Julie Sullivan Makes Some New Year's (and old year) Predictions -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NOSTRAJULIEMUS LOOKS INTO HER CRYSTAL BALL

It seems to be a "thing" with our newest writers here at the Couple. They like to go out on the ledge, make predictions and deal with the aftermath later. Who could forget Jared's both prophecy that Field Hockey's Minnie Mink would average two goals a game last fall? Minnie did her best to make Mr. Anderson look like a "stinking genius" and did score 11 times in 22 contests. And, of course, Jared claims he was misquoted and actually said a goal every two games and not two goals every game. Archived audio denies that. 

Our newest writer Julie Sullivan staggers out of the sick bed today to climb in that clown car and fire a few predictions out of the Cardinal Couple cannon. All we can say is that her thoughts do not represent those of the staff and management of Cardinal Couple and that if you've down-range of her salvo....DUCK! Without any further adieu, "JC" takes us into the future...

NEW YEARS PREDICTIONS

This is my last scheduled article before the new year so I thought I would use it to make some predictions. 

1) For better of worse. All those with interim in their titles get the permanent gig. Postel, Tyra and Padgett are here to stay. 

2) Getting the upset. The Men's basketball team upsets UK. Yeah, yeah, yeah technically this is not a 2018 prediction but it is the deciding factor in Padgett getting the nod from my first prediction. 

3) Off to the show. Lamar Jackson enters the draft and is the third quarterback taken. He'll go somewhere in the mid to late first round. 

4) 26-0. The Women's Basketball team, though faced with some tough tests, remains unbeaten into February. Their first loss comes in a hearbreakingly close loss at UConn. 

5) Removal.  The NCAA appeal does not go UofL's way and nthe 2013 National Championship banner comes down. 

6) Replacement.  The empty space where the banner hung  doesn't stay empty for long. The WBB squad avenge the loss to UConn in the Final Four and bring home their first National Championship. 

7) So long Sam. Sam Purcell, associate women's basketball coach, accepts a head coaching job . He is replaced by Beth Burns. 

8) LAX attacks. With a small roster but a new coach and attitude, the Lacrosse team bonds. Much like Volleyball did this fall, Louisville Lacrosse defies expectations with at least 12 wins in the regular season, a good showing in the ACC Tournament and another NCAA bid. 

9) 4-0. Cardinal Athletics goes 4-0 to end the year with a football win over Mississippi St., WBB wins over Georgia Tech and NC State and the MBB squad defeating the Cats. Again, this is a 2017 prediction, but one I think will develop and get me off to a great predicting start. 

10) Pearsall Power.  Louisville Softball finds success in a few of the "new arms" they have in the circle and with a combination of new and old on the field and at the plate...does well in ACC play and makes it to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Here's to a wonderful 2018 for all readers and all Cardinal Sports. 

Thoughts? Let me know in the comments section. 

Julie

Poll results for WBB and Julie Sullivan offers a Christmas poem -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It seems we may have a second poet-laureate here at Cardinal Couple. First off, the long-standing annual Sonja XMAS poem is rapidly nearing completion and sources tell me that she, the chimps, and Mike the psychedelic-eyed Clemson Tiger should have it out by the weekend. Since Mike isn't much of a proof-reader, I've gotten some glimpses of what my better half has been working on and I like what I'm seeing.  

The poem, a tradition started long ago at Howie Lindsey's fine CARDINAL SPORTS website lives on and it will be posted here and there. (I had wondered why the egg-nog and bourbon levels in the house had been shrinking...) 

Julie Sullivan, our newest writer, is also adept as a wordsmith and offers us poetry today based on a true experience from a couple of years ago. We hope you enjoy this holiday treat and that your holidays (Worldwide refers to this time of year as "Christmahanakwanzika,") are going well.  -- Paulie -- 

Less than a week before Christmas and all thru the website

The games had been covered, I have nothing to write

Paulie wrote the UofL/UK game with such clever flair

That all felt the victory, even those who were not there 

But the readers are clamoring for a new story to read

It's early Tuesday AM and the sweat starts to bead

Then, I remember an incident from two years ago

When a Cat fan and I had a battle to and fro

She put a Christmas tree in a common hallway

And from a bough, a giant Wildcat ribbon did sway

On the tree a Cardinal ornament soon did appear

When I was wrongly accused, I put it in high gear

A tree with blue? It's not the color of the season

Everyone knows Santa wears red for a reason

Her tree was soon adorned with lots of red birds

And an email she did get with the following words: 

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

How lovely are thy birdies?

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

How lovely are they birdies"

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me!

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me! 

And how this former Wildcat tree

Brings us such joy and glee

Oh, Cardinal tree, Oh, Cardinal tree

Such pleasure you do bring me.

Oh, Cardinal tree, oh Cardinal tree

Card/Cat games we'll be winning

A symbol of our pride and love

No other school can ring my bell

Someday Ms. J. will think you're swell. 

Oh, Cardinal tree, Oh, Cardinal tree

You'll never again need changing. 

( This column is a tip of the hat to my grandfather, who wrote each of his ten grand-kids individualized poems that accompanied our Christmas cash each year. The money was welcome but all these years later, I still miss GrandPop's cheesy rhymes. I hope I did him proud.) 

-- JC --   

***********************************************************

USA TODAY, AP POLLS OUT

If it's Tuesday morning during basketball season, and we're relatively sure it is, it's time for the weekly polls for NCAA Women's College basketball. Steady on the horizon, course remains the same for the WBB Cards in the AP, holding at third: 

1)  UConn            800 points

2)  Notre Dame    748 points

3) LOUISVILLE      740 points

4) S. Carolina       686 points

5) Miss. State       672 points

A bit of a head-scratcher, "WTH" result over at the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll, however, where the Cards are still in fourth behind Mississippi State. 

1) UConn             800 points

2) Notre Dame     745 points

3) Miss. State       720 points

4) LOUISVILLE      719 points

5) S. Carolina       681 points

in the RPI rankings, the Cards are sixth.

Coach Walz and the players will tell you rankings are unimportant, they take each game at a time and I have to agree. I use them primarily to see how an upcoming opponent might be situated coming into a game against UofL. 

Speaking of, the WBB squad is in Colorado and ready for Wednesday night's game against Air Force. I suspect Mr. Anderson Jared will fill us in on more of that tomorrow. FWIW, Air Force is #345 out of #349 in the RPI listings. 0-9 on the season. 

345	345	Air Force	MWC	0-9	0-5	0-0	0-3	0-1
346	346	VCU	Atlantic 10	1-7	0-5	0-1	1-1	0-0
347	347	Charleston So.	Big South	2-5	0-2	0-1	1-2	1-0
348	348	La.-Monroe	Sun Belt	2-5	0-4	0-0	0-1	2-0
349	349	Longwood	Big South	2-6	0-4	0-0	1-2	1-0

Paulie

xxxxx

A Brief Edition -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

The last couple of days have been articles mostly related to news, rather than sport. I haven't seen any new stuff come across the wire since yesterday, and Jeff covered graduation in his Friday piece. I briefly perused the Louisville athletic site to determine if there was anyway to find out the majors of some of our favorite players, but was unable to do so. At any rate, with a big game tomorrow, and nothing much having happened this week, I figured I would leave the rivalry preview for tomorrow and I would give our readers a bit of a break, as I need one myself after a long couple of weeks at work.

While there isn't much I have to say on the pages this morning, I feel quite confident that the words will flow at the microphone during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. As many of you may have seen via Facebook and some mentions here at the site, the studio for WCHQ FM is moving locations. During this transition period, there will be no live shows on the channel. That means today is the last live Cardinal Couple Radio Hour that you will find until the New Year. There will be quite a bit of basketball and the bowl game for football between today and the next show. From what I hear, Paulie may be trying to work out a brief recording to fill some space so that your weekly "Cardinal Couple Radio Hour" time is not completely empty. If you really need your fix, you can go to the WCHQ website and access past broadcasts just to hear us rib each other.

Sometimes it can feel a bit wild in studio.

Today's show is sure to be full of basketball chatter. All of our other fall sports are done or otherwise irrelevant at the current moment, and there are big games on the horizon for Louisville WBB. Paulie, Jeff, and myself will be joined in studio by Julie Sullivan, another knowledgeable fan of WBB. Paulie will bring you the insider info many others don't have, Jeff will bring the snark, Julie will bring the true fan view, and I'll try to hold everyone (including myself) together. We'll see how well I can achieve my task. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour airs on 100.9 WCHQ FM from 11AM to noon. Today's broadcast will take you right up to the men's basketball game against Memphis State. If you aren't in the broadcast area of the station, you can listen along on the WCHQ app or the website, at WCHQFM.com. Come along and join us!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Friday Food Coma Cardinal Couple-- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Now that we're all well overfed on various Thanksgiving meals, our attention turns back to sports.

Volleyball

We've got a bit of recap to cover here due to the Thanksgiving posting yesterday.

On Wednesday, the Wide netters travelled to Boston College for what should've been a pretty easy win over a team in the bottom quarter of the ACC standings.  The win was achieved, but not without some major bumps along the road.

The Cards maintained the lead for most of the first 2 sets, but The Eagles stuck around and made them much closer sets than I really thought they should've been.  At the set break, though, it was 2-0 UofL over BC.

(Rumors on Lotta Poundavitch continue to swirl)

The 3rd set is where things got weird.  There was no streaming for this one, so I was relegated to watching stats trackers while I was out and about with friends in a pre-Thanksgiving gathering.  When I pulled the stats tracker back up for what I thought would be about the beginning of the third set, I did a double-take.  BC was leading 9-1 on the way to 11-1.  A little bit of back-and-forth scoring went on, still in the favor of BC, but not in big runs, until the score reached 8-20.  At that point, the Cards triggered their run.  Led by Molly Sauer's serving, the Cards came roaring back to tie it at 20.  That's a 12-0 run.  Earlier in the season we saw a 10-0 run with Wilma Rivera at the service line, and those two runs may be the biggest "something to zero" runs I've ever seen in a volleyball match.  Back to mostly trading points, but BC was able to pick up the 3rd set 25-23.  Given how much of a lead the Eagles had in that set, I'd say, despite winning the set, most of the momentum was in the Cards favor at that point.

The 4th set was still closer than I would've liked with BC as an opponent, but some separation was finally achieved towards the end of the match and UofL won the set 25-20, and the match 3-1.

Give Melanie McHenry a double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs, Wilma Rivera as well with her
typical 13 digs and 37 assists.  No one else scored in double digits, though the usual scoring committee for the Cards did well overall, the middles, Maggie DeJong and Jasmine Bennett each had 7 kills, and the other outsides, Tess Clark and Amanda Green, had 9 each.

That win, with an unexpected NC State loss to Duke, well and truly eliminates NC State from ACC championship contention.  In fact, that drops them to a tie with Miami in 3rd.  (If a tie-breaker mattered for anything in 3rd place, Miami holds the tie-break over NC State with the one head-to-head victory)

Technically the Cards are, at this point, back in the sole lead of the ACC at this point because Pitt didn't play Wednesday.  So the Cards have half a game on them, but Pitt has a game in hand, so effectively we're still talking a tie with UofL holding the tie-breaker.

That means that, with UofL's match at 1pm today, available on ACC Network Extra, at Syracuse, they are playing to guarantee a share of the ACC championship.  To win the championship outright, we'll need Pitt to take a loss at either Virginia Tech today, or at Virginia tomorrow.  Neither of those outcomes are particularly likely with UVA and VT also being bottom quarter dwellers in the conference.

So, on to Syracuse...I say this about that team every year, but they block well.  If you're a fan of good blocking in Volleyball, as I am, this should be a great game to watch.  In their last outing, a 5-set affair against Notre Dame in the Carrier Dome, SU chalked up 22 blocks.  Amber Witherspoon had a hand in 16 of them.  Syracuse sits in sole possession of 5th place in the ACC currently, with only that last game separating them and Notre Dame.  They'll be looking to make a case for an NCAA tourney berth, a slim possibility for them at this point, but they'll be doing everything they can to make it happen.  And UofL, of course, will be entering this one with the mentality (probably completely correct) that the ACC Championship, and automatic NCAA qualifier, is on the line.

Basketball

We've got a double-header in basketball today.  The women host in-state foe Murray State.  My
brother and niece will be joining us for this one, and unless I miss my guess, he, as an alum of MSU, will be wearing Blue and Gold for this one.  There will be no recriminations from the rest of us in red and black, pretty much everything thinks the W will go to the Cards today.

This will likely be the first in-state loss for the Racers, having previously knocked off Georgetown, and NKU.  They haven't been fairing too well against border states, however, with losses to Butler and Evansville in Indiana, as well as Lipscomb in Tennessee.

The evening match has the men hosting St. Francis.  Don't count on a nail biter for this one, either.

All three events today are on the ACC Network Extra if you're not in Louisville or Syracuse.  Personally, I'll be in my usual WBB seat in section 115, row CC, but I will have my phone, with an external battery pack with me and doing my best to get the ACC Network Extra stream of volleyball since they both get underway at 1pm.

Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful low-key Thanksgiving yesterday, I hope you did, too.  We have said it numerous times over the course of this month, but we are truly thankful for our readers, listeners and supporters in various forms that make doing Cardinal Couple meaningful.  Your support, both financially, and non, makes it worth getting up and getting going on Friday and Sunday mornings to write my articles, it makes it worth getting up every Saturday morning to drive over to the WCHQ studios to talk about sports on a locally-focused radio station and network stream.

Thank you for your support.

Radio

Speaking of WCHQ, we will be back on the airways again this week.  Paulie and I will be in studio but I believe Jared will be making change and making it up in volume at the bank and Case is off.  I have heard Julie Sullivan will be in and we may have a special phone guest. We don't really have any drop-off when the subs come onto the court.

We'll have a lot to cover. WBB and Volleyball results. Maybe we'll even talk about an event in Lexington at Kroger's -- or something like that. I hear the Petrino pigskin bunch might be herding Cats. 

We'll be on the air, as typical, at 11am, on WCHQ 100.9 FM and streaming live via the WCHQ app and http://crescenthillradio.org.

-- 

JMcA

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

From all of us at CARDINAL COUPLE to all of you, Happy Thanksgiving wishes and we'll return to these pages on
                                           Friday 



--  Paulie, Sonya, Jeff, Case, Jared and Julie

Louisville Women's Basketball Luncheon -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GALA EVENT BRINGS CARDS TO THE FANS

Monday's Louisville women's basketball luncheon at the Downtown Louisville Marriott brought the players to the fans for a nearly two hour regalia of sights, sounds, speakers and a chance for Cardinal fans to get officially "in the mood" for the 2017-18 season. This yearly event has changed venues several times since I've been attending...several hotels, the KFC YUM! Center floor and other venues. I like the Marriott and hope it remains there. 

Go Cards Go! 

A capacity crowd packed the second floor hotel ballroom to hear Coach Walz and see the team on a rainy, blustery morning/afternoon in Louisville. The climate inside the Marriott was far from that as fans mingled and greeted each other while purchasing Cardinal women's basketball gear and also signing up for a drawing for a signed basketball and player official jersey. Sonya and I arrived early and got the chance to greet a few friends and readers in the lobby before the proceedings began. We talked briefly with women's basketball Nick Evans when we first arrived. Always a busy man...Nick was obviously excited about his first ever UofL WBB luncheon. Also keeping a mindful eye on the event was SID Kenny Klein. 

We also got a chance to hear acting Athletic Director Vince Tyra and head coach Jeff Walz talk with the media and answer questions before the luncheon. Tyra was first...he had attended a 6 a.m. practice Monday and was full of pep and excitement as he discussed the team, the big win over Florida State in football (which he attended in Talhassee) and his first few days on the job at the University. I have interspersed these interviews throughout today's article, along with pictures from the luncheon. You'll need Sound Cloud to hear them hear...or you can wait until Saturday's Cardinal Couple to hear them.

LINK: VINCE TYRA WITH MEDIA

Walz answered several questions about the preseason practices, how the team was performing and various other questions from several television news stations and a vast array of writers, journalists and radio personalities. Our buddies Howie Lindsey, Daryl Foust, Paige Sherrard...who we do radio with...were present, along with about 10-12 other media members. 

LINK: JEFF WALZ WITH MEDIA

The show/production/luncheon got underway with the inimitable Sean Moth at the dais and he began by introducing the players and bringing them to stage...beginning with the freshmen and ending with senior Myisha Hines-Allen. Noticeably absent from the introductions was Dana Evans...but it was explained after all girls reached the stage that she was still in class and would arrive shortly. It was also noticeable that sophomore Kylee Shook was in a walking boot...Walz explained later that it was just a precautionary move for a slight stress fracture. 

Moth is a master at what he does (public address and emcee skills today) and also pointed out acting men's basketball coach David Padgett was here (as he walked in during the introductions). After the team was introduced, Chris Morgan...FCA chaplain for the UofL athletic department delivered the invocation and the attendees began to eat after that. 

Sonya and Daryl Foust

The conversation was light and easy at our media table...which included Lindsey, Foust, Sherrard, Sonya, a couple of TV and newspaper sports personalities and me. Howie shared a few Florida State stories (he was the sideline reporter for the football game Louisville won down there Saturday) and Paige and I caught up on how things were going. The food was surprisingly good this year...a tasty, multi-ingredient salad with warm bread got it started nd the entree was a cornish hen quarter with green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy. Dessert consisted of a piece each of a delicious fudge and raspberry tart. 

As the plates of food were being finished and collected, Moth introduced a couple of videos documenting Asia Durr's journey to make the USA National team and her and Myisha's trip to compete for the USA U23 squad. Good stuff there. Then, the speakers began. First up was Tyra..who warmed up the crowd by revealing his conversation with Walz on how long he should speak. 

"About the length of a 30 section timeout" was Walz's teasing response, which drew a round of laughter from the attendees. 

One interesting point of Tyra's talk was when he mentioned Dr. Greg Postel, acting UofL President was in attendance. The boos were very audible among the attendees.

JC "No periods" Sullivan in the house with her friend
Terry Milner. . L's UP !!!!

Moth then brought Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen to the stage and went through a brief "question and answer" period with them. Asia got the crowd chuckling when she responded to questions. When asked how practice was going she quipped: 

"We run a lot". 

She also drew a few laughs when responding to a query on what she thought about the squad this year. With perfect timing she commented. 

"Hmmm...I guess...you could say we're...talented." 

Myisha was next and Asia stayed on stage with her "as a sign of teammate support". Myisha is "ready to go show it on the court" and also revealed to the crowd that her brother Josh Allen leads the UK football team in quarterback sacks this season but "wears red when he comes to see me play or visit." Given the state of the Cardinals' grid-iron defense, one has to wonder why didn't he end up in a Cardinal football uniform? 

Sonya ends up with all the good lookin' guys...

Walz, naturally, was the keynote and final speaker. He may have surprised a few attendees when he came out and praised Tom Jurich. He revealed: 

"11 years ago, I had breakfast at this very same Marriott and met with Tom about the job. Tom sold me on Louisville, the city and university, not himself or the program." 

Walz also reiterated he's in it for the long haul with Louisville women's basketball, commented that he hoped to retire from here or, jokingly, "get fired from here." 

He spoke of each player as well. Some highlights were that Sam Fuehring has been the most impressive this year in practice, as far as growth and skills from last year go. He teasingly mentioned that Jaz Jones had learned that to throw the ball to her teammates this season and that she wasn't receiving assists when errant passes to the opposition led to baskets. Dana Evans has impressed him with her strength and quickness as a freshment...Coach compared her to Louisville great Patrika Barlow. Coach also talked about Arica Carter...you can hear those comments below. After introducing and thanking his assistant coaches and his staff, Walz mentioned that the first game was November 10th. and encouraged the fans to come out. 

LINK: JEFF WALZ TALKS TO CROWD AT BANQUET

We spent time after the luncheon chatting with quite a few people, including my radio and website colleague Jeff McAdams and his mother Vivian and Nick Curran...radio voice of the women's basketball games.  

LINK: WORLDWIDE, VIVIAN AND SONYA DISCUSS BANQUET

My pal Dick Palmer with Sonya

I also got my traditional post-luncheon chat in with assistant coach Sam Purcell and we reviewed a number of subjects..including the Atlanta Falcons and who would win in a free throw shooting contest between us.

LINK: PAULIE AND SAM PURCELL 

As we left, I got a chance to chat up Myisha, Loretta Kakala and Sydney Zambrotta in the lobby. A fun interview with them ensued. Myisha...the guard. 

LINK: LORETTA, MYISHA AND SYD

Paulie talks with Syd and Myisha
(Thanks Sue for the pic!) 

This annual event is always one I look forward and we had a great time with a great group of Cardinal fans, student-athletes, friends and fellow media members.

It was needed yesterday...especially after the negativity and innuendo surrounding the UofL Athletic program lately. A chance for fans to feel positive and show some enthusiasm and pride. 

We are Cardinals, we are strong and you can't keep us down or break our stride. We will rise. 

It's time...let's get this party started and play ball !!


paulie
xxxxx

  

Someone wake up Snarky Worldwide -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Worldwide back with you after a week on the road, and most of the weekend trying to catch up on sleep.  If someone ever tells you that you can be social in the evenings on Pacific time, and wake up in the mornings on Eastern time, don't believe them, at least not if they claim to do it for more than a few days.  Compound that with a red-eye flight back east, and I was having a tough time forming coherent sentences Friday.


Now, let's take a bit more of an in-depth look at Volleyball, because there's a good chance you'll be surprised at what we find.

I don't want to jinx anything, and am pretty happy with flying under the radar on this, but the Louisville Volleyball squad finds itself tied for 3rd in the conference this week.  It's a little bit of a shakeup in ACC standings over what is typically expected.  Pitt and NC State are in the top two spots with undefeated conference records, neither of which are particularly known for their volleyball prowess.  Tied with us in third is a resurgent Syracuse.  Of course, The Orange do have a tradition of some quality volleyball, but they haven't been quite on their game in the past couple of years.  Leonid Yelin has his strongly international recruiting plan in gear, and while I haven't seen them play, I suspect blocking is a strong part of their game.  We won't meet Syracuse until the last match of the season, but expect a block party in the house that day.

What was expected to be the class of the conference, Florida State, finds themselves squarely in the middle of the pack with a 3-3 record.  After we swept them in Cardinal Arena, they went up to South Bend and got edged out by an also resurgent Irish squad in 5 sets.  They did get the win over Miami in a mid-week in-state rivalry matchup, but then fell to Pittsburgh in 4 sets Friday.  After the losses to us and Notre Dame, the Seminoles did drop out of the Top 25, but did still receive some votes.  I suspect even those will disappear this week.

Notre Dame is also picking up a few votes in the coaches poll, and will probably get more this week with a win over Virginia on Friday, and what I expect will be a win today over Virginia Tech.  As long as The Cards can get the job done as expected today in their battle over Virginia, I suspect we may join The Irish in the "Getting Votes" category.  Interestingly, despite the lofty coach's poll consideration, ND is only sitting at 2-3 in the conference.  To be fair, they have opened the conference slate with what is turning out to have been a pretty intense schedule, going down to defeat to us, NC State, and Miami before picking up wins against Florida State and UVA.

Now let's turn to the RPI for a second.  The first RPI ratings came out this past week.  Keep in mind that the RPI is a computerized ranking system that doesn't have any biases towards "traditional powerhouses" like we pretty clearly see in the coach's poll.  Louisville holds the highest spot of any ACC team in the RPI, at 22.  Of course, some of this comes thanks to the absolutely brutal non-conference slate that the Cards played.  While we took a number of losses in those matches, they were uniformly against top teams.  Of the 5 losses that UofL has taken in the overall season, only 1 is to a team outside the Top 25 in RPI (UNC), the rest are against teams in 24th, 7th, 5th, and 4th.  The next highest ACC team is Notre Dame, who is not far behind us in 26th.  The Florida twins, FSU and Miami, sit in 33rd and 34th, with NC State close behind at 37th.

So, don't look now, but Louisville is poised to start climbing into the Top 25 rankings in the next week or two.  Again, this is presuming we don't drop a head-scratcher at UVA, and successfully hold court as we should over Clemson and Georgia Tech next week.  The schedule turns into a scorcher again after those, with a visit down to Florida for rematches against FSU and Miami, then a short prep time for a mid-week rematch with Notre Dame in South Bend, and then Pitt comes for a real challenge in Cardinal Arena on Friday.

In short, this team has put themselves pretty much in the driver's seat at this point in conference play.  There are challenges ahead in the quality play of the ACC, but they are starting to show what the possibilities are for the team.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour had some strong bench performances yesterday with Case and Jared both otherwise occupied.  Julie "JC" "no periods" Sullivan and Paige "I write on just about every sports outlet in the city" Sherrard joined Paulie and I.  There's no drop off in the Cardinal Couple bench, let me tell you.  We got their thoughts on the latest from the Men's Basketball scandal, I updated my thoughts with the provocative thought, "No one who has 'interim' or 'acting' in their title should be hired into the permanent position - anywhere in the University, right now."  We talked Volleyball, we talked Field Hockey for a bit, and we talked about Women's Basketball some.  Let's face it, when you get JC and Paige in the house, you don't skip Louisville WBB. Paulie led a discussion on his WBB practice visit earlier this week. 

You can check out the rebroadcast at the Soundcloud.

Next week's show looks to be a pre-recorded affair due to an early Football kick-off.  It's also looking likely that Paulie will be on the bench for this one, though hopefully getting some good audio for later shows.  So, no calls for next week's show...wait, we never take calls...still, no calls for next week's show either.

-- JMcA

WBB, Volleyball, Soccer and The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HEY, HERE'S AN IDEA...LET'S TALK WOMEN"S SPORTS! 

With a big weekend for UofL women's sports coming up and the start of women's basketball practice...let's move away today from scandals, hirings, firings and board of trustees chatter and concentrate on what we do here...promote the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. Novel idea, right? 

With several sports in action, a huge football game tonight and our weekly radio show coming up...we're locked in and ready to get yet another weekend of exciting UofL Athletics going.  Off we go! 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Things are underway in the south half of the "Little Yum" with the women's basketball team now officially practicing and we are all looking forward to seeing what Coach Jeff Walz, the staff and players have in store for us. A thanks to women's basketball asst. SID Nick Evans for fulfilling my request to watch the team practice. I'll be heading to campus later today to watch the team on the court. 

What will I be watching and looking for? Actually, quite a few things. I want to see the return of my assistant player interviewer and point guard Arica Carter and how she's motoring up and down the hardwood. The summer reports were that she's back to 100% and looking good out there. She'll be a vital part of this years team. I'll also be paying close attention to the freshmen and how they're mixing with the returnees. Walz has stated several times that they'll be depended on for court time this upcoming season and I'll be watching Lindsey Duvall, Dana Evans and Retta Kakala with interest. I also want to see how three players that I've heard good things about over the summer are performing. Sam Fuehring, Bionca Dunham and Sydney Zambrotta look to be integral parts of 2017-18 Walz Ball and could fill big roles for the Cards. Of course, there's Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen. "Durr"able and "Myzilla". They're the court leaders, in my humble opinion. Along with Kylee Shook, they'll be expected to score a lot of points this season. Finally, I'll check out my two "favs" on the squad....attack Yorkie Jessica Laemmle and "Jaz" Jones. Louisville needs a big effort out of both this year if they want to visit Columbus during Final Four time. 

Have I missed anyone?  

I'm treating this as a casual "pop in and look around" trip. I won't be armed with the Tascam DM 50 recording device and won't have a notepad or pen. I'm not even sure how long they'll let me watch. No interviews, we'll have plenty of opportunities for that down the road. Just a fan watching the game he loves better than any other...basketball. 

I'll barge into Jared Anderson's Friday column and give a few observations. Normally, we'd have Worldwide Jeff McAdams with the Friday write but he's busy earning a living and sampling tap water on the West Coast, last I heard. ( Jeff, try it in ice cube form with a splash of Woodford!) 


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Also, the date for the UofL Women's Tip Off Luncheon has been announced. Monday, October 23rd. at the Louisville Marriott Downtown. Doors open at 11:30 and the event begins at noon. This is always a fun event with the girls dressed to the nines, the excellent video presentations, Walz on the podium, giveaways (I've still got two coffee mugs from previous luncheons), Al Greener with the Pep Band and, if you're lucky, a player sitting at your table with you. 

Tickets are $30 each or a table of ten can be had for $300. First come, first served...when they're gone, they're gone. Go to GoCards.com/WBBTipoff to secure yours. 


VOLLEYBALL VISITS VIRGINIA

The Louisville Volleyball squad kicked a little butt and sent the Sunshine State home with a couple of "L's" in their column when they dispatched of Miami and FSU in straight sets over last weekend. They'll see if they can duplicate the success on the road when they pop into Blacksburg on Friday to match up against Va. Tech and on Sunday when they invade Charlottesville to battle Virginia. The Hokies have one ACC win and the Cavs have a zero in the "W" column so far. Louisville is at 3-1 and a weekend sweep would be a boon to a program that is getting better each time they step onto the hardwood at Cardinal Arena.

Both matches will be available on the ACC Network Extra. The Cards vs. Va. Tech starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday and the match against the Hoos is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday. 


SOCCER AGAINST CLEMSON TONIGHT

Coming off a weekend split, Karen Ferguson Dayes' kickers go to the land of boiled peanuts and psychedelic-eyed Tigers when they face Clemson tonight at 7 p.m. 

Clemson (7-3-1, 1-2-1) got a win over Miami 1-0 last out. THe Cards will be looking to tie the series history...Clemson won the inaugural meeting between the two schools 1-0 last year in Lynn. This one is also an ACC Network Extra viewing event, although with Louisville Football kicking off at 8 p.m....it's doubful many will see the end of this kick-fest in the grass. Which leads us to...


THE FIGHTING PETRINOS STORM RALEIGH

It's Prime Time Football this evening for the UofL Gridiron gang. The nationally televised ESPN game against N.C. State should be a fun one to watch. I was there two years ago when the Cards eked out a close win in Raleigh...last year Louisville blew the WolfPack out of Papa John's Stadium...so Mr. and Ms. Wuf will be looking for payback. 

A Blackout. Screaming North Carolina State fans. A questionable UofL offensive line against a rock-solid defensive front four for the Pack. Throw the ball down the field Lamar, please, against a N.C. State secondary that is ranked in the 130's in DI for efficiency.   

All that important, no doubt...but the main reason to watch is to see how many times they'll show the dainty, delightful and darling Ms. Wuf on screen. 


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Paulie and Paige?...Hmmm....probably not.

We have a nice treat for you Saturday on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. As Jared alluded to yesterday, I'm announcing our guests today. Jared won't be with this week, he'll be busy turning $20's into $5 and $10's at his financial institution and Case has his future mother-in-law in town (we offered to microphone her up and grill her with some questions...but the request was denied). 

What we do have, though is favorites Paige Sherrard and Julie JC Sullivan joining us in the basement on the hill in Crescent Hill. It'll be fun to get their perspectives on what's been going down the past couple of weeks and also to glance into the future and see what they're looking forward to this sports season. (Hint...it's orange, bounces and gets thrown at a circular piece of metal). 

The sleep-deprived Worldwide and I will air with these two excellent UofL fans at 11 a.m. on Saturday. You know the coordinates. If not, go to www.crescenthillradio.com and familiarize yourself with them. Download the WCHQ app. And join us Saturday.

I'll also be making a WCHQ 100.9 appearance Friday morning on The Morning Jam Show with Bryce and Kev. They usually bring me in around 8 a.m. I usually bring donuts. I have no idea what we'll talk about...except maybe Bryce's guitar work and Kev's porch-painting skills. 

Also, a big Thanks and Job Well Done to Jared for the team photos in today's column. Seems that tall drink of water is good at something else besides banging on a drum and making failed predictions. 
paulie
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