Team USA Defeats Chile -- Irish Field Hockey Defeats India -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Team USA Destroys Chile 

The USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team won their second game in as many days following a rout of Chile, 115-39.  Team USA jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter, doubling up their opposition.

Defensively, Team USA was impressive.  They shut down Chile in the second and fourth quarters, holding their opponent to four and five points in those quarters, respectively.  Jeff Walz's defensive style of basketball showed during the game and he hasn't missed a beat, despite the off-season.

Team USA won the rebounding battle 78-27, and posted 34 second-chance points and 49 fast break points.

All 12 players on the roster saw a fair amount of playing time, ranging from 13-20 minutes.  Half of them posted double-digit points with two recording at least 10 rebounds.  Sedona Prince (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Christyn Williams (19 points, 10 rebounds) were those two players.

The starting roster of Anaya Peoples, Jenna Brown, NaLyssa Smith, Rhyne Howard, and Sedona

Prince only contributed to 28% of the scoring, 42% of the rebounds, and 40% of the fouls.  However, they did combined for half of the assists and steals in the game.  The low percentage of productivity from the starting five doesn't mean that they had a poor outing, but just shows the depth of the roster and was also affected by Coach Walz trying to give everyone playing time.

"We definitely made some strides today," said Walz. "Offensively, I thought we worked the ball around.  We did some things that we didn't do in yesterday's game, so that's encouraging.  Defensively, we started off a little slow, but then started to turn things on.  It was nice to see us able to adjust.  Overall, I, pleased."

They will face Puerto Rico tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can watch live at:

 www.facebook.com/USABasketball


Ireland Field Hockey Team Survives Scare Against India

The Irish Women's Field Hockey team managed to dig in deep to pull out a win against India, 1-0.  At the end of regulation the two teams were deadlocked with both teams posting on goose egg in the goals column.  The match proceeded to a shootout, where Louisville's Ayeisha McFerran had her opportunity to shine for the Ireland National Team.  They claimed the shootout, 3-1.

McFerran silenced India on three of their four shots, quite a remarkable stat in itself.  The Green Army's offense eased any pressure that may have been on her shoulders by racing out to a 2-0 lead in the penalty shots against the Indian goalkeeper..

During the second half, McFerran got to spend a majority of the time as a spectator.  Her defense was as thick as a brick wall, allowing nothing by them, and leaving the Irish goalkeeper time to pull out a lawn chair and nap in front of the net.

The Irish have secured their spot in the semifinals after going 2-1 in group play and winning their quarterfinal match.  They will face the offensive juggernaut Spain on Saturday.  The Spanish fell 6-2 to Argentina, defeated Russia 7-1, fell to Germany 3-1, slid past Belgium in a shootout 3-2, and won the rematch against the Germans 1-0.

McFerran will have her hands full against the Spanish offense, but the Irish should be able to put up big numbers on offense.

Highlights of the match at the clip below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTjA7veQBwk



Football is Back... Kind of...

For the first time in months we saw football again.  The NFL preseason kicked off with their annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, OH.  The Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens squared off and much of the city of Louisville had their tv's turned on.  All eyes were on Lamar Jackson.

The 2016 Heisman winner and 2018 first round draft pick saw his first professional action when he played the entire second half for the Ravens.  Jackson threw one touchdown pass and one interception while also showcasing his mobility, dodging defenders in the backfield and using his legs to make the most of broken plays.

Louisville football is one month minus two days away from their game against 2018 National Champion and #1 ranked Alabama.  The game, which is held in Orlando, still has plenty of tickets available.

What Day Is It?

Grab a drink after work as you head into the weekend- it's International Beer Day!  It is also National Watermelon Day, which is a good nutritious snack to stay hydrated with.  On this day in 1852 Harvard defeated Yale in their inaugural boat race.  This would later be known as the first American intercollegiate athletic event.  The Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League merged into the National Basketball Association on this day in 1949.  Santa Claus, IN, famous for the now-called Holiday World originally opened as the first themed amusement park in the world as Santa Claus land on this day in 1946.

Just on a random note to close out today with women's sports we're going to look into potential future Cards.  The Germantown Baseball/Softball Inc. is in the news for some great things.  The organization, which is located on Poplar Level Rd. next to St. Xavier High School has a 10U softball team in the semifinals of the Little League Babe Ruth Division World Series.  Best of luck to these young ladies the rest of the tournament and hopefully we'll see some of you in red and black jerseys in another eight years!

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

The Joys of Fandom -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

What is Your Favorite Thing About Being a Fan?

EDITOR'S NOTE:  As of 9:23 AM...the Internet (Spectrum) was out on Mellwood Ave. This means WCHQ 100.9 FM, our radio station for The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is off the air.

I'll be monitoring this link www.wchqfm.com hoping it is restored. 

UPDATE: The Internet was restored about an hour before we went on the air. 

Paulie

This week I spent 3 days in Nowhere, West Virginia doing field work for a hospital renovation. Preparing for the trip made me think about Louisville/West Virginia rivalries of the past, and I considered bringing up this topic last week before more obvious news got in the way. Going on the trip, though, only made me more sure that I wanted to write about it. The concept that originally came to my mind was to ask everyone what their favorite part of a rivalry was. It could have been a specific game between Louisville and any of their rivals in any sport, or it could have been the way people discuss certain moments. I realized after returning from West Virginia that the rivalry question didn't actually get to the heart of what I wanted to talk about. You're welcome to talk about your favorite rivalry moments in the comments, still, because I'd love to hear them. However, the real question comes at the top of this article:

What is your favorite thing about being a fan?

I'm not asking this question rhetorically. I'd really like to see your answers. My favorite thing is that being deep into a fandom makes every person at least a little bit irrational about that fandom. It can happen to anyone in a variety of ways about any team or person or thing that they follow closely. It is human nature that when someone disagrees with you regarding something about which you are passionate, you will take it as a personal affront. The fandom also digs deep into your thought processes, guiding decisions in ways that are subtle and you may not even notice. I know this seems like a strange thing to be my "favorite," but it's what I've been thinking about nonstop recently, driven by the continued issues with UofL.

While packing for West Virginia, I decided to throw a Louisville polo into my bag. It was a spare shirt and I didn't know if I would wear it because of the conversations it might start or the looks it might draw. Fans of West Virginia don't really like fans of Louisville. At least that's what my irrational side was telling me. If I wore that polo, all of the nice people I had met at the hospital and beyond would turn on me while I was working just because of a shirt. On our last day there, I considered throwing on the polo but went with a different shirt instead, still hung up on the idea. When a coworker of mine came down in a UK button down, I went so far as to call him bold for wearing that shirt in WV. His response was that he wasn't worried about it, and I second guessed myself for being so worried about a dang shirt. I still didn't change.

When we got to the hospital that day and sat in the conference room that was our base of operations, a conversation almost immediately sprung up about the UK shirt. One of our hospital contacts asked my coworker about how much he must dislike WVU for the games they've played in the tournament and regular season recently. The content of the conversation isn't important, but my irrationality felt validated. If he was getting flak about a UK shirt when the two teams only ever clash in basketball, how would things have gone in a UofL shirt with all of the history between the Cards and Mountaineers? I don't really intend to find out on any future trips.

The polo story is just one of many things I can think of that drives fans to irrationality on a daily basis. Think of any conversation you've had about a team or player of which you are a fan. Someone argues that Lamar Jackson didn't deserve the Heisman, that Donovan Mitchell wasn't deserving of the Rookie of the Year award, that Asia Durr isn't among the best players in women's college basketball. Consider your response to those statements. Being a fan makes it personal. The cardinal colored glasses (or any other team color) fall down in front of your eyes and your emotional investment takes over for any facts. If the other person is a fan of a rival team, it is even worse. You both argue with personal bias and the irrationality of fandom.

As a normally logical person (I am an engineer after all) it seems strange to enjoy the chaos that is emotional fandom, but I can't help it. Maybe that's why it's my favorite part of fandom, because it is so different from my normal patterns. Whatever it is, it's what makes me excited about being a fan of the teams I enjoy, and it's what drives me to support them through thick and thin. So what about you? What is your favorite thing about being a fan?

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Jared and I are both out this morning, leaving Paulie and Jeff to fend for themselves in the new studio arrangement. They may have found a guest or two, but if not, it is sure to be a wonderful show. The summer is winding down and we are only a couple of weeks from real sports competitions getting back underway. Tune into the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on WCHQ at 11AM to hear the OG Cardinal Couplers discuss what they had for lunch this week and to participate in a quiz that may or may not be nonsense. I'm sure they'll find a way to fit in the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports, too.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Lax Falls to Boston College -- NFL Draft -- Softball Senior Weekend -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lax Falls to Boston College

The Louisville lacrosse team bowed out of the ACC Tournament in the first round to one-seed Boston College.  The Eagles handled the Cards with ease, winning 19-6.  Boston College improves to 18-0 and are one of two undefeated teams remaining alongside Stonybrook (15-0).

UofL found themselves down 8-1 just 10 minutes into the game with their lone goal sandwiched by a pair of 4-0 Boston College runs.  The Eagles came out playing a fast-paced offense with hopes of jumping out to an early lead after Louisville lead the regular season game 5-3 at the half.

Tessa Chad (junior), Emily Howell (senior), Jillian Balog (senior), Ally Hall (freshman), and Madison Hoover (senior) all scored in the first half, but Louisville trailed 14-5 when they walked off the field at halftime.  Boston College added a trio of goals in the second period before Shayla Scanlan (freshman) temporarily halted the bleeding and ultimately ended up being the final goal of the game for the Red and Black.  Boston College would go on to score two more times before the final buzzer.

The eight-seeded Cardinals drop to 6-11 while riding an eight-game losing streak.  With their record and RPI the season appears to be over.  An NCAA berth is still possible, but is a long shot after Louisville failed to earn a win in the back half of the season.

Season one of the Scott Teeter era is over and they won six more games than some people expected.  In their final home game of the season a parent told me that he was okay with his daughter losing while under Coach Teeter because the atmosphere he is creating is positive, warm, and hopeful.

Expect great things to come in upcoming seasons.

Jaire Alexander and Lamar Jackson Get Drafted in the First Round

Juniors Jaire Alexander and Lamar Jackson chose to forgo their senior years to enter the NFL draft.  Both players have had excellent careers, each winning awards on their respective side of the ball.

With the 18th pick of the NFL draft the Green Bay Packers selected cornerback Jaire Alexander.  Alexander should be a starter for a Packers team that has not had a good defense since I've been alive.  Like the days of having Mr. Heisman leading the offense Alexander will have the luxury of having a talented quarterback leading the way with a healthy Aaron Rodgers back in the lineup.  He is tied as the seventh-highest Louisville player ever taken in the NFL draft.

With the 32nd pick of the NFL draft the Baltimore Ravens selected Lamar Jackson.  The Ravens traded the Eagles at the last second on a night where Cards fans began to panic for the famous quarterback, providing a feeling of relief around the city.  After breaking enough school records to keep you counting for days the 2016 Heisman winner is probably the best player in Louisville football history.  Media outlets often suggested that Jackson should transition into a wide receiver, which he rejected every time.  With a bit of a weight gain the NFL could see the next Michael Vick.

Congratulations to Jaire Alexander and Lamar Jackson!

Softball Gears Up For Senior Weekend

Hoping to go out with a bang the Louisville softball team hosts Boston College.  The Cards are 28-17 and sit at 7-10 in the conference.  Louisville hopes to have a 30-win season for the 15th straight year.

Louisville will honor five seniors this weekend:

Nicole Pufahl- the "Poof" is in her fifth year with the softball program after red-shirting her true freshman year.  In her four years on the field she is the only player to not have changed her normal position (center field) during that time frame.  She has 103 career RBIs.

Alison Szydlowski- "Mike" or "Team Syd/Sid/Szyd" member spent her first half of her Louisville career behind the plate gunning down runners attempting to steal second.  She then transitioned to playing third base and eventually into some right field.

Ashley Nikolao- The only local on the team "Nik" joined the Cards from Meade County.  Nikolao has played more of a pinch hitter role, but did see time at third base.  She has four RBIs on 13 hits in her career.

Jamie Soles- The "New Pride of New Egypt, New Jersey" came in as a sophomore after spending one season at Hartford.  Like her older sister Kayla, Jamie is an infielder and played second base with a magnetic glove.  She has batted close to .300 in her Louisville career.

Jenna Jordan- "JJ" transferred in from Northern Colorado as a sophomore.  She has been the primary catcher the last two years, known to snag any pitch thrown her way.  In her three years she sits just shy of 50 RBIs.

The series will be played Friday at 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and Sunday at 12:00 p.m.  There will be an autograph session following Friday's game.  The senior recognition will be Saturday because of the Pink Out scheduled for Sunday.

Even though this is listed as senior weekend their final home game is actually against Marshall next Wednesday.

With post-season hopes at risk the Cards desperately need wins.  Only the top eight teams make it to the ACC Tournament and Louisville is ninth in the conference.  With their record and RPI the NCAA Tournament is not an option without a hot run to close out the year.

To the seniors, we will miss you, but we'll keep aiming.


What day is it? 

Today is an interesting day of holidays and observations including Prime Rib Day, Stop Food Waste
Day, Woody Woodpecker Day and Morse Code. Day.

To be fully in compliance, I suppose one should go out for a prime rib dinner, eat all of it, take a Woody Woodpecker stuffed toy and send your order to the waitress or waiter via Morse Code.

Just in case you wondered, "Prime Rib" in  Morse code is:

.--. .-. .. -- . .-. .. -...

Have a Fantastic Friday!!

- Jared -
.--- .- .-. . -..

"Bakers trade recipes on a knead to know basis"  

Volleyball Adds Transfer, Football Loses Transcendent Talent -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Gains Outside Hitter from Illinois

Whether or not she will be eligible this upcoming season is a question for another day, but Louisville added the services of a new outside hitter as Marijke Van Dyke announced that she will be headed to the Ville from Illinois. Van Dyke was a true freshman last year, and typical NCAA rules would require that she forego a year of eligibility while transferring. However, the NCAA is far more likely to grant immediate releases in the non-major sports (ie football and basketball). If you'll remember, Kennadi Carbin was an immediately eligible transfer for the women's soccer team this year.

Van Dyke will be the second former B1G player to suit up for the Cards under Dani Busboom Kelly, as Wilma Rivera made it to UofL by way of Penn State. Van Dyke is a 6'2" outside hitter that will help promote the larger style of play that Busboom Kelly was surely accustomed to at Nebraska. Van Dyke will also fill a position of need. UofL graduated an outside hitter and two middles this year. An experience outside hitter with size, especially one that was formerly the #66 overall recruit in the nation, will help bolster a front line that now has some holes. In addition to adding an outside hitter to the squad, Van Dyke's arrival will allow Busboom Kelly to move other outside hitters to the middle to fill the gaps. 

Marijke Van Dyke finished her only season with the Illini appearing in 9 sets over 6 matches. She had five kills with six errors and a hitting percentage of -0.067. Note the small sample size and inability to get into rhythm. She also had one dig, one reception error, one block, and one blocking error. Her numbers weren't great, but they're about what you'd expect from a designated bench player as a true freshman. Given an opportunity and the type of positive coaching that Dani Busboom Kelly displayed this season, Van Dyke could turn into the player at Louisville that everyone expected her to be based on her ranking.

We'll be keeping an eye out about her eligibility and look forward to seeing her in the red and black whenever that may be.

Lamar Jackson to Skip Senior Season

In an unsurprising move, Lamar Jackson announced on Twitter yesterday morning that he would forego his senior season at UofL and declared his entry in the 2018 NFL Draft. There have already been many critics of this decision, and there are sure to be more. I thought about it the other day, and put myself in the shoes of a star athlete. Many say that if you go to the NFL (or NBA or whatever) and bust without a college degree, you will have nothing to fall back on. In my opinion, if you have the opportunity to go pro, with a first round grade, you are guaranteed quite a bit of money, and you should do it. There are always going to be opportunities to return to school to finish your degree, especially if you are smart with your first contract. We hear stories all of the time about NFL players finishing their degree in the offseason, even some players getting advance degrees (including doctorates!!) in their off time.

While there would likely be benefits to Lamar Jackson returning to school (finishing degree, another year to develop, etc), there are also extreme risks. Returning to college means an additional 12-15 games before having the ability to earn any money. With the style of football played by Jackson, a first round grade could vanish in an instant. While this is possible at the next level as well, Jackson will have access to much better nutrition experts, training staffs and equipment, etc. A player in the NFL is much more equipped to prepare their body for playing in the NFL than a player in college is. Lamar Jackson should get his money while he can.

As much as I loved Lamar Jackson at Louisville, and as amazing as he was (you know, the 42 records and all), I truly hope he goes to a beneficial spot in the NFL. I'm afraid (and I'd love to be proven wrong), that if Lamar goes to a team chomping at the bit to start him immediately, things will not go well. There is still a lot of development that Jackson can undergo. Arriving at a team with an established, good QB with a coach that can teach will give Jackson the opportunity to learn NFL offenses and defenses under less pressure while refining his body and his game. There are still months to go until the draft, with a pro day and a combine between now and then. There will be the countless slam pieces saying he can't make it as a QB as well as some that may overestimate his ability to transition to NFL immediately.

I wish nothing but the best for the best college football player I've ever had the opportunity of watching. Now it's time for Puma to shine in the Ville.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After our hiatus, we are finally back on the air. This time, we'll be coming to you live from a new, larger studio, which means more microphones and potentially more friends. Today's show will be the fullest of houses, as Paulie, Jeff, and I are joined by JC Sullivan and Paige Sherrard. We'll chat Lamar Jackson and the current goings on in Louisville women's basketball, with games this past week and one coming up tomorrow. Tune in at 11 AM at 100.9 FM and streaming live on the WCHQ app and the WCHQ website. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

A Basketball Game was Played... Kinda; Football Today -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MBB Handed Worst Rivalry Loss Since 1999; UK Wins 90-61

The University of Kentucky Wildcats took David Padgett and Louisville's men's basketball team to task yesterday and stretched their series lead in the MBB rivalry back to 19 games after Louisville had closed the gap last year. Kentucky leads the series 34-16, including the times the teams have met in the postseason. Yesterday's loss, by 29, was the largest deficit for the Cards since 1999, when the Cats won by 30. From 1990 to 2001, Kentucky beat Louisville by at least 20 points five times. Louisville has beaten Kentucky by 20 or more only once, in 1988. Immediately after UK smacked Rick Pitino in his first rivalry game in red, Louisville turned around and won the next game by 18. After that, in the 16 games between the 2003 and 2016 annual rivalry games, no team won by more than 14 and the game was decided by single digits 12 times. 

I guess the reason I've been throwing random numbers at you is twofold. First, it goes to show that the rivalry in recent years has been mostly close, albeit with Kentucky winning most of the games. Second, I really don't have much to say about yesterday's game. Louisville looked bad. Sure, they didn't get a few calls to go their way, but that should not have made them completely abandon their game plan. They should not have been jacking up threes all afternoon only to finish with a final tally of 3-25 from behind the arc. Especially since they were shooting 47% (21-44) from two and 10-13 from the free throw line. Playing inside creates better shooting opportunities and increases the likelihood of a called foul, even if the game appears to be going unfairly.

Louisville actually kept the game close by committing to a balanced game plan for the better part of the first half. However, after Ray Spalding picked up his second foul with 6:42 remaining in the first and the game tied at 21, everything went out the window. Kentucky dominated from that moment on, winning the final 26 minutes of the game 69-40. Yikes. There isn't much else to say about the game really. If you missed it because of work, you didn't miss much. Louisville did not look ready to play. They did not appear to have nearly as much passion as the opponent. Quite frankly, if the Cards couldn't get up and perform for this game, the team is in for a long ACC season. I hope that David Padgett is ready to truly show his worth as a coach because this wasn't a close loss to Purdue or Seton Hall, this was a rivalry blowout. 

Louisville gets an opportunity to get their feet back under them to start ACC play with a matchup against Pittsburgh. Since Kevin Stallings took over, Pitt has been bad. Louisville needs to quickly forget everything about yesterday's game, except for how bad it stung. I'm not really sure there are any other lessons that can be taken from it. Just move on. Win some ACC games. See what happens.

Lamar Jackson Leads Cards Against Miss. St.

With more and more draft prospects electing to skip bowl games, Louisville will have a couple of positions to fill in today's matchup. Fortunately, quarterback will not be one of those positions. 

Russell Okung is one of many professional athletes supporting
college athletes' choice to sit out to avoid injury.

Before I go any further, let me say this: I am completely OK with players electing to sit out of games for whatever reason. This is my opinion only, not that of the site, and you're welcome to disagree with it. When a college player commits to play football, he's assuming he'll play approximately 12 regular season games per year and potentially a bowl game. That used to be a big deal. Bowl games were a great opportunity to play against a marquee opponent on national TV to get more exposure. *Raspberry noise* For lower tier teams, this is likely still true. For most major names, they've gotten their exposure already. They've received draft grades. They've read the draft boards and the scouting reports. They know what the next level thinks about them. Why risk injury in another 60+ snaps in a game that doesn't mean anything (NY6 and CFP excluded)? If they're comfortable and confident enough to sit out, I do not fault them, and I would encourage others to support players that make a tough decision that they consider best for their personal future.

Anyway, Lamar Jackson has stated publicly that he will be sitting down with his family to discuss his future after today's game and that he felt he owed it to his team to play in the game. (His sentiment and that of players that choose to sit out can both be OK!!) Jackson will lead his offense into potentially uncharted territory against the Bulldogs. Former head coach, Dan Mullen, took off for the University of Florida gig and took Todd Grantham with him. Louisville was in a position of unique advantage as far as film study went, as they knew Grantham's style of play quite well. Without Grantham, there is a bit more uncertainty on the defensive side of the ball. Fortunately, Peter Sirmon was there just a year ago, so Louisville should at least know the strengths and weaknesses as far as specific players go. 

Speaking of uncertainty, Mississippi State has some of their own on the offensive side of the ball as well. Bulldogs' star QB, Nick Fitzgerald, suffered an injury against Ole Miss that has him out of this game. Fitzgerald will be replaced by true freshman Keytaon Thompson. Thompson is making his first collegiate start after replacing Fitzgerald against Ole Miss and going 13-27 for 195 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception with 26 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. The interim head coach for MSU has already acknowledged that the playbook was significantly pared down to contain only plays with which Thompson is comfortable. Louisville has had mixed results against dual threat QBs this year, and they'll play today's game without one of their best pass rushers and one of the best cornerbacks in the country. However, reducing the playbook only makes your system easier for the opposing defense to predict and counter. Sirmon should have the defense ready to take on the task against a team in as much turmoil as Mississippi State.

The Cards and Bulldogs will kickoff at Noon on ESPN. Louisville is currently the favorite in this, their fourth straight bowl game against an SEC team. They've played an SEC team in 5 of their last 6 bowls with the Russell Athletic Bowl rout against Miami breaking up the streak. Today's game will move Louisville off of the .500 mark in these recent SEC bowl games in one direction or the other. This may be your last chance to see Lamar Jackson in a Louisville uniform, so try to enjoy it for all it's worth. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-


PAULIE REPORT

Louisville Lacrosse great Kay Morissette with Paulie
and Sonya tailgating at Taxslayer Bowl

The Cards battled Mississippi St. tooth and nail earlier today in the Taxslayer Bowl but ultimately, well...you know the outcome.

Louisville QB Lamar Jackson(ville) with and alternately good and bad outing...the four interceptions were quite costly but he ran with abandon against MSU and almost got the Cards to victory. My esteemed colleague Worldwide will give you his spin on it tomorrow.

Two sacks on the final drive. A prayer toward the endzone as time expired that was batted down. Game.

Louisville's defense made the freshman Bulldog QB look like a first round NFL pick. The Cards simply couldn't stop plays up the middle and, despite a halftime lead....simply could not stop the Bulldog offense.

Plenty to work on for the defense and Petrino will need to be able to replace Lamar magic.

A sense of longing, that Lamar didn't have to go out that way. One last win would have been great. One last Lamar smile and dance.

A cold bowl game. The fans about equally divided, the MSU fans and their cowbells. I can still hear them.

From shorts, to coats and champagne....

A chance but great encounter with Cardinal Forever and best lacrosse player to ever step on the Louisville Lacrosse field Kay Morissette in the parking lot with her family and friends. Great to see her and fun times...plus some conversation about the program, new coach Scott Teeter, Canisuis and her playing days.

Some things that can't be revealed here, just yet. Know this...Kay loves Louisville, enjoyed her year as Teeter's assistant coach and we just might hear some really great news about her future early in 2018.

Kay still looks like she could take the draw control, charge down the field in her unmistakable, hard-charging style, take a toss and drive it deep into the net past a goalie. Same big smile and twinkling eyes. Eyes that Kellie Young couldn't cloud or make misty. Eyes that housed dedication, sacrifice and love of game.

For us, an early day tomorrow, leaving here for Raleigh and a 2:30 p.m. WBB encounter against NC State. In search of the "sweet sixteenth" win for Asia, Walz and the best basketball team on campus.

Ms. Wuf! 6 hours on the road. the Paulie/Sonya road show continues....


Paulie 

Louisville women's Basketball vs. UT-Martin tonight! -- Lamar and Lacrosse -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WBB FACES SKYHAWKS TONIGHT IN THE KFC YUM! CENTER

"Yep, JC is giving herself an upgrade...." 

Fresh off eking out a 68-64 Sunday win over a tough South Dakota State team in Brookings, S.D., the Cards return to the friendly confines of the KFC YUM! Center to take on the UT Martin Skyhawks tonight at 7 p.m. 

I wasn't able to watch the close one in South Dakota because I was at the Louisville men's game against Seton Hall down by the Ohio River. A heartbreaking loss for David Padgett's team -- all things considered, I would have rather been in South Dakota. Trying to follow updates of a close game while watching another game is frustrating. The frustratingly erratic MBB squad had a chance to win this one and kept my head pounding and heart racing. 

The consolation was I was able to maneuver down to nice end zone seats . (Thanks to the students that didn't claim their tickets -- this old lady was able to sneak into their area in the lower bowl).

Having missed both women's away games and unable to watch replays had me feeling a bit disconnected. On the plus side, Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel...who I saw Thursday night...consoled my disconnect by throwing me an "L" and declaring "Go Cards!" Luckily, Paulie and Case shared great recaps here at Cardinal Couple and kept me in the loop. 

Now at 8-0, the #4 Louisville women's basketball squad have tied their second-best start ever and have a good shot at beating the 15-0 start that they got off to in the 2006-07 season. Tom Collen was Louisville's head coach back then and got the Angel McCoughtry led squad to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

"All together now...3 is better than 2 !!" 

Jeff Walz leads Louisville WBB into the first of a four-game home-stand tonight. The Cards will play four schools from Tennessee in the next eight days (UT-Martin, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee and Tennessee State). The Cards are used to quick turnarounds this year and these games should allow Walz to go deep in the player rotation and get the bench some significant experience. 

UT-Martin (3-4) is coming off a disappointing 87-82 overtime loss at Chattanooga Saturday. The Skyhawks shot a blistering 60.4 % from the floor. Their leading scorer is sophomore guard Kendall Spray, who averages 17.1 points per game. Three other starters, Emanye Robertson, Chelsey Perry and Janekia Mason are also averaging in double digit scoring. There are three Kentuckians on the Skyhawk roster, including sophomore guard Tamiah Stanford, who played her high-school ball at nearby North Hardin H.S. in Radcliff, KY. 

The Skyhawks seem over matched tonight. They are 0-32 against ranked team in program history and that dubious streak doesn't appear to be in jeopardy tonight. They do force 21 turnovers a contest, 35th. best in DI ball, so the Cards guards will need to be mindful of the orange orb. I expect Louisville's stifling defense to force a few "bakery items" as well.

                                      >>>>>> JC PREDICTIONS <<<<<<

-- Myisha Hines-Allen will not get her 34th career double-double tonight. Not because of lack of effort but because I expect the reserves will see the majority of minutes once the Cards jump out to a significant lead. Better be a baller early, DOOO-BLAY. 

-- Jessica Laemmle and Retta Kakala will see floor time and score. 

-- Bionca Dunham will take a step forward and have a strong game. She may get the double-double honors tonight. 

-- Jazmine Jones should put on a show, both on the court and on the Cardinal sidelines. Watch for dancing feet, flailing arms and twirling towels from the flamboyant sophomore out of Tallahassee. And that's just in the pre-game warm ups...

-- Coach Walz will praise the officiating. (OK, that one was just to see if you were paying attention.) 

Make plans to come downtown tonight and be in the KFC YUM! Center before 7 p.m. It should be a fun distraction for the students facing finals week. It's also Faculty/Staff Appreciation night. Catch up with that professor who kindly gave you a "B" for the "C" work you did in Quantum Physics and get "teach" some nachos!   


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LACROSSE SIGNS 10

Recently hired UofL Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter doesn't procrastinate. He's hit the ground running and garnered 10 commitments for the 2018 Lacrosse student-athlete roster. Teeter doing work to replenish a roster devastated by defections under the previous coaching staff. 

Welcome to the Ville Shay Clevenger, Kelly Coughlan, Courtney Deena, Madison McFadden, Kirsten Parker, Kristen Pezzullo, Mason Plymire, Paige Richbourg, Jen Scaff and hometown girl Elizabeth Janes from South Oldham high school. We now know where the team cookout will be held, right?  

Still no announcement on who Scott's staff and assistant coaches will be yet. The season begins Feb. 4th when Vermont comes to the L.L.S. 




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LAMARVELOUS

Congratulations to Lamar Jackson for getting a finalist invite to the Heisman Trophy award ceremony Saturday night in New York. The consensus seems to be that, despite Jackson putting up better numbers, Baker Mayfield...QB from Oklahoma...is the clear front-runner to win the award. 

Here's hoping the voters choose the best player despite team records. Lamar has always represented himself and Louisville with class and style and that makes him a winner in my book. We get (at least) one more chance to watch his fantastic skills when UofL plays Mississippi State in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Dec. 30th. in Jacksonville. Noon kickoff. 

Jackson in Jacksonville. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?  


JC Sullivan

  

2 Types of Football and Volleyball Selection - SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We have two types of football to talk about today.  We'll start with the more popular one, first.

Sweet Sixteen

The Men's Soccer team (playing the most popular sport in the world) takes to the pitch tonight against
Colgate.  Louisville advanced over San Francisco 3-2 last week in 2nd round action.  UofL, as the 4 seed in the tournament, received a bye in the first round.  Colgate advanced in the NCAA tournament with a bit of surprise over Michigan on Blue's home field in a stunning 3-2 comeback win.  Before that, they advanced in the first round with a 2-0 win over UMass.  Colgate was the automatic qualifier from the Patriot league.

If the Cards win this one, they'll play Akron after they defeated Wisconsin 3-2 in the 92nd minute in Overtime.  Akron was the team that defeated UofL in the College Cup Finals in 2010, so the Cards could be looking for some revenge, there.

The match gets started at 5pm at Lynn Stadium on Floyd Street.  If you can't make it out, you can catch it on ESPN3 streaming.

Governor's Cup

In other football, The Cards have come home from a chippy game in Lexington with the Governor's Cup.  The 44-17 over Kentucky was marred by a significant fight next to the UK sideline.  Offsetting penalties were issued, so, essentially no repercussions were felt to either team.  Regardless of which side of this one you're on, no matter which teams/players you think may have instigated this, to have essentially no repercussions for the extra-curricular activity is repugnant.

To take the UofL side of this just a bit, the vibe, at least amongst UK fans that I know, is that the
Kentucky players were disrespectful towards UofL players, and to the game in general.  I sense a real disappointment, even embarrassment, among a fan-base that is already losing faith in their football team.  I've gone on the record numerous times, saying that I want UK Football to be good, because I want this rivalry to mean something.  I am also, perhaps, a bit naive, in thinking that a great rivalry can be pursued by the teams and fan-bases in a respectful and fun manner, while still be serious about wanting "your" team to win.  I look to an example that has gotten some media play in the past few days with Myisha Hines-Allen, and her brother Josh Allen.  Josh, who wears number 41 for the Cats, comes to some of Myisha's basketball games, and when he does, he wears red to support his sister.  When Myisha goes to Lexington for UK Football games, she wears blue to support her brother.  That's respect and compassion.

 I also look no further than the comments section here on Cardinal Couple, where the likes of "Matthew Mitchell For Governor" and our Clemson friend, Arthur, graces the entries.  These are real rivalry fans, but they come with respect. (OK, MMFG comments pretty heavily tongue-in-cheek at times, but that's where the fun, while being respectful, comes into play).  In my mind, if your rivalry fandom crosses over into wishing actual malice onto the other fan base or teams, it's time for you to take a step back, a step away from sports, and regain some perspective.  (A brief aside on Josh Allen...he can apparently be seen during the scuffle, but to his credit, his actions were to restrain his own teammate and de-escalate the fight.  Apparently they raise them right in the (Hines-)Allen household.)

To circle back around to a sideline fight in football, we have to remember that it takes two to tango.  I
wasn't watching the game closely, so I don't have strong opinions about how the fight came about, who instigated it, who was more at fault, and ultimately, I don't really care.  I presume there were probably transgressions on both sides, so I don't want to blame this completely on Kentucky Football players, and ultimately the coaching staff, but I do believe there is a problem, there, and it needs to be addressed beyond just some anemic post-game-interview comments.

Rant about needing more respect for sport aside, this game just wasn't all that entertaining to watch, in my opinion.  Lamar did his usual Lamar-as-an-EA-Sports-cheatcode things, but the Cards had this game well in hand from the opening drive.  The Governor's Cup comes back to Louisville, where it has spent most of the past decade, and we the conversation moves, on both sides, to basketball, where it looks likely that Kentucky will again have the upper hand on the men's side, and UofL is likely favored on the women's side.  It will make for an interesting winter, and I look forward to respectful rivalry'ing.  If you can't be respectful, though?  Don't expect me to engage with you on the matter.

Volleyball Selection

Tonight also brings the Volleyball Selection Show at 9pm on ESPNU.  UofL is guaranteed a bid as the automatic qualifier for the ACC Conference.  The Cards did end up being co-champions of the league with Pitt's defeat of UVA yesterday evening.  With the head-to-head win over Pitt, UofL gets the AQ.

As is my wont, I'll take a moment to engage in a brief bit of bracketology.

Volleyball uses non-pre-determined sites for all but the Final Four, which will be in Kansas City, this year.  16 teams will host 1st and 2nd rounds, and 4 teams will host Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds.  Looking at rankings, both coach's poll and RPI, it looks like UofL will be a very long shot to host any rounds.  We're currently sitting 21st in the RPI, and "Receiving Votes" in the coach's poll.  There will be a new coach's poll tomorrow, but that will be after the tourney selection, of course.  Presumably the selection committee will have up-to-date RPI results which we won't get to see until tomorrow afternoon.

The general wisdom is that the selection committee heavily leans on RPI for their decisions, and atop
the RPI are our friends down in Lexington.  Beyond host teams, volleyball selection is very regional.  This means that there is a pretty good chance that Louisville will just be going down the road for 1st and 2nd round games to Memorial Coliseum.  Otherwise, looking in coach's poll and RPI, there's a small chance of Purdue (where UofL has played numerous tournament matches in the past), and then beyond to...Michigan State, perhaps Kansas, or Minnesota?

Wherever they may end up going, I'll be moving heaven and earth to try to make the trip as I haven't missed a UofL NCAA tournament match since prior to 2009.


Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Two of the four "A" team knuckleheads (Paulie and Jeff) stumbled into the basement of WCHQ to provide you with our weekly look at the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports and Cardinal Athletics. Julie Sullivan joined us at the table and we called River City Cards main man Mike Gilpatrick with a live pre-game look-in from Kroger Field in Lexington.

There were brownies, a clip from Bionca Dunham and Kylee Shook and we went over WBB, Volleyball, Punkin and Monk in the control room and we had a fun hour of discussion and predictions.

Louisville 44 - Kentucky 17. Here's how we did in our guesses. All picked UofL to win

Touchdown Squirrel    21-7
Jeff                              38-28
Paulie                          42-21
Monk                           42-38
Julie                             42-31
Mike Gilpatrick           42-35

We declare Paulie the winner but what a bunch of stinking geniuses, right?

You can hear the rebroadcast HERE
    

Waning Days of November

WHO AM I? First correct
respondent in the comments
section gets entered for the
Panera Card drawing! 

We're honored to have a great community on this site, and are occasionally reminded of it by our
rivalry fan visitors such as MMFG and Clemson Arthur.  It's not uncommon for us to receive comments from people along the lines of, "I'm a fan of xxxx team, and we don't have any sites like this.  I wish we did."  It's comments like that which remind us that what we're doing is nigh on unique among sports media coverage.  It's encouraging to us that we're doing something a bit out-of-the-box and getting such great support doing it.  It's also, however, a bit daunting to look out there, and not be able to find any roadmaps on how to do this stuff.

We joke a lot about Paulie marching to the beat of his own drummer, and that is shown in...well, the audacity...to think something like this could work, and the drive to make it happen, largely through sheer force of will.

I want to thank Paulie for giving me the opportunity to bore you with an overwhelming amounts of Volleyball talk, but I also want to thank you, our readers and listeners for supporting our work.  It truly is appreciated, and today is the last article write I will have to get a chance to say that in November donation month.

So.  Thank you.  So very much, thank you.

-- 

JMcA

Louisville women's basketball --- Learning the plays, honing the skills plus Jared Anderson -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

EDITOR NOTE: This is 2 for 1 Cardinal Couple articles today. Paulie starts us out and Jared Anderson follows. 


WBB CARDS PUTTING IN THE WORK

Julie Sullivan with WBB players. Julie will be on the
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Saturday at 11 a.m.

The University of Louisville women's basketball team had their third practice of the week yesterday at the Little YUM! and I was able to stop in and watch the Cards at work. 

I arrived shortly before 1 p.m. and ran into women's basketball assistaant Nick Evans as I got there. After he took care of a little business, he escorted me to the south court and I grabbed a chair to watch the 12 players go through practice. I ran into my buddy Bullitt East head girls coach Chris Stallings there, also attending the practice and later the Cards WBB radio voice Nick Curran stopped by and sat with us for awhile. 

The players were just coming out of a film session and head coach Jeff Walz was able to chat with us briefly before the players started their drills. A lot of fundamental coaching goes on in these early practices and the shrill Jeff Walz whistle punctuated the action several times...Coach stopping play to make a point, create a learning opportunity or just make a remark on what he had just witnessed. There was plenty to see. 

PAIGE (right) and Jenny.(Left) Paige will be on
the CARDINALCOUPLE RADIO HOUR on Saturday also! 

They have a scheduled format that they follow in the practices and we were given a sheet of paper that outlined it. Besides the players, the assistant coaches were present and about ten "practice boys" were on hand also to guard and scrimmage against the girls. After the shooting and warm up drills were completed, the team worked on a three man weave that turned into a 2 on 1 drill going back down the court. This "cone drill" as it's known needs to be run a specific way and Walz stopped it a couple of times to reinforce the correct way to perform it. I saw great hustle by all three of the women playing point guard (Arica Carter, Dana Evans and Jessica Laemmle) in the drill and it was also obvious that Myisha Hines-Allen came to play Thursday afternoon.  

Walz did make a sly, sarcastic but humorous remark to us after one stoppage...saying that none of them have great listening skills and some of them have had the symptom for three or so years. 

After the cone drill they worked on rebounding against the guys and ran a 4 on 3 scramble and triangle to the other end of the court after securing the ball. There were a few turnovers early on in this drill and Walz decreed that for each subsequent miscue the players would have to run a sprint up and down the court. The guards shone again in this drill and Lindsey Duvall and Dana Evans were particularly impressive with their shooting and passing.  I also saw great effort out of Loretta Kakala and Sam Fuehring going to the boards. Kakala has really quick feet. she's a bit slow yet in getting up and down the court, that was obvious in the sprints they had to run after the drill, but that will come. 

Next was the press offense and guard/post splits. Some nice shooting from Jazmine Jones, both driving to the hoop and outside was seen here and Sydney Zambrotta connected on a few long range missiles as well.  With so many different combinations being employed in the drills, it was hard to get a feel for any type of "A" team yet...although the combination of Kylee Shook, Hines-Allen, Asia Durr, Arica Carter and Fuehring looked pretty effective when they were up against the guys. 

The rest of the practice that I saw included situational scenarios. Terms like hook, Spartan, 41, Top, BLOB and Nova probably don't mean much to the casual hoops fans but Louisville went through all these play-sets and Hines-Allen really looked like a force in them. 

Defending ball screens had all the coaches working with the players and showing different scenarios/reactions to on-court action. Once again, it was the three point guards working with the rest of the players in different combos in trying to get the open shot or defend the shooter in the sequences. 

Shortly before 3 p.m. I made my way to the exit, stopping to thank Walz, Nick and Coach Norman for having me out. 

"Anytime you want to stop in... do it."  Coach smiled as I left, so I think I'll be watching some more prep work. Judging players this early on, especially after just watching one practice, is probably a bit unfair and inaccurate, but here's what I saw. I'll go back. With proper advance notification to Nick, of course, that I'm coming. 

Jones, Durr, Fuehring, Carter, Hines-Allen and Duvall would be my top six performers from yesterday's practice. 

- Duvall has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, passes well, is quick on her feet and can nail the mid-range or deeper jumper.

- It looks like Jones has found some control for her out-of-this-world talent from last year, is playing smarter and more effective basketball and is becoming a vocal team leader.

- Fuehring works non-stop hard. She never takes a possession off and has developed a nice putback shot. 

- Carter is very confident out at the point and her shot looks good. She's travelling the court effortlessly and looks to be 100% and ready to go. 

- The court belongs to Myisha. She's the rock in the inside and is helping Kakala a lot with positioning and motivation. She was also taking a few mid-range jumpers, w ith mixed success. 

- Durr is impressive as always. The shot looks good, she has great court awareness and involves her teammates. 

No one really looked awful yesterday. Jess Laemmle fits right in there as a hustling, quick passing point guard.  Bionca Dunham goes to the boards well but wasn't doing a lot of shooting yesterday...concentrating in trying to get her teammates involved. The drills and sequences that I saw them go through involved a lot of game situations. The squad didn't go five-on-five while I was there against each other...maybe that came later...but, just based on a two-hour look -- Louisville looks to be ready for a great season. 


paulie
xxxxx 


JARED ANDERSON

Thank goodness it is Friday. The weekend is nearly here. 

For our footballers it's going to be a long weekend ahead. The Wolkpack of NC State had their teeth sharpened for a Thursday evening game and took a big chunk out of our Cardinals. 

Me and Ms. Wuf had a good defensive game plan and the Louisville defense was with Paulie admiring Ms. Wuf's beauty instead of defending the pass. Louisville's secondary was nowhere to be seen. However, the pride of Charlotte, Jaire Alexander finally saw some snaps for UofL and played mostly solid defense. Cam Newton used to be the pride and joy of the Charlottians (if that's what they go by) until his recent unnecessary comments that set women's sports back decades. 

Seriously, our football team didn't look hot. The defense was a step slow and second late most of the evening. Coach Petrino was too stubborn on offense to let Malik Williams get a fair share of runs and only wanted to see pocket passing. I'll give major credit to the NC State crowd noise and how it affected game play. Time to prepare for homecoming against Boston College. Tear off the rear view mirror and look ahead, players and fans. 

On a lighter note, Allison Whitefield and Brooklyn Rivers led the way in a women's soccer win at Clemson. The 2-1 win was their first conference win of the season. 

Whitfield's score came off a rebounded shot by Mollie Rouse and gave the Card kickers a 1-0 halftime lead. The goal was her fourth of the year. 

After halftime many of the red and black viewers on the ACC Network Extra feed turned their attention to ESPN to see Lamar Jackson and his squad not play so well. Back at historic Riggs Field, Clemson tied things up just five and a half minutes into play. It was one of the few times the UofL defense broke during the match. 

Brooklyn Rivers scored her third goal of the season less than ten minutes following the Clemson goal. She took a nice pass from Whitfield and knocked it into the back of the net. 

Huge props to the Cardinal defense and their effort against the Tigers. They held the home team to just five shots on goal, Gabby Kouzelos getting four saves, She was in rhythm last night and had some big saves, including a huge one late in the game. 

Cards are now 8-5 and go to 2-3 in the ACC. They already have one more win than LAST SEASON. Their performance has definitely improved this year but they still have a long way to go to see any post-season NCAA tournament action.   

One game at a time. 


Jared Anderson