Every four years, the world gets to witness the best athletes in the word compete against each other in the Summer Olympics. For me, this has meant spending hours each day on the couch watching tv. It doesn't matter what sport is on, I'm gladly watching.
I always cheer harder when I see a Louisville athlete or Team USA competing. Team USA women's indoor volleyball fell in a tight five-setter yesterday that included former Kentucky player Avery Skinner. Over the weekend, Lee Keifer won gold in the women's fencing. Keifer is another Kentucky alum. Many of the Louisville alums have not participated in their respective sports yet other than Carlik Jones and South Sudan, who won their opening men's basketball game in pool play.
The public certainly has their favorite sports such as swimming and diving, track and field, gymnastics, and basketball, but there are plenty of exciting sports to watch. Over the last couple Summer Olympics, I have become quite interested in water polo, handball, and rugby.
You might hear well-known names such as Simone Biles (gymnastics), Coco Gauff (tennis), Katie Ledecky (swimming), and LeBron James (basketball), all who are favored to reach the podium for their respective sports.
Team USA has fared well so far in the overall medal count and leads all countries, but the gold medals have been sparse. The United States are several gold behind countries such as Japan, China, France, Australia, and South Korea. The Olympic Games are still in their youth for 2024 with two weeks to go, so we will keep an eye out how things play out. We will also make sure to share any news and updates of our beloved Louisville athletes competing in the games.
USA gold medal count:
-Lee Keifer, women's fencing
-Torri Huske, women's 100m butterfly
-Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel, men's 4x100m freestyle relay
Its Daryl checking in midweek with you... no, the Bats aren't in town, but since I do work on campus it is a perk to be able to pop over to a mid-day press conference every now and then and that's what I did Tuesday for the Louisville Track and Field program, the announcement of the first athlete to represent the Cardinals in the Olympics.
Discus thrower Jayden Ulrich answered media's questions and did a couple throws before practice Tuesday afternoon.
Q: What was the moment like when you got the call that you made the team?
Jayden: I was so excited, almost disbelief, but I'm happy I did. All the work I've put in is paying off right now.
Q: How big of a role is being on this team at UofL and getting you here to this point?
Jayden: A lot. All of the coaches have truly been helping me, being a transfer student it could be hard in my first year but they made it super easy. Being a part of the Louisville team has been super great.
Q: Did this come as a surprise to you? Was a dream/goal?
Jayden: It's definitely been a longtime dream of mine but Id say its become more realistic these last couple of years its been something ive worked really hard for.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most?
Jayden: Getting out of the country, it's my first time abroad.
O: How are you feeling about Paris?
Jayden: Just excited for it.
O: Do you have a favorite type of throw?
Jayden: Whatever is working for me at that time is my favorite.
Q: Do you have any superstitions of gameday rituals to get yourself ready to compete?
Jayden: Nope, nothing!
Q: A lot of success at the NCAA level, has your preparation for the Olympic games been different at all?
Jayden: No, I really kept the same routine this year. Me and this coaching staff established the mental routine of getting ready for meets and mentally being prepared when im going to bigger championship events and I feel like ive got that down right now so it wont be much different. You could be a great thrower but if you don’t have the confidence or the drive, it’ll get you every time.
Q: What is your focal point physically at tiis time? .
Jayden: 'Right now I'm working on my ab muscles because they play such a major role.'
Q: Theres so much fanfare that surrounds the Olympics do you think it will take you a few days to adjust?
Jayden: It will probably take the first three days for me to realize that ‘Omg Im really here at the Olympic games, its crazy!’
SPEAKING OF PARIS!!!!
The UofL Women's basketball program announced on Tuesday afternoon they would be participating in the Aflac Oui-Play Event in Paris. The Cardinals will square off with UCLA on Monday, November 4 at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France. The Cardinals and Bruins will be part of a doubleheader with Southern Cal and Ole Miss to begin the 2024-25 season. Game times for the doubleheader will be 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET with the game designations to happen at a later date.
"We are thrilled to announce our participation in the 2nd annual Aflac Oui-Play in Paris, France," said head coach Jeff Walz. "This enriching experience allows our players and fans to immerse themselves in a unique environment, all the while playing in a fiercely competitive game against UCLA to kick off the 2024-25 season."
Between the lack of news among UofL sports and my focus and attention having been entirely on the Olympics, today's article will be rather short and sweet.
As we have seen all throughout the first week in the Olympics, Team USA continues to be in contention for the gold medal race and overall medal race, but Japan and China continue to be thorns for the Americans.
The big news in the Olympics continues to be centered on Simone Biles and the Norwegian Beach Handball Team. The two topics are unrelated. I'll save my thoughts for Saturday's radio-podcast, which can be heard live through YouTube, but I do stand in support of both Biles and Norway.
Rob Bennett Joins Golf Coaching Staff
UofL women's golf announced that Rob Bennett will join the team as an assistant coach. Bennett comes to Louisville after spending the last three seasons with Abilene Christian.
"We're excited to welcome Coach Rob Bennett to our coaching staff," said head coach Whitney Young. "His vision, passion, and experience will help us continue taking steps towards future success. We look forward to him making a positive impact on our student-athletes with his dedication, work ethic, and competitive nature."
During his time with Abilene Christian, the Wildcats rose over 60 spots in the national rankings. ACU set school records in scoring average, low single round score, and low tournament score under Bennett's guidance.
UofL women's golf is no stranger to the national rankings and competing in the postseason. Bennett could be the key into helping Coach Young continue to build this program and advance them further.
Daryl is out for our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast this weekend, but is expected to have tomorrow's write so tune in. Like myself, she has been following all sorts of Olympics happenings when she's not pushing buttons and running the camera crew at Louisville Slugger Field.
Has the exhaustion of watching or following the Olympics hit you yet? I've been trying to follow as much as I can which has included some late nights and, on the weekends, early mornings.
As of yesterday, Team USA was doing alright. Swimming typically brings in a lot of medals and they've contributed to a heavy amount of the then-14 medals (seven gold, three silver, four bronze). Team USA was second officially (the Olympics goes based off number of gold) with Japan having eight gold medals and China with six. In total medals, Team USA sat second with 14, but China had a slight lead with 18.
Here is the breakdown of the 14 medals as of yesterday afternoon Eastern Time:
Fencing: 1 gold
Shooting: 3 gold
Taekwondo: 1 gold
Skateboarding: 1 bronze
Swimming: 2 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze
Note: Team USA had earned other medals before I had gone to bed, but to prevent confusion, it was easier to give the medal count from the end of Monday July 26.
Softball will earn either a gold or silver in their 7:00 A.M. ET game today. Swimming still has plenty more to go with a plethora of Americans competing. USA women's basketball faced Nigeria at 12:30 this morning in group play so hopefully Paulie can give us an update on that. Team USA continues group play in beach volleyball. Gymnastics has plenty of Americans ready to vie for a medal. Women's soccer concluded group play early this morning against Australia.
Oh yeah, that's not even half of the sports Team USA is competing in today. However, we have some UofL news to cover.
Lacrosse Accolades
Scott Teeter continues to build his program and some of his latest talented recruits earned some nice honors. Five incoming Louisville lacrosse players earned USA Lacrosse Girls' High School awards.
Bri Lang, Haley Reeck, and Marley Scott were named All-Americans. Lauren Figas was named the Jackie Pitts Award winner for Florida- South Atlantic Region. Tiffany Natoli joined Scott as being named Academic All-Americans.
Lang helped lead her high school to 2019 and 2021 Section Championships. A Section is similar to a District, for the Louisville area folks. Scott helped led her team to State Championships in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Reeck is a dual-sport athlete and was a team captain for lacrosse and soccer. Rigas helped her team to a State runner-up finish in 2019 and Section runner-up in 2021.
All five will be suited up in the spring for Teeter's squad and can help replace some important players that were recognized at Senior Day such as Caroline Blalock, Sarah Blalock, Ally Hall, Alex McNicholas, Shayla Scanlan, Maddie Birch, Jen Schaaf, Rachel Florek, and Allie Arcidiacono. A few of the recognized seniors have hinted at interest in returning next season with the extra year of eligibility.
The Cards finished the season ranked 24th in the country (out of 112 active teams) but failed to make the NCAA Tournament after a first-round exit to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
Lacrosse is not currently an Olympic sport but has appeared five times in the Olympics, most recently in 1948. With the sport rapidly growing interest there have been rumors it could join the Olympics as soon as 2024 or 2028.
Alanna Bankston, from Omaha Nebraska has verbally committed to come play for UofL Volleyball. Alanna is in the class of 2023, so we still have a few years before we'll see her in a UofL uniform.
A 6'1" middle, Bankston would be looking to drop into the middle position behind current middles Phekran Kong and Cara Crese. Anna Stevenson, Amaya Tillman, and Emily Scott, the other middles on the current roster, would be expected to graduate before Bankston would arrive.
Olympics Updates
Field Hockey
As Case mentioned in yesterday's articles, Cardinal Field Hockey Alumna Ayeisha McFerran was on the Olympic Field Hockey pitch with the Irish National Team in a game against South Africa. At the time of Case's writing, the score was 2-0, and indeed that did end up being the final score. McFerran was credited with one save in the game.
I didn't get the chance to see this one, but from the stats it appears that Ireland was in pretty firm control of the game throughout. Ireland ended up with 16 shots, with nine of those being on penalty corners, one field shot and one penalty corner were the scores. South Africa only had three shots with only one penalty corner.
The next opportunity to see McFerran and the Irish will be tonight at 9pm when they face the Netherlands. Based on my admittedly limited knowledge of the state of international Field Hockey competition, I would expect the Netherlands to prove to be a more formidable foe than South Africa was.
Volleyball
In a late match yesterday, the US Women's Volleyball team beat Argentina in straight sets to open their Olympic campaign, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.
Hitting leaders were Jordan Thompson, 18 on 23 attempts, who lit up UofL in 2019 in a five set match in Cincinnati, hitting .392 on 41 kills in 72 attempts. Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, an Illinois alumna who hit 11 of 25. And longtime WNT member Jordan Larson, a Nebraska alumna and teammate of Dani Busboom Kelly put down 8 kills on 21 attempts.
Softball
In what may be a shock, I didn't actually watch the volleyball match, as I was engrossed in the US Softball game vs Australia.
Monica Abbott was in the circle against the Matildas, and was part of an epic pitcher's duel with Tarni Stepto. Scoreless after the regulation seven innings, both teams took advantage of the International Tiebreaker rules which puts a runner on second base to start any extra innings. A bit of a breakdown in Abbott's pitching, plus the extra starting base runner, got the extra runner home on an uncharacteristic walk from Abbott with bases loaded.
The US was able to answer in the bottom of the eighth. Ally Carda was the extra base runner, and Haylie McCleney beat out a throw from the shortstop putting the runners on 1st and 2nd. A sacrifice from Janie Reed advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Then Michigan grad Amanda Chidester stepped to the plate and ripped a line shot out to center field for the walk-off double.
3x3 Basketball
A couple of wins in the books for US 3x3 basketball, yesterday. A 17-10 win over a very well-regarded French team, and a cruise to a 21-9 win over Mongolia with three minutes left on the clock. Another game occurred very early this morning (4:30am EDT) with the US easily beating Romania, 22-11 with over two and a half minutes left on the clock and then the most recent game finished just before 9am, a 20-16 win over the Russian ROC team.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
With a new calling setup in place, yesterday's CCRHP was a bit of a trial run that seems to have a succeeded pretty well. Four of the crew, we were missing Daryl, used VDO.Ninja to connect. The goal was to get better control over audio levels of each participant, and I believe we did achieve that.
Certainly Case, when doing the light touch of editing he does to put out the episode into the podcasts networks, expressed delight as he was doing his work. Relistening to the Youtube livestream and the balance, even on-the-fly and live, seemed better as well.
We discussed some of the Olympics, but we also dove into some UofL basketball players' other activities in international basketball. We gave our starting lineup predictions for basketball. We celebrated incoming volleyball freshman Paige Morningstar collecting yet another "Pennsylvania Player of the Year" honor.
You can check out the livestream below, or catch the podcast on your favorite podcast network source. I'll just cut-and-paste the links that Case put together in yesterday's article:
Anchor (podcast host): Link Apple Podcasts: Link Breaker: Link Google Podcasts: Link Overcast (free account required): Link Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link RadioPublic: Link Spotify: Link
Happy Friday, Cards fans! We have finally reached the end of the work week and now have the weekend to look forward to. Bright an early this morning the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremonies began.
We've barely scratched the surface of the Olympics and excitement continues to build. NBC and Peacock seem to be doing a majority of the streaming and coverage of events. I'm excited to see current and former Cards compete among different sports, but I'm also thrilled we have baseball and softball in the Olympics again. Cheerleading just got approved to become an Olympic sport effective the 2024 Olympics. That's something to look forward to in the future.
However, we do have some current UofL news involving women's basketball.
Payton Verhulst Participating in the U19 World Cup
Fans are eager to see Payton Verhulst in a Louisville uniform this winter, but the highly touted freshman has other business to take care of first.
Verhulst is one of 12 members that will play for the USA Basketball Women's U19 World Cup Team. They are currently training through July 27 before they head over to Europe.
The FIBA U19 World Cup will be held in Debrecen, Hungary from Aug. 7-19. Italy, Australia, and Egypt are all on the schedule so far for preliminary play.
Since 1985, Team USA has compiled a record of 86-13 in U19 play including eight gold medals, one silver, and one bronze. Let's hope they add a ninth gold medal.
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
As of right now we are on for our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast tomorrow. Daryl will be out, but I think the other four of us will be available. Our Cardinal Couple engineers Worldwide and Case have been working on setting us up using OBS as a replacement for Skype. OBS gives them more control on the audio settings and balance for each individual user.
Beyond the brief and simple explanation for the switch over you can check out the novel being written by our team of engineers on all of the benefits of OBS and how it will help us. Just don't ask me, I have a music degree.
Catch us at 11 a.m. Saturday ! Go to the Cardinal Couple You Tube page and click away.
Happy Thursday, Cards fans! We've been switching writing assignments this week like musical chairs with Daryl and I taking some of the heavier labor with assistance from Case on Monday. Things still remain fairly quiet in terms of UofL news.
Many student-athletes have started making their way back to campus to begin training and conditioning. The commitment of being a DI student-athlete comes with much sacrifice including a condensed summer. I usually wake up at 6:40 to get ready for work and even many of these student-athletes have already been awake for quite some time for their morning workouts.
Speaking of the Olympics and Team USA, it was an ugly start for the Team USA women's soccer, who dropped their opening match in group play to Sweden 3-0. We do have to look at many of the members of the USWNT have been on the roster for the last two FIBA World Cups, if not longer, and may not have the same fresh legs as some of their opponents. Europe has really beefed up their women's soccer teams in recent years. But one loss doesn't knock them out.
Only 12 teams compete in the Olympics for women's soccer. There are three groups of four teams, labeled Group E, F, G. They received those three group names to avoid confusion with the men's Groups A-D. The top two finishes in each group advance to the next portion. The next top two finishers also advance, giving the next round a total of eight teams. Thankfully, Team USA still has Australia (ranked 9th in the FIBA rankings) and New Zealand (ranked 22nd). Sweden is currently ranked 6th with the Americans continuing to hold the top ranking.
Monica Abbott, courtesy of NCAA.com
Team USA softball also started the Olympics already. In fact, they're two games in already. In their opening game, Team USA (ranked 1st in the WBSC rankings) took down Italy (ranked 9th) 2-0. Then, at 8:00 p.m., ET, last night, the Americans went up against Canada (ranked 3rd). It was a close one as Team USA walked away with a 1-0 win.
Like the Team USA women's soccer, the softball squad features some veteran players. 38-year-old Cat Osterman and 35-year-old Monica Abbott are on the team this year. Both players pitched in the 2008 silver medal finish with Osterman also playing in the 2004 gold medal finish.
For softball, just six teams will compete in the Olympics this year: USA (ranked 1st), Japan (ranked 2nd), Canada (ranked 3rd), Mexico (ranked 5th), Australia (ranked 8th), and Italy (ranked 9th). The third and fourth place finishers in the round robin pool play compete in the bronze medal game will the top two finishers will battle it out for the gold.
I have no plans to stay up until 2:00 or 4:00 and I'm certainly not going to bed at 8:00 and trying to get up for some of the listed game times, but I will gladly watch games when and where I can.
Believe it or not, I have photographed MBB
On one last note and semi-tied to UofL, congratulations to former Card and current Bucks player Jordan Nwora on becoming a world champion as the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Finals Tuesday night.
TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE Sandy Walker with tidbits on The
Olympics, soccer, Ms. Solo. boxing and rowing. Have some !
Photo by Mott the Hoople
OLYMPICS
The Olympics are now past history but with plenty of new history also now in the books.
üFor the first time, every country that brought a team included at least one woman on that team – 5000 women representing over 200 countries – including Saudia Arabia participated in the games.
The United States women (earlier coined as “Team Title IX”) while good in the past, have experienced a break-through year in 2012.
üWomen’s doubles beach volleyball duo of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings now possess a record 3 consecutive Gold medals.
Picture by Richard Mackson USA Today Sports
Add Women’s Soccer, swimming track, boxing, judo… 29 of the US total 49 gold medals and with the exception of China and Great Britain, the women have won more gold than the totals for any of the remaining countries.
As a break-through year for women in general and the attention they have received -- younger girls around the world are seeing them as examples of what is possible but there will always be challenges ahead.Next, in addition to adding an even greater % of female participants in Rio – we also need to conquer the International Olympic Committee itself whose membership should look like the population it represents.The current 22 women spread among the 109 Olympic Committee members does not reflect the population of participants but this change should be a piece of cake compared to what has already occurred.
Sarah Zelenka pretty much left her Olympic rowing position in the women’s pair event which was held just last week and jumped into a new position as assistant coach of the Cardinals.She rowed during college at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich where she was named MVP in 2008 and 2009.She has been a member of the US Rowing senior national team during the last two years and was a member of the U-23 team in 2009.
Picture by US Rowing.org
Courtesy of Garett Wall, UofL
After the announcement of her hiring, Sarah was quoted as saying “The reputation of the Cardinal athletic department is second to none and it is a great privilege to be joining their family. Derek has shared his passion for the sport of rowing with me and I am looking forward to assisting on his coaching staff. I hope to be a positive influence on these student-athletes and help push them to new levels.”
Hope Solo’s new book, “Solo: A Memoir of Hope” is set for release today.Love her or hate her, it seems that no one says Hope Who? and that everyone has an opinion.
Bing.com\images
The social media sites appear to attract some pretty severe extremes of thought.That’s OK , at least they are talking and it always includes her involvement in women’s sports so we all win.
Like Ginger Rogers, she does everything the men do except she does it going backwards and in heels!
Adam Taylor ABC
( Editor note: Solo is a soccer goalkeeper who has been on the USA women's soccer team since 2000. Whether or not she plays soccer in heels or not is probably subject to debate, but her news/media coverage has spiked again since the Olympics have surfaced. USA's exciting win over Japan to win the Gold in London shows how the Americans have maintained a strong, exciting and successful program in a sport that has had European domination in past years. The American women won the vast majority of Team USA's medals in the 2012 Olympics. WE approve of this. What we'd like to see is increased coverage of all women's sports on a regular basis. We're doing our part.)
Tickets to the women’s boxing matches were reported to be almost as difficult as those for women’s beach volleyball.The unveiling of the women’s tournament received enthusiastic reviews from fans, boxers and Olympic officials who loved the sold-out crowds and the emergence of new heroines.US teenager and Gold Medal winner, Claressa Shields
Patrick Semansky AP Photo
drew attention by answering an interview question by answering, “I just like to hit people”. (Sandy Walker is a featured columnist for CARDINAL COUPLE and you can watch her sort out the laundry each Tuesday here at the site, in addition to other small loads she'll be handling throughout the upcoming UofL sports seasons. She's a favorite of Timmy the Intern...that is scary.) . .. ...
. TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -Sandy's Laundry day covers hoops, soccer and viewing. CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Sandy Walker catches us up on events from the Olympics , college basketball and Mercedes Russell. Please stand for our national anthem! OLYMPIC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL USA romps Canada 91-48 USA had a relatively easy time with our neighbors to the North this morning in the quarterfinals of the women's basketball Olympic games...disposing of Canada 91-48. For once, a solid start...USA holding a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and expanding that to a 42-21 half-time advantage. Five USA players in double-figures, led by Diana Taurasi's 15 points. "Big Syl" apparently over her foot trouble...with 12 points in just eight minutes.
The Angel numbers impressive today. In 15 minutes, she tallied 11 points on 5/6 shooting and 1/2 from the charity stripe. Give her five boards and two steals in a reserve role. UConn darlings Maya Moore and Taurasi got twenty minutes plus. (In case anyone is interested, Angel weighs 70kg in metric.)
One can’t write of UofL women sports during the Olympics without giving time to Angel Mc Coughtry’s continued starring role in the US Olympic team’s continued supremacy in the 2012 games.I actually spent less time watching the women’s basketball against China than one would expect but after fast forwarding the tape until Angel’s entry into the game I found that almost half of the game was gone.Last week I suggested that Geno might want to rethink his starting lineup but to what should be his embarrassment, for some totally inconceivable reason he did not pay attention to my suggestion. This really should have been no surprise as he apparently believes this is the UConn Olympics.No slam to Maya Moore’s playing abilities but as a late – late - late off the bench player, Angel is the high scorer and rebounder for the US team vs Maya’s reward of a starting spot.Case in point.In Sunday’s game against China Geno finally brought her into play with less than 3 minutes left in the half and again did not start the second half.
Final Angel game stats... 16 points (Olympic record of 8 scores for 8 shots), 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 6 assists (2 less in the first 3 minutes of play due to her teammates missing shots which Timmy the Intern would have made). Well respected women’s basketball writer, Mechelle Voepel, is quoted as saying “McCoughtry is clearly one of the best players in the world at this stage in her career. But what she has shown indisputably in this tournament is a Sheryl Swoopes-like ability to have a major impact on games with her opportunistic defense.”
(Great observation of #35's skills. Who ya gonna call? McCoughtry!)
Britain...being relative newcomers to the sport...are not known for their focus on women’s basketball with beach volleyball claiming the higher viewship (I wonder if the cooler evening temperatures which allowed for the players to actually wear pants instead of underwear dropped the ratings).In fact they are compemplating eliminating both their women’s and men’s teams in future Olympics due to their lack of success, so as reported by AP basketball writer Doug Feinbert. It has been happily noticed that “women’s basketball is making a good impression on British fans”.Observers have noted that their enthusiasm is making up for what they lack in knowledge.Attendance and television viewership has also been a pleasant surprise.Attendance is averaging about 8500 fans per game with the US team bringing in 9200 during pool play.The greatest surge has been for televised games as NBC reported their USA Women’s Basketball opening game showing a 96% viewship increase from the 2008 games.
Those present for Australia’s win against Russia were treated to seeing a historic first Olympic women’s dunk.It appears that the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock player Liz Cambage
Liz dunks (Photo courtesy of AP)
(mentioned last week due to the team’s economy class airline seating for her 6’8” body) was able to unfold her legs well enough to put herself into the record books.Her twitter followers have taken notice and pegged her with the moniker "Slambage". (Editor's note: With Candace Parker on the USA roster, the first dunk should have belonged to us... apparently Coach Geno has imposed a "no dunk" rule on the girls. Can't say we approve.)
It looks like everyone is traveling abroad to play this month. After spending 6 days at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, tomorrow Mercedes and her 11 teammates from the 2012 USA Basketball Under 17 World Championship team will leave for Caorle, Italy to play exhibition games against Brazil, Australia and Italy.And this is only a warm up.She and 5 players returning from the under 16 gold medalist team will next arrive in Amsterdam Netherlands to play in the Worlds which begin August 17 with the championship game on the 26th. Pretty heady exposure for Mercedes and her teammates.
I know Olympic Soccer is not a UL direct related team but future participation is an absolute goal for every Louisville women's soccer player.Yesterday’s game against Canada has contributed to today’s late Cardinal Couple submission as I stayed up very late while unable to pull myself away from the 120 minute double overtime win of the US team.The win was particularly sweet as aside from their unbeaten Olympic streak with Thursday’s Gold Medal game against Japan on the line – as if that was not enough – Canada’s coach sparked controversy when his pre-game comments including accusations of “illegal” play by the Americans.
I admit to not being a passionate of fan of soccer as of some of the other sports but last nights’ event was a total new experience for me.Women’s soccer (football in the UK) is one rough and tough game.These women ran, hit and at times stomped across the field, and if in their way, bodies through regulation, double over-time and to the last seconds of the injury allowed period to a 4-3 win. Canada’s coach might have been whining about “illegal” plays but perhaps he should focus on highlights of the hits and “hold the mayo sandwiches” his players were making with the use of Canada’s double teaming of any US player with the ball.
It is obvious that this is one physically tough and exciting game to watch. UofL women’s schedule begins with exhibition games this Friday August 10 against Ohio State at 6:00 and Sunday August 12 at 1:00 against Wright State both at Cardinal Park. (CARDINAL COUPLE hopes to get a interview with coach Ferguson-Dayes and a player or two later this week. We've followed protocol and requested such through the UofL Sports Information Department.)
UCONN PLAYER UPDATE
It is reported that Junior Lauren Engeln is transferring from UConn after indicating her desire to play a bigger role. She would be the 3rd player of UConn’s class of 2014 to transfer along with Samarie Walker and Michala Johnson. For those who think transfers are reason for concern and worry. we advise you to take a look around. It affects all the major programs and it can happen for a variety of reasons. It's all part of the "play me or trade me" syndrome that we see in a lot of professional sports. Whether it's better to be a bench-rider on a national contender or getting 30 minutes and 20 points on a team that finishes mid-pack in the division is a matter of debate, but players come and go. Never forget that one of UofL's most successful players was a transfer. Candyce Bingham began her college at Xavier and transfered to Louisville after two years of playing sparingly. Former Cardinal stars Missy Taylor and Nita Slaughter weren't original Cardinals either. Show me a team that has all the original recruits four years after the fact when they're seniors and I'll show you rarity in college basketball. .
-McCoughtry magic on display as USA carves Turkey 89-58
The Olympic women's basketball television announcers marvel and fawn over the way Angel McCoughtry comes in and takes over a game.
Old hat stuff to Cardinal womens' basketball fans or Atlanta Dream followers...who've seen #35 do that for the last 7-8 years.
Wednesday against undefeated Turkey followed a predictable pattern. USA falls behind early. Trails the Turks 10-6 with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Geno does a five player substitution at the 4:12 mark and Angel scores seven out of the USA's next nine points to give USA a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
It was a demonstration of basketball excellence.
3:19 -- McCoughtry fouled driving to the basket. Hits a free throw. 2:12 -- McCoughtry muscling inside for a putback and two. .55 -- McCoughtry fouled again on the way for two. Free throws fall through the net. .02 -- McCoughtry steals a pass and breaks away for a layup and score.
Production figures the guys out at the Ford Plant on Fern Valley would be proud of.
Scenarios Cardinal fans have seen time and time again. All we need is Louie the Cardinal Bird, Al Greener's Pep Band and Sean Moth crooning...
"Angelllllll MC Coughtry !!"
This time, it's on the world's stage. Intensity, drive, desire. A spark, a dominant player.
Yeah. That's our girl.
Four more McCoughtry points in the second quarter gave her 11 at the half in just eight minutes of first half action. USA 41-26 at the half.
Give the Turks credit. They didn't roll over and play dead until the fourth quarter. Actually trimmed the USA lead to 50-45 with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter. A crowd buzzing with excitement and the anticipation of the underdog attempting to slay Goliath.
It was Angel time again. A putback for two and a free throw. Missed three but a rebound and pass to Maya Moore for a gimme. A 13-2 run and the scoreboard reads USA 63-Turkey 47 at the end of the third.
There will be no David today.
Two free throws at the 8:00 minute mark in the fourth quarter give Angel 18 for the game. 69-50 USA. Turkey, with tired legs and sagging spirits, submits to the beat-down. How do you like her now, Geno?
"From the minute she (Angel) stepped on the floor to when the game ended she was the dominant player. That's something that I think we have that very few, if any, teams in this tournament have...so I'm fortunate to have that option." Aureimma commented after the game.
Yes you are. Just use the force, Luke. It may have been the most intelligent thing you've said since you landed in London. Yoda, you ain't...but even a programmed droid can figure this one out.
The reserve role had feted Angel well. Not really a new concept for her. She didn't start her freshman year at UofL but Tom Collen was playing mind games with her that he'd eventually lose. This is the same guy who abandoned Louisville to "Whoo, Pig, Suey" in the bottom half of the SEC West Division at Arkansas.
Sometimes career moves don't compute.
Sometimes you just have to take the Maserati out of the garage and drive it.
Sometimes a door closes and a window opens. Collen's departure cleared the way for a young, hungry and driven coach named Jeff Walz.
"Honestly, not starting has been the best thing for my career. I've gained discipline and I think before I didn't have the discipline. This took my game to another level." McCoughtry confessed after the rout.
Kind words? Backing up the boss? Maybe. Not starting the leading scorer in the WNBA is puzzling but when half your roster consists of ex-UConn players and the head coach is...well, you get the picture.
McCoughtry knows her game will be there whether she's the first or last player to step on the court. She can also be a diplomat on the world stage.
You just gotta wonder if these slow USA starts would disappear if it was Angel, Tamika, Candace, Lindsey Whalen and just one of the UConn twins out there shaking hands with the opponent before the opening tip-off.
As long as the wins keep coming by 30 or so, I guess it's crying about small beer. This team has twelve excellent players (actually, 11 until "Big Syl" and her tendon feel better) and the Czech Republic and China aren't going to pull off the upset of the century in the next four days and beat USA.
A USA team that will go through pool play 5-0 and then see what Australia, Brazil, Canada and France have to offer. A USA team averaging almost 87 points a game for 40 minutes.
The queens of the playground, standing at half-court, ball on hip...asking "who's next?"
Team Angel returns to action Friday against the 1-2 Czech Republic, who beat Croatia earlier today.
