David Watson column -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HOW'S YOUR DERBY WEEK? 

Hey, ho! Dave-O here, pinch-hitting this morning for Paulie. 

It is Derby Week in Louisville, KY., in case you've just come out of a coma or happen to be reading this in a locale where the residents do not place as much emphasis on the first week of May as the Louisville locals do. 

I spoke with "our fearless leader" last night and he's involved in a myriad of events and activities that began on Tuesday and will carry him through "The Run for the Roses" (as they call it up there.) I can only surmise that running through roses has its share of calamities. The thorns and occasional bumblebee could turn against you.

I always wondered why they never had Bret Michaels and hair-metal band Poison sing "Every Rose Has Its Thorns" on Derby Day at Churchill? Sing along at the link below. 

EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORNS

Paulie is quite busy with his horse-racing handicapping site 
(check out HANDICAPPING HEROES at this LINK ). Truth be told here, when we spoke last night, he sounded worn-out but happy after a day at Churchill Downs and gladly and gratefully turned the keys to the website vehicle over to me today with what sounded like relief, gratitude and maybe a bit of Jefferson's Reserve mixed in. So, let's go for a spin! 

I grew up in New Albany and so I remember quite a bit about Derby Week back "in the day". Being in Bradenton now, an expatriated Hoosier, if you will, I still have an interest in things like Balloon Glows and Steamboat Races, along with Mini-Marathons a few of the many events that are part of Derby week. Following them from afar is tough at times, but ask you hve to do is ask Google, Siri or Alexa, right? I even ran in the "Mini" -- as we called it back then -- and finished. I spent the next three days recovering, but I can say I did it. I apologize again to the guy whose front yard I threw up in. No pain, no gain, right?  

On the Louisville Cardinals sports scene, I see that things are slowly winding down. I should mention (after all, this is a women's sports site) that Sandy Pearsall's squad came out on top of the "hit parade" in Ulmer Stadium last night. It was a 13-10 win for the Louisville Sluggers against Marshall and the final regular-season home game for the Cards. 

Megan Hensley has been quite the offensive dynamo for UofL lately -- in addition to her pitching prowess -- and knocked a grand slam home run last night that was essential in Louisville's come-from-behind victory. This contest featured what had to be a wild and wonderful fifth inning, where a total of 16 runs were scored. What did UofL do? Bring Jeff Walz back throw the opening pitch and just decide to leave him in the circle? 

As the scoreboard operator gets a few days off to recover from sprained fingers, the Cards conclude the season at Ulmer with a guaranteed spot in the ACC Tournament but uncertain of their seed just yet. They'll head to the Panthers lair by the three rivers' convergence this weekend to decide all that. One can only hope, for Louisville's sake, that they don't bring in the Pittsburgh Pirates dressed in wigs and clean-shaven, to do their bidding. Or, maybe that wouldn't be so bad...the Pirates are in fourth in the NL Central, right behind my Cubbies and just above those laughable, losing Reds. 

I'm a big golfer (not gopher) as you might know if you've read these pages previously, so I do need to give you a report on the UofL women's golf squad. 

Olivia Cason, a junior from Owensboro, KY, has qualified for the U.S. Women's Open Championship. She fired a one-under par 143 to win the qualifying event for the Championship. That's 36 holes of golf in one day, dear readers. Ol' Dave-O can barely get through 18 holes these days, unless he's playing miniature golf. Even then, the clown's mouth and water hazards always get me.

Cason's big day, plus Louisville women's golf getting selected to compete in the NCAA Championships from May 7-9 out in California and being sponsored by Stanford, are another bright and successful sport for UofL women's athletics. I guess I could even surmise, if you're playing golf at Stanford, one must watch out for "the Trees"? 



It's been my esteemed pleasure to return to the hallowed pages and visit with you today. Thanks to Paulie for calling me out of the bullpen to pitch a few innings of relief here at the site. And, NO, I wasn't pitching for either Marshall or Louisville last night. The score would have been much higher. 

I hope, if you're of that persuasion and location, you have a great rest of Derby week and have a winner on Derby Day. I'd offer to give you a Derby horse I think might win, but my knowledge of horse-racing is equal to my knowledge of fluid hydraulics. I can tell you they run around the track in counter-clockwise fashion and the hooves pounding the dirt are quite audible if you stand by the rail.

Wait a second. Audible. Hmmm. There's a horse named Audible in the Derby! 8-1 morning line and won the Florida Derby? OK, I guess I have a Derby Pick after all. Audible. Barely. I can't heat you! (with respect to Gomer Pyle's Sgt. Carter) 

(Thanks to whoever for the pics I borrowed for today's article) 


Your pal
Dave-O
David Watson