Joy on Sunday -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It's been a crazy, although remarkably non-sucky, week for CardNation, so let's get back a bit to just some unabashedly joyous things, and steer clear of politics and scandals for a bit.  We can call it a bit of Cardinal Couple self care, if you like.

Madame President

Let's start with Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, though.  No, not that topic, we're steering clear of that, remember?  Dr. Bendapudi made an appearance last night at Forecastle, one of the largest music festivals in the Louisville area.  While we, at Cardinal Couple, are partial to Poorcastle with it benefiting our wonderful radio hosts at WCHQ FM, Forecastle is a cultural touchpoint for Louisville every year.  While I've never attended, I certainly respect and honor the impact it has, both culturally, and financially, on our city.  Many people make appearances at Forecastle for what is, at it's core, a rock music festival, that you wouldn't expect.  Jecorey Arthur, known also by his stage name, 1200, has been a regular Hip-hop performer at the festival.  Perhaps counter-intuitively, Arthur leads to Teddy Abrams, The Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, who this year, was asked to curate the line-up for the WFPK Port Stage at the festival.  Abrams is slated to perform 3 times on the stage, along with 1200 (not the first time those two have teamed up), the Louisville Leopards (another beneficiary of Poorcastle), The River City Drum Corp, Ben Sollee (another frequent collaborator with Abrams), Houndmouth, Wax Fang, and plenty more local acts.  Many of these performers can also be heard on WCHQ, with its laser focus on local music.

Back to Bendapudi, though.  She appeared there with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, who has some background in music promotion and is a regular at numerous music festivals around the city.  While I suspect Bendapudi's appearance was relatively brief, you have to applaud her ongoing efforts to reach out to UofL's core constituency, the students (who, I'm sure, make up a significant demographic at Forecastle).

Thank you, Dr. Bendapudi for bringing some of the joy back to being a UofL fan.

New Cardinals

And a moment to celebrate one of the most joyous moments possible.  Hendricks Lee Meske is the newest arrival to the CardNation family...literally.  Born yesterday afternoon at a whopping 9lbs 1oz, Hendricks is the 3rd child (all boys) of Dan and Laurel Meske.  Dan is the Associate Head Coach of the UofL Volleyball team.

I have had the joy of getting to chat with both Dan and Laurel on several occasions, and both were a delightful pleasure to talk to.

Congratulations to the Meske's and welcome to CardNation Hendricks.  I'll share with the Meskes a bit of wisdom I picked up somewhere along the way..."When you get the 3, you have to switch to zone defense."

Minor Changes for CCRH

If you tuned in yesterday, you noticed a few minor changes for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.  The
show continues, and we'll still have all the normal knuckleheads in the studio whenever possible.

If you watch the Facebook livestream, though, you might have noticed the seating arrangement was a bit different that typical.  Kathy, the station manger, who has graciously engineered the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour from the very beginning, expressed a desire to reclaim her Saturday mornings due to some personal reasons.  Our appreciation for "The Monk" cannot be overstated, she effectively created WCHQ from it's very beginning, and has continued to engineer our show even as the station has grown and other shows switched to other engineers.

We're grateful for her efforts over the years. We'll miss her and Punkin' in the studio and maybe they'll stop in for a visit from time-to-time! 

Going forward, I'll be doing my best to engineer the show.  This is involving learning the systems of WCHQ, including the Facebook Live streaming.  Kathy has done an excellent job of making it all easy to run, but there's still plenty to learn.

If you want to check out the first attempt at this, this is basically how the show was engineered yesterday, with Kathy mostly sitting beside me making sure I flipped all the right switched and clicked all the right buttons.  Overall, I think it went pretty well.

You can check out the results via Facebook Live at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/2112430285446910/

Thanks for joining us, as always!

-- 

JMcA

Butler Bearettes Off to Torrid Start -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Molly Lockhart's Squad Dispatching Most Opponents with Ease

Lockhart fighting for a rebound
(photo from CJ)

Last week I mailed Saturday's article in. Today, though, refreshed as I begin a short staycation from work, coffee in hand, I decided to tackle something I hadn't done before. I graduated from Butler Traditional High School in 2012. I'm sorry if that makes anyone feel old. Six years after I graduated, some 350 odd seniors from Butler will walk across the stage in late May or early June, most likely at Freedom Hall. One of those graduates will be Molly Lockhart, a signee in Jeff Walz class for next season.

Molly is the 6'-1" center at my alma mater, and will step into an important forward position for the Cards next year. She was listed as the 21st best player at her position by ESPN with a prospect rank of 90. That's pretty good. If she can be the kind of leader that another Bearette turned Cardinal was (you might remember Tia Gibbs), then Lockhart could have a huge impact on teams loaded with talent in the years to come.

I bring up Butler because, in addition to having an important future Louisville baller on the team, they're off to a great start to their season. The Bearettes are off to a 9-0 start according to scoreboard.12dt.com, which I'm pretty sure is the official scoreboard site of the KHSAA. At least, that's the one I remember using for high school soccer. I'm also going to stick with the scoreboard site for my information because Max Preps has Butler listed at 4-0. I'm going to assume that's incorrect. The two can't even agree on when matchups were or are to be played.

Lockhart playing hard defense in last year's
game against Manual

Butler has two close wins this season, both by five. One came against Male earlier this month and the other came over Graves County Thursday night. The Bearettes followed up Thursday night's scare with a 63-20 drubbing of Livingston County last night. Every other win this season has been by at least 16 points, with the most lopsided victory coming on December 12th, when they defeated hapless Western by a final score of 76-1. It was the second of three games this season where the Warriors have been held to six or fewer points and allowed 75 or more.



Yikes.


Butler is currently on break for Christmas before heading down to Orlando next week for The Rock Holiday Classic. They are sure to take on stiffer competition in such an event and it will be good for them to test their mettle against other top teams.

Butler is seeking their 6th state championship this season, which would give them the most all time. They are currently tied for that honor with Laurel County. Louisville won the first girl's sweet sixteen in 1975, and have won two of the last four in 2014 and 2016, meaning Molly already has one state championship ring. The stats haven't been updated for the last two games, but through the first seven, Molly was averaging 11.7 points per game, just edging out junior guard Jaida Wiggins for the team lead. She also averaged 8.6 rebounds per game, which is what you'd expect your star center to do for you. Lockhart has attempted no three point baskets but shot 65% (37-57) through the first seven games. She's unfortunately a rough 11-18 from the free throw line so far this season, the last two games excluded.

Being only 6'-1", Jeff Walz is likely to move Lockhart out of the center position, which means she'll need to work on her shooting ability all over the floor, especially at the stripe, in order to see much playing time early on. Her rebounding ability will definitely help put the R in FRED, though.

Junior guard Jasmine Elder is another proven scorer for the Bearettes and freshman guard Dynastee White give head coach Larry Just a lot of possibilities. Whether Butler can challenge #1 Mercer County and Louisville signee Seygan Robins for this year's state championship title remains to be seen, but

There are a lot of games remaining in Lockhart's senior season. She has plenty of time to work on honing her craft, and playing for a good team can afford her the opportunities to open up her game a bit, provided coach Just will allow her to do so.


She was also troubled with an injured finger to begin the season.

 I'm sure, as a signee, that Jeff Walz has already been in contact with Molly and her coach about some of the things he'd like to see her improve on this season. I'm excited to be cheering on a fellow alum from Suda E. Butler at Louisville, and I wish the Bearettes the best in their championship quest this season.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It's Saturday, so you'll surely expect to see something about the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour in today's article. If you are expecting it, you haven't read Jeff's wonderful article from yesterday, so be sure to do that! There will be no Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today nor next week due to a combination of our studio home relocating and the holidays tying everyone's time up. If you need a CCRH fix, you can go to WCHQ.com and browse through the archived shows. Find one from this summer. With all of the Louisville women's teams on winter break, today's show would have effectively the same message as a dead period show anyway. I'm looking forward to being back in the studio on January 6th and hope you'll all join us then!

www.wchqfm.com

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

PS: Please note that I took a ridiculous amount of time looking through old Facebook pictures for fun ones from Butler before ultimately striking out. I hope you enjoy the random Butler photos I found on Google instead.

Topics Galore -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I am going to keep today's installment of Cardinal Couple short and sweet, with a shameless plug for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. The CCRH is broadcast on 100.9 WCHQ FM and on all of WCHQ's streaming services. For Cardinal Couple to have the support of a local station such as this is wonderful, and it is only right that they are given the credit they are due. If you are looking for something to listen to on Saturdays at 11AM, we are happy to have you join us for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. However, if you're looking for something to listen to at any other time in your day or week, you should tune into WCHQ as well. Crescent Hill Radio supports local artists and personalities by playing local music and showcasing their community. They can only do it with the help of listeners, so downloading the app or tuning into 100.9 if you're in the area can go a long way for a small station. We at Cardinal Couple thank them for their airtime and for all that they do.

A True "Cardinal Couple"

The reason I'm giving the radio show its own post is simple: many of the topics we will be discussing today have already been written about many times both on this site and throughout Louisville media. Of course we will be bringing you the joy and excitement of women's sports. We have an interview with women's soccer head coach, Karen Ferguson-Dayes, which Paulie teased earlier this week. We will also discuss the upcoming women's sports seasons as we are only about 3 weeks away from being in the midst of the fall sports schedule. In addition to the fun stuff, we'll weigh in on what more we know about Cards Pass and share all of our opinions on the saga that continues within the UofL leadership turmoil, specifically regarding the new lease agreement for the Yum! Center. The show will wrap up with a quiz which ensures we can't finish on a sour note. If you enjoy our opinions, be sure to stop by. If not, come listen anyway. We'd truly love to hear how you think we can improve. We thank you all each week on the show, but allow me to do it here as well. Those of you that read, comment, listen, reach out; you are the reason this site exists. Sure, we write and go on the radio because its fun, but that consumers of Cardinal Couple get something out of this site's existence is the driving force. Thank you all for being here, and I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section as the season progresses.

Until Next Time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Summer Time is Time for You--SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Swimmers Keep Swimming

It's July, which means it's the perfect time to get into the pool. As Jeff mentioned yesterday, some Louisville swimmers are currently doing just that. The competition wraps up today, and on the women's side we'll see the finals for the 1500m Freestyle, the 200m Individual Medley, and the 50m Freestyle. Personally, I've always felt the 50m Freestyle event is closer to 30-40m because of how long they are underwater before actually getting to the freestyle motion, but that's just how it goes.

Yesterday's competitions saw Louisville swimmers compete in the 400m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, and 100m Backstroke. She qualified for the A cut in the 100 meter fly. Louisville is lucky to have Mallory Comerford for a couple of more years and she may very well be the next Cardinal to represent her country in the pool at an Olympic Games. 

July Brings Free Time

This may not seem true, depending on how you schedule your vacations or how your work schedule pans out, but allow me to point something out. July is the only month in a calendar year in which the University of Louisville has no scheduled competition. As I know all of you are avid sports fans, I'm sure you spend much of your time indulging in Louisville athletic events. Thus, if you spend time on athletic events and there are none, you now have free time.

Boom--math.

I challenge each of you dear Cardinal Couple readers to use this free time appropriately. Many people will take time that is created and use it to work harder or become otherwise busy. My challenge is that you use this time you have gained as personal time just as you would if you were watching a Louisville sporting event. Instead of heading to the Yum! Center for 3 hours on a Sunday to watch a women's basketball game, use that 3 hours to start on that book you've been meaning to read (or write). Instead of hitting Lynn Stadium for some Tuesday night soccer, go play soccer (or any other physical activity you prefer) for those couple of hours instead. Don't fill up your schedule with minutia just because you can. Taking time for yourself is essential to your mental health and devoting some time to even a walk around the block can do wonders for your physical health as well.

One of the things you might occupy your time with if you still want to partake in sporting events is coming up tomorrow. I won't be on the radio today (in fact I'm writing this article at 1PM on Friday) because I'm at Clifty Falls State Park near Madison, Indiana. Every year, on July 4th weekend, people flock to Madison for the annual Madison Regatta. You may have seen a movie about this event titled Madison in which I am one of thousands of extras. The Madison Regatta is an annual hydroplane race on the Ohio River which pits 27' long boats going up to 200 miles per hour against one another. The Regatta has fallen on hard times recently, with weather and other extreme circumstances lowering attendance both in crowd numbers and in boat teams. The organizers had to scramble to get four teams this year in order to make it a points event and there is talk that a poor showing this year could spell doom for the event. (You can read more about the struggles in a recent Courier-Journal article.) If you aren't doing anything tomorrow, and this sounds even the slightest bit interesting, I implore you to head up to Madison. It's about an hour drive and you can get into the event (I believe) for less than $20 per person for a full day of boat racing. The racing begins at 11AM and you can be home shortly after supper. You can be sure my family and I will be there.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As I mentioned, I'll be out of the studio today, but there will still be a full house in the basement. Paulie and Jeff will be joined by Julie Sullivan and Daryl Foust. They'll have a ton of fun, I'm sure and you won't want to miss it. Tune into 100.9 WCHQ FM, on the WCHQ app, or at www.crescenthillradio.com at 11AM to get in on the fun. 

Until next time, Go Cards.

-CH-

PS: Ya gotta regatta!

Louisville Lacrosse eliminated from NCAA Tourney by James MAdison -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

5-0 DUKES RUN SENDS CARDS HOME

A 5-0 closing run by the James Madison lacrosse team over the final 15 minutes of the contest propelled them past the Cards and eliminated Louisville from the NCAA Tournament. 

The end of this one was hard to watch...when I did eventually figure out how to watch it...boos and hisses to Penn State for making this a pay-per-view event on my computer but allowing me to watch it free on my diminutive cell phone through the College Sports Network.

Hard to watch in screen size but also in the untimely collapse of the Cards normally strong defense and disappearance of any scoring threats during crunch time. For the fourth straight year, LouLax makes the NCAA Tournament and bows out after the first game. 

The Cards started strong enough...holding a 3-1 lead after 13 minutes of play. Hannah Koloski got the scoring started just two minutes into the match when she connected on a free position attempt. Goals by Jillian Balog and Meghan Siverson followed. JMU did rally with a first half 5-0 run to regain the lead and took a 6-4 lead into halftime. 

The Cards would climb with one in the early part of the second half at 7-6 when Hannah Koloski got her third goal of the game at the 15:48 mark. After that, though, the offense remained silent and the defense fell apart. 

Kellie Young comments: 

"I am super proud of our seniors and what they brought today," said head coach Kellie Young. "They left their hearts on the field and unfortunately the other 23 players did not. The defense played out of their minds to start the game and the attack was playing scared. Our attack then stepped it up in the last eight minutes but you have to play 60 minutes. I am disappointed right now and embarrassed that Louisville lacrosse did not play the level that we played in the ACC Tournament. We will figure it out and attack next year."


A season of ups and downs ends for Louisville LAX. We hope that the disappointment associated with this loss will spur those returning for next year on to do better and go at least one step further in 2018. 


****************************************************


the CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO SHOW

I meander back into the studio today to co-host The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour with WorldWide Jeff McAdams. Case is off this week, busy with the arduous process and physical exertion of moving...but we have a very special guest scheduled to join us in studio in Louisville Cardinal sports editor Dalton Ray.

We'll run through the worlds of softball, lacrosse and much, much more this morning at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and at www.crescenthillradio.com plus get a look at what involves being a sports editor for a college newspaper from Dalton. 

Should be fun. Please join us and stay tuned for Handicapping Heroes following the show. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Volleyball goes to 2-0 in ACC...Soccer shut out by Pitt -- Monday CARDINAL COUPLE

FAIRS, PHILO LEAD CARDS TO MIAMI WIN

At this time last year, Erin Fairs was sending kills over the net in Tampa, FL. against AAC foes for USF and Aniah Philo was doing the same for her high school team in Texas. 

Fast forward to yesterday...when Fairs has 24 kills on a .391 hitting average and Philo added 14 kills with a .345 accuracy to lead Louisville to a 22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21 win over the 'Canes to improve to 8-4 on the season and 2-0 in the ACC. 

A clipboard bites the dust in the Cards first game

Of possible concern is a late match foot injury to Katie George. The senior remained on the court despite it...the question is how serious is it and will she be ready for a tough weekend ahead where the Cards host Syracuse and Boston College. 

Another question arises on the status of Cards outside hitter Maya McClendon...who has been in uniform but hasn't participated against either Notre Dame or Miami. Last year's leader in kills...McClendon has been seeing less time this season with the arrival of Fairs and Philo on campus. 

WSOC DOWNED BY PITT 1-0

A scoreless affair in the first half and for 25 minutes of the second half in Lynn Stadium Sunday...which head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes pretty much expected...since both squad played a few days ago.

Pitt getting the eventual game winner in the 70th minute.

The Cards stand at 4-5-1 overall and 1-2 in ACC play. Louisville has not allowed more than two goals to anyone this season but has not scored more than two goals in any contest.

Pitt and Louisville each had 12 shots yesterday...the Panthers having seven of those on goal...compared to the Cards four. 

UofL will step out of conference Thursday night for a match against Morehead State at the Lynn Soccer Stadium.


ARCHIVED BROADCAST


Our archived broadcast of yesterday's CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR is available on the Crescent Hill Radio Soundcloud. LINK BELOW:

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR


paulie
xxxxx