Random News and Notes -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 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.

Katy and I had to plan out what was going to be on tv with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics having started. The lady of the house enjoys her time watching Big Brother and the Bachelor/Bachelorette (whichever is currently in season), but I gave her the talk that we'll be watching the Olympics on the big tv in the living room. Being the nice fiancé I am, I went out to buy an HDMI cable to hook up the second cable box to the tv in the bedroom so she could watch her show while I enjoy rooting for Team USA.

Courtesy of US Soccer

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.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls to FSU -- Track & Field Posts Two ACC Champions -- Casey Madura Interview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Falters in Loss to FSU

Louisville softball collapsed and a 3-0 lead turned into a 7-4 loss as the Cards bowed out of the second round of the ACC Tournament to Florida State.  The loss is their third in four games.

Sidney Melton led off the game with a solo shot over the left field wall for the early lead.  They added two runs in the second when a fielder's choice drove a run home and Melton walked with the bases loaded to add an easy RBI.  The only other run came in the sixth when Alison Szydlowski reached base on a fielder's choice and drove in a run, almost exactly like the second inning play.

The Seminoles scored all of their runs in the middle three innings, relying on four Louisville errors and a pair of home runs to ignite the offense.  Megan Hensley and Danielle Watson split time in the circle with three innings apiece.  The duo only surrendered six hits, but walked four and the defense had four infield errors.  Hensley (17-8) took the loss.

Coach Pearsall heavily emphasized the impact the errors had on a game where Louisville had an early shot at winning, "If we dont make those mistakes, we have a chance at winning that game, but the errors set us back and we just couldn't overcome that."

With a record of 33-20 and an RPI hovering around 44 the Cards are a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately, the ACC is weak at softball and FSU is the only school inside the Top 40 in RPI.  The Cards will need some help in receiving a bid to the "Big Dance" and hope the top seeds win their respective conference tournaments.

Track and Field Takes Home Two ACC Championships on Day One

Dorcas Wasike ran away with the gold in the women's 10,000 m, running a personal best and setting a new meet record.  Damar Robinson leapt his way to the podium with a personal best on the men's high jump.

The Championships are still young and there's plenty more Cardinals hoping to make their mark in history and bring home the gold.

Casey Madura Sits Down with Cardinal Couple

Casey Madura (left) and Emily Howell

The lacrosse alum will graduate from UofL this Saturday, but she found some time to sit down for an interview.  We were fortunate that she still has field access and made our way to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium to enjoy a beautiful day that was tortured by the pollen invasion.

Madura has battled injuries and a cancer scare in her career at Louisville and spent almost all of her time on the bench as a supporter, teammate, and helping coach.  The senior captain talked about what brought her to Louisville, her experiences and memories here, and future plans that involve a trip to the Big Apple.

We talked about what her walk-up song would be, a secondary sport she might play, and deciding the style of wave she will perform as she walks across stage at commencement.

You can view the entirety of the lengthy interview

here.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Don't forget to tune in to your favorite knuckleheads this Saturday at 11 am on WCHQ 100.9 fm.  I will be "enjoying" my new role of putting in credit card and personal loan applications while also doing my normal breaking change.  With Case past his exam and having recovered for a few weeks there is a slight chance he may find his way back down to Melwood Ave.  We'll have to wait on the Vegas odds to come out before making our bets on that.  Either way, make sure to continue keeping him in your thoughts as he works his way back to 100%.




What Day is it?

Well, besides Friday it's also a day to celebrate a couple favorites, so kick back and Eat Whatever You Want while you watch The Twilight Zone, a personal favorite of mine in terms of throwback TV shows.

Make sure to take you medicine as allergy season is in full force in the second-worst allergen city in the United States only behind McAllen, TX, per Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Softball Wins Awards and Begins ACC Tournament -- Women's Golf Finishes up Regional Play -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Earns Three Conference Awards

Three Louisville softball players received recognition with ACC awards yesterday.  Pitcher Megan Hensley and shortstop Sidney Melton were named to the All-ACC first team and second baseman Maddy Newman was named to the All-ACC freshman team.

This is Hensley's second appearance on the All-ACC team after earning the honors in 2016.  She has played a crucial role on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.  However, she does prefer hitting over pitching and would step up to the plate if she could only choose one.  Melton makes her first appearance on the conference team.  She is perfect in stolen bases this year and has crossed the plate a team-high 19 times.  Newman filled in early in the season at second base and would not surrender that position.  She has had one of the top rookie

performances by a Louisville player since the university parted ways with the Big East.  All three players will be returning to Louisville's roster next season.

Florida State claimed a majority of the major awards by taking Player of the Year (Jessie Warren) Pitcher of the Year (Kylee Hanson), and Freshman of the Year (Sydney Sherrill).  Holly Aprile of Pittsburgh took home Coach of the Year.

Louisville Softball Begins ACC Tournament

Desperately needing something to draw the NCAA Tournament committee's eyes this direction the 8-seeded Louisville softball team hopes to make a run in the ACC Tournament.  The Cards bused to Atlanta yesterday and will face 9-seeded Syracuse in one of the play-in games.  The winner will face 1-seeded Florida State.

The Cards finished 10-12 in conference play this season, well below the coaches' preseason predictions of finishing fourth.  I thought they could finish as high as second or third, but the Cards never did piece everything together.

The Cards lead the all-time series with Syracuse 21-10 with most of those games being played when the two teams were conference rivals in the Big East.  This season the teams are 1-1 against each other this year after the third game of the series was canceled due to inclement weather.

Today's game is set for 1:00 p.m., and can be viewed online on Watch ESPN.  Hopefully we might see a local station such as Fox Sports South pick it up for tv viewing.

Women's Golf Enters Final Day of Play in Seventh

Enjoying the sun and beautiful weather out in San Francisco the women's golf team is sitting in a tie for seventh place and just one stroke out of sixth.  The Cards shot a 6-over-par 294 yesterday and are 5-over-par 581 throughout the whole event so far.

Lauren Hartlage and Delaney Shah both shot an even-par of 72 yesterday to lead the way.  Hartlage is tied for 12th overall and Shah sits in a tie for 38th.  Olivia Cason is tied for 29th after struggling in the second round.

The top six teams from each region advance to the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, O.K., so the Cards do have a little bit of work cut out for them.  Louisville will need to make up their one-stroke deficit and hopefully will pull ahead further from their own success or have North Carolina and Oklahoma State struggle on the final day of events.

A trip to the NCAA Championships would mark the program's second trip with the other coming in 2008.

What is Today?

Picture from the Hitchcock
classic "VERTIGO". 

If your kids are feeling energetic they can bike to school today.  It is also national school nurse day, and believe me, with what they deal with they deserve at least a week of recognition, especially with the Hep A outbreak going on around town.  For you film critics Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo premiered on this day in 1958.  We can also wish Billy Joel a happy birthday today.  I saw him start a fire one time, but I know no one will believe me.

With Minout "Minnie" Mink leaving UofL for good and returning home I was hoping to get a video interview with her before she left, but the filed hockey star procrastinated on packing a wee bit too much so we are in the works of an alternative.  Be on the lookouts to see what the Mink has to say about her time as a Cardinal and her time in the states as well as what her "walk-up" song would be. Probably not anything Billy Joel sang or wrote?

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Basketball Stuff... Pick Em Update... WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Receive Late Game Time Slot

Pack your sleeping bags and coffee, it's a late one!  The women's basketball team will be playing the late game Friday evening in the Sweet Sixteen.  A 9:00 tip-off time is just a rough estimate, especially if game one goes long.  If you are traveling to the game expect to get home well after midnight. Knowing ESPN, expect action around 9:30.

The Cardinals will play the Cardinal (no "S") of Stanford.  The two teams have never faced each other before meaning that Louisville has zero blemishes on their record against Stanford.

Stanford finished 2nd in the PAC-12, finishing one and a half games behind Oregon.  Their 24-10 record is highlighted by wins against UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon State, and Oregon.  The Cardinal is 4-8 against ranked opponents including a 25-point loss at UConn in November.  Be on the lookout for a Louisville-Stanford review later this week.

Paulie and I plan to be at the game(s) this weekend.  Your wonderful co-owner will be covering both games Friday and may be there Sunday win or lose.  I will head to Lex after work Friday to take some pictures of the important game and will only be returning on Sunday following a Louisville victory.

Coach Walz held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the game. He also talks about the start time. His displeasure, mostly for the fan's sake, is evident:  LINK BELOW

https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1366mp3

Men's Basketball's Struggling Season Concludes

For those of you that check out the other site I contribute to, River City Cards, I wrote an open letter to David Padgett praising him for what he has done.  However, it appears his time as head coach of the Louisville men's basketball time has come to a close.  It is expected that Xavier's Chris Mack will be named the new head coach starting Thursday, but this is unconfirmed.

The Cards fell in the third round of the NIT to Mississippi State 79-56.  It was the final game for seniors Quentin Snider and Anas Mahmoud, while fans speculate Deng Adel and Ray Spalding will go pro. Rumors of player transfers are also out there.

Fans will probably suffer a couple more rough seasons before the once proud program restores its glory and dominance in the college basketball world.

Softball Cancels Indiana Game

A "small snowstorm" turned into nasty weather quickly.  If you were outside late last night snow was blowing sideways at it fell from the sky.  Roads were bad.  Due to the weather the Louisville vs Indiana softball game was cancelled.  The GoCards schedule has it listed as postponed, but the game will not be rescheduled as of right now.

UofL returns to action Friday at Duke.  This one should be on ACC Network.  Unfortunately, when the Cards play on the road we are not blessed with the voice of former ace Maryssa Becker.

Case Lives

Not that the surgery was a matter of life and death, but Case's surgery was a success.  Thank you to everyone who sent him positive wishes.  The recovery time will take a while and his date of return to the studio is unknown.  Rest that achilles, superstar!

One thing we know, he won't be trying any points after touchdown or crossovers on the soccer field for awhile. We'll have a rotating list of fill in's on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour and may try to hook up with him via phone for updates and commentary.

NCAA Pick 'Em Update

There were 21 entries this year.  After eight games into the tournament there were no perfect brackets remaining.  The first round saw records of 26-6 down to 18-14.  Round two was going well for most folks until FGCU and Central Michigan had a say.  Everyone still has a winning record.

Ken S sits at 38-10 to lead the way.  The Real Joe Hill is a game behind at 37-11.  Paulie, Arthur, and myself are a bit behind that at 36-12.  Things continue all the way down to 28-20.

Everyone enjoy your Wednesday and don't forget that we have a 2018, and back-to-back, national champion in all star swimmer Mallory Comerford!

Just another day on the court...

Coach Walz has skills. Watch the link.

http://www.wave3.com/clip/14213499/uofls-walz-hits-from-half-court

Just walkin' off like it's no big thing.



Jared

Louisville women's basketball -- Let the Games begin! -- Weekend view -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NCAA Tournament Time

Happy Game Day!  The moment we have all been waiting for is here!  At noon, our anticipation to see Louisville women's basketball take the court in the NCAA Tournament will reach its peak.

The Cards face 16-seed Boise State in front of a home crowd at the KFC Yum! Center.  The Broncos (23-9, 14-4 Mountain West) won the regular season outright and claimed the crown in their conference tournament to receive an automatic bid to make their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance.

Boise State last lost on Feb 3 to UNLV.  Just over a week later was Louisville's loss to UConn.  Boise State rides a 10-game win streak into the match-up, the first ever between these two teams.

Riley Lupfer is a sharpshooter for the Broncos, averaging 16.4 points per game.  Her 3.75 three-pointers per game is fifth-best in the country.  For comparison, Asia Durr averages an even 3 threes per game.  Lupfer has hit 120 threes on the year.  Shalen Shaw heads the post for Boise State, averaging seven rebounds per game.  11 of the 15 players on the roster stand 6'0 or taller, which has helped in the rebounding and blocks columns.

"Boise State is that way. It's in Idaho!"

As a team Boise State averages 69.2 points per game while giving up 61.4.  They have a rebound margin of +6, high ranking in the country.  Most of the Bronco's scoring comes in the two middle quarters, scoring 55% of their points then.  They shoot .355 from behind the arc and .731, both excellent figures.

What does Louisville have to do to win?

A 1-seed vs 16-seed match-up is expected to be an easy win for the higher seed.  The confidence boost plus the home crowd should help some.

Let Asia Durr find her shots.  If she isn't hot early do not let that cause hesitation when looking to her later in the game. "Nite-Nite" is a scorer and she will find ways to put up numbers.  To help Durr get some open looks the Cards need to pass the ball.  An extra pass or two can often put the defense out of position just enough to get some elbow room and a good look at the basket.

Combine size with strength to overpower Boise State down low.  Myisha Hines-Allen is having a highlight year with her double-doubles so feed her the ball.  "Doo-Blay" and Sam Fuehring play with a fiery emotion and they won't rest until they haul in every last rebound.

The missed lay-ups need to be cleaned up.  You can't get any closer to the basket unless you pull a Brittney Griner and dunk the darn thing.  Everyone on the team has missed an easy lay-up at some point this season and it usually follows with "#$@&%*!" coming from Walz on the bench.  A heavy presence and solid scoring down low will open up the exterior for better looks.

I won't give a prediction to the game in hopes of preventing a jinx, but all know who most of us will be rooting for (sorry Keith B, Boise State fan).  Make sure to get out there and cheer the Cards on if you can manage to get off work.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to provide pictures due to the fact it is near-impossible to get off at the bank last minute.

The Irish Visit for St Patrick's Day Softball

Thanks, ACC.  I think the university as a whole has had enough poor luck in recent years.  Playing Notre Dame on St Patrick's Day sounds like a tough one.  Game one is scheduled for today at 2:00, moved up from the 4:00 original start time.  Saturday's first pitch is 1:00 and Sunday is noon.  Days and times can change, weather pending.  I will have my green Louisville shirt on Saturday at Ulmer hooping and hollering.

The weather calls for rain this weekend.

After 25 games of non-conference play and a 20-5 record the Cards finally face ACC opponents.  The Irish took the series 2-1 last season at Ulmer Stadium.  Anyone remember the stormy Monday night last year?  The Cards went on to win 7-4.

Danielle Watson and Megan Hensley should do most of the work in the circle.  The question surrounding this team's success is if they can fix issues they have battled in the past.  Louisville continues to have problems with defensive errors, with most of them coming from the left side of the infield up to the front of the plate.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 18-16.  A sweep sounds pretty great right now.  The Irish are 16-8 on the year and has relied on their offense to carry them.  Ali Wester is hitting .455 and Katie Marino has already sent five balls out of the park.  Can the UofL pitchers shut down the ND offense?

Lax Comes Home

After a two week trip to the southeast region of the US, the Louisville lacrosse team comes back home to the LLS where they will face Boston College.  That game will be starting right about the time the radio show concludes.

Trust me when I say the food truck is good.  The trick is keeping your food down while cheering on the high-scoring, fast-paced offense Scott Teeter has going on.  Even the hungry, stingy defense has drawn attention.

Record Breakers

The swim and dive team broke two school records at the NCAA Championships.  Rachael Bradford-Feldman made it into the record books by one hundredth of a second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.67.  The 400-medley relay team clocked in at 3:26.93.  The 200-free relay team finished with a time of 1:27.19, the fastest at the nationals for Louisville and falling a bit shy of a their record breaker on the day.

Another Day at the Office

Make sure to tune into the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour tomorrow morning at 11:00 on WCHQ (100.9 fm).  If you live outside the range of the station you can listen online for free or check out our new Facebook Live option on WCHQ's Facebook page.  Paulie and Worldwide will be in the studio with your truly.  Case is recovering from an injury so we send him best wishes.  In his stead we welcome my partner in crime from River City Cards, Mike Gilpatrick.  If you want to know anything about the Detroit Tigers or Louisville Baseball he is your man.  We have a full lineup ready to go so make sure to tune in!


Pick 'Em closes at noon

If you haven't submitted your picks for the NCAA Women's Tournament Pick "em" here at CARDINAL COUPLE....what are you waiting for? A full moon, good crops, the Easter bunny?

We have a $25 Panera Card for da winnah! $15 Cracker Barrel card for second-best. Jared Anderson verifying brackets while turning quarters into nickles and dimes! People from all over the continental United States entering. It is your manifest duty to grab a writing utensil, fill out a bracket and send it to us. We have dozens of chimps sitting up in the Bracket Central suite with nothing to do but ride Bill the Goat and Frank the Mule around the offices and play jarts!

You better have something in the comments section by noon today or I'm telling Mom!

Paulie 

Happy Friday and Go Cards, especially women's basketball!

Jared

Louisville women's basketball crushes Toledo 90-55 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

THE WEDNESDAY JARED ANDERSON RECAP

Coach Walz and ref Kevin Dillard discuss favorite
Christmas selections. 

The word is out. Christmas music is OK to be played this time of year. So says Louisville WBB head coach Jeff Walz. 

Are you Team Walz on this? I am! Let me know in this comments section when you think it is acceptable to start listening to Christmas music. 

There was plenty to joke around and be joyful about in the Cards 90-55 rout of Toledo last night in the KFC YUM! Center.  UofL improves to 3-0 and prepares to host Michigan Thursday night in semifinal action of the preseason WNIT Tournament. Louisville, Michigan, Oregon and Texas A&M are all still undefeated in the brackets. 

I told Paul at halftime Louisville would score over 80 but fail to reach 90. Paulie assured me that 90 would be reached. A bunch of free throws at the end of the game and a jumper from Dana Evans secured Paulie's boast. 

The Cards outscored the Rockets in three of the quarters and tied them in the third. Overall, the stat sheet showed Louisville domination, but that wasn't necessarily the case. The first half started slow for the Cards. Seven of their first nine points came from the free throw line. Louisville made nine straight free throws to start the contest and ended up shooting 25-31 from the charity stripe for 80.65%. Quite impressive. As Coach pointed out to Paulie, on three of the misses, the Cards regained possession and converted on a layup and two three-pointers. According to the Walzian theory of revised free throw configuration, that would give the Cards a 28-31 success rate on free throw sequencing.
Paulie seemed to "get the math". How about you? 

The rest of the offense was slow to get going.  Except for Asia Durr, who scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half. The defense didn't look great either -- Toledo finding ways to score easy baskets on surprisingly wide open shots. The Cards held a 20-14 advantage after the first quarter and led 43-25 at the half. The second half started slow but got better as free throws helped skew the final quarter's state some -- but the Cards managed to take control and maintain possession well. 

Coach Walz called the overall performance sloppy after seeing Louisville's 17 turnovers. This team plays an up tempo offense and likes to push it on transition. An offensive style such as this is bound to see some miscues but 17 "giveups" is a bit too much. Walz said he expects to see 10-12 a game but tonight's number was unacceptable. 

Myisha Hines-Allen and Jazmine Jones had impressive efforts with 17 points and 10 rebounds each. Myisha pointed out in the post-game presser that she has four assists, one more than Jazz. Asia "Durr-ific" was the only other Card to crack double figure scoring with 14 points. She made a trio of threes tonight to improve her season total to 13 on the year. Averaging just over four per game will definitely get this ACC Preseason Player of the Year in triple digits for the season again. 

J-A-R-E-D Report

We've seen the F-R-E-D and C-A-S-E reports this year and Paulie challenged me to create my own report -- so buckle up and hang on for a wild ride. 

Jared Leto

J - Jump shots: Louisville shot 30-62 (48.38%) and 5-15 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. The first half, however was just 9-32 (28.13%) from the floor. It got better in the final half but I can only give a lowercase "j"

A - Assists: 18 assists for the Cards. They shared the wealth among each other Tuesday night. One play that showcases this was when Myisha (who now goes by Du-Blay -- for her double-double prowess) was driving along the baseline for a layup but found stellar junior Arica Carter for a wide-open three. The Cards earn a capital "A" here. 

R - Rebounds. Louisville out-rebounded the Rockets by 30. 57-27. UofL had 19 offensive boards and 38 defensive grabs. Those 19  offensive rebounds led to 25 second chance points. Capital "R" no doubt about it. 

E - Efficiency/Effort. 11 players saw action for Louisville tonight and all played double-digit minutes. They spent their court-time hustling up and down the court. By the end of the contest they even employed a suffocating defense. Struggling to make jump shots and layups, the Cards strongly relied on free throws to create points. The 25 made "free ones" are enough to earn them a capital "E". 

Is Paulie napping or battling Spellcheck? 

D - Defense. Defense is best defined as being able to adjust to your opponents offense. Walz's Warriors did that for the most part, but there were times when it faltered and Toledo made the connection to a wide-open player. Toledo had 20 points in the paint. Granted, UofL had 44, but the paint should be one of the toughest places to score with the multiple bodies in there and flailing arms. Yes, the Cards held Toledo to 55 points but Toledo isn't a top-25 squad. You can use the excuse that Walz rotated a lot of players in and out and went with some combination that you might not normally see -- as well as getting the freshmen 40 of the 200 available minutes. However, I want to see a stingier defense. I'll give them a lowercase "d" .

THE INAUGURAL JARED REPORT:  j-A-R-E-d. Not too shabby at all. Maybe Paulie will provide a FRED report later today in the comments section. 

Attendance last night was disappointing. Announced at 5444, that might be accurate if you include media, pep band, cheerleaders, security, concession stand employees and the stat crew but there were way too many seats empty Tuesday night. 

Coach was seemingly displeased with the turnout as was I. He has every right to be. This is the #5 team in the nation. It is one of the top women's basketball programs in the nation. The competition is tough but attendance numbers have been decreasing over the years. The fans that were there Tuesday night get a capital "A" from me but more people need to get their butts in the seats. Is it time for Coach to "buy a round of beer or soft drinks" for attendees again? 

Yes, there were four top 25 teams on TV last night in MBB. That shouldn't be a reason for the KFC YUM! to be more than 3/4th empty, though. 


OTHER STUFF

Congratulations to Volleyball for finally receiving some recognition. They are in the "receiving votes" category in the national polls. Not a top 25 ranking, but it's a start. They have a chance to prove themselves more in an ACC first-place showdown Friday night at Cardinal Arena. Join them. 

Softball announced the signing of five newcomers for the 2018-19 season. Two are from Kentucky. I'm not a big fan of the recruitment news and excitement for any sport -- for fear of the highly anticipated players disappointing me or me not giving the lesser-recognized recruits attention or credit. Softball head coach Sandy Pearsall seems thrilled about the signing of all five. ( Has anyone else noticed the striking resemblance between her and asst. strength and conditioning coach Beth Burns?)  Of course, we still have the 2017-18 season to focus on and cheer for comong up very soon. 

Rowing's fall schedule concluded over the weekend and the Stroke Girls had a successful outing in the Rivanna Romp. The varsity eight grabbed second place.  

Referring back to my Christmas music mention, I know we don't all agree that Christmas music should start in November....even though Coah Walz is probably humming "Let It Go" from Frozen today.  I do know that we all agree that November is donation month at CARDINAL COUPLE. The donations so far have been generous and outstanding. We cannot thank our donors enough for the money we've received so far. Since we're halfway through the month, can we double the current numbers? 

JARED ANDERSON

POST GAME WALZ:  WALZ DISCUSSES TOLEDO WIN AND CHRISTMAS MUSIC

POST GAME MYISHA AND ASIA:  DOO-BLAY AND 50 PIECE DISCUSS THE WIN AND NICKNAMES

( Not only did Jared write today's article, but he also took the basketball photos you see today. A double-double for him, also. Maybe we should start calling him DOO-BLAY along with MyZilla)

TOMORROW: Paulie is travelling to Mercer County today to interview future Card Seygan Robins and head coach Chris Souder. Hear it and read it here tomorrow. 

Paulie

Christmahanakwanzika Wishes -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

Christmahanakwanzika Wish Lists

It's that time again, when we write down our Christmahanakwanzika Wish List for various UofL Women's Sports teams.

Hey, last year I asked for a press box for Lacrosse and now we've got a spiffy new structure next to the railroad track beside Little Yum, so wishes do come true sometimes.

Volleyball

A sweet 16 (or beyond) appearance.  I've been to every UofL NCAA tournament volleyball in person since 2008, I believe, and I've never been to a volleyball sweet 16 (well, other than when it was hosted at the KFC Yum! Center, but I'm not counting that because UofL wasn't playing in it).  The program narrowly missed it this year, and I hope next year to see an even more improved team and further success in tournament play.

A 6-2 offense.  I've heard talk that this is being considered for next year.  6-2 offenses are, in my opinion, a lot of fun to watch.  We've got 3 good setters on the roster in Kali Eaken, Lindsey Palmer, and Morgan Miller.  When this was first mentioned to me, I was thinking Kali Eaken and Morgan Miller as the two setters, but a few days ago, I realized that Lindsey Palmer could have a major role as a setter in a 6-2.  We haven't seen Palmer running the offense as setter because, at 5'8", she's not a very effective blocker and with a traditional 5-1 offense, the setter needs to be able to block when they're in the front row.  With a 6-2, however, the setter is always playing out of the back row, so they don't need to be able to block.  We lose the setter dump that Katie George so loved, but that's a small price to pay for always having three attackers available in the front row.

Lacrosse

We've got a press box now, how about some concessions for the fans?  Or perhaps a permanent structure with a locker room for the visiting team.  Like Volleyball, a deeper run in the NCAA tournament beyond the second round would be great.

Tennis

For the both the men and women on this one.  More courts!  I've heard that this one might already be in the works as well.  It would likely take the form of adding more outdoor courts in front of the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center where the old soccer practice field is.  With the spiffy new Lynn Soccer Stadium, the practice field isn't really needed anymore, and the Tennis programs would benefit by being able to host full tournaments rather than just competitions against individual opponents.

Swimming and Diving

While it's not directly for the program, I wish for a successful Olympics in Rio for various current and former members of the Swimming and Diving squad.  This, also, is for both the men and the women.  We've talked a lot about Kelsi Worrell's success, but perhaps alumna Tanja Kyliannen could be representing her native Finland.  Joao de Lucca, for the men, will likely be representing Brazil and is a proud UofL alum.  On the current squad on the men's side, Sophomore Carlos Claverie could be making an appearance for Venezuela.

Basketball

I think our wish lists here probably all look a lot alike.

Let's call better rebounding a stocking stuffer as it has already improved considerably over the beginning of the season, but could still use some tightening up.

Lay-ups.

Lethargy-B-Gone for the defense.

Softball

Success in post-season play.  Ulmer recently got an upgrade, so there's not a whole lot to ask for from a facilities point of view.  Well, there are some things we could ask for, but that would be a bit greedy, so we'll skip those.

I'd like to see the UofL Softball team advance to a Super-Regional.  Softball hasn't had a great deal of NCAA tournament success in the past couple of years, not having won a game at all since the first game of the 2014 Regional against IPFW.  They have not advanced to a Super-Regional since I've been going to games at all.  Hopefully they'll do well enough that we would be hosting these events this spring, but if not, I'll certainly be looking to make an effort to road-trip for them.

I haven't put together lists for all of the women's sports teams, feel free to add some lists for other teams, or even add items for these teams in the comments.  I'd love to hear what you would like to see out of these programs. Our biggest wish of all, though...is that all our readers have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

-- JMcA

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Spring Volleyball, Softball, and Track and Field

(Laptop Down!  I'm pinch-writing for Paulie as his laptop has decided to call it quits.  So now is the time to give him a hard time in the comments, while he'll have a very difficult time responding from his phone.  Paulie hopes to be back in the driver's seat tomorrow.  Updates to come.)

Softball Takes Down the Seminoles

Two of the three games of this weekend's series in Softball against Florida State are being televised by ESPNU.  The Cards fielding probably made ESPNU regret not covering last night's game.

The score, 1-0 might make you think this one was a pitcher's duel, and there was some pretty good pitching, with Maryssa Becker going the full game in the circle for The Cards, but the real story of this game was the fielding.  From the speedster Jordan McNary running down a fly ball in left field; to Allison Szydlowski catching the strike-out pitch and picking off the runner trying to steal second; to Brittany Sims with a sliding catch at second, popping up, turning, and getting the throw to first; to Tiarra Sanabria with a very athletic jump to catch a hard hit ball that was headed to the right field fence, and getting the fly out; to Whitney Arion catching a one hop, stepping on second, and getting the throw over to 1st for a double play to end the game; this was a game with some spectacular fielding.  Florida State had their share of plays that made you say, "Wow" as well.

The fielding combined with generally good pitching contributed to the combined 16 runners left on the bases during the game, 9 of them for FSU, and 7 for UofL, making it hard to get strings of hits together.  Louisville was helped out by a couple of errors by FSU at critical times, including one that got the only scorer of the game, Hailey Smith, on base.  A pair of fielder's choice plays advanced her to third, and a solid bouncer out to center by Brittany Sims brought her home.

The series continues this evening at 7 at Ulmer Stadium.  This one will be on ESPNU.  While all of the normal camera setup will be there, the commentators and play-by-play will be done out of Connecticut from the video feeds, so come out to Ulmer to get the full experience, or watch @CardCoupleRadio for my live tweeting to help fill in what they're not getting.

Volleyball Beats The Illini

Illinois came to town for a spring match in volleyball at Cardinal Arena on campus and ran into a rejuvenated Cardinal Wide-net squad.

In front of a crowd of around 700, many of which were club volleyballers in town for a huge Junior Volleyball Association (JVA) tournament at The Fairgrounds, the UofL Volleyball squad beat Illinois 3-1.  The 3:30 start time was picked to fit into the afternoon break between sessions of the JVA tournament.

During the regular season play in the fall, defense had been the real bugaboo for this Cards team with defensive coverage being lacking, and passing and digging being erratic and frequently off-target.  For the most part, those woes were gone, with the passing being crisp and on-target and no major openings being exploited by a good Illinois team, a team that ended the fall season ranked 11th.  Impressively, the defensive revival occurred with a short-handed defense on the Cards squad.  Courtney Robison, the graduating senior who played at DS was not playing with the team.  Gabbie Wiley, who came on in the late season and surprised nearly everyone with her excellent play in the Libero position after Roxanne McVey came down with mono, was also not present as she was back home attending a funeral.  That left the defense mostly consisting of Roxanne McVey playing Libero, and full rotation play from Maya McClendon, Janelle Jenkins, and Erin Fairs.  We did see some time at Defensive Specialist by Eleni Georgiafandis, who acquitted herself quite well, with several good digs and critical passes.

On offense, the freshmen middle hitting duo dynamos of Tess Clark and Maggie DeJong continued to show why they quickly became some of the favorite players of the Cards fans in the fall.  The Cards haven't had a great deal of blocking since Gwen Rucker and Lola Arslanbekova graduated a couple of years ago, but the middles, combined with the do-everything Katie George and the all-arounds mentioned above, put some ferocious blocks on a quite tall and powerful Illinois team.

Perhaps the most clutch performance of the afternoon came from the PA announcer, though.  Yours truly got pressed into service at the last minute to announce the game, and I must say, I may have found my new calling.  In all seriousness, though, while I think I did an acceptable job, Sean Moth's job is not in any sort of jeopardy.

The Volleyball team finishes spring play this afternoon at 3:30 against in-state rival Kentucky.  This one is again at Cardinal Arena, and admission is free.

Speaking of Gwen and Lola...

The pair have been playing professional volleyball on the same team for Targoviste in Romania.  They have reached the championships of their league.  They will have matches on the 16th, 17th and 25th for the championship series.

Shot Put Victory by One of Our Favorites

A quick congratulations to Emmonnie Henderson in winning the shot put at the ACC/Big Ten Track and Field Challenge at Cardinal Park with a throw of 51' 6 1/4".  E also placed second in the discus by hurling it 171' 4".

Also winning in T&F was Maggie Gilbertson in the High Jump, clearing 5' 5 3/4" 

JMcA/Worldwide/PA Announce Extraordinaire

Monday Cardinal Couple -- Sandy's Laundry Day

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


(Staff Columnist Sandy Walker appears a daily earlier than normal this week, due to some creative scheduling to fit Cardinal Women's Basketball and her column today focuses on several of the team's schedules as well.)

Today’s Focus Is On Many Small But Important Laundry Loads.

Now that I am back from my travels to New Orleans and back I find that I had so much laundry that it has taken awhile to sort through it all which includes a picture of the Cardinal Faithful at the top of the column. LIC4!

                                                         BASKETBALL

Formula for a Louisville Win at Providence  

On a night when Sara Hammond was not having her best game others stepped up to create such a balanced attack that Providence could not shut Louisville down by focusing on only one.  Note: Shoni Schimmel with 17 Bria Smith scored 17 Nita Slaughter 12 and Monique Reid 11.

                               University of Connecticut ahead

Be sure to check the site tomorrow for Quentin and Paul’s planned in depth pre-game report regarding Tuesday’s away game at Hartford against UConn.   It is reported to be available on the CBS Sports Network at 9 PM.

                                               Bearcats to visit the KFC YUM! Center

We have to wait until this Friday to again see the basketball women in person.  They will be playing Cincinnati at the home beginning at 7:00.   The fans have been great with almost 10,000 at last mid-week week’s game against Rutgers but it is time for us to step it up.  This week the holidays are behind us and the game is not on a weekday night so this is the time for Louisville to challenge Tennessee for the #1 school for fan attendance.

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

GOLF

UCF CHALLENGE

Women’s Golf is gearing up for a February 10-12 winter challenge located in Sorrento, FL. while later  in the month they will strain themselves to spent time in Miami Lakes, FL so they can participate in the Sir Pizza Challenge.  A trip to Hawaii follows in March.   Congratulations to the team’s scheduler!  I am sure their future recruits are taking note and just in case they are I found a woman’s golf recruiting form at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-golf/spec-rel/lou-w-golf-recruit-form.html.

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

LACROSSE

The Lacrosse team’s scheduler should confer with the golf team’s person  for instead of suffering through Florida and Hawaii  like their fellow Louisville athletes, instead, in less than a month, they begin their schedule here at the U of L LaCrosse Stadium on Feb. 10^th, 16^th and 23 against Canisius, Ohio State then Old Dominion.  Coach Kellie Young enters her 6^th season as head coach.

(Editor's note)

Lacrosse is a sport that several of us here at CARDINAL COUPLE haved vowed to learn more about this season. Our current plans are to send Sandy to a lacrosse boot camp and have her go through the day-to-day practices and activities that the players in training participate in. We'll probably have Timmy the Intern and a EMS staffer or two accompany her. In our never-ending quest to provide you the best in Louisville womens' athletics, we feel this is a novel idea and ground breaking.

We just haven't told her about it yet...


http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-lacros/mtt/young_kellie00.htmlCoach.

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

TRACK

Fortunately for the track team, indoor arenas not only exist but are scheduled for their January 25-26 participation in the IU Relays being held at Bloomington, Indiana and in the Rod McCravy Memorial being held at Lexington, KY.  Without the indoor arenas, imagine the hurdlers in full snow bunny outfits where all of the hurdles are knocked over by their bunny feet shoes.  Instead, they have posted three wins and hit 18 Big East qualifying marks on the final day of the Kentucky Invitational, which was last Saturday.   Details of the meet are available at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-track/recaps/011213aaa.html.

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

TENNIS

Xavier and Morehead State arrive in Louisville for a match at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center this Sunday, January 20 with Southern Illinois and Miami of Ohio following on Saturday the 26^th.  They keep a pretty busy schedule through February with the Big East Championships set for Mid-April.   You can check out their complete schedule at http://www.gocards.com/sports/w-tennis/sched/lou-w-tennis-sched.html.  They go into this season for “the first time in program history”, with two players ranked in the top 100 going into the dual match season.   Those players are Junior Rebecca Shine and junior teammate Julia Fellerhoff ranked No. 84 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

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

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Our swim and diving team has only 4 events left before the Feb 27 Big East Championships at Indianapolis.  They swept visiting BIG EAST rival Cincinnati Saturday afternoon at the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The Cardinal men won 184-100 and the Cardinal women won 188-104.  All but 1 of the upcoming matches are away starting in Dallas but on the January 26^th they will be in Lexington Kentucky before a final match against Indiana is held at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on February 1.

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

SOFTBALL

The softball team scheduler seems to have split allegiances with that of the golf and Lacrosse teams folks.   They open the season Feb 8th. in Las Vegas and will then spend time in Jacksonville, Florida for games on the 15^th, 16 and 17^th.   The women will play Stony Brook, Bethune Cookman, Ohio State, Jacksonville, and again against Stony Brook.  They next show a split decision of scheduling with games at Ulmer Stadium on February 22, 23 and 24 in the Cardinal Classic.

Feburary in Las Vegas, Jacksonville or Louisville can be hit or miss on the weather. Here's hoping for blue skies and sunny days for Sandy Pearsall's squad. 

didyouknowthatPearsallistheonlyheadsoftballcoachinthehistoryoflouisvillesoftball?thecalifonianativeplayedcollegeballatoregonstaeandstillthrowsbattingpractice