Denial of the value of a fellow human, whether that be expressed through the idea of skin color and ethnicity, or through gender, or whatever other classification one can come up with, is vile, and it is incumbent on all of us to speak up, even when our categorization is not the one being attacked.
I joined Cardinal Couple in large part because I feel like women get short shrift in many areas of life, sports included, and I wanted to take some part in trying to balance those scales. Misogyny and bigotry are different limbs of the same root tree, the tree of supposed superiority and denial of value of "other". The thoughts and attitudes on display by white nationalists in Charlottesville must be countered and opposed by people of conscience.
Thank you.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
We must change situations like this. A Confederate monument, a Robert. E. Lee statue are symbols of the past...a past that was regrettable and reprehensible in many areas. The white nationalists promoting violence at what was supposed to be a "peaceful protest" are to blame here and I sincerely hope that Charlottesville, the commonwealth of Virginia and our President immediately go to work to make sure that nothing of this sad and regrettable nature ever happen again. The Ku Klux Klan sucks. Any other hate-mongering or supremacy group does too...
- Paulie
Lynn Wins
In positive news, the University of Louisville Men's and Women's Soccer teams were both in action at Lynn Stadium last night. My esteemed Cardinal Couple colleague Case Hoskins was in attendance and forwarded a few notes from the game.
This was an offensive show for the Cardinals, with the 2-0 final tally, and an impressive 20-3 advantage in shots. OSU's coach on Wednesday described the Cards as a physical team, and that is born out by the 8-3 foul total.
Kennadi Carbin got an early breakway in the first minute that pulled the keeper out to defend, but Carbin lost control and was unable to finish the score. Later in the first period, Brooklyn Rivers, mentioned at media day as a likely contributor and scorer, found the back of the net with a Kaela Dickerman assist. Rivers found the corner from about 15 yards out on an angle shot in the 23rd minute.
The second half saw more of the same, with Carbin atoning for her earlier miss. She fired one home to the bottom right corner of the goal from out at the top of the box.
The Cards finish their pre-season with a win and a loss. The loss coming at the hands of a quite good OSU team, and the win over a quality DePaul team. They open play Friday evening at 7:30 vs Boston U at Lynn Stadium.
The men followed for the nightcap in an exhibition match against Lipscomb University out of Nashville. The only score in the game came from UofL's Cherif Dieye in the 12th minute. That would prove to be enough in an otherwise defensive battle for the men.
The men continue their pre-season engagements in Westfield, IN (outside Indianapolis) on Thursday at 7:30 vs a very good, and pre-season 7th ranked Indiana Hoosiers.
Slugger Sell-out
Elsewhere in the city, and while we're talking about soccer, the Louisville FC USL team was in action at Slugger Field against rival FC Cincinnati. This one was a sell-out with almost 14,000 walking through the gates at Slugger field. That crowd did include Women's Basketball Assistant Coach Sam Purcell and his family, according to his tweets.
In front of the record and raucous crowd, Lou City went to town. Spreading the scoring love around the team, the hometown heroes marked down scores by Niall McCabe, Luke Spencer, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Richard Ballard, and Sean Reynolds. Yes, that's 5 scores for the Louisvillians, while shutting out the rivals from up-river.
Basketball Blowout
Early this morning, Asia Durr scored 8 on 4 of 9 shooting with 2 rebounds in a balanced attack by Team USA over the Canucks to our north in a 107-61 victory. With 18 turnovers for the Americans, and 35 for the Canadians, the American defense really had an impact on the game.
Team USA will wrap up their competition, and hopefully the championship, in a game against Japan at 5:30am EDT August 15th. (Aren't timezones such a wonderful thing?)
Radio Rambling
Case, Paulie and I were back on the radio against yesterday. I'm still gobsmacked that they continue to let us do it, but thankfully we had lots of audio for people to listen to from the Fall Sports Media Day. We also talked about the US Team in Japan with Coach Walz and Asia Durr romping on the rest of the world. And we had another quiz, where I managed to barely hang onto (thanks to a few lucky guesses) my undefeated streak. You should be able to check out the recording of the broadcast when it becomes available here.
-- JMcA
Jeff and Paulie, I agree that our connection with UVA adds an extra element of horror to the events that have gone on there. I appreciate the comments and the acknowledgement that as much as we delight in sports and in particular our UofL women's sports, there are issues in our world that go beyond the latest win or loss. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Vivian. I have been to Charlottesville on two occasions...once on a football weekend and the second time as part of a vacation that found us driving the Blue Ridge Parkway and checking out towns and colleges close to it. The city seemed pretty peaceful and a typical college-type town (like Blacksburg or Chapel Hill) with a beautiful and spacious campus, mediocre football facility but great dining opportunities.
DeleteI have to go back and ask myself why the town council, mayor or university officials...whoever...granted this type of demonstration and a permit for it when they had to realize the potentially volatile situation that could unfold. Especially on a college campus? Freedom of speech and right to assemble aside...do you want this kind of controversy associated with your civic, community and nationwide image and profile? It certainly wasn't going to create a wealth of tourist dollars...like a Street Rod Festival or farm and machinery show...and puts your law enforcement officials on a heighten alert.
Just some thoughts.
You hit the nail on the head, though. It is freedom of speech and assembly (well, until it turned violent, anyway). The Friday night event was "spontaneous", as I understand it, so no real permit for that. And, as a state institution, it would have been illegal for UVA to reject such a gathering based on the content of what they were saying for their gathering. Reprehensible though it may be, our constitution rightly guarantees the right of people to say awful crap like this, and to gather to say it.
DeleteWhile I condemn, in the strongest terms, the odious attitudes and message of these people, to borrow someone else's formulation, I will defend to the death their right to say it.
Now, that having been said, freedom of speech only applies to government entities, and doesn't protect the speaker from the repercussions of that speech. Many of these people have private employers, and at least one person involved in these protests has already lost his job as a result of his activities there.
Valid point, Worldwide. Stricter measures should have been applied, I think you would agree, though on all the "hate groups" involved and perhaps a different locale could have been employed. I'm pretty sure that they could have granted this right to assemble but designated an specific area for it. Would it have changed the outcome? Possibly.
DeletePaulie.