Women's Tennis Serves Up Two Wins -- The WBB in ACC -- RADIO -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( NORMALLY, YOU WOULD FIND CASE HOSKINS' SATURDAY COLUMN GREETING YOU HERE AT THE SITE ON THE DAY BEFORE SUNDAY. HE, HOWEVER, IS DEALING WITH A HUGE WORK PROJECT AND INDICATED HE'D BE LIVING IN HIS OFFICE, SLEEPING IN HIS DESK CHAIR AND ORDERING TAKE OUT THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. SO, PAULIE CLIMBS OUT OF THE DUGOUT, GRABS HIS FAVORITE BAT AND LUMBERS INTO THE BATTER'S BOX. JUST WANT TO MAKE CONTACT, IF IT LANDS ON THE DOG WALK BERM, THAT'S OK, TOO. PLAY BALL!) 

WOMEN'S TENNIS FINDING NET SUCCESS

Hola and Ole', Ola ! 

We don't normally have Louisville women's tennis as our lead story here at "The Couple", but when a squad keeps winning and does it convincingly -- it's good enough for us. 

That's what Mark Beckham's squad has done and did yesterday. One of those "two opponents in one day" scenarios, and the "Serve and Score" Cards started the day with a convincing 6-1 win over another group of Cardinals -- the Ball State variety -- over at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. 

Ola "Grandma" Mally took honors as the #1 seed (or racquet, in this case?) and produced a two set 6-2, 6-2 win over her Muncie counterpart. Five of the six singles matches went the Cards way and they took two of the three doubles contest to compile the six points. 

Dina does it.

Of note, recent campus arrival Dina Chaika saw her second-time action as a Cardinal and won as the #6 seed in singles, plus a winning part of the #2 seed in doubles with teammate Nikolina Jovic. Dina is from Lemontov, Russia and had been a part of the Russian National team. 

Coach Beckham reviews the win with post-match comments:  HERE

In the afternoon/early evening session, the Cards faced Northern Kentucky and continued the voluminous volleying success by blanking the Norse 7-0. Louisville won all six singles matches and the three doubles contests. 

Huge efforts by UofL #2 seed Raven Neely and her 6-0, 6-1 win and #4 seed Diana Wong, who covered her match with a 6-0, 6-2 set performance. 

Raven and her racquet

Coach Beckham also reviewed this one and previewed the next match:  HERE

At 4-0, the Cards return to action on Sunday at the "Rudd" when they bring in a talented Cincinnati contingent.

Best of luck to the "Beckham base-liners" in the rivalry match. 

WHAT SAY YOU, ACC WBB? 

As the ACC women's basketball schedule approaches the halfway mark, let's take a look at what we know, what we think might happen and who the hot teams are. Everyone has played at least six games (the Cards, Miami and Clemson seven) and there are still two schools who haven't lost an ACC match yet: Notre Dame and N.C. State. Those two head to a potential ACC #1 vs. #2 showdown on Feb. 18th. (Monday 7 p.m.) in Raleigh. N.C. State will be tested prior to that game, with FSU and Syracuse to face...both on the road.

Jeff Walz's bunch are tied in conference play with Miami at 6-1. The Canes fell to Clemson in ACC play 67-76 and have four season losses (Iowa St., Purdue and Central Michigan). Emese Hof, Laura Cornelius and Mykea Gray lead the way for Katie Meyer's Ibus flock and they'll leave sunny south Florida to take on Louisville on Sunday, Feb 17th. 

Rounding out the top half of the standings, and squads that are .500 or better are Clemson (5-2), FSU (4-2), Syracuse (4-2) and Ga. Tech (3-3). Louisville has wins over two of the four (Ga. Tech and FSU) and will bring the other two into the YUM! (Syracuse and Clemson) for action in early February. 

Everyone else has work to do. 

BIGGEST SURPRISE TEAM SO FAR: I think most would agree that it is Clemson. They gave N.C.State all they wanted in Raleigh on Thursday and have grown leaps and bounds from the one-win conference record in 2017-18. Head coach Amanda Butler has installed a "never say die" attitude in these Tigers and players Simone Westbrook, Danielle Edwards, Kobi Thornton and Aliyah Collier could start or see significant minutes on any ACC squad. They get a week to prepare for visiting Notre Dame  (Thursday,Jan 31st.) with no other games in between and that one is one that will be a true test for them. 

If you were looking for N.C. State in this category, they ran a close second. We'll do this analysis again in a few weeks and see where Ms. Wuf's pack stands. 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM SO FAR: What in the world is going on at Virginia Tech? 

They are "0 for ACC" at 0-6, they do have a 13-6 overall record, but Hokie fans are "raising cain" (and not in a good way nor chicken-finger related) about head coach Kenny Brooks.

They've had two overtime losses (at NC State and hosting Syracuse), got bombarded by Notre Dame, lost close ones against Miami and Virginia...but the 12 point win by North Carolina over them (in Blacksburg) last time out was unexpected. 

The talent is there. Regan Magarity is one of the ACC's best. Emery Taylor averages almost 19 points a game. Dara Mabrey is a top flight freshman (and she's the younger sister of Notre Dame's Marina Mabrey). They can grab significant half-time leads (see Virginia and North Carolina) but fail to finish. Here's hoping the remainder of their season is a good one (except for the Louisville game, of course). They are better than they are showing.

SO, WHAT IS THE PAULIE PREDICTION FOR REGULAR SEASON CHAMP? 

OK. Out-on-a-limb time.

I do not think N.C. State will remain undefeated. I think Wes Moore has done a wonderful job, but with Notre Dame, Louisville, FSU and Syracuse still to play on the Wolfpack's schedule, I can see some dents on the fender. Nope, I'm not picking them. 

The Cards "grew up a lot" in the win at Tallahassee last time out. If the rebounding woes are finally solved, they'll be dangerous. They're going to need some help, though, since Notre Dame did beat them earlier. Honestly, it's hard to see another Louisville loss on the remainder of the regular season conference schedule...except, maybe...to NC State. And, that one is in Louisville. Is it Louisville as my choice? Hurts me to say it, but, nope. 

Notre Dame will, I predict, assume the sole possession of the top spot in the conference after packing up the Wolfpack and they may well roll through the rest of the conference regular season undefeated.

That last sentence was hard to type, and hurts like all "@$#%" to say it...but they are my pick as the regular season champ. I hope I'm wrong. But, unless UConn is suddenly added to the ACC from the AAC...the Irish seem to have the best shot. 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

We will gather at the magnificent media mansion on Mellwood this morning at 11 a.m. to communicate over frequency modulation devices and provide Facebook viewing for those who have an interest. Yes, it's THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR, and joining Jeff and I in-studio is River City Cards Mike Gilpatrick. He's the editor-in-chief over there and senior women's basketball correspondent. 

Guess what we'll be talking about? 

Mike is a senior finance major at UofL and was the captain of the swim team at Shelby County High School. He was also on the rifle squad, which brings the unique dual, potential sequence of his ability to shoot something and then either swim away from the scene or jump in and swim out to retrieve what he shot. We like to joke about his "five first names" and he can put away a prodigious amount of Italian sausages if presented with the opportunity. 

Should be fun! Join us, won't you? We're at WCHQ 100.9 FM. Facebook LIVE. Your link below:

LINK: www.wchqfm.com

Have a Super Saturday, stay warm and cheer on UofL athletics this weekend. We hope to see you at the Louisville WBB vs. Pitt game Sunday at the Arena by the River!

paulie

xxxxx

Jurich/Tyra Emails -- Volleyball Heads to Gainesville -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Mark Jurich Sends Unwarranted Email to Vince Tyra

EDITOR NOTE: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN TODAY'S COMMENTARY ON THE TYRA/JURICH E-MAIL EXCHANGE DO NOT NECESSARILY EXPRESS THE VIEWPOINTS OF THE STAFF OR MANAGEMENT OF CARDINAL COUPLE, WCHQ 100.9 FM OR ANY OF THE EMPLOYEES OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS. 

In school we all grew up being taught to stop and think before you act.  It appears that life lesson did not carry into adulthood for Mark Jurich, son of former athletic director Tom Jurich.  On August 22, Mark Jurich sent an email to current athletic director Vince Tyra claiming that Tyra has been attacking his family, not physically, of course.

One of the reasons for the email?  The season tickets for the Jurich family to men's basketball and football have been moved from where they have been located since back when Tom Jurich was athletic director.  Although exact location was not noted we do know that the seats have been moved closer towards the baselines at Cardinal Stadium and the KFC Yum! Center.  All eight seats that the Jurich family receives are still free of charge, per the settlement between the University of Louisville.  WDRB's Eric Crawford brought to the attention of the public that Vince Tyra pays full price for his seats, which are not as nice as where the Jurich family's seats were located, for men's basketball and football games. The area where the Jurich's sat are also generally considered to be where the current athletic director and family are placed.

Mark Jurich's email is too long to copy and paste here, although the first paragraph is provided below:

"In writing this email, I hope to be clear.  It has been my goal to move on - yet you continue to attack my family which gives me no other option than to respond.  This email is not about tickets.  It is about you and the University dishonoring my father and your blatant disrespect for my family," writes Mark Jurich.

Tyra did not immediately respond, but rather took some time to think about the email and discuss it with his colleagues.  His response consisted of one sentence.

"I received your email and it is clear that we disagree on all fronts," said Tyra.

Before I respond to the situation I would like to disclose that my views may not reflect the views by the rest of the Cardinal Couple staff and are my own.

This is the point where I would bring in Cris Carter and the ESPN staff to give us a "C'mon Man" to Mark Jurich.  Vince Tyra nor the University of Louisville are trying to humiliate the Jurich family or defame what is left of their reputation.

Tom Jurich did some remarkable things as athletic director of UofL, including a never-born-seen growth and expansion of an athletics program.  He brought it top notch facilities for all sports and heavily emphasized the importance of Title IX.

Not all that glitters is gold.  And that is the case of what happened here.  There is still a small portion of the Louisville fan base unhappy with how Tom Jurich handled the transition between Denny Crum and Rick Pitino.  The black mark around the university involving Rick Pitino also included blood on the hands of Tom Jurich, figuratively.

Tyra has praised Tom Jurich for everything he has done for this university on several occasions.  Even Jeff Walz made sure to take a moment to thank Tom when the women's basketball team reached the Final Four this year.  It appears the only attack made was Mark Jurich's aggression towards Tyra in the email.

Tyra, the athletics department, and the university handled it well.  Instead of stooping down to the level of pettiness Mark Jurich showed they brushed it off and let it go.  If anything, it shows maturity among the current administration and also shows that they still have respect for Tom Jurich.

Here is a link that has the entire e-mail sent on Aug. 22nd from Mark to Vince:

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2018/08/29/mark-jurich-email-louisville-athletic-director-vince-tyra/1131109002/



Volleyball Visits Gainesville for Bubly Tournament

On another note, we move away from an unhappy email and enter the realm of the 'VolleyCards'.  Louisville's first road trip of the season is to Gator Country in good ole Gainesville, Fla.  The University of Florida is hosting the Bubly Tournament featuring Louisville, USC, UCF, and Florida.

Louisville will face all three opponents over the weekend in Exactech Arena at the Stephen O'Connell Center, where Florida's men and women's basketball, gymnastics, swimming and diving, and volleyball teams all compete.  Originally, the Cards were to take on the Knights in Orlando, but perhaps UCF's 2018 Championship trophy for football is currently MIA.


-UCF Knights (Friday at 4:00 p.m.)

Sitting at 2-1 on the year, Central Florida appears to be the easiest foe for the Cards.  Their two wins came against Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast while their sole loss was a sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-20) in favor of the Miami Hurricanes.  Miami will visit Cardinal Arena in early November.

-Florida (Saturday at 5:00 p.m.)

Ranked 4th in the country heading into the weekend Florida is coming off a 2017 National Runner-Up appearance.  They fell in four sets to Nebraska in the National Championship.  The Gators (1-1) got revenge against the #2 Cornhuskers in their season opener this year, winning in a four-set thriller.  Florida then fell to #3 Texas in a five-set nail-biter to get to where they currently are.  Playing at home, Florida will be a force to be reckoned with.

-USC (Sunday at 1:00 p.m.)

UofL's weekend doesn't get easier as they'll face the #7 Trojans.  Southern California holds a 3-0 record, like Louisville.  They downed Kentucky, who the Cards will face on Sept. 14, in a tight four-set match.  Neither team won a set by more than three points.  They then swept Northern Iowa before holding off Creighton in five sets.  The Trojans fell to Florida in the quarterfinals (Elite Eight) last year.



This weekend will be the toughest 48 hours of volleyball Coach Dani Busboom Kelly will have had to face with UofL.  The weekend could easily end poorly, resulting in the Cards dropping to 3-3.  We could also be surprised and watch Louisville come out of it 6-0.  My prediction is that UofL will defeat UCF before falling to Florida and USC.

What if the Cards get beat by Florida and USC?  Oh well.  The season is young and there is a lot of volleyball to be played.  Besides, this is just Coach Kelly's second season at the reins so we are still looking at a program in a rebuilding phase.

The only link currently provided by UofL is the one for Louisville vs UCF.  With the high quality opponents in Florida and USC I would be surprised if there isn't a live stream somewhere.  We will keep an eye out for that information and pass it along once we find out.


Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It may still be two days away, but half of the "A Team" will be out of office this Saturday morning.  Case will not make it in the studio and I am currently on the way to Walt Disney World for a few days with my parents and will meet up with my precious Katy.  We will then head to the football game vs Alabama to watch my brother perform in his first game with the Cardinal Marching Band (CMB).

In our stead, Mike Gilpatrick (River City Cards) and Daryl Foust (The Crunch Zone/ Kentucky Women Talk Sports) will accompany Paulie and Worldwide.  Cardinal Couple covers women's sports at UofL and that will be the main focus on Saturday's show.  There are four women's teams playing this weekend.  There will be a little bit of football coverage and I will try to call in and report the sights and sounds of Orlando.
Mike and Daryl are no strangers to The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour and we always gladly welcome either or both when they join in to interact with whatever "knuckleheads" we have on-air.

If any of our loyal readers are headed to the football game look for me and don't be shy, say "hi"!  It brings me joy meeting the real backbone of Cardinal Couple.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

The "New WCHQ" grand re-opening celebration -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MUSIC, BEER AND FOOD MAKE FOR A PRETTY GOOD DAY

(I step away from...UofL women's sports today to discuss the events surrounding the radio station where The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour gang does their stuff on Saturdays.)

When the basketballs finally stop bouncing on campus, Softball swings out of town and Volleyball gets two of our esteemed staff in attendance for out-of-season action, it brings one to the dilemma on a Monday morning..."What shall I write about?" 

Half the Cardinal Couple staff, beloved Sonya and Mr. Mike Gilpatrick of River City Cards did attend an event of sorts on Sunday...the radio station where we apply our weekly nonsense was having a "grand opening" of sorts to celebrate "The New WCHQ". The weather decided to cooperate around 1 p.m. on the sabbath and the event went off as planned. Unfortunately, the temperature dropped after the rain went away and by 4 p.m....the thermometer was registering a chilly 42 degrees. Not the best of settings for an outdoor event. 

Nevertheless, a good time was had by most, it seemed. The live music at Apocalypse Brew Works (right across from the station and the event site) was fantastic with Jo Ann and the Dakota, Yon, and Cut Family Foundation.  These were the three bands we caught in our time there while working the "greeters booth"....which basically consisted of saying "Hi and Welcome!" to people, pointing out we had bumper stickers, information sheets and posters and answering various queries like "Where's the beer? Where's the bathroom? How much is the food? and Do you know if (fill in the blank) is here yet"? 

Apocalypse offers (usually) a dozen or so craft beers on tap during their Fri-Sun hours of operation. They had run out of several by the time Sunday evening rolled around. I don't presume to be the beer expert that our Worldwide is, but I tried a couple and liked hwat I hd. So did Sonya. The "porter" was a favorite...and by that I don't mean the guy who checks in your luggage at the airlines or train station.  

Mr "Anderson Jared" and "the Gilpatrick" arrived shortly before five...and we spent a very enjoyable two hours plus talking with them, listening to the sounds and commenting on what was going on around us.  I also got the chance to introduce Mike to K.C. Skull, the inaugural stadium manager of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Mike will, in all probability, do a story on "Colonel KC"...he is now retired and likes to hit Apocalypse o the weekends with his wife for a "beverage" and a bit of social interaction. I've known K.C. since the late nineties and could probably never do an article on him...based on all the wacky and clandestine things we pulled off as friends, members of the Parrish House and Sportsmen's Supper Club...without possible recriminations and possible investigations 

K.C. got things done. We'll leave it at that.

For the musical reviews...the first band we saw -- Jo Ann and the Dakota -- does original music that has heavy influence from the Beatles' John Lennon, her father and other 60's alternative bands and features her strong voice and song-writing, She named the band after the apartment that John Lennon lived in (THE DAKOTA) until he was tragically shot. 

She brings a non-stop energy to her performances that transcended out into the crowd and got a lot of attendees dancing in front of the stage. She plays an acoustic guitar and trats it almost as a dancing partner at times and the backing band expertly leads her through original ballads about life, relationships and society.

This is thinking music, not head-banging or political anthems stuff. The musicians are quite talented and they put on a great show despite the chilly stage.  Below is a link to one of their recent releases, a song called The White Rabbit (not to be confused with the old Jefferson Airplane song). 

LINK:

Joann and the Dakota

Performing next was YONS, an eight-piece local outfit that does rap stylings, hip-hop and featured three singers performing their crafts and words. I got involved with a few things going on at the booth and was involved in a discussion with a couple of the station DJ's at WCHQFM during their performance, so I didn't get to watch them as closely as I would have liked. All seemed to be intrigued by their performance, though.

I wasn't quite sure what "YONS" was or is, definition wise and no one around me knew. The only think that came to mind is the Shakesperian lines alluding to: 

Romeo: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she..

The band was selling hats that were black and had the lettering [SPACE] on the front. That really didn't give me a clue either, so I went to the Urban Dictionary for a clue and knowledge about YONS and here's what I found:

Yons

YONS- formed from the Greek language meaning sexyness.

One sexy gorgeous brilliant cook and AMAZING IN BED. A kind-hearted, loving man who makes one happy with his attentiveness and desire to please. Wonderfully handsome and incredibly sexy, he oozes sex appeal. Fancied by all women that set eyes on him. VERY easily led astray but quick to realise his mistakes and try to make amends. Very intelligent. Sometimes pompous but not overly so. Sensitive. Funny. Brave. Strong. Gorgeous. Loves lists. A brilliant father and someone any lady would be proud to call their husband.

Yons is always right. 

In any event, they were well-received. I can't attest about the sexy-ness part. Below a link to one of the recordings that they performed live Sunday.

LINK:

YONS -- the-campaign


THE CUT FAMILY FOUNDATION 

They were my favorite performers out of the three we saw. They put out a "wall of funk" -- 80's style - in their performances and thoughts of Parliament, Funkadelics, Sly and the Family Stone, Bootsy's Rubber Band and George Clinton raced through my mind as I watched the five-member group lay down the grooves. Only thing missing were the "Horny Horns." 

They refer to themselves as "a musical think tank focused on good get down and hip dip inducing tunes". I'll agree. They even had ol' Paulie here up and off the bench and displaying a few moves and grooves while they played. They go so much farther that the description R&B or Soul.

Thanks to Kevin Cox and Bryce Gill of WCHQ for originally turning me on to them during the now-extinct MORNING JAM days! They were also instrumental, along with several other volunteer staffers,  in organizing and planning the celebration event. A "big" thanks to them. 

I've included a "T.C.F.F." set they did back in their early formations days at the link below: 

THE CUT FAMILY FOUNDATION

So, after the non-stop hustle of UofL women's sports over the last nine months, it's getting close to the time where we slow down a bit, look to do more interviews instead of straight-out coverage and explore some of many things that are involved in the "UofL women's athletics" genre. 

Yesterday, though, was a chance to do just a little bit of unwind for Paulie. A celebration our radio station's new facility, new directive and my own beginning transition into what we'll later refer to the "summer doldrums".  Worry not, there is still softball, lacrosse, rowing, tennis and several other sports to fill these pages this springs and the "knuckleheads" and I will keep you up on them. 

We gratefully acknowledge and appreciate our chance to bring you radio and Facebook Live once a week about the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports on the non-profit, community-oriented WCHQFM 100.9. All the hard work and volunteer hours that go in to programming and production, not just hours...obviously...but all the different shows, music and talk that make WCHQ truly unique. I humbly ask you give the station a try, via app, car radio, laptop streaming or any way you care to access it. 

Thanks for bearing with Paulie today on something that didn't involved balls, bats, nets, courts, fields, fouls or referees. You'll get plenty of that here just about every other day of the year. 

Hey, even Jeff Walz takes a break from hoops and goes skiing. 

I've linked up the home page to WCHQ  below. Give a listen.

www.wchqfm.com




Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball faces Syracuse today! Sunday Cardinal Couple

WBB vs Syracuse

The Women's Basketball Squad is in Syracuse today preparing for a matchup against the Orange, and one of the most colorful basketball coaches in the business.  We, here at Cardinal Couple, don't hide our admiration for the style and panache of Quentin Hillsman, but there is a basketball game to be played.  We've also made light of the cavernous Carrier Dome, where the women also play in Syracuse, being "packed" with an attendance of less than 200 people.  A quick perusal of a few of the box score sheets from this season didn't turn up any games with attendance of less than 1,000, and the Pitt game had over 8,000 in attendance.

So, while we do have some fun when we talk about "The Big Ol' Funky Q" (yes, that's an homage to a decades past promo from WQMF, the radio station here in Louisville), and the attendance woes at the Carrier Dome, let's give the program some credit.  They're starting to draw a bit of a crowd, and they've got a few decent wins in their results this year.  They're 17-6 overall, though they are only 5-5 in conference.  Some decent non-conference wins over good, but not powerhouse teams like Wisconsin, and Vandy, and in conference a 76-69 win over Florida State is worthy of praise.  They've taken some losses against some very good teams, mostly in the strong ACC conference slate, and they've got all the wins they should've against the also-ran teams that they've played.  All in all, I think it's time to start giving the Orange some props for putting together a solid, if not world-beating, program.

Louisville will be looking to continue the rebuilding of a win streak, getting back out to 4 wins with a victory today.  There's not enough games left in the season and post-season to get back to the 20-win streak that they had to start the season, so that record is not in real jeopardy, barring winning a National Championship and extending the win streak into next season.  If that happens, however, the focus will almost assuredly be on the Championship win, not the win streak, though perhaps we'll return to the topic in November.  Regardless, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Today's game could be a field day for our bigs as Syracuse doesn't have a great deal of experience with bigs in the paint.  While 5 players on the squad are taller than 6 feet, 4 of them are freshmen.  Q has apparently realized that he needs some height on the squad.  The Syracuse squad is also quite an international affair, with a pair of players from France, a Canadian, an Aussie, and a Latvian.

Let's hope the women's team today has a bit more success than we saw from the men yesterday. Regardless of the outcome, the "Q" show should be a Oscar winning performance and worth catching.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It was another good day in the studio for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour because Jared was at the bank...no wait, despite Jared being at the bank turning 20s into 10s and 5s..."despite" was what I meant to say there.

In Jared's place, Paulie, Case, and myself were joined against by Mike Gilpatrick from River City Cards.  A whirlwind hour discussing the big relevant topics in Cardinals athletics, including maneuverings and departures among the upper management of the Athletic Department.  If you missed it, well, shame on you, but you can check the rebroadcast and "jump around" on the Soundcloud at:

https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20180203.

--
JMcA