Cardinal Couple: Running Sports Welcome New Director -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Running Sports Welcome New Director -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Joe Franklin Replaces Cowper at Helm of T&F and Cross Country

If you're like me, you would be quite surprised to see the University of Louisville announcing a new director of Track & Field and Cross Country given the recent success of the program. The introductory article was sufficiently vague regarding what the naming of Joe Franklin meant for Dale Cowper at UofL. I frantically hunted on the roster and coach pages to see if he was only being relieved of some stresses so he could focus on his preferred role of throws.

I ultimately found a story from April that went a bit under the radar. It was then, April 5th to be exact, that Louisville announced Cowper would be departing after the 2023 season. Cowper led Louisville for 10 seasons including this one, and he had been a part of Louisville's staff for 17 years. Louisville's successes were numerous under his leadership, and he will be missed. His presence certainly remained felt for the rest of the season, as Louisville sent a large contingent to the NCAA Championships, with almost all of the qualifications coming after the announcement.

Cowper's admiration and respect for the University are represented by the early announcement of his departure, as that afforded Josh Heird and Company free rein to pursue a new coach out in the open. The Cards appear to have landed a good one, as they bring Joe Franklin back home from the University of New Mexico. Franklin has no specific ties to Louisville, but I say he's coming back home because he hails from Greencastle, Indiana. Greencastle is about an hour west of Indianapolis, and it would take about two and a half hours to drive to the city center from UofL. While that's not particularly close, it's significantly closer than UNM. It would take almost twice as long to fly from Albuquerque to Indianapolis as it would to drive from Louisville to Greencastle, and flying to Indy is only half the battle.

That's all a bit much to justify a throwaway line about Franklin's motivations in coming to Louisville, but what do you want from me? It's summer. Anyway, Franklin was a middle distance runner at Purdue, which he graduated from in 1991. Let me save you the hassle of looking it up: Purdue is an hour drive from Greencastle. You get to take one highway the whole way. Yippee, Indiana. After graduating, Franklin was immediately named the head cross country coach at DePauw (no, not DePaul) University. He stayed there for just one year, being named the conference coach of the year and then heading back to Purdue to be the assistant coach for the men's teams. After a couple of years at his alma mater, Franklin was named the head men's and women's T&F/CC coach at Butler University, where he coached from 1994 to 2007. In that 14 year span, he was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year 19 times. He earned the Great Lakes Region Men's COTY honor in 1998 and the National Men's COTY award in 2004.

Franklin was named to the head gig in Albuquerque in 2007. He was honored for his coaching many times. It was so many times that I am sorry to the UofL intern that was forced to type them all. Here's a screenshot so you can see for yourself.

In addition to the coaching honors, Franklin led UNM to 27 Mountain West team championships. The women's cross country team won 15 straight titles from 2008-2022. He oversaw 187 individual conference titles and 13 straight top-10 finishes in the NCAA women's cross country championship. Another draw to Louisville may be that his two women's cross country titles (2015 and 2017) both came at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville. The 2017 team boasted the individual winner as well.

All in all, Franklin looks like a wonderful addition to the Louisville ranks. Heird may be finding an under-the-radar star similar to the one Vince Tyra found in Dani Busboom Kelly. Time will tell. For now, we say welcome to Joe and his family, and we look forward to the continued success of the UofL women's cross country and track & field squads under his leadership.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

My hiatus continues this week, and Daryl will be out again as well. Fortunately, Jared is back after his wedding went off without a hitch (because they got hitched) last weekend. It's sure to be an exciting show, as Paulie and Jeff rib Jared for his love affair with a cake or something. They'll almost certainly also talk about Louisville women's athletics. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

2 comments:

JMcA6/17/2023 9:00 AM
You can take one highway the whole way, but it's under construction, because: Indiana
ReplyDelete
Replies
Anonymous6/17/2023 9:47 AM
As a personal recollection, the first time I ever visited a Jimmy John's was in West Lafayette many moons ago.

I've been there several times for sporting events and a business trip one time that had me out on the road for a week -- considering things in Vincennes, Terre Haute, Champagne, Olney, Carmi, Evansville and Jasper. Yeah, Mr. Excitement, that's me.

paulie
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Please leave your comments here. We ask you be respectful of other posts, no matter how ridiculous they may seem to you. After all, it is CARDINAL COUPLE.

Any attempts to advertise a product or other website here in the comments section without the prior consent of CARDINAL COUPLE will result in a bill rendered for advertising services and possible legal action. We're serious. No more bots.

Now, have your take...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

RIGHT SIDE OF THE SITE

Welcome to the right side of the site! Table for two? Or would you like a seat at the bar? Over here, you'll find schedules, results, pictures, characters, notices, links and other ennui and general nonsense we offer and come across. You can hear past podcasts here, follow our Cardinal Couple Radio twitter account or find out more about us ! Of course, they've never heard of us at UofL. but we go on anyway. That's all pretty good and quite a bargain for the price (free). Please don't double park or take up two spaces while you're here and tip your server !

Who we are and what we do

We are an independent website that covers the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. We're not about birds here, or trysts with other like-minded couples or major league baseball. We write about women's sports at the University of Louisville. We are non-profit, we run no ads and don't ask you for fees and our writers volunteer their services. We have no premium boards or fee-based reads. We are "daily". Any questions, comments or observations can be left in the comments section at the bottom of any article or sent directly to Paulie at: cardinalcouple@twc.com .. Thank you for reading. As we like to say..."You ARE Cardinal Couple! We never forget that and we appreciate you" !!

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Jeff "Worldwide" McAdams writes our Sunday columns and is well-known for his snark on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast and love of Volleyball. (He knows he's the brains of the operation...) He secretly wishes he was on a rocket to Mars. With good coffee.. Jeff's been with us the longest out of our current group of writers (beside founder Paulie) and all that proves is that he's slow to change and Paulie probably needs to clean house again and bring in a new group of chimps. He and Case are the guys behind the always malfunctioning podcast format (which we fully expect to create trouble each week). Jeff thinks he has a superior I.T. background than us and we allow him to think so -- we need him to explain "technology" to Paulie. You like Volleyball? He knows Volleyball. More than your average bear. .

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Case Hoskins writes here Saturdays and is on our podcasts when he isn't busy getting muddy, moving to a new house, field dressing deer. or saying "Yes, dear" to lovely Lindsay his wife.. He's also co-conspirator on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast with Jeff -- when he has an Internet connection. consider him our soccer expert here at CARDINAL COUPLE....we just have to keep him away from WSOC head coach KFD. During the day he helps blueprint and design better mouse-traps or fancy-schmancy buildings and stuff. Another one of them engineer types. Known for his love of the Seattle Seahawks and dislike of games that end in ties...he adds a voice of reason, intelligence and rationality to THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCASTS. ( Or so he thinks...) Truth told, he's probably a candidate for smartest one of this bunch of hoodlums, outlaws and ne'er do wells...but don't tell him that. Often mistaken for NFL quarterback Andrew Luck...we're 99% sure that ISN'T Bobby Petrino sitting to his left. . Free to a good home that will give him a bath, something to argue about and some Rice-a-Roni.

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Jared Anderson is one of our favorite writers and does podcasts with us as well. When he's not busy snapping photos of student-athletes he's taking selfies of himself somewhere. We look forward to his expertise on several sports on these pages and hope he accepts the challenge of taking on the Field Hockey water cannons. He also serves as CARDINAL COUPLE'S official photographer...an extension of his business JDA Photography. He also takes photos for other sites. He spends his working hours impersonating Freddy Farm Bureau around town and making sure folks are insured. Be careful, he might follow you home...but give him a hot meal, warm blanket, internet access, and a corner to sleep in if he does...and he'll be fine and unobtrusive, unless you give him picture-taking capabilities.. It's said that "you're no one unless Jared has taken your picture". He's owned by Katy- she's got the rock to prove it- and that's probably a good thing, because the lad needs a keeper.

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Our newest writer, Daryl Foust, is all about Cardinals Athletics. A essential part of the old Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on the ill-fated WCHQ FM, she also had her own radio show (Kentucky Women Talk Sports) and has written for a couple of other Cardinal Sports sites. The standing joke is that she'll show up for the CCRH podcast again someday. A UofL employee, she' stays busy being Aunt Daryl and Lulu's owner. Her WBB and Softball knowledge is top notch . And, if there's a live music festival going on locally, you can expect to see her in attendance. We're honored to have her on board, we invite you to spend Fridays With Daryl at the website -- just don't ask her to predict scores, fill out brackets or be overjoyed at taking the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Worldwide Quiz during the summer months...she's rumored to be a golfer as well, so "fore" in advance if she's in your neck of the woods.

CO-FOUNDER AND CO-OWNER

The other co-owner and voice of reason....the lovely Sonja...who returns to us on a permanent basis after what can be called an "interesting" time at Rivals. In her words..."you work, slave, research and study for hours and build a site... a women's board. You spend hours on a three column article and several of the readers decide to take aim at you when all you're trying to do is enlighten. I've never seen so many mis-spellings of Louisville WBB players names anywhere...which made me think I was dealing with third graders over there... I have decided to stay off that street and source from here on out and I'm so glad to be back with those who love and appreciate me... not with haters and self-anointed experts " An avid fan of native gardening, hiking and the Smoky Mountains....she loves German potato pancakes and Led Zeppelin....and reminds you to plant native species. I've only seen her mad once (when she was ready to punch out another woman writer who was spreading lies about her) and I've got a feeling that might be a typhoon you want to steer clear of. One of the original writers on the site (with Paulie and David Watson), she has returned. Not as a columnist, but as a proof-reader, confidant and one to bounce thoughts and ideas off of. She's tired of guys with very limited women's basketball knowledge but huge egos calling her out when they are usually chauvinistic, and can be compared to the dog outside barking at something he can't see...We welcome her back and know she'll enjoy the calm waters here. You've got nothing you need to prove or defend with us....you are among those who love you.

We're still on the air! (Click the Pic)

Did you miss the latest installment of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST ?? Well fear not, mon frere! We now have two ways to hear the rebroadcast. You can go to Anchor FM and hear it, as well as continuing to listen on You Tube! To give Anchor a try.... Click the picture to listen to it...and listen/watch us on You Tube in the future..you just.might learn something if you're not careful. Tell a friend we're podcasting now. You can check out the livestream below, or catch the podcast on your favorite podcast network source. I'll just cut-and-paste the links that Case put together in yesterday's article: Anchor (podcast host): Link Apple Podcasts: Link Breaker: Link Google Podcasts: Link Overcast (free account required): Link Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link RadioPublic: Link Spotify: Link

About the photos...

CARDINAL COUPLE uses photos from all sources in the daily columns that we present to you. If we've used a photo you have taken and want published credit it for it...just contact us and we'll be glad to do so. Shoot, we might even write a feature article about you and call your Mom and tell her what a good son or daughter you are. WE avoid pictures that may be subject to copywrite. Our legal advisors are busy enough chasing ambulances and wheelchairs when they're not trying to figure out trifecta plays at Churchill. Some of the photos are actually taken by the staff of CARDINAL COUPLE. (When we can get the camera away from the chimps). Paulie uses his cell phone to take pictures, too. You have been warned. Please realize that the captions that go with the photos are sometimes parodies. It's up to you to figure out which ones are and aren't. We can't spoon feed everything to you, you know... Jared Anderson is our main photographer and we have loved his work (even his selfies) for many years. Congratulations if you made it this far in your reading! We know...reading stuff like this can be pretty boring but WE have to put it on the site somewhere so that we can say..."hey, there is disclaimer on the site" in case some bozo decides that they want to sue us or something. Like we have any money. We're so poor we can't even pay attention. We even owe bums money.

I was walking down this road once years ago and I saw this guy chopping down a tree. It was hot, the guy was really sweating and I stopped to watch a while. He finally took a break, cracked a can of beer and then asked me if I had a gun. I hesitated before answering but finally told him that I didn't. He said: "That's a darn shame. I'm cutting down this tree because it's my neighbor's and I'm really pissed off at him right now. I was going to just shoot his sorry a$$...but I decided to do this instead. I'm having second thoughts...though." Sometimes, there just aren't enough trees... (I've never chose that particular walking route since..) .

If I'd taken a picture of that guy working on that tree, I'd been glad to share it with the entire world. That's the way WE see other photos out there. Share 'em and create through exposure and appreciation. We provide credit to the photographer when we feel it's needed. We also pay our taxes on time...