Louisville women's basketball -- Champs!

LOUISVILLE DEFEATS NOTRE DAME 74-72 FOR ACC TITLE

Clutch. Accurate. Persistant. Champions. 

Lamont Russell with the shirt and the "L" 

Most that I talked to in the Greensboro Coliseum, especially those in Cardinal colors expected Louisville to win yesterday's title bout against Notre Dame yesterday. Most also thought it would be a lot closer than the 100-67 blowout Louisville put on the Irish back in mid-January.

Most were right. In a game that could most likely fall under the term "chaotic" the Cards survived against the Irish 74-72. It was a bumpy flight at times but the plane landed safely and with all passengers OK. 

" I hope it put a smile on everyone's face." Coach Jeff Walz remarked after the game. It's been a remarkable run, but we're not done yet. We've got bigger fish to fry." 

And, in keeping with the tradition of fish, frying and Lent...the Cards had the fans in the Coliseum and on ESPN most likely clutching rosary beads, mumbling Hail-Mary's and probably saying a few things that would need to be recanted for in the confessional booth.

Sam Williams gets her plaque and a handshake. 

I got into a bit of a Twitter war while attending the event over the referees. We had the best crew in women's college basketball in Dee Kanter, Joe Vazsily and Eric Brewton. They called it tough but fair and the Cards were actually making most of the fouls that were being called on them. Notre Dame simply does not foul unless they have to. They are that well trained and coached to avoid the "silly" ones.

The Irish murder opponents under the basket with their size and strength and a lot of that is brutal but legal. Positioning. And, they took it to the Cards under the paint yesterday. I do not like it when people to continually bash referees. I was a referee. You lose games because your opponent scores more points than you -- not because of a few calls that did not go the way you wanted them to. 

Just survive somehow. It's a phrase I started using when I got to Greensboro. And, the Cards did. Notre Dame had been putting up 80-90 points a game for a considerable stretch of the season. The Cards held them to 72 and no one had done that since Louisville did...back on January 11th. 

65-64 with less than a minute to go. The Cards seeing a seven-point lead vanquish. The irish with the ball. But, the Cardinal defense forced a shot clock violation. Sam Fuehring hit a layup and drew contact. Made the free throw. 68-64. 

Vince Tyra was there and was fired up

Louisville went 6-6 from the charity stripe during the final 18 seconds. Notre Dame
fouling Asia Durr on two possessions down that stretch and the junior responding with the calm, cool demeanor we've seen all year. A different look from her minutes later, tears of joy streaming down her face as she returned to the celebration on the court after going to the stands to celebrate with her family. Smiling broadly through those tears. repeating over and over again.

"I just can't believe it." 

I even got a little teary-eyed myself when I was wandering the floor after the game, taking pictures of random stuff.  Being a victim of two hours sleep in the last 48 hours, I'm finishing this up and hitting the mattress.

Confetti and a championship -- not a bad way to spend a
Sunday afternoon

Believe it, Asia Durr. Believe that your coach believes in you, as well. A rather chppy and chilly post-game handshake between Walz and Muffet McGraw. That same Miss Muffet who jabbingly referred to Durr as "that other girl" who won the ACC M.O.P. of the year... instead of her Arike Ogunbowale. It pissed Walz off. It should have, the cattiness and superiority-intended shrug off and slight that the Notre Dame coach dumped on Ms. Durr.

"I just wanted to make sure she knew who Asia Durr was. Just have the common courtesy to say her name. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm going to stand up for my player. Just have the respect to say her name." 

Asia Durr stood up for Louisville yesterday, too. Straight and tall. 

Keep standing up, #25. I think Muffet McGraw will remember your name a long, long time. 

No Fred report as of now. Maybe later when I wake up. Or tomorrow. Just survive somehow. 



LACROSSE FALLS TO NOTRE DAME 14-9 

Louisville did get the big win in the multi-sport double-header Sunday in hoops but the Irish prevailed 14-9 at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium (the Ellis) 

Coach Scott Teeter was proud of his LAX women despite the loss and thought that they played better than they did in a win over Vandy last week. Louisville took a 2-1 lead early in this one but fell behind as the first half developed. The Cards wold rally to get within one but a late flurry of ND goals set the final score as a five-point Irish win. 

Our Jared Anderson was there to capture the sights and also the post-game comments from Teeter and a couple of players. Nice job by "Mr Everything" here at Cardinal Couple and River City Cards. We think he may be twins, because he's everywhere covvering everything.  Listen below. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlvhZ63UWrI&list=PL8CD62AD6CE814E95


SOFTBALL 

At Ulmer stadium, Sandy Pearsall picked up her 700th win of her coaching career with a 6-0 win over Eastern Illinois to close out the Red and Black Classic. 

A strong pitching performance from Danielle Watson "Dan" and Megan Hensley and timely hitting from Madison Cousineau and Kyra Snyder in the first inning helped build a first-inning 5-0 lead and the softball squad kept E.Illinois at bay the rest of the way.

Hit and pitch Cards are 15-4 and return to the diamond on Friday against Bradley. WE'll have more on that later in the week. 

Our Jeff McAdams was there for the post-game wrap up with Coach Sandy Pearsall. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlP5JVzioQY&feature=youtu.be

Paulie
XXXXX

College basketball officiating -- What needs to change? THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

THE PEOPLE WITH THE WHISTLES

Being a college basketball official is not an easy thing. You have anywhere from 500 to 20,000 people watching and critiquing your every move. A call you make is going to get different reactions. In addition to keeping up with the game flow, you usually have a couple of coaches in your ear pleading for their viewpoint on the action, players who win academy-award performances for their reactions to calls, a home-fan base that thinks they know the game better than you, a visiting fan base which is 100% sure that you're calling the game in the home team's favor and an observer sitting on press row watching each play and making notes to grade you.

 And, then there are the announcers that relay the action via radio and television. One word from them can start a thousand reactions. And, they don't get fined if they speak out. 

When I was a little boy, I would listen to UofL men's games on the radio with my father. UofL had a delightfully wacky, very-opinionated, sometimes-accurate and quite entertaining play-by-play announcer called Ed Kallay. "Uncle Ed" was a referee-antagonist from the get-go. I remember a game (although I can't recall the opponent) where, on the air, he started calling out the ref who was standing next to him during a time stoppage. It wasn't pretty, either. The ref finally responded, and you could hear it over the air: 

"OK. Ed. That's enough. I'm coming over to your station and criticize everything you do at work. On the air. How would you like that?" 

Ed was quick in his response. 

"I know I'm horrible. I realize that. The problem is you haven't realized yet that you're horrible." 

I officiated. I called multiple sports and basketball was the toughest. Maybe because of that, I am a lot more lenient on officials than the average fan. Although my refereeing was not on a national stage...far from it, for sure...I've been faced with the charge/blocking decision, touch fouls by the guards and crazy mayhem that goes on under the basket. Still, even I raise a quizzical eyebrow on the consistency, accuracy and frequency of calls occasionally. I'm sure that fans and coaches questioned calls I made. I can only tell you that, as an official, you try to make the best call possible based on the rules of the game and those calls are not popular sometimes. You develop a thick skin. You listen to a screaming coach and try to be attentive while still following the action and just reiterate the reason for the call (or no-call) in association with and how it relates to the rules of the game. 

Did I ever miss a call? Sure, I did. Did I ever call a "make up call" to counter it. No, I didn't. Could a coach influence me with continual haranguing? No. Unless it got obscene or defamatory toward family. Then, they got the "T". 

You work with your crew in a game. You are a unit. And, you back your unit's decision unless you saw something that they didn't and you talk and decide whether to circumvent a call or not. I remember a high school game, many years ago, where it seemed any call we made against the home team got a ballistic reaction from the home crowd. As the game neared it's end, one of my crew members sidled up to me and commented:

"I hope they [the fans] aren't waiting for us when we leave." 

Fortunately, the home team got hot from the floor and pulled away to a sizable victory. We left without incident and our cars were fine when we got to where we parked. Unfortunately, there were times when that wasn't the case. 

Officiating is under intense scrutiny as of late. The UK fans threatening the life and safety of an official who called their final game in the NCAA tournament. The officiating in the men's championship game Monday night. I heard it all season long while watching UofL women's basketball from press row. I've gotten to know a few of the regulars that call UofL WBB. Nice folks off the court and just like us...with their passions, interests, sense of humor, kindness and professionalism. 

But...there are times when I've wondered...

"What was (fill in the name) thinking on that call?" 

So, what does college basketball do about it? Do they need to do anything about it? 


Where do they start to make games about the players and not the whistles? Is it a case of more reviews on the monitor at the scorers table ? People seem to hate those delays that can take 2-3 minutes at times. Do they lighten up on the whistle so that the flow and consistency of the game doesn't evaporate? Do they add another official to the action, so that scrutiny and observation is even more intensified? Or...is the current system OK and it's just a losing fan's reaction to blame the refs when their team loses. 

Our area of the nation is basketball crazy. Has been for a long time. I'd wager the fans that attend a UofL men's or women's game...yes, I'll even add a UK game...have more basic knowledge of the game than the fans who go to watch college games in Nebraska or Idaho. (No offense to those two states intended).

So, let's here from you...the fan. Or you, the player or coach. What is the state of college basketball officiating. How does it get better? Can it change? 





paulie
xxxxx



  

Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Cards ranked #3? Sounds good to me...

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- DAVID WATSON weighs in on UofL WBB


( OUR COLUMNIST EMERITUS AND ALL-AROUND GOOD GUY DAVID WATSON CHECKS IN TODAY WITH OBSERVATIONS ON UOFL WOMENS' BASKETBALL AND OTHER THINGS ON HIS MIND. IT'S DAVID...PREPARE YOUR REBUTTALS...)

First off, let's get something quite clear --UConn and Notre Dame are the best two teams in the country in college women's basketball. Muffet McGraw and Geno Auriemma are the two best coaches in women's college basketball. I'm starting to see a trend here and it has nothing to do with conference alignments, strength of scheduling or the moon waxing over Neptune. Them that gots, gets. Them two got.

I think DePaul has a pretty good squad as well this season. They've got to be relieved they don't have to play Connecticut and Louisville this year. Even Syracuse is gone. They did face Notre Dame and UK in the non-conference slate. Two of their four defeats and understandably so. Doug Bruno's grin has probably never been wider. Bruno has been at DePaul since the disco era. He's dancing this year.

And, what is going on with UK WBB these days? It might be time to send Dr. Phil (or Dr. Seuss or Dr. Spock) to Lessington for some counselling and group hug therapy.

Louisville ranked #3? Yeah, sure. Why not?

They held their own against UConn. They haven't flubbed against an un-ranked like the Dookies or Stanford and Son have. Way too much is put into strength of schedule. Charlie Creme needs to add some sugar or set the mug down. This UofL team can flat out ball and with a sore-shin on Shoni (say that fast five times), Asia throwing up all day Saturday and Bria still probably riding a bike in Cardinal Arena (I've wondered about that -- if your knees hurt, what are you doing on a stationary bike pedalling?) the Cards didn't do bad in Storrs. Mind you, I'm no physical therapist. And I'll spend 5-6 hours walking on grass trying to find a little white ball, just to whack it again and try to re-find it with tendinitis issues. The world isn't fair. 

The Cards weren't great either in Storrs. The mad scientist is working on it. Whoever can figure out how to get Shoni in double-figures against anything wearing a Connecticut shirt please call Louisville Women's Basketball immediately.

The key here, as many have mentioned, is not tripping up in the five games before facing Gennecticut again. Temple will be looking for revenge for beating them in from of Bill Cosby (OK, I doubt he was there, but it sounds good). Playing Memphis in Memphis is always dangerous, no matter what the sport. Those folks have a definite hatred for anything in red or with birds on it.

Those Rutgals are the one that worry me the most. They definitely want to avoid being the #4 seed in the Geno Classic (oops, AAC Tournament) and wins can prevent that. They'll come into the YUM! for the last time in the foreseeable future ready to put a third loss on the Cardinals schedule.

Louisville says goodbye to Cincy after that and that one can't be overlooked either. Jamelle Elliott is a Geno disciple and and I wouldn't put it past him to sneak a few of his All-Americans down there and disguise them in blonde wigs and ponytails to spice things up.

Whaddya mean you let UofL in the ACC?

So the plan is nicely laid out. A lot can happen, of course, in the 20 days before Geno lets the dogs out in the fried chicken arena.

Maybe someone, dare I say it -- knocks off UConn before the Cards get a second shot at it?

Where's Doug Bruno, Quentin Hillsman and Muffet McGraw when you need them?

    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Finally -- would someone PLEASE draw up a set of six or seven rules of universal officiating, distribute them to all women's college officials and make them memorize them and repeat them before they get paid to call a game? The last time I was this confused about procedure was when I little boy and the doctor told me to take the pill he showed me three times a day. No matter how hard I tried, once I took the pill the first time, it was gone and I couldn't take it again.

The NCAA tries experimental rules enforcement tactics

Make them get tattoos on their arms with the rules. Flash them on the jumbotron in the arenas ( OK, that won't work in most arenas) or have an annoying little man running around on the court spouting them out continuously. Woody Allen is available.

Just be consistent. If something is a foul in the first half, or on Tuesday night -- make it a foul in the second half or on Sunday afternoon. This isn't the pizza buffet.

Dear college womens' basketball referees: You're giving a lot of coaches ulcers. We assume you don't drive on both sides of the street or brush your teeth with both ends of your toothbrush. Could a confused fan get a little congruence here?

Have a great Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE readers. Go watch your excellent WBB squad in a bird battle tonight in downtown Louisville. Enjoy $2 beers, get out of the cold for a few hours and make some noise.

These days are fleeting and before you know it you'll be filling out NCAA brackets and arguing about seeding, locations and game times. Less than three weeks until the madness of March arrives. I may just have to leave the balmy warmth of southwest Florida and purchase a ticket for 3/3/14.

Jose points out to Geno where I normally sit
for USF games. Geno checks Jose for weapons..

Nah.

I've got Jose and the Bulls in case my withdrawl from live WBB gets too overpowering. It may be methadone for my heroin-type addiction for live college basketball, but the fairways in Muncie and Louisville probably don't have much roll currently.

GO CARDS!

    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

-DAVID WATSON-

....