Todd Sharp Released -- Another One Bites The Dust -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

COACH OF THE LADYBIRDS DANCE TEAM TODD SHARP TERMINATED

If it's Tuesday, then there must be another coach on the rocks at UofL. Today we find out that Todd Sharp, who has coached the LadyBirds, Louisville's multi-national champion, award-winning dance squad, has been let go by the University of Louisville.

Personal reasons. No further elaboration or comments out of UofL 

There was a brief discussion between me and a patron of "an establishment" last evening on whether dancing is a varsity sport or not. I think I won the argument (with a "yes" stance) that it is. The LadyBirds practice (viewing any episode of the Lifetime series/television show SO SHARP about the 2016-17 squad will confirm the practice part). They compete against other dance squads, in scheduled events, to win titles and championships. They have a roster, leaders, various positions on the floor, coaches and people attend the events. 

I says "Yes" to the sport classification. And, the Cards have been a successful squad. They were the 2018 NCA/NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Champions. We've got a link for you below on that

LINK: 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPS

They've won 14 National Championships...way more than Rick Pitino and Denny Crum combined..and all under Sharp and Sheryl Knight.  

No official reasoning or statement has been released by the University yet, saying it is a personal matter. He's also gone at Floyd Central High School, where he allegedly stepped down as well.  His Twitter account has been deleted. 

We won't get into the ramifications of the "personal matter" wording. I'll let you, the reader, weigh and review the items and thoughts associated with that particular reason for dismissal. Speculation from a source close to the program offers a possible reason but we won't go into speculation here. 

The LadyBirds are a big-crowd ticket item only. I've never saw them at a Field Hockey, Lacrosse, women's soccer or tennis match. The competition to become a LadyBird is intense from what I hear. That probably won't change. 

So, who replaces Sharp and joins Knight? I got a few ideas... 


LINK: LAMAR ON THE LOOSE

LINK: STAYIN' ALIVE

LINK: BILLIE JEAN?

LINK: FOOTLOOSE

LINK: FLASHIN'


The LadyBirds are always a enjoyable, quite viewable and entertaining part of major sporting events including the Cardinals. We see them at Football, Men and Women's Basketball. Sheryl Knight is still there and employed, as far as we know...and had just as much to do with the successes of the squad as anyone. 

Just when he clears his plate...another heaping helping to pile on Vince Tyra's plate..at the University of Louisville, who is starting to resemble Pittsburgh in coaching changes. 

Young, Pitino, Jurich, Petrino, Lolla and now Sharp as departures at UofL athletics. Some very justified departures. Some we know not why yet. Like a game of musical chairs. 
paulie
xxxxx

Cardinal Couple With Spirit

Jared checks in after catching some TV last night.  He reminds us of a portion of UofL Athletics that doesn't get put front and center all that often, despite their amazing success.  Then we catch up with the happenings in Budapest

So Sharp

The premiere of "So Sharp" happened on Lifetime last night. People from everywhere tuned in to see what the hype was about. What they saw was Todd Sharp and the Louisville Ladybirds.

Before going in depth to our spirit squads at Louisville I do want to clarify one thing. "So Sharp" is a reality tv show and does NOT accurately depict any of the folks on the show. The show is entirely scripted and everything that happens is staged. Well, except for their talent.

The talent of our cheerleaders and Ladybirds is incredible. Young women from all around the country come to the University of Louisville in hopes of joining the best of the best.

The cheerleaders are divided into three groups: small coed, large coed, and all girl. Small coed has won 10 national championships with the most recent being 2017. Large coed has 17 championships, with their most recent being in 2016. All girl has claimed the crown 13 times, most recently in 2017. The Ladybirds have had most of their success recently, winning their 14th championship in 2017.

While many people are kicking back and relaxing throughout the summer the members of the spirit squad are having to stay in shape for the upcoming season and tryouts. Tryouts happen over the summer so the teams can start preparing even before the school year starts.

Once school starts they find time to practice in the evenings 30 minutes across town at GymTyme. The late night practices are to prevent conflicts with school, which despite what you may have heard on the tv show, school does come first. The weeks leading up to nationals in Daytona involve intense practices as the members finish up perfecting their routines.

I'm sure some people are asking why I'm talking about an unofficial sport at UofL. Well, they work just as hard as any of the athletes do. The cheerleaders and Ladybirds are students and find a way to balance school and cheer/dance. And on top of that they receive ZERO scholarship money. Each and every one of the members has to pay their own tuition unless they have academic scholarships and then have to fund their own outfits and equipment. And of course, each of the squads has enough championships on their own to beat out all of the 21 official UofL sports combined.

So next time you're watching a halftime routine or see some highlights of the Louisville cheerleaders and Ladybirds take a minute to reflect their dedication and hard work. And also be sure to thank Todd Sharp for his terrific leadership and choreography.

Swimming World Record...With a Caveat

In Budapest, the dynamic duo of Kelsi Worrell and Mallory Comerford also had some success yesterday.  Kelsi and Mallory swam the last two legs (Fly and Free) of the US Mixed Medley 4x100 relay team in the semi-final round.  After the Ryan Murphy kicked off the event with an improved time over his Olympic appearance in the backstroke, Kevin Cordes continued to the US excellence in the breast stroke.  Then Kelsi hit the water for her specialty, the Fly, with a 56.17 split.  Then it was Mallory's time to shine in the Free.  She charged past the World Record pace line, and finished off the event with a 52.82 split, for a total time of 3:40.28, bettering the World Record by about a second and a half, and beating the rest of the field by about 4 seconds.

Alas, the record wouldn't be held for long.  In the evening, the other half of the mixed medley team took to the water and shaved about 2 seconds off the overall time to improve the WR that much more.

The Mixed Medley event is a relatively new event on the International Swimming scene, with it only being added to the World Championships for the last competition in 2015.  It will be in the upcoming 2020 Olympics, so there is an air of excitement around the race.  Because it's such a new event, however, frequent World Records are to be expected.

Regardless of the newness of the race, Kelsi and Mallory can, and should, revel in having held, however briefly, a World Record.