Sports on Campus -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Football Season Getting Underway

We all know that Cardinal Couple's mission is to bring to you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. As such, we typically don't cover anything about men's sports, unless it's a very big deal. Today is a very big deal. The first athletic competition in UofL's fall season will take place today when Louisville hosts the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Barring something crazy happening in the next 12 hours (7:30 AM at time of writing), a football game is going to happen and sports will be underway at the University of Louisville.

This is a big deal not just for the football players, but for all of the fall sports, most of which we cover here. The first football game is a milestone that needed to be reached to act as an indicator that sports can happen here at UofL. How things go with the reduced capacity at Cardinal Stadium will also play into decisions that the University makes about having fans at the other fall sports as well. 

It is important to remember that everything is still in flux. Things can still change at the drop of a hat and it would almost be wise to expect them to. It was just announced that a pair Padres/Giants games have been postponed following positive COVID tests, despite MLB going a long time without any news of positive cases. Memphis announced yesterday that they have had an outbreak among their football team, leading to a reported 3-20 positive cases with an undisclosed number of players quarantining. They're currently assessing whether or not their game against Houston will be able to happen next Friday. Even UofL announced yesterday that they've had 3 positive results out of 697 tests this week. While that's an extremely low percentage, it's not zero, and it raises some questions.

I'm as excited as anyone else for sports to be underway. I made sure yesterday that the family plan with my sister-in-law was set up for our streaming service of choice so that I'd be able to watch tonight's game. Let's all remember, though, that things may change and that it's not impossible for you to do something about it. The more people that stick to following guidelines and reducing their risk of infection or spreading infection, the greater chance we have of seeing the sports we love continue throughout the year. That's not even to mention the unknowns surrounding the upcoming basketball seasons. 

I know that I constantly sound like a pessimist; it's one of my worst qualities. However, I'm like everyone else in hoping and wishing for the best. Things won't just go away, though, and we're going to have to accept that the good feelings of sports coming back may once again be met by the despair of sports being gone. Let's enjoy them while we have the opportunity and support all of the players that have been working hard on and off the field to make this possible.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back on the air this week with a full house. Jared will be freed from the shackles of banking for a number of weeks and Paulie has no tailgate to run off to. We'll discuss some of Jared's wild predictions for the year, the All-Conference announcements, and the schedules that have been announced since we last spoke. With sports actually on the calendar, your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not there will be a quiz. I suppose you'll just have to tune in to find out. Check out the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel at 11AM for this week's live show, or any time after for the rebroadcast.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-