Lax Wins at Vandy -- ACC WBB Tournament -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Takes Down Vanderbilt

Louisville lacrosse was able to bounce back from a loss against North Carolina by going on the road to beat Vanderbilt, 13-9. The Cards move back above .500 with a 4-3 record.

The Cards jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter but allowed the Commodores to use a 4-0 run to close out the first quarter and start off the second quarter. A Louisville goal in the final seconds of the second quarter allowed the Cards to go into the break with a 5-4 lead.

The third quarter went heavily in Louisville's favor with five goals and a lone Vandy goal sandwiched in the middle. Headed into the fourth quarter, the Cards held a 10-5 advantage, their largest lead of the match. 

Vandy threatened in the fourth quarter, cutting Louisville's lead to 11-9, but the Cards needed 82 seconds to put up a pair of goals to extend the lead.

Rian Adkins led the charge offensively with four goals. Izzy Seikel posted her first career hat trick. Four other Cards scored in the match. J Pleck played the full match in goal, registering 16 saves to go along with nine goals allowed.

The Cards are back in action on Saturday, when they take on Virginia Tech at noon.

ACC Women's Basketball Tournament

The first day of the ACC Tournament has concluded and we move along to day two. Louisville women's basketball is in action with an anticipated tip-off time of 7:30pm.

Louisville went 20-9 in the regular season but most recently are coming off a loss at Notre Dame. Prior to that, the Cards had won five of six games. They went 13-5 in the conference to finish tied for fourth in the ACC, but earned the 6-seed because of tiebreaker rules.

Now that we are finally in March, we get to see the magic of Jeff Walz come into play as he will have his team playing up a couple notches.

On the first day of the ACC Tournament, we saw three games.

12-seed Boston College relied on a major second half rally to defeat 13-seed Syracuse. The Eagles outscored the Orange by 20 in the second half. Dontavia Waggoner dropped 32 points to help get the win.

10-seed Virginia defeated 15-seed Pittsburgh 64-50. While the Cavaliers held a small led at the half, they utilized a strong third quarter to pull away. Four Virginia players scored in double figures with Kymora Johnson leading the way with 17 points and seven assists.

In the nightcap, underdog Clemson came out firing on all cyl9nders and downed Stanford 63-46. Uo 11-10 after one, the Tigers put together a 16-6 second ten minutes and then a 21-14 third quarter to take a 48-30 lead going into the fourth...Loyal McQueen led the way with 17 for the Tiger.s

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB PICK 'EM TOURNAMENT 

Day one is in the books...we have 16 participants this time around and only Nick O went 3-0 on the day There's a logjam at 2-1, with eight participants and five contestants went 1-2. Poor Sonya and Daryl are 0-3. 

3-0 Nick O

2-1 Curtis , Paulie , Clemson Cuz, Karen J , Case, Kenny S, Jared and Thomas

1-2 Chimps, Joe Hill, Blue Lou, Katy , Jeff

0-3 Sonya ,Daryl

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC WBB Bracket Winners and Losers -- ACC Pick Em -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The ACC Women’s Basketball bracket is set. Paulie broke down much of the schedule so far, but who are the winners and the losers with the bracket? Today, we'll take a look at who those might be.

The Losers

The three teams who did not make the tournament. For the first time in decades, the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will not take every team in the conference. Due to the expansion from 15 to 18 teams, the bottom three schools are left out looking in. Miami (4-14 ACC), SMU (2-16), and Wake Forest (2-16) will not make the conference tournament and therefore are also not eligible to make the NCAA Tournament after finishing below .500 in the regular season.

Notre Dame looked to be nearly unbeatable all season. Then, they lost two out of their final three games to NC State and Florida State. The Wolfpack got the head-to-head tiebreaker for the top overall seed. The ACC tiebreaker rules are still better than the SEC, who had to resort to a coin flip.

Louisville had a rocky season as the veteran players didn’t provide as much consistency as hoped for and the plethora of freshmen had growing pains. The Cards won at Florida State and choked away a lead against North Carolina down the stretch. They also got stuck playing Notre Dame twice. In a three-way tie with Florida State and North Carolina, Louisville drew the short straw with the lowest seed.

The Winners

NC State won their final four games of the season to propel themselves to an ACC regular season title and the 1-seed in the tournament. Playing two of the bottom teams in that stretch helped but they did take down Notre Dame too.

Florida State earned the 4-seed and a double in the ACC Tournament. The Seminoles lost at home to Louisville by 14 but went on the road to beat North Carolina by two. A win against Notre Dame down the stretch played a big factor in maintaining pace for a top four seed. The three-way tie between UofL, UNC, and FSU went to the Noles.

ACC Pick Em

We are just one day away from the start of the tournament with three games being played Wednesday beginning at 1:00pm. 12-seed Boston College and 13-seed Syracuse will kick the tournament off. The championship game will be on Sunday at 1:00pm on ESPN. Louisville’s first game will be on Thursday at 7:30pm. They will play the winner of 11-seed Stanford and 14-seed Clemson, both of whom the Cards beat in the regular season.

Big shout out and thanks to Case for being willing to take over the  bracket czar duties this year. We currently have multiple positions vacant in my department at work and another person out with the flu so overtime will be plentiful and my schedule will be a bit demanding. Thankfully, I should still be able to follow parts of the tournament each day.

Make sure and play the Cardinal Couple ACC WBB Tournament Pick Em !! 14 games to pick...pick the most correctly and win. Paulie has either a $25 Gift Card to Cracker Barrel or Wagner's Restaurant for the winner...your choice. Make sure you enter your total score also with you entry. Make sure and enter your picks in the comments section either today or tomorrow by noon. Here's an example, this one from regular reader Nick O. 

Round 1:  Boston College, Virginia, Clemson

Round 2:  North Carolina, Georgia Tech, California, Louisville

Round 3:  Florida State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville 

Semis:     Florida State, Notre Dame

Champ     Notre Dame

Total Points in Final Game:  141  

A Few Late Softball Photos

Over the last week, Louisville softball played five games at home, going 4-1. We had a couple days of beautiful weather and a couple days of less-than-ideal weather. Here's just a few shots from those games.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Wednesday ACC WBB action -- Lacrosse wins at Butler -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LACROSSE BEATS BUTLER 15-5

(One of the "Blalock sistahs" Ms. Caroline ...

It wasn't the Butler who did it yesterday...instead, it was Louisville Lacrosse, with the 15-5 win over the Bulldogs in Indianapolis. 

Alex McNicholas led the scoring charge for the Cards with four goals  Louisville jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and was never seriously challenged. Tessa Chad added three for the Cards and the Blalock sisters contributed two each. 

The Cards led 10-3 at the half and upped their season record to 2-5. Next up, Louisville hosts Duke on Saturday at the "Ellis" (LLS - Louisville Lacrosse Stadium)


WEDNESDAY ACC WBB TOURNAMENT ACTION

The opening round of ACC WBB play in Greensboro held no intrigue or upsets -- all four lower seed defeated their higher seeded counterparts.

Acting pretty "Cavalier" he is..he is...

VIRGINIA VS B.C.  The action was fast and furious in this #12 vs. #13. Cavs looking great early with the 11-0 led and B.C. battling back to make a game of it.  Despite trailing 29-23 at the half and having just seven players dressed for the game, Virginia staged a huge second half offensive performance and won going away 77-61. They outscored the Eagles 54-32 in the final twenty minutes and Jocelyn Willoughby had a big time -- with 29 points and 13 rebounds.

Things probably get a little uphill for the Charlottesville school today, they face "Q" and the #5 seed Orange of Syracuse at 11 a.m.

ROC the Panther getting ready to carry the flag for the
Pitt charge. 

VIRGINIA TECH VS WAKE FOREST. The second game featured a "running on all eight cylinders"  #10 seed Virginia Tech Hokie unit against #15 seed Wake Forest. And, the Forest got raked, especially in the first half, where VA. Tech put together 27-10 and 28-20 quarter triumphs to hold the 55-30 lead. 

Regan Magarity and Taylor Emery got a little rest in the second half but the rest of the Hokies continued the punishment, Final was 85-63. Kenny Brooks and his talented two take the task to #7 Clemson tonight at 6 p.m. 

The Devil made me do it (take this picture of the Blue Devil
in front of me, harassing this young lady trying to watch the game).

PITT VS. DUKE.  The Panthers came out full of fight but Duke put this one away in the final 20 minutes, outscoring "Roc's" bunch 50-32 in the 86-64 triumph. A huge night for freshman Milea Goodchild, with 19 points, nailing five threes in the process as well. 

After caging the Panthers, the Blue Devils will try to Scalp the #6 seed Seminoles in the 8:00 p.m. closer for day two.

UNC and Georgia Tech also square off at 2 p.m.  Four games full today in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Having a great time, was quite tired last night but slept well and ready to go see who wants "quarters" (that's the quarterfinals) starting at 11 in the big place on Gate City Blvd. 

Louisville will practice today over at the UNC-Greensboro gym this after. i don't know if the "Curley Man" and I will make it further northward down Gate City Blvd to watch it or not....around 1:30ish.  

CARDINAL COUPLE BRACKET CHALLENGE

Our guardian of the brackets, Mr. Anderson Jared, tells me that his pseudonym Jared Anderson has tallied the first day totals and out of the 23 participants, 11 still have perfect (or 3 wins no losses) entries. 

Chalk players. 

Good luck to all today, especially the Cardinal Couple chimps, who went 1-2. They're liable to walk out on us if they don't win. C'mon upsets and Louisville !! 

I'm calling for a full inquiry and board of review on the entire proceedings.   



Paulie
xxxxx

ACC Tournament Begins -- Pick Em -- Lax at Butler -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Women's Basketball Tournament Begins

The postseason is officially underway as the ACC Women's basketball tournament tips off in Greensboro.  The three first round games feature the 10-15 seeds.

Game 1: #13 Boston College vs #12 Virginia, 1:00 p.m.

The 3-13 Eagles challenge the 5-11 Cavaliers in the first game of the tournament.  Virginia won the lone regular season game 79-77 in an overtime thriller in Charlottesville in early February.

Game 2: #15 Wake Forest vs #10 Virginia Tech, 3:30 p.m.

The second game of the day features the 1-15 Demon Deacons and the 6-10 Hokies.  In the most recent game for both teams Virginia Tech won in Blacksburg 69-57.

Game #3: #14 Pittsburgh vs #11 Duke, 6:30 p.m.

In the final game of the day the 2-14 Panthers and 6-10 Blue Devils will take the court.  A the beginning of February Duke blew out Pitt 74-55 in Durham.

Make sure to check out Paulie's Twitter (@cardinalcouple) for updates on all 14 games of the tournament.  Also, tune back into the site periodically to see what updates he gives us.  I expect that his updates will be in a different color at the top of the page to help differentiate the new vs old.

ACC WBB Pick Em

As of 10:00 p.m., last night there have been 17 entries.  I know of at least two more on the way with Worldwide and Case figuring out their final formulas for the perfect bracket.

The entries I have are:
Cardinal Couple Chimps
Paul Sykes
Sonya Sykes
Curtis Franklin
Nick O
K Stark Sr
Arthur
Seminole Sue
Dave-O Watson
Spanky
Joe Hill
Vivian McAdams
Douglas Anderson
Jason Wyrick
Daryl Foust
Thomas Irwin
Jared Anderson

I just noticed that K Stark Sr uses a photo of Shelby Harper so we already have a winner of the ACC WBB Pick Em!  No, I can't actually award a winner for that reason but Shelby Harper was my first 'celebrity crush' when I got to UofL.

There is still time to get your entry in if you have not.  Get that submission in by 1:00 p.m. today, before tip-off of the first game!  If you submitted an entry, either by comments or by emailing Paulie just let us know and we'll make sure to get it added in without any issues.

Here are a few notes of some trends from the 17 submissions we do have...

• Louisville is picked to win in 13 brackets, Notre Dame 3, Florida State 1
• There are 7 picks for Boston College and 10 for Virginia
• There are 2 picks for Wake Forest and 15 for Virginia Tech
• There are 3 picks for Pittsburgh and 14 picks for Duke
• There are 10 picks where a team playing on Wednesday makes it to Friday.  Only 1 has a team making it to Saturday
• Only 6 picks have a team not named Notre Dame or Louisville making it to the championship, 2 of them are in the same bracket.
• There are 63 upsets (of 255 games) for an average of 3.7 upsets per bracket.

Lacrosse Takes Road Trip to Butler

Louisville Lacrosse (1-5) heads to the northern side of Indianapolis as they prepare to square off against Butler (2-3).

The Bulldogs have two victories- 13-10 over Kent State and 10-8 over St Bonaventure.  Both wins came at home.

On the year, Butler is averaging 10 goals per game.  Ashley Guerra leads Butler with 13 goals and eight assists.  Karina Latsko is close behind with 12 goals and three assists.

Defensively, they allow 13.5 goals per game.  Goalkeeper Amanda Rumsey has 43 saves with a save percentage of .422.

The Cards lead the all-time series 1-0.  The lone game went in favor of the Cards 20-4 in Indianapolis last season.  Three Louisville players recorded hat tricks during the game.


ACC TOURNAMENT UPDATE



IN FIRST ROUND action, Virginia's second half bested Boston College 77-61 and Virginia Tech
destroyed Wake Forest 85-63. So far the better seeds are winning. Duke and Pitt in the final of the night. Since I have been up over 24 hours, I may not get the final to you on this one until Thursday morning

Duke dunked Pitt 86-63. They get FSU for their efforts tomorrow.

Regan Margarity and Jocelyn Willoughby are the co-MVP's so far for Wednesday.

Paulie
Xxxxx


Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Spring Weekend -- SUNDAY Cardinal Couple

Spring Saturdays

Spring has sprung, though with snow falling at the moment, you may be forgiven for questioning that assertion.  In college sports terms, however, we're solidly into spring.

Basketball Game Day

First, though, we still have some winter sports in action, so let's take a moment to look at today's action in basketball.

I know this is the most popular sport here on Cardinal Couple, and I don't want to overlook any game on the regular season schedule, but the women are in Pittsburgh for their regular season finale, and, well, frankly Pitt just doesn't pose that much of a threat to the Cards.  At 2-13 in conference, and 11-18 overall, their record doesn't inspire.  Their only really meaningful win in conference was a shocker over a middle-of-the-conference-pack North Carolina team.

As long as the Cards come out and play their game, this one should just be a basic romp at the Peterson Events Center.  Let's hope Asia Durr has really found her stroke again, and that her 47 pt performance against NC State wasn't just a result of adrenaline for a big game.  Let's also hope that AC finds here shooting groove again.  She's certainly able to contribute in other ways, but she is so much more of a threat when she gets that sweet shooting stroke going from outside.

Hopefully they can treat this one as a good warm-up for next weekend's ACC tournament games.
  The Cards are a lock for the double bye, so they won't be playing until Friday, but the opponent won't be known until Thursday, although once today's games are finished and tournament seeds are fully locked in, there will only be 3 possible opponents that make it to the Friday game against the Cards.

Paulie will be in attendance for the whole tournament in Greensboro, so look for his updates on Twitter and here on the site for all of your ACC tournament news.

"The Monkeys" will be back in Greensboro. Tall tales to follow. 

For today's game, it's a 2 p.m. start, and if you're not in Pittsburgh, it's available on the ACC Network Extra.

Hopefully, a contest where Louisville gets out early, increases that lead and all have good games, plenty of playing time for the bench and no injuries

In the meantime, we've got lots of other sports to talk about, so let's get to it.

Softball Takes 2

Indiana State

Softball finished off the weather-altered, and shortened, Cardinal Classic at Ulmer yesterday with
UofL playing in two games.

The first started at 10:30am, and you can see Jared, Daryl, and I all being distracted while we watched the ACC Network Extra stream of it during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday.

The Sycamores of Indiana State were the opponent, and they fell 3-0 largely on a strength of a Caitlin Ferguson 2-shot touch-em-all in the 4th inning, her 2nd of the season.  The runner scored was Jordyn Wolfe, who was pinch running for Megan Hensley who got on base with a walk.  Kyra Snyder sent a double out to right-center to bring pitcher Taylor Roby around after she got her turn on the basepaths by being hit by a pitch, to get to the final tally of 3.

Roby was also in the circle for the whole game and picks up the win stat.

IUPUI

Scheduled for 4:30, but not getting underway until 6:15, the 2nd game for the Cards, and the 4th of the day at Ulmer matched up the Cards with the IUPUI Jaguars with much the same result.

Megan Hensley earns the complete game win in this 3-0 decision and help ensure her stat with a late game RBI to left with 2 outs in the 7th, bring home Celene Funke who line shot down the right base line just cleared the glove of the first baseman, and just barely stayed fair.

The other pair of runs for the Cards were in the top of the top of the 2nd inning with Kyra Snyder crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly by Maddie Newman.  Sidney Melton got the RBI for the other run, showcasing her speed, and why slap hitting works by beating out the throw to 1st.  Incidentally, Melton is the last active member of the All-Syd/Sid/Szyd team named in the September 23, 2014 edition of Cardinal Couple:

http://cardinalcouple.blogspot.com/2014/09/tuesday-cardinal-couple-all-sydsid-team.html

Jared, Daryl, and I all made it out to Ulmer for this one, with Daryl taking on post-game question asking duties, a portion of which you can find at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l870LK-b07Q

My super-subjective analysis of what I saw made me excited for this team and the future of this program.  When I first started following UofL Softball in the early part of the decade, I was enthusiastic because I saw a team that didn't make mental errors, basically at all.  Someone may bobble a ball, mistime a swing, or make other sorts of execution errors but they, to a first approximation, didn't make mental errors like throwing to the wrong base, or throwing a ball to a base when there was no chance of catching a runner.

In the intervening years, I started to see the team do things that would leave me thinking, "Why would you do that?" and as a fan, that was frustrating for me.  What I saw last night was a team that showed discipline and discernment.  I saw balls get held when there was no chance of beating the runner with the throw to 1st.  I saw cut offs made by the right player, and balls thrown in from the outfield to the right place to stop the play.  This gets me excited to see what this team can become this year, and hope for the future growth of the program in the future.

I also saw smart base-running, and Oh. So. Much. Speed. on the base-paths.  Last night was fun softball to watch.  This is only a subjective analysis from really watching one game, so far, but what I saw is encouraging.

Softball is back in action Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Lipscomb and will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.




Lax Falls to Notre Dame


Tough task yesterday for the LAX Cards in South end against #19 Notre Dame. They were 4-0 coming into the match and had little trouble sending Scott Teeter's squad home with a 16-4 win.

At least this one was inside. 

The 8-0 start for the Irish led to a 10-1 halftime advantage. Louisville did add three more scores in the final 30 minutes while slowing down Notre Dame a bit, but maybe an early preview of how the ACC season is going to go for Teeter and team in their second year of the rebuilding process. 

Youth being served in the Cards goals. Sophomores Caroline Blalock, Alex McNicholas and Shayla Scanlan -- plus freshman Hannah Morris finding the net for Louisville. 

1-5 Louisville returns to the state of Indiana to face Butler (2-3) on Wednesday in Indy. Viewing listed on Facebook live. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I alluded to it earlier, but Paulie, Jared, Daryl, and I were in the studio yesterday for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.  We had a good hour talking about basketball and softball....  OK, to be fair, we had a good 35 minutes of talking about basketball and softball as it took us a while to get through the Scheduling and Twitter segment.  There's just so much on the calendar this time of year, and we do tend to editorialize a bit through it.

Check it out, back on Facebook Live, at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/311428539560787/

-- 

JMcA

Louisville women's basketball #3 in latest rankings -- Softball splits in Tennessee -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS #3 IN AP

The University of Louisville women's basketball team lands at #3 in the AP poll released Monday -- no first place votes, all 28 of those went to Baylor -- but the Cards are just behind Connecticut and ahead of Notre Dame. Mississippi State rounds out the top five and Oregon takes the biggest drop...from #2 to #6...after two straight losses and the injury to star Ruthy Hebard. 

The ACC leads the way with six schools in the top 25. (Louisville, Notre Dame, Miami, NC State, Florida State and Syracuse). The PAC 12 has five. Three conferences have three each and five conferences one each. Our neighbors to the east, UK are now at #11. 

Bracketology still has the Cards going to Chicago as the #1 seed after two games in Louisville. Currently, the guess is Stanford, Maryland and Iowa State fill out the top four seeds in that region and UK is a #5 seed in the Chicago bracket. 

Louisville gets a huge test Thursday night when N.C. State rolls into town. The Wolfpack have a 24-3 record, 11-3 in the ACC and are projected to be the #2 seed in the Albany Region...where UConn holds the #1 seed as of Monday. 

McGraw holds up three fingers in a blatant attempt to
influence AP Voters

There is a lot of consternation among Notre Dame fans that they are ranked behind the Cards, despite winning the regular season match up against UofL and that the Irish are not picked for Chicago. Charlie Creme sees them as the #1 seed in Portland. Notre Dame certainly added fuel to that "we belong in Chicago" argument with a dismantling of #17 Syracuse, at Syracuse, last night 98-68. 

Just two games for Louisville before the ACC Tournament. After NC State, the Cards head to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Sunday, March 3rd. The Cards are pretty much assured of getting two days off in Greensboro for the tournament as a top four seed before taking the court on Friday. 

Nine days before the teams converge on the Greensboro Coliseum. With Notre Dame ending their conference slate hosting Virginia, it seems likely that they'll get the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament. 


All Louisville has to do is "win out" against the Wolfpack and Pitt to claim the #2 seed and a share of the conference championship with a 14-2 conference mark. Notre Dame gets the tiebreaker. C'mon Virginia! Pull the upset! 

If the season ended yesterday, N.C. State and Miami would be the other two teams getting the advancement to Friday action. Those two meet on Sunday, March 3rd., in Raleigh, to end their ACC seasons and to decide who gets the #3 seed and possibly the #4 seed.  With FSU back in fifth place at 9-5, the Noles have to win out and then hope either N.C. State or Miami lose their final two to climb up to a four seed. To their credit, FSU defeated  N.C. State and split with Miami in the regular season.  

The wolves are a very serious and tough test for the Cards on Senior Night. 

We're winding down and approaching "the second season". It gets very "real" from here on out.

Time to compete for what you dream of, Cards.


SOFTBALL SPLITS IN KNOXVILLE

An early (11:30 a.m.) start for Holly Aprile's sluggers yesterday in the rain-altered Tennessee Classic. The Cards started against Bradley, who they downed on Sunday, and found continued success with a 6-0 whitewash of the Braves. 

Megan Hensley tossing the four-hit, complete game shutout for the Ulmer Stadium bunch. A scoreless affair for four innings but UofL broke loose for two unearned runs on three Braves errors and a hit batter. Pinch runner Jordyn Wolfe and Charley Bulter touched the plate for UofL. The Cards put four more runs up in the sixth with two walks, two hits and a couple of stolen bases. The "Butler" did it again with a two-RBI triple. 

In game two, UofL faced the hosting #8 Vols. Early on, it looked like it might be a Tennessee rout, as they jumped to a 5-0 lead after five innings.

Louisville had just begun to fight, though. 

In the top of the sixth, A Cardinal walk and single set the scene for a three-RBI home run from freshman Taylor Roby.

After holding the Vols scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Louisville threatened again in the top of the seventh.

The Cards got a single, double and intentional walk to load the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, the Cards could not push any of the runners home. 

Louisville returns home for their first game in Ulmer on Friday, March 1st., in the Cardinal Classic. The Cards are scheduled to face Indiana State, IUPUI and Missouri over three days. Friday has UofL against Indiana State and Missouri. Saturday action involves the Cards against Missouri and IUPUI and they action ends Sunday against IUPUI.

Let's hope the weather cooperates. Current forecasting shows and "O.K." Friday but dropping temperatures on Saturday and a possible chance of snow showers on Sunday. 

Let's hope the weather guys are wrong in this prognostication. 



paulie
xxxxx











  

Louisville women's basketball -- Championship Memories

CAPTAIN'S LOG -- THE GREENSBORO MISSION

Below is an account of two "old guys" making the trek to go see the Louisville women's basketball team play in the final two games of the ACC Tournament. A combination of "Dumb and Dumber" and "Grumpiest Old Men" maybe. Or a James Bond action-thriller? You decide. The accounts and references here did happen, unless it's been this crazy dream and I'm still asleep. 

Friday, 5:00 p.m.

Louisville's women's basketball squad won their first game of the ACC Tournament. Bye-bye Va Tech. I am lamenting I am not in Greensboro, but my wife and dog are not sympathetic. Almost on cue, the phone rings. It is my friend Joe Hill in Naples. We talk about the win. We both wish we were there. He says we should do something about that. We devise a plan to drive to Greensboro and catch the Saturday (and hopefully Sunday) Louisville games. He says it's about a 11 hour trip. I say I'll pay the gas and hotel if he'll drive. He says he'll "clear it with the wife" and call me back. He calls back 30 minutes later. It is a go. When I approached my wife about it, she told me to go, instead of moping around the house about it. Destination: Greensboro

Friday, 8:00 p.m.

Joe has arrived from Naples. His 2016 Chevrolet Impala pulls up in the driveway. I have been packed and ready to go since 6 p.m. As I go out to greet him, my wife tells me to "drink plenty of water, you know how you are on trips". Joe comes in, says "Hi" and we are off. Our mission is clear. Only we can accomplish what must be done. And we'll be back with a championship. Oh, yes. 

Friday, 10:30 p.m.

Our first stop. A rest area. (You know how old guys are and bathroom trips, right?) There is a van in the rest area that at least eight people, youngsters, pile out of. They are all pretty much dressed the same. I ask the adult (thankfully) driving some general questions. They are going to Atlanta for a youth mission or something like that. I tell the driver we are on a mission as well. He looks at me and hurries the kids back into the van as they return from the facilities. All I needed was dark sunglasses and a black suit. Joe tells me that he's getting hungry. I produce a big bag of Fritos from the bag I put in the back seat. Driving and Fritoing, oh yeah. He puts a Neil Diamond CD into the player. We roll on with "Sweet Caroline" and "Cracklin' Rosie" as companions. 

Saturday, 4:30 a.m. 

We have reached Darlington, SC and it's time for gas and maybe a little breakfast. We have solved just about all the current world problems, and heard from Neil Diamond, the Guess Who, Peter Frampton, The Beatles and a few other stars from the past and the sight of the Waffle House beckons us. Our waitress is named Doris and she's about to become a grand-mother again and about to end her shift. Joe goes for the All-Star breakfast, or something like that. I stick with a waffle and oatmeal with sausage, my "go-to" at Waffle House. Gotta stay heart-healthy and consistent, ya know. There is a couple in the corner that are arguing about his actions the night before. We were driving, honest, and had no part in his shenanigans. Joe's car takes $40+ in gas. On the road again! 

Saturday, 7:29 a.m.

Greensboro, we have landed! We hit the Red Roof Inn near the Coliseum. The desk clerk tells us check-in is not until the afternoon. We plead our case. We desperately need a few hours of shut-eye before the game. She's sympathetic and relents for a room. We are (or at least I am) asleep by 8 a.m. The plan is, up at noon, clean up and to the Coliseum, about a mile away. We have parked next to a SUV with Kentucky plates. Good luck is with us! 

Saturday, 10:23 a.m.

Rise and shine, travelers! We go about it and hit the car and head to grab a bite and hit the coliseum. There is a Hooters near us but we avoid the temptations of wings and girls and settle for the Olive Garden. They open at 11 a.m. and we're the first one's in. I text Paulie and tell him of our decision to make the trek. He's already at the Coliseum, just finished doing radio and wishes us good luck and great seats. Maybe we'll get together later. 

Saturday, 2:15 p.m.

The Cards have put away N.C. State in a hard-fought game. Louisville didn't look especially sharp but got the job done. We are sitting next to a couple from Louisville who have never heard of CARDINAL COUPLE. One of the very few, most likely. He pulls the site up on his phone and he likes it. Gotcha a new couple of readers, Paulie. On the house, pal. How would they have fared against Duke? Thankfully, we didn't have to find out. NC State had a couple of BIG girls who had little trouble scoring inside on the Cards but -- Arica Carter for President! This FSU vs. ND game should be good. We are FINALS BOUND and our mission is halfway accomplished. 

Saturday, 6 p.m.

We now know it will be the Irish and Cards in the Finals. They looked good against FSU. Shakayla Thomas better make the All-Tournament Team, though. She did all she could for the Noles. The couple we're sitting next to tells us about a little pizzeria near their hotel that is pretty good. We decide to go there with them and celebrate. I see Paulie down on media row and he's having a lively discussion with the guy to his left and a security official. Probably trying to talk his way out of being apprehended again. 

Saturday, 10 p.m.

We have dined on some GREAT deep dish pizza at Pizzeria L'Italiano and washed it down with a few "adult" beverages. Then, back to their suite for a few cocktails out of paper cups and a few games of spades and conversation. Joe had never played spades, so naturally, he kicked our tails. We are full, sleepy and content. Game time 2 p.m. Sunday. Time for these two to surrender to the pillow. We say "Goodbye" to our new friends Scott and Donna, who are retired and living well in Anchorage, if that rings a bell, Louisvillians, and it's off to the place with the red roof. Donna, a very attractive lady, about 10 years younger than Scott. He was a supervisor at a Ford Plant in Louisville. They drink Old Forester and we had no problem with that. I drive us back to the hotel, Joe had "a couple more than I" and is happy. Very happy. He hits the sack in his clothes. I, of course, follow proper "preparing for sleep" guidelines and routines and fall asleep watching some movie about the invasion of Japan. We are ready for battle. 

Sunday, 10 a.m.

What a great night of sleep! I am re-freshed, invigorated and ready to cheer on my Cards! Joe is excited also. We hit Biscuitville for a breakfast and text Paulie to join us. He is staying nearby at the Hampton. He invites us over for the buffet at the hotel. He has no car. His trip-mate Tom has taken the car to go to Mass. We pass and make plans to meet up at the game -- the lure of fresh baked biscuits too luring. The rest of the time leading up to game time is spent watching Sunday Morning talk-shows. Joe's a big fan of these. I call the wife, all is well and the family is hoping for a Card win. There is a guy out in the parking lot of the hotel who must think he's entered in a Nascar event -- such loudness on a peaceful but chilly Sunday morning is a party foul. 

Sunday, 1:45 p.m.

We have met with Paulie briefly...he supplied us with "game snacks" from the Media Snack Bar and told us that he hopes, for once, the Louisville bench is in front of him. It is not. We see him down on the court talking to coaches and such and then, his hands are behind his back and a security guard is standing behind him. He is released. We find out later it was a joke he was playing on Sam Purcell -- pretending to be arrested and asking for help. It's time to play ball. The referees are Dee Kanter, Joe Vaszily and Eric Brewton. That's a good crew. The Irish look really big and well-built. We expect a close game. Let's play ball! 

Sunday, 4:40 p.m.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The Cards take a thriller 74-72 and we watch the celebrations down on the court with pride and much cheering. I am full of emotion, Joe is, too. We are the winners! Just looking put on the court, The dancing, the ballons and confetti, the madness. I love this team so. They made Myisha Hines-Allen the MVP of the tournament. I might have gone in Arica Carter's direction, but it's still a good call. CARDS! Asia Durr and her clutch free throws. The Irish roaring back only to be denied at the end. That's basketball, folks. We leave the arena babbling non-stop about what we saw. the plan is to eat, go back to the hotel, take a nap and hit the road for Florida. We stop for dinner at a Mexican restaurant next the hotel. Not bad, really. Our waiter is a blonde cutie and is a Duke fan. But she's happy for us and we tip her well. Our work is done here. We didn't notice the so-called icy exchange between Jeff and Muffet -- too busy jumping around "high-fiving" and hugging those around us. Her name is ASIA DURR, though, Ms. McGraw and how you can stay balanced in a squat in those 12-inch thin heels has to be one of the seven wonders of the world. Jeff Walz has to be exhausted. He worked the sidelines just as hard as the players did on the court. Cut down that net, CJW! 

Sunday, 8:30 p.m.  

After a short nap, we load the Impala and we're off! Traffic is light and we are anticipating an arrival in Bradenton around 7 a.m. or so. We can't find anything about the game on local radio, so it's back to CD's. CCR is singing about not being a fortunate son. We feel very lucky and fortunate. Sorry about your luck, John Fogarty. I start answering the texts I received all day. Phone was off. I had serious business to attend to. Paulie had texted and invited us over for some Jefferson Reserve and dialogue after the game. I reply that we are on the road home. He is, too, as it turns out. My wife informs me that she wishes she had gone with us. Barry, from the next street over and a huge Cardinal fan, says he fell over his coffee table in front of the couch, while dancing and celebrating the win. Way to take one for the team, Bear! 

Monday, 7:50 a.m.

(Seems like Paulie got himself a new "crush"...) 

We pull into my driveway in Bradenton. I drove the last 300 miles...Joe was getting sleepy and I had napped in the car. I gotta get one of these Impala's. Great road car. I invite him in for breakfast and the wife is up and makes us eggs, pancakes and bacon. I invite Joe to nap a bit on the couch but he feels fine and is ready to return to Deloris and Naples. My buddy Joe and I have had a great time, made a couple of new friends and seen two great basketball games. Some great memories and excellent hoops we witnessed. CARDS! Our 58 hour adventure has ended and I hope you enjoyed the recap! Onto the NCAA! We were Cardinal Strong and saw some things we'll remember for a long time. I hope that couple in Darlington finally "made-up" and Scott, Donna and Paulie got home safely. 

I hope Paulie didn't try to bring Ms. Wuf home with him. 

Your friend, 

Dave-O
David Watson. 
  

Louisville women's basketball -- Champs!

LOUISVILLE DEFEATS NOTRE DAME 74-72 FOR ACC TITLE

Clutch. Accurate. Persistant. Champions. 

Lamont Russell with the shirt and the "L" 

Most that I talked to in the Greensboro Coliseum, especially those in Cardinal colors expected Louisville to win yesterday's title bout against Notre Dame yesterday. Most also thought it would be a lot closer than the 100-67 blowout Louisville put on the Irish back in mid-January.

Most were right. In a game that could most likely fall under the term "chaotic" the Cards survived against the Irish 74-72. It was a bumpy flight at times but the plane landed safely and with all passengers OK. 

" I hope it put a smile on everyone's face." Coach Jeff Walz remarked after the game. It's been a remarkable run, but we're not done yet. We've got bigger fish to fry." 

And, in keeping with the tradition of fish, frying and Lent...the Cards had the fans in the Coliseum and on ESPN most likely clutching rosary beads, mumbling Hail-Mary's and probably saying a few things that would need to be recanted for in the confessional booth.

Sam Williams gets her plaque and a handshake. 

I got into a bit of a Twitter war while attending the event over the referees. We had the best crew in women's college basketball in Dee Kanter, Joe Vazsily and Eric Brewton. They called it tough but fair and the Cards were actually making most of the fouls that were being called on them. Notre Dame simply does not foul unless they have to. They are that well trained and coached to avoid the "silly" ones.

The Irish murder opponents under the basket with their size and strength and a lot of that is brutal but legal. Positioning. And, they took it to the Cards under the paint yesterday. I do not like it when people to continually bash referees. I was a referee. You lose games because your opponent scores more points than you -- not because of a few calls that did not go the way you wanted them to. 

Just survive somehow. It's a phrase I started using when I got to Greensboro. And, the Cards did. Notre Dame had been putting up 80-90 points a game for a considerable stretch of the season. The Cards held them to 72 and no one had done that since Louisville did...back on January 11th. 

65-64 with less than a minute to go. The Cards seeing a seven-point lead vanquish. The irish with the ball. But, the Cardinal defense forced a shot clock violation. Sam Fuehring hit a layup and drew contact. Made the free throw. 68-64. 

Vince Tyra was there and was fired up

Louisville went 6-6 from the charity stripe during the final 18 seconds. Notre Dame
fouling Asia Durr on two possessions down that stretch and the junior responding with the calm, cool demeanor we've seen all year. A different look from her minutes later, tears of joy streaming down her face as she returned to the celebration on the court after going to the stands to celebrate with her family. Smiling broadly through those tears. repeating over and over again.

"I just can't believe it." 

I even got a little teary-eyed myself when I was wandering the floor after the game, taking pictures of random stuff.  Being a victim of two hours sleep in the last 48 hours, I'm finishing this up and hitting the mattress.

Confetti and a championship -- not a bad way to spend a
Sunday afternoon

Believe it, Asia Durr. Believe that your coach believes in you, as well. A rather chppy and chilly post-game handshake between Walz and Muffet McGraw. That same Miss Muffet who jabbingly referred to Durr as "that other girl" who won the ACC M.O.P. of the year... instead of her Arike Ogunbowale. It pissed Walz off. It should have, the cattiness and superiority-intended shrug off and slight that the Notre Dame coach dumped on Ms. Durr.

"I just wanted to make sure she knew who Asia Durr was. Just have the common courtesy to say her name. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm going to stand up for my player. Just have the respect to say her name." 

Asia Durr stood up for Louisville yesterday, too. Straight and tall. 

Keep standing up, #25. I think Muffet McGraw will remember your name a long, long time. 

No Fred report as of now. Maybe later when I wake up. Or tomorrow. Just survive somehow. 



LACROSSE FALLS TO NOTRE DAME 14-9 

Louisville did get the big win in the multi-sport double-header Sunday in hoops but the Irish prevailed 14-9 at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium (the Ellis) 

Coach Scott Teeter was proud of his LAX women despite the loss and thought that they played better than they did in a win over Vandy last week. Louisville took a 2-1 lead early in this one but fell behind as the first half developed. The Cards wold rally to get within one but a late flurry of ND goals set the final score as a five-point Irish win. 

Our Jared Anderson was there to capture the sights and also the post-game comments from Teeter and a couple of players. Nice job by "Mr Everything" here at Cardinal Couple and River City Cards. We think he may be twins, because he's everywhere covvering everything.  Listen below. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlvhZ63UWrI&list=PL8CD62AD6CE814E95


SOFTBALL 

At Ulmer stadium, Sandy Pearsall picked up her 700th win of her coaching career with a 6-0 win over Eastern Illinois to close out the Red and Black Classic. 

A strong pitching performance from Danielle Watson "Dan" and Megan Hensley and timely hitting from Madison Cousineau and Kyra Snyder in the first inning helped build a first-inning 5-0 lead and the softball squad kept E.Illinois at bay the rest of the way.

Hit and pitch Cards are 15-4 and return to the diamond on Friday against Bradley. WE'll have more on that later in the week. 

Our Jeff McAdams was there for the post-game wrap up with Coach Sandy Pearsall. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlP5JVzioQY&feature=youtu.be

Paulie
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