Softball -- Coach Mitchell -- Podcast -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Manatee Squeezed

The Manatee Squeeze team, with Cardinals Jordyn Wolfe and Paige Schindler sit in 2nd place in the league after a loss, yesterday, to the Bradenton Slice.  FGCL Myakka City RiverMocs are currently the league leaders with a record of 8-1-0 with the Squeeze just behind at 6-2-0.  The Slice are down a couple of more sports with a "just below water" 4-5-0 record.

The Slice used a four run 4th inning to break the game open. A grand slam home run did the trick.  The Squeeze would get one back in the 6th but it wouldn't be enough.

Jordan Wolfe had a double in three at-bats. Her fourth of the season. Paige Schindler did not appear in the circle to pitch...she did throw Thursday and Friday, so was probably scheduled for a rest. 

Sunday is a day off in the FGCL, but the teams will be back in action tomorrow.

Matthew Mitchell Undergoes Brain Surgery

Matthew Mitchell, generally well known around these pages for being the head coach of UofL
Women's Basketball arch rival Kentucky, underwent brain surgery yesterday to address a faint but persistent headache resulting from a subdural hematoma.  He is expected to fully recover.

Mitchell fell and experienced a concussion back in March, and then a couple of weeks ago he started experiencing headaches.

A subdural hematoma is a bleeding from blood vessels between the brain and skull.  The bleeding results in a pooling of blood the puts pressure on the brain matter and can, if not addressed, result in serious complications.

Of course the UofL vs UK rivalry is a big deal, and Mitchell is on "the other side" of it from our perspective, but of course we do wish the best for Mitchell and hope for a full recovery for him.  We look forward to seeing him with a perplexed look on his face on the sidelines, not because of any brain injury, but because the UofL squad shuts down Rhyne Howard again and he doesn't know how to deal with it.

NWSL Returns to Action

The connection to UofL women's sports is thin, but it's good to see the NWSL back on the pitch in Utah.  Yesterday kicked off the league's Challenge Cup with two matches.  Both matches, yesterday, were won with a 2-1 margin.  The first, between the North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns FC saw the Courage come out on top.  The second match, between the Chicago Red Stars and the Washington Spirit, saw the Spirit get the win.  Cincinnati native and World Cup star Rose Lavelle got the first goal for the Spirit.

The big headlines from the NWSL kickoff came from before the first ball was put into play.  During the playing of the National Anthem for the first match, all of the starters for the Courage and Thorns donned Black Lives Matters t-shirts and took a knee to protest against racism and police brutality.  Notably, when famed soccer commentator and former national team player Alexi Lalas criticized the players on Twitter, the NWSL account itself came to their defense, saying, "If this is your takeaway from the organized action by our players, you clearly haven’t been listening, Alexi."

Lalas had suggested that taking a knee is now the the norm and that actually standing for the anthem would now take courage.  His tweet was subsequently deleted.

The next games in the NWSL are Thursday.  The Utah Royals will be in action at 12:30 pm.  The Royals have UofL alumna Gabrielle "Gabby" Vincent on their squad.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Four in action yesterday for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.  Jared, Case, Paulie, and myself were all online.

We covered UofL Volleyball scheduling and how social distancing might work in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

We spent some time talking about the FGCL and our players' role there.  And finally we had the traditional summer quiz.

Once again, Jared proved his mastery over us in the quiz. Yesterday's theme was "Kentucky Proud" ... and was based around UofL women's athletic coaches and players from the commonwealth of Kentucky.  Take it yourself and see if you can top Jared's score of 100. 

Check it out below