Lady Cards face Dayton Saturday as part of doubleheader

FRIDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE


-Two in the Yum tomorrow

-Good luck Soccer!

-Rockcastle County and Hammond

-Getting to know: Bethann Shapiro Ord

-Bowl Pick 'em gets enhanced...


Two games Saturday in the KFC YUM Downtown Arena, with Rick Pitino's team facing UNLV at noon and Jeff Walz's Lady Cards hosting Dayton at 5 p.m. A great sports day for the college basketball fan and one of those rare occasions where both UofL basketball teams play on the same day. Neither contest will be easy for the home teams. UNLV whipped the Cardinals last year in Sin City and they're showing no signs of slowing down this year. Jeff Walz's Lady Cards are 7-5 lifetime against the Dayton Flyers and hold a three game win streak currently over the Ohio dwellers.

Dayton (5-3) is led by junior 6'1" forward Justine Raterman and 6'0" senior guard Kristin Daughtery. Raterman is good for 17.1 ppg and Daughtery averages 14.6 a game. Former Louisville Manual star Brittany Wilson is a redshirt sophomore for the Flyers and pops in 8.8 per contest.

The Flyers have knocked off Cincinnati, Toledo, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wright State this year and lost to Penn St., Mich St., and UIC.

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Best of luck to the University of Louisville soccer team today in their game against North Carolina in the FINAL FOUR of NCAA Men's Soccer in Santa Barbara, CA. The team received a tremendous send off Weds. from fans in the YUM Center and is currently ranked #1 in the nation. Our co-horts over at Cardinal Dominance and UofL Card Game are providing great coverage and photos of Ken Lolla's quest to bring back a National Championship title and trophy to the "Ville".


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Rockcastle County takes to the hardwood tonight and Sara Hammond and her teammates face a very tough Scott County. Rockcastle County is 2-0 on the season so far and is considered one of the probables to show up in the Sweet Sixteen Tournament in March. Louisville signee Hammond is one of the best in the state and her versatility on the court will procure significant moments for her on Denny Crum Court when she arrives at Louisville.

Marion County hits the hardwood tonight also. Go Bre, Makayla and Kyvin!


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Bethann Shapiro Ord is one of the assistant coaches for the University of Louisville women's basketball team. It's her fourth year here at the "Ville"...coming on board when Jeff Walz took the head coaching job. Ord came in from Colorado. Ord has been a key part of Louisville bringing in back to back to back stellar recruiting classes during her time here and the current freshman class was ranked 5th. in the nation. Bethann began her coaching career at Pittsburgh in 1992. She played her college ball at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and was a three year point guard and letter winner for the Retrievers.


Ord comes from an athletic background, her Dad is a recently retired athletic director, her Mom a head coach for 20 years. She has a younger sister that is a deputy director of athletics development at Columbia and her brother is a head coach. Some say Bethann bears a striking resemblance to actress Meredith Eaton-Gilden, who had a recurring role on BOSTON LEGAL as Bethanny...William Shatner's love interest.


We'll try to introduce all the Lady Cards coaches and staff as the season progresses...and now you know a little more about Bethann Ord...



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CARDINAL DOMINANCE has joined forces with CARDINAL COUPLE to offer the readers a free College Bowl Game Pick 'Em. 35 games that begin Dec. 18th. A full description of the contest and the prizes that will be awarded is available over at http://www.cardinaldominance.net/

It's free to play, you can make all your picks at one time or in sections and you could win some great prizes from FansCloset, Viscardi Designs or Panera Bread. You can submit your entries over there or e-mail them to us here at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

Games begin on Dec. 18th, so get to work on those picks!

"Coach" passes on

The legendary basketball coach John Wooden has gone to the big fieldhouse in the sky. "The Wizard of Westwood" was 99 and died Friday night.

John Wooden changed the game of basketball. He had three basic rules. Don't be late, don't use profanity and don't disrespect you teammates. He was a man who acheived his great success at UCLA while making $35,000 a year.

I was lucky enough to meet Coach many years ago. He seemed so small, so fragile up close when you spoke with him. He spoke with a gentle confidence...no bragging, just a matter of fact acknowlegement about his successes and his life.

It took Wooden 14 years at UCLA before he won the first of 10 NCAA Championships. In today's "what have you done for me lately" coaching circus...this seems incredible.

We cover University of Louisville women's sports here at CARDINAL COUPLE...but sports as we know them...male or female...were changed by Wooden. He created a dynasty in college basketball...one that will never be equalled again in the game. You can talk about the UConn Huskies and Geno's reign over women's hoops...but his great accomplishments pale against what Wooden did.

Wooden was an Indiana farmboy. He coached in Kentucky briefly at Dayton High School. A small northern Kentucky school..right outside Covington. I played basketball in the tiny gym at Dayton back in the early seventies. A small, nondescript gym...bleachers right up against the court and deadspots in the wood. A plaque in the gym honored Wooden, unfortunately the players at Dayton that year were far removed from the skills of Wooden's UCLA teams.

As we prepared to get back on the bus to return to Louisville after drubbing Dayton by 30+ points, our coach led us out to see the plaque one more time. I don't recall exactly what he said, but he talked about Wooden's ideals. Never giving up, pride and respect for the sport and those who participate in it. Hard work and dedication.

I don't know if that small school and that small gym still exist. I do know, though the the large legacy of the coach who once patrolled those floors will live forever.

Rest ye easy, Coach. Thank you.

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Don't freak out because of all the fire engines and sirens the rest of the weekend here in Louisville. It's Crusade for Children time. Carry a little extra change around with you today and tomorrow and donate to this very worthy cause. The Crusade was my late father's favorite charity and all the volunteers that work the intersections, ride the fire trucks and walk the streets collecting money get a big tip of the hat and sincere thank you from CARDINAL COUPLE.