from 5-10 pounds per game. The helmet and head piece were very top heavy and Lloyd had to be careful that it didn't fall off while performing. 

In 1963, a female student on campus decided she wanted to be a lady Cardinal Bird mascot. Lloyd recalls they had great fun with that...including a "marriage" at half-court in Freedom Hall during a game. Rival schools...fans of Memphis, Western and Cincy would get aggressive and actually try to steal the helmet off his head at away games. More than once, Lloyd and the cheerleaders would get into scrapes and shoving matches with fans trying to take his head. 

In preparing for the role, Lloyd recalls: 



"There was no special preparation. No dance routines, no gymnastics. I just went out and tried to have a good time, lead cheers. I would arrive really early to games to get into the costume...I would change in the same locker room and the coaches and players. After the game, they'd say...'Here comes the bird.' I'd shower after the game and walk out in street clothes...the costume put away. We wanted to keep the bird's identity a big secret. Fans would ask who I was. I'd just drop my bird arms and shrug...like I didn't know. It was such a great experience, one I would never trade. I never get tired of telling the story." 


On today's Louie: 


"He's so big and puffed up with those muscular features. Like he's on steroids or something. Like an action hero. Maybe that's want the kids want." 

After graduation, Lloyd worked as a high school band director for several years in Bowling Green. He met his wife there and went into the banking business in Louisville and Florida. Now retired, he works part-time in Guest Services at Churchill Downs during the racing season and also does data entry at the University of Louisville Medical School Continuing Education once a week. 

A special "thank you!" to Lloyd for the photos and back-story. Also, to Orthopaedic Specialist for additional information. 



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SOFTBALL'S RIGGLE TO TRANSFER

Louisville Softball is losing a player...not to graduation...but via the transfer route. Michala Riggle is leaving the Cards to pursue her dream of becoming a youth minister and heading to Liberty University to get her degree in that field. 

The sophomore first baseman/catcher played sparingly for the Cards in her two years on campus...primarily as a pinch-runner. As a freshman, she played in 13 games and scored three runs. This season, she saw action in 15 games and scored six runs. 

Riggle has been heavily involved in the Louisville community as a fundraiser for autism. She has raised over $500,000 to combat the syndrome. Her brother Evan has autism. Michala began at an early age beading bracelets and selling them at craft fairs and festivals to donate to autism. She had the dream from an early age to play for the softball Cards. 

Now, she has the chance to pursue her next dream. 

Michala Riggle‏ @MichalaRiggle  10h10 hours ago

Life update!!! These past two years as a Cardinal have been a dream come true, full of life… https://www.instagram.com/p/BUYJc6dgS8p/ 

So often, with transfers...we wonder the reasoning and motive behind them. This one makes perfect sense, though. "Riggs" was a popular and fully invested Cardinal for two years. Now, she'll make a move toward a life goal and continue the outreach and involvement that has been a staple in her life.

We congratulate and admire her for going after her dream here at Cardinal Couple and wish her the best of luck in her studies and pursuits as a Flame! Make a difference, Michala !!


paulie
xxxxx