Cards Host BC One Day Early -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB Faces Eagles in Rescheduled Game

With the impending winter storm about to hit Louisville and, well, everywhere else, dozens of college basketball games this weekend have had their start times shifted or the games postponed or outright canceled. The KFC Yum! Center was set to host a game each day this weekend, and both have been moved to try to get fans (and teams) out safely before the weather sets in. The men's game was the first to be rescheduled, moving earlier in the afternoon instead of the 4PM listed start time. The women's game, as Daryl mentioned yesterday, was moved from Sunday to this morning. 

Louisville will host a Boston College team that shouldn't pose too much of a threat. That's quite good, since I wrote a little about Louisville's tough upcoming schedule earlier this week. The Eagles are just 4-17 overall and are last in the conference at 0-8. They've lost 13 straight games and only one of their eight conference losses has been by fewer than 15 points. They lost by three at home to Pitt, giving the Panthers their only ACC win so far this season. 

Despite their woeful schedule, BC ranks 3rd in the conference in free throw percentage (75%) which is also good for 60th in the country. They also have a player, Athena Tomlinson (great name by the way), who has 103 assists, which is also good for 3rd in the league and 23rd in the country. Tomlinson has the league's 12th best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.69. Tomlinson's 103 assists, though, are out of only 261 total for the entire team this year. Yikes. BC's offense scores just 62.7 points per game and their average scoring margin is -11. The Eagles' 61 points against Pittsburgh are the most they have scored in a conference game. 

Louisville should be able to have a field day. The Eagles do manage to force slightly more turnovers than they commit (15.9 vs 15.2), but they allow opponents to shoot 47% from the floor and have an average rebounding margin of -4.7. The Cards should be able to get good shots, dominate the paint, and win the battle of the boards. It's not just the paint where teams beat up on BC, though, as they allow shooters space as well. Opponents are making 34.5% of their three-point attempts against the Eagles. 

Louisville WBB will want to get this game out of the way and potentially hit the road early to get to the west coast for next week's games. There was no change to the TV for today's game, as it was already scheduled to be on ACC Network Extra. That arrangement remains, and you can check it out at 11am.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Tickets Now On Sale -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

RESERVE YOUR SEATS FOR 2022-23 CARDS WBB

So you say you might be interested in checking out this upcoming 2022-23 Louisville women's basketball program. You know, the Final Four squad that went further than any other ACC school in the NCAA Tournament. 

Here's a link that'll get you where you want to be for purchasing:  WBB SEASON TICKETS

Louisville women's basketball is a great and inexpensive entertainment option for . Reserved seats in the lower level bowl (100's section) go for $98 to $173 for the season, Deep discounts are also avaiable for senior citizens and for senior citizens and if you re 18 or younger. I was checking out seats options earlier today and I saw some great seats available in Section 116 (half-court) but they probably wont be there long....you better move quickly on these .

It's a WBB squad you don't want to miss this year, as they look to go back to the Final Four. With two starters returning and five fabulous freshmen on the roster, Jeff Walz is sitting on another keg of dynamite, when it comes to talent. .  

You get nine home ACC Conference games in the season ticket package, plus seven or eight (at least) challenging non-conference games. Although the scheduled isn't out yet, you can expect NC State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and North Carolina to visit this season. The conference slate (if it is true to last year's scheduling) is usually Thursday and Sunday games. Non-conference games usually include a national powerhouse or two and a few local/state matchups -- like Bellarmine and Kentucky. If you've never experienced the thrill and excitement of women's college basketball, here's your chance to do it for about $10 a game. 

I've talked to fans around the ACC and they pretty much are all in agreement that the atmosphere in the KFC YUM! Center is unbelievable on game day. Let's get this thing to 10-12,000 a home game this year and really blow the doors off the Downtown Arena. The WBB squad had been the most successful in terms of wins and rankings out of all the sports programs on the UofL campus over the last 10 years or so and that doesn't look to be changing any time soon. 

Go be a part of it. You won't regret it. 

paulie

KFC Yum! Center Upgrade -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 KFC Yum! Center Upgrade

Women's Basketball is just around the corner. No, really. We're 35 days away from the first scrimmage plus another week before the season opener against Arizona.

However, the KFC Yum! Center may seem a little different this coming season. Besides the mostly-empty arena and the COVID-19 protocols from last season, the KFC Yum! Center has made a few upgrades.

The most noticeable feature will be the new video boards that hang from the ceiling at midcourt. The LED video board is actually six separate boards. One board will face each end zone with the sidelines getting two boards apiece. On the sideline, one board will face further down for the media row and court side seats up through the lower section to have a better view while the larger board sitting on top of it is designed to be viewed by the upper part of the lower level all the way up to the top row of the "nosebleed" seats. .

The video boards are a collective three times larger than the original video board that has been hanging in the KFC Yum! Center since opening day in 2010 and will have twice as many pixels. Those of us in the photo and video industry really understand the effectiveness of the increase in pixels. The image will be so sharp that you'll be able to count the number of nachos on someone's tray when they're shown on the video board.

There is also an improved audio system inside the arena. UofL, who loves to blast music loudly at games, has run into blown speakers before, but that doesn't appear to be the issue here. It looks like the new audio system will be easier to run with the controls that can also help for when concerts and other events are held at the venue.

UofL mentioned upgraded concession stands. At first thought, I assumed it was in regards to the issues from football this year, but it appears the upgrades are more for a sleek look at the concession stands as well as minor improvements where maintenance issues may have occurred in the past.

If you're fortunate enough to make it to a suite or box, you will notice a brand new carpet. These carpets are also going to be installed in some of the lounges, such as the ones that you can enter from the lower bowl. The KFC Yum! Center was still rocking with the original carpet in many areas.

Like many places, the KFC Yum! Center needed its upgrades after 11 years in service. We are glad the city and UofL have combined to continue to support it as a State of the Art facility.

Although we do not know the status of media allowance at women's and men's basketball this coming season, we hope to be back in the arena to cover UofL Women's Basketball as Coach Jeff Walz's squad is set to have another great year.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC Freshman of the Week -- Schedule Change -- Eyes of the Media -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Hailey Van Lith Named ACC Freshman of the Week

Freshman sensation Hailey Van Lith was named ACC Freshman of the Week for the first week of basketball. Van Lith is coming off back-to-back solid performances in her first two games as a Cardinal.  She averaged 16.5 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.  She also shot 52% from the floor while going 6-for-12 from three-point range.

In the win against EKU, Van Lith posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

HVL is the first Louisville player since February 2016 to win ACC Freshman of the Week.  Asia Durr took the honors back then.

I suspect we will see plenty more honors this season for Van Lith.

UofL WBB Changes Schedule

What a surprise... another schedule change.  This time, it's a good one.  Instead of another team dropping from the schedule we see the addition of another.

DePaul will play the Cards on Dec. 4 in the Mohegan Sun Arena at 6:30 p.m.  The Blue Demons replace UConn on the schedule. DePaul holds the all-time record between the two former Big East foes, 17-15.  They also won the most recent match-up in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

The Blue Demons are 1-1 to begin the 2020-21 season. They brought in a strong Texas A&M squad Saturday and fell 93-91. Texas A&M has former Cardinal Ciera Johnson on their roster. She had eight points and 12 boards for the Aggies in their win. 

Last night, DePaul hosted Chicago State. We tease occasionall about the "fake state" schools but last night's game was no laughing matter, they fell 128-66 to Doug Bruno's bunch. It was a all-time high in points scored for the Blue Demons. 

A Home Game in the Eyes of the Media

Paulie and I drop little hints of what it's like being media at women's basketball games on occasion.  However, we never really gave a full breakdown of what goes on.

So grab some popcorn, sit back, relax, and prepare to be jealous of our luxurious lifestyle.

THE WAY IT WAS

Most of us usually arrive about 90 minutes prior to kickoff. Parking for media is in the Witherspoon parking garage east of the stadium.  The walk typically isn't bad unless the weather is extremely cold.

Paulie got granted permission to park under the KFC YUM! Center this year. Age comes with some benefits, I suppose. Sonja is usually with him, she seems to be more popular than him with the KFC YUM! personnel and UofL staffers. 

We enter on the east side of the stadium (the Media Entrance)  below the Second Street Bridge.  Like everyone else, we go through metal detectors and bag checks.  We have more leeway with our bags because we carry equipment such as computers, tablets, and cameras If we do not already have a season credential with us we are able to pick up game passes just past security.

There is a spacious media area filled with tables, chairs, and counters.  It's easy to spread out to put our equipment down.  There is a buffet with freshly cooked food for us to enjoy and drinks galore. That buffet isn't present this year, though, due to gathering concerns. Paulie and I both head out to the floor somewhere between 30-45 minutes before tipoff.  We like to make our rounds to talk to people.  Being a social butterfly has its perks, but you also have to account for the time it may take to get there.

Floor seats are nice in terms of seeing things up close and hearing what goes on on the court.  However, it's impossible to see everything going on on the court at any given moment. Halftime is a chance for us to go back to the media room to grab cookies and more drinks and stretch our legs. I should point out that it's soft drinks or water. Media isn't allowed alcoholic beverages at their game day stations.

At the end of the game we make our way to the room where press conferences are held.  In normal times, there's a few rows of seats with all the news crews set up in the back with their video cameras.  On any given night we may see from a half dozen people up to 30 (for big games) fill the room where the coaches and select players make their way out to answer questions. Paulie will sometimes stop to talk to a player or two on his way back to the media room. He and Jess Laemmle used bumped firsts and he and Dana have been known to exchange a few comments as she heads to her corner to sign autographs. 

Paulie usually heads home after the press conferences while I stick around trying to upload videos and edit photos, which usually extends late into the night or next day.

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

This season is way different.

I show up 50-60 minutes before tipoff.  From the moment I enter the building to the moment I exit a mask is required. Security remains the same, but the media room is vastly different.  There's fewer tables and chairs are spread out.  There are very few of us inside the media room this year.

Unlike past years, there is no buffet and drinks are limited to when a staff member is there pouring them for us. We are restricted where we can walk to and all non-photographers have to sit in the upper level overflow media.  This season, Paulie and Sonya are part of a very limited media crew that now sits in the overflow media seating....high up in Sec. 119. 

I am still on the floor where I normally sit, just mostly by myself.  Taris Smith is one of the GoCards photographers who will be at the games this year.  Opposing teams may bring a photographer.  Otherwise, I am the only other one out there.

It is going to be a weird season, but what's new? Welcome to 2020.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Season Opener Changes -- Plexiglass for Games -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Season Opener Changes

UPDATE: After the publishing of today's Cardinal Couple article, we got news that the Louisville WBB game against UConn has now joined the ranks of being cancelled, sue to an outbreak of COVID within the UConn program. UConn women’s basketball has temporarily suspended team activities after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19, the school announced Monday night. All team activities will be on hold for at least 14 days, the school said, meaning that the No. 3 Huskies will not compete in their first four scheduled games. Those games included two matchups in the Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena, a Dec. 4 game in Uncasville against No. 5 Louisville and the conference opener Dec. 6 at Seton Hall.

Some things age like fine wine.  Some things age like milk.  Anything recently we have talked about for MTSU aged like milk. Jeff Walz took to social media yesterday to let us know that MTSU had to cancel Wednesday's game and that he was looking for another team to replace them.  Within a few hours, a new team filled the slot. We  know not whether he'll employ the same tactics to replace the Huskies game. 

Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) is now on the schedule.  Rkha Patterson and the SEMO Redhawks will host the Cards on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., ET (2:00 p.m., CT). So, in effect, the Cards WBB replaced one directional university with another. 

Walz added a hashtag to his post #WontBeTheLastScheduleChange and it's pretty safe to assume he is right.

As of right now, this game will be aired on ESPN+.  If you are not paying for ESPN+ then this one will not be accessible to be viewed.  Hopefully, we will see a local station or somewhere else pick up a free live stream. It's 2020 and things change rapidly. One thing you can depend on is the radio call from Nick and A.J...usually on Cards Radio 790. We'll know more about the listening/viewing finalizations tomorrow, I would venture. 

SEMO is in the Ohio Valley Conference, a conference that UofL sees plenty of action against across several sports.  Murray State, Morehead State, and Eastern Kentucky are all Kentucky-based schools in the OVC. A OVC WBB Preseason Poll has SEMO picked to finish sixth in the 12-team league. 

The Redhawks finished tied for first in the OVC in the 2019-20 season with a record of 16-2.  In fact, their conference record has gotten progressively better over the last four years. Louisville and SEMO have faced each other twice, with the Cards claiming both victories. Most recently, Louisville took an 80-40 win in November 2017.

SEMO is located in Cape Girardeau, MO and about 4-1/2 hours from Louisville. 

Check back here for a full breakdown of the match-up by Paulie tomorrow morning.

In other women's basketball news, Florida A&M canceled their entire season due to COVID-19.  They are probably the first of many that will drop in the coming weeks.

Plexiglass for UofL Games

Ice hockey rink or basketball arena?  Various twitter users shared photos of the floor at the KFC Yum! Center and Plexiglas is clearly noticeable around the newly designed team benches.  Several rows of seats have been removed and the benches are spread out.

As a photographer, my first question would be where I am supposed to sit, followed by a question regarding potential glares from the glass, which can actually be seen in the first picture.

I do want to raise the question about the socially distanced team benches.  These are players who play on the court together everyday and use the same locker room together.  More likely than not, the players would expose each other outside of the game.  And also, they will be closer together when celebrating or in team huddles.  So why distance them for just the game?

It looks like my pool photographer duties are all set and my new speedos complimentary of Arthur Albiero will be ready to go by Sunday.  Now, time to get some waterproof equipment.  Funny how smartphones nowadays are waterproof but camera and camera lenses are not...Paulie offered the use of his "floating duckie" he used years ago for water activities. I would also assume our resident engineers Case and Jeff are on standby, ready to design a floatation device suitable for maneuvering about in the Ralph Wright Natatorium to keep my various pieces of photography and internet access equipment dry. 

I hope I have a UofL swimmer on hand to help me with my backstroke. 

UofL has sent out a game day protocol/informational guideline for media that are planning to be in attendance. A drastically limited  and reduced amount of media coverage personnel will be allowed in, tucked away neatly in the corner of the KFC YUM! Center and socially distanced. No one on the sidelines, so Coach Walz will have the run of the area. 

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

A History of Louisville Women’s Sports Chapter 6: Basketball -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A History of Louisville Women’s Sports Chapter 6: Basketball

We have reached the halfway point of our history lessons and the 12 UofL women’s sports. Today we look at the most popular of those sports- basketball. It seems as if basketball season is still ages away but in reality we’re just a little over four months from the regular season starting up.

Normally I start with the coaches and the founding of the program but I’m going to start with their home courts today. Currently, the Cards play at the prestigious KFC Yum! Center. The facility first went live for the 2010-2011 season. It plays host to both the women’s and men’s teams, including a host site for several NCAA Tournament games. The KFC Yum! Center has also hosted a few volleyball tournament games. Outside of sporting events the venue consistently brings in artists for concerts.

Prior to the KFC Yum! Center was Freedom Hall. Freedom Hall, located at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, had two outings as home to the women. It was the original home for the Cards from 1975-1981. After a stint at other venues UofL returned back to Freedom Hall from 1998-2010. Before the official move to the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville had played at least one game in Freedom Hall every year except the 1993-1994 season.

Smaller venues played home to the program between 1981-1998. The main one of those was Cardinal Arena. Seating just under 1000, Cardinal Arena was large enough to hold regular season crowds for quite some time before it no longer became suitable at the new millennium. Manual’s gymnasium and Bellarmine were also hosts for a few games on occasion.

Louisville has seen its fair share of conferences. They started off in the Metro Conference and have six championships (regular season or conference tournament) under their belt. They then joined Conference USA. During that brief stint they took home three regular season titles. Louisville moved to the Big East after that, but never won a conference championship after running into powerhouses Connecticut and Notre Dame. The Cards played in the AAC for one season, where they met up with UConn again. Since then, they’ve been a part of the ACC and have had success with regular season and tournament championships in recent years.

Now I am going to look at who the coaches have been... from when UofL considers the program to have started in 1975. There is a little further history to go back to before that, which I will cover later on...

Terry Hall is considered to be the first women’s basketball coach at UofL. She coached from 1975-1980 and never had a losing season in five years. There very first game was ugly as they were throttled by a well-respected WKU program. Their first victory came against NKU in Freedom Hall. During the early days most opponents were from around the Kentucky area and a few surrounding areas. Hal passed away in 1997.

Margaret ‘Peggy’ Fiehrer took over for the 1980-1981 season and stayed for nine seasons but struggled to find success. Fiehrer is the only coach to have a career losing record. She led the Cards to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in the 1982-1983 season. They lost to Texas in the opening round but a stepping stone had been reached.

Bud Childers came in as the first male coach for the program in 1989 and stayed for eight seasons. Childers held the honor of being the program’s winningest coach until Jeff Walz changed that a few years ago. Childers helped the Cards reach three NCAA Tournament appearances and saw home court time split between Cardinal Arena and Freedom Hall. Our senior editor and co-owners Paulie and Sonya began attending games at this time, as fans, and it was in the 1993 season that Louisville first beat UConn. 

In 1997, we saw a dual coaching situation. The husband-wife team of Martin Clapp and Sara White took the reins. White changed her job title to operations director after three seasons but Clapp stayed as head coach until the end of the 2002-2003 season. The Cards has a slightly better record under the two head coach look as opposed to one during this era, but their most successful season during this time was Clapp,s first sole season. They went undefeated at home and won the conference title with a 14-2 record. Clapp was named Conference USA Coach of the Year that season. White has been a part of the television broadcast crew, along with Don Russell for the last several years. 

Tom Collen came into the picture in 2003. He stayed for four years and had the best winning percentage of any UofL women’s basketball coach at the time of his departure. Collen oversaw the transition into the Big East and made the 20-win season a normal at Louisville. He is also the coach responsible for recruiting UofL greats Angel McCoughtry, Candyce Bingham and Jazz Covington.

Jeff Walz first took over for the 2007-2008 season. He had great talent to work with and got the Cards to an NCAA Runner-Up finish in his second year. After three seasons, Walz oversaw the move from “The Hall” to the KFC Yum! Center. He has since led the Cards to three NCAA Final Four appearances and several Sweet Sixteen appearances. He continues to produce WNBA talent where there are four former Cards playing currently (Angel, A-Tayy, MHA and Nite-Nite). With over 300 wins during his time here, Walz has doubled up on wins from the next winningest coach. He has become an advocate for equal rights and recognition for women in the realm of sports.

Now let’s rewind for a moment. Before 1975 there was a basketball team at UofL. Becky Hudson was an assistant athletic director at the time and coached the basketball team. How far back the program goes remains a mystery but it can be assumed that it was sometime before 1970. There was a major lawsuit between Hudson and the University so its hard to find much information from this. There was a major lawsuit between Hudson and the University and it is hard to find much information from this time. I found a Cardinal Couple article from August 16, 2011 where a former player who chose to remain anonymous gave us some history of the pre-1975 time.

Louisville has produced quite a bit of professional talent including the 2009 #1 overall draft pick in Angel McCoughtry. Asia Durr, Myisha Hines-Allen, Shoni Schimmel, Asia Taylor, Antonia Slaughter, Candyce Bingham, Lori Nero, Jill Morton, Sam Fuehring and Arica Carter have all heard their named called in the draft at some point.

We will continue to bring as much Louisville women's basketball coverage as possible each year for you. You can find Paulie and Sonya on the sideline media row, Worldwide watches from his normal season tickets seat and I'm on the floor taking pictures. 

You can also spot some of our CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR regulars in Daryl Foust and Paige Sherrard present at some games on media row.

 When Cardinal Couple was debaating getting into the coverage of women's sports at UofL, Paulie asked athletic director Tom Jurich and assistant A.D. Julie Hermann their thoughts on starting Cardinal Couple. They both gave an enthusiastic "thumbs up" to the concept. So did Charlie Springer, who Paul and Sonya were doing occasional articles over at UofLCardGame.com. In the beginning, Paulie and Sonya found they were one of the very few places covering women's sports...beside the UofL website and an occasional newspaper article.  I'm pleased to note that this has changed for the better.  Although Sonya's duties are now administrative, she still posts and provides articles about women's basketball at a few sites under the name "Sonja". 

From the early days of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I'll also note that one so-called "expert" journalist in the area was dead wrong on his prediction that the site would last a year. 

Look to Cardinal Couple as your "go to" source for the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. 

I'd welcome any comments, reflections, suggestions or corrections on today's article in our comments section. 

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared 

Topics Galore -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I am going to keep today's installment of Cardinal Couple short and sweet, with a shameless plug for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. The CCRH is broadcast on 100.9 WCHQ FM and on all of WCHQ's streaming services. For Cardinal Couple to have the support of a local station such as this is wonderful, and it is only right that they are given the credit they are due. If you are looking for something to listen to on Saturdays at 11AM, we are happy to have you join us for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. However, if you're looking for something to listen to at any other time in your day or week, you should tune into WCHQ as well. Crescent Hill Radio supports local artists and personalities by playing local music and showcasing their community. They can only do it with the help of listeners, so downloading the app or tuning into 100.9 if you're in the area can go a long way for a small station. We at Cardinal Couple thank them for their airtime and for all that they do.

A True "Cardinal Couple"

The reason I'm giving the radio show its own post is simple: many of the topics we will be discussing today have already been written about many times both on this site and throughout Louisville media. Of course we will be bringing you the joy and excitement of women's sports. We have an interview with women's soccer head coach, Karen Ferguson-Dayes, which Paulie teased earlier this week. We will also discuss the upcoming women's sports seasons as we are only about 3 weeks away from being in the midst of the fall sports schedule. In addition to the fun stuff, we'll weigh in on what more we know about Cards Pass and share all of our opinions on the saga that continues within the UofL leadership turmoil, specifically regarding the new lease agreement for the Yum! Center. The show will wrap up with a quiz which ensures we can't finish on a sour note. If you enjoy our opinions, be sure to stop by. If not, come listen anyway. We'd truly love to hear how you think we can improve. We thank you all each week on the show, but allow me to do it here as well. Those of you that read, comment, listen, reach out; you are the reason this site exists. Sure, we write and go on the radio because its fun, but that consumers of Cardinal Couple get something out of this site's existence is the driving force. Thank you all for being here, and I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section as the season progresses.

Until Next Time, Go Cards!

-CH-

ARENA THOUGHTS and Jared Anderson's women's fall sports predictions... -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ARENA HOLDS OUT HAND

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jared Anderson may be back later today with some thoughts on the arena situation. Check the comments section. I'll drop a few of my own in here in the interim. The Arena Authority has their hand out and they're not asking for assistance to walk across 2nd street to the Troll Pub. $2.42 mil is the number for this shakedown cruise and UofL seemingly has approved that the Athletic Department pony up. 

Ridiculousness.  

Here's the deal...UofL is getting handed the s#!tty end of the stick and there's no hand sanitizer or towel in the room. 


Don't piss off Tom Jurich. He was right in the beginning to want the facility on campus, he's done a helluva job in rebuilding and re-branding Cardinal Athletics since he's been here and now you want to curtail his involvement, impact and authority? What is this...a Saturday Night Live parody on how to run an academic/athletic program? Why now? What next? A mandatory visit to at least one arena area club/restaurant before or after each game to ensure their vitality and allow you to purchase season tickets? And, then this from Uofl: 

"We didn't have to negotiate a new deal. We did it to be good tenants." 

I'm hoping my rentors call me with the same philosophy...

We try to be the joy and excitement voice for Cardinal athletics froma fan's view. Today, it's hard to be that. 

This situation come could at no worse of a time. With NCAA investigations, board shakeups, women's basketball season ticket changes in certain sections and no fall sports yet to fall back on...the negative publicity is something that UofL definitely could do without right now. However this thing shakes out, I hope the the UofL administration will remember this one vital thing:  

Don't piss off Tom Jurich. 

paulie
xxxxx


OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPROVEMENT

Recently Case posted an article about what success is and how each of the University of Louisville's women's teams can be successful in their upcoming seasons. With the start of many fall sports seasons only a few weeks away, I thought I would post some of my predictions. 

WOMEN'S SOCCER


This is the team that kicks off (no pun intended) the 2017-18 year for UofL athletics. August 4th is the magic date when the Cards visit Ohio State for an exhibition match. A 20 game season ahead -- which features some fantastic opponents in UNC, Virginia, Duke, Clemson, FSU, Kentucky and more. The ACC portion of the schedule will be as tough as last season where Louisville finished 2-5-3. 

With much of the starting lineup returning the team has the experience that last year's squad could have used. If the Cards can find ways to score, the defense looks solid enough to hold up just fine. I expect to see a 10-7-3 season with a conference record of 4-4-2. it's not great but it's a step up from last year. Be sure to catch Paulie's interview with Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes that we'll play on the Saturday morning CARDINAL COUPLE Radio Hour and is now available on Soundcloud for listening. 

FIELD HOCKEY

The 2016 squad finished 15-6 and 3-3 in ACC play. The ACC dominates college field hockey. There are some solid teams on the landscape that live and breath field hockey. Teams like UNC, Syracuse and Duke are ones thaat you'd expect to find in the "Great Eight" of the NCAA Tournament and guess who has to play them all? With studs in Ayeshia McFerran and "Minnie" Mink this squad has some pillars to construct another top flight team around. Coach has recruited well, also and (according to Paulie) assistant coach Lucas Piccoli is excited about the season ahead. The ACC Championships and NCAA Final Four will be played in Louisville this year. Thaat should be motivation enough to increase the regular season mark to 16-3 and 4-2 in conference. The Cards will make a strong effort to be participants in the post-season affairs on the Trager pitch. 

VOLLEYBALL

There were many worries and woes last season. The Cards had a somewhat embarrassing year. The starting lineup constantly changed in hopes of finding "the right six" but it never seemed to happen. 7-13 in ACC play and 12-18 overall was a sad way to end the Anne Kordes era. Upsetting Notre Dame at home may have been the biggest highlight. Morgan Miller transferring at the end of the year was a major blow. Dani Busboom Kelly takes over, moves the squad to Cardinal Arena and we expect that we'll see plenty of other changes, too. 

Junior libero Molly Sauer will be a major impact on this team as a captain and the Cards try to turn the season around. The current roster has eight players listed at six feet or taller and that should help with the competitiveness . With a schedule jam packed full of teams that found themselves dancing in the tournament last year -- a rebuild season could be setback. This team will hopefully be sitting a 20-10 and 13-7 in ACC play following conclusion of the regular season. That would definitively be a step in the right direction. 

Granted, I could be highly inaccurate on my predictions and every team could fall short of them this year. But every team could also find a high level of success as well. Injuries, stress from school, personal lives, weather (for the outdoor sports) and many more factors can play a crucial part into any individual player or team's performance on any given day and ultimately change the outcome of a contest. 

Let's hope these predictions are close to being accurate. We hope to see ACC and NCAA tournament for all three. Have a great day and stay cool out there. Heat exhaustion is nothing to fool around with..



Jared Anderson

Cards Pass -- The chatter continues...MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

QUESTIONS, CONVERSATION CONTINUE ON NEW WAY TO CLAIM WBB SEATS

(Editor note: You may be accustom to reading our Case Hoskins here on Monday Mornings. He and I have switched days this week, so his writings will be here Tuesday. In the meantime, you're stuck with the old guy who has the bionic hip and 
no clear understanding on how to Tweet properly. Enjoy!  Case will be back tomorrow.  -- Paulie) 


CARDS PASS. What is it? How does it affect you and how does it affect seating for the University of Louisville WBB seat for the 2017-18 season? We'll try to look at the new way of seating people in selected sections (from an objective view point) and your reactions. 

A couple of things to clear up. First, I don't have season tickets. Because of the media coverage I provide for WBB, I am allowed to sit on press row. I used to be a season ticket holder years ago but that was back in the Freedom Hall days. Secondly, the information I am receiving is from other sources. I did not get the e-mails about the changes, nor did I get the e-mails about meetings planned to explain the process. Nor did I receive the short video about the process...but someone sent it to me.I wouldn't mind attending one of those scheduled meetings. I did get an invite from a couple of Cardinal WBB staffers.

First off, the e-mail that has caused the chatter: 

"In an effort to enhance the game day experience for Louisville women’s basketball fans, a CardsPass mobile ticket option is being implemented for the 2017-18 season. In addition to this ticket option, we have updated the seating arrangements for 2017-18 to create a more dynamic environment for women’s basketball.

Reserved, hard-ticket locations will be in sections 104-108 and 114-118. The remaining sections are for the CardsPass or single-game tickets. CardsPass holders will receive best availability on a game-by-game basis, however, seat locations will vary each game.
In late July, the Athletics Ticket Office will conduct its women's basketball season ticket relocation. To provide our current season ticket holders the best season tickets available, you are able to log in to your ‘My Cardinals Account’ on your selected date and time to view all available inventory and possibly upgrade your season tickets. The relocation process is conducted in point order with the information below. We will have dedicated phone lines for customer service during these times to answer any outstanding questions.

We are very excited to use this online program for the relocation process and to implement a dynamic ticketing option to provide the best environment for the Louisville women’s basketball program! If you have any questions, please contact the Athletics Ticket Office at (502) 852-5151.

Thank you again for your support of Louisville Athletics!

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Next,  a link to the video: 

http://gocards.com/sports/2017/7/6/womens-basketball-cardspass.aspx


Now you know what I know. 


It is important to point out a couple of things. Only certain sections in the lower bowl are affected. 104-108 and 114-118 are not in the end zone and are not affected Hard tickets will still be issued for those areas. Secondly, the CARDS PASS introduction is being called a relocation process. I had questions. I called the phone number listed to ask them. From a reporters point of view. The call went to voice mail. Twice. Maybe call levels were high...They did provide a e-mail address on the recording...so I sent an e-mail. It is below:  

Hi! 

I am doing an article at our website about CARDS PASS and had some questions. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you, with our readers in mind. Feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below for Cardinal Couple or give me a call.

Sincerely,

Paulie
Paul Sykes
Co-Owner/Senior Columnist/Radio Host
CARDINAL COUPLE LLC
CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO - Now on WCHQ 100.9 FM and still on the internet.
www.cardinalcouple.com
cardinalcouple@twc.com

502.291.3651


I am waiting for a reply. If I get one after this article is posted, I'll come back in an update the article. 

I did get a reply from someone connected with UofL WBB. It is below: 

Paul - 
Thanks for reaching out. We are rolling out a new ticket plan in the corners/end 
zone's  to help with the large gaps in empty seats that seem to happen during 
ball games. Club seats and sections connected to the club are not being 
affected. 
 
We are having some educational sessions this week with Coach Walz and the ticket 
office at our new practice facility. Would love for you to come so you can be in 
the loop. 
 
Wednesday 07/19 - 8:30am till 9:30am 
Wednesday 07/19 - noon till 1pm 
Thursday 07/20 - 5:30 till 6:30Ipm 
 
2432 South Floyd street 
Louisville Ky 40209 
 
 

I will attend one of the sessions. 

HERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE AND SHOULD BE ALWAYS REMEMBERED. JEFF WALZ WILL FIGHT FOR HIS FANS. HE HAS ALWAYS DONE SO IN HIS 11 YEARS HERE AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO. FROM NCAA TICKET PRICING, TO THE MOVE TO THE KFC YUM! CENTER AND ALL POINTS IN-BETWEEN AND ANY OTHER ISSUES YOU CAN THINK OF, WALZ HAD BEEN ON YOUR SIDE. HE ALWAYS WILL BE. HE IS APPROACHABLE, HE IS RECEPTIVE AND HE IS DEDICATED. 


Let's move on to your reactions. We have comments in our comments sections that you can read. The comments are spread over several days...just so you know. I also get e-mails...believe me, I get e-mails. I have only received one quasi-positive response about the CARDS PASS introduction. It's below: 



Hi, Paulie: 

I like the idea of this Cards Pass. It will fill up those glaring empty seats in the end zone that people see on TV broadcasts. It will give grade and middle school teams a chance to see the action closer up. I bet a lot of those seats were purchased by football season ticket holders anyway. I don't have seat in the affected area. I will receive hard tickets for the season, just to make that clear. 

(Name withheld) 

Then, there is the other side of the fence. Here are some excepts from e-mails I have received from those who aren't in favor of CARDS PASS. Once again, names withheld. 

...A stupid idea that will just lower attendance. Anyone ever notice that when Walz first got here he wanted 12-15,000 a game in the KFC YUM! Center? Last year, it was 7-8,000. I have seats in the affected area, to boost football points, but we do attend most of the games. I do not use apps, though, and I wonder what they'll do when I show up with my proof of purchase at the door and nothing to scan?...

...i don't even bother with season tickets. I just walk up and buy them outside. Several times last year, I had people walk up to me and give hand me tickets. I offered to pay. No money was accepted. I was on the sidelines -- real good seats -- each time...

...Just another way for UofL to track you. I'll watch on TV or listen on the radio. They are experimenting with WBB. Eventually it will spread to all seats at all ticketed events. If you don't have a smart phone, they don't want you as a fan...

...You notice they brought out Mr. Golden Voice Sean Moth to explain CARDS PASS on the video? Better than Walz or Paul Rogers, I guess. I have hard tickets. They better not ever try to change those...

The end zone in this picture looks pretty packed.... 

So...an interesting move at a time when one major sport at UofL has already left the YUM! and attendance is dropping in WBB. 

I want the best of both worlds for the program and attendance. Full end zones and increased attendance. i'm not sold on the idea that CARDS PASS is the answer. It seems to have stirred up season ticket holders, which was probably the opposite of what the athletic department intended. 

Basketball season is still several months away. We'll see how this plays out. In a time where a ton of WBB programs are just trying to get more fans in the seats...it looks like UofL is focusing on a new approach toward seating some of them. I'm sure they obviously want more season ticket holders in general and fans to attend games, too.  

Paulie in the end zone for football. I like the end zone for
football and  always have...even in the old Crunch Zone
Crazies days in Cardinal Stadium. 

I have moved on into the world of apps after I upgraded into the smartphone world a couple of years ago. I like to listen to the radio station we do THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR from WCHQ sometimes on their app. There are other apps that I have downloaded and use from time to time. 

I don't know exactly how I would react if I was in the section that will be affected by CARDS PASS. I guess I'd try to find a couple of seats in the hard ticket section. I might bug a buddy who has club seating for all KFC YUM! Center events for his tickets...because he rarely attends UofL WBB. Gathering those CAF points. 

I do know that I'll never give up my end zone seats for football. Had 'em since PJCS opened and it's the most exciting way for me to watch the game. People criticize me for not using my media pass to go to football games. People who have slyly asked if they could use them to get in. 

(No, you can't...) 

This public service announcement from the Field Hockey
people. Home opener is against IU. 

Quite frankly, I like football from a fan/spectator's viewpoint and not a reporter's eye. We got guys on staff now that do that much better than I could or would.  If I want to get up and yell for Lamar to reach the end zone on a run or pass or the defense to make a 3rd and short stop in front of me...I can do so. We all have ways we like to watch events. Sometimes, I like being a fan. After all, this is a website based on fans views. 

Give me your thoughts in the comments section. 

Go Cards! 




paulie
xxxxx