Louisville women's basketball -- Showdown in South Bend tonight -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TOP TEN BATTLE BETWEEN CARDS AND IRISH

( Sorry for today's late post....Super Bowl sluggishness. What a game, though!) 

If you are a Louisville basketball fan, tonight's a night to reserve your spot on the couch, have the popcorn, beverages and whatever lucky charm or article of clothing you reserve for the big ones at the ready and prepare for battle. The Cards take over ESPN on Big Monday in two huge road matches against ACC foes.



Not only do the men face a Virginia squad that has had their number lately in Charlottesville (ESPN)...but Jeff Walz's women's squad is on the docket and travels to South Bend for a top ten match up against Muffet McGraw's Notre Dame team. (ESPN 2). Unfortunately, both are at 7 p.m...so split screens and mutiple viewing devices will come into play. 

Louisville has won five out of their last six games and the Irish are on a five-game winning streak.  The Irish are #7 or #8...depending on which poll service you want to consider and the Cards are #9 or #7. Both have 20+ wins on the season. Both have much to gain (or lose) with a win (or loss) tonight. 

Muffet McGraw realizes the importance: 

" It's a huge game for both teams. It's certainly a game where we have to be really ready because they have so many weapons. They have excellent post play. This is going to be a battle."  

A lot of that post play will be hinged on whether Myisha Hines-Allen can go for the Cards. As of this writing, it's a matter of seeing how it goes in warm-ups and how she feels. Thanks for all the e-mails and texts about her status! 

The Irish can come at you from a lot of directions. Brianna Turner is the leading scorer in a balanced attack. The 6'3" junior forward averages 14.8 ppg and also leads with 7.5 rpg. Sophomore guard Arike Ogunbowale produces 14.7 a contest. One cannot overlook 5'11" sophomore guard Marina Mabrey and her 13.5 ppg. 5'8" senior guard Lindsey Allen leads with 185 assists and also averages 5.5 steals a contest. Kathryn Westbeld had 15 points in the last contest...vs. Virginia Tech. Freshmen Erin Boley and Jackie Young come off the bench to provide valuable contributions to the Fighting Irish. 

Where do you point the hose to start putting out the fire? This "magnificent seven" has been largely responsible for the Irish being in the top ten nationally in field goal%, 3-point field goal %, assist per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.

At 21-3 overall and 9-1 in the ACC..the Irish are tied atop the standing but they have had a few tough tests so far. Their ACC lost came to NC State 70-62 in Raleigh. Boston College got within 11 of them when UND visited them. Duke came into South Bend and narrowly lost 62-58. Visiting Virginia fell 82-74 to Muffet's gang. UConn won the early season match-up in the Purcell Pavilion 72-61 and the Irish traveled to Knoxville and fell to the Vols 71-69.  

The Cards are 4-12 in the series with Notre Dame and have lost the last nine meetings. Last year in the KFC YUM! Center the Cards led 35-30 at the half but ended up on the short end of a 66-61 final score. 

To win tonight in South Bend, the Cards must take care of a few things that Walz has been preaching all season. Consistency. Playing for 40 minutes. Making layups. Making free throws. Recognizing who has the hot hand and avoiding slow starts to the quarters are all areas UofL will need to control and manage if they want to leave South Bend with a well-earned
"W" in the luggage. 

It should be a great one to watch and we'll be back tonight with the recap. 


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TOP RANKED MBB TRAVELS TO VIRGINIA

Another top 10 contest on the guys side takes place tonight also with Pitino's players facing Tony Bennett and the Cavs. If you listened to our Saturday morning broadcast of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR...you got some valuable insight from Case Hoskins on what the Cards would need to do to dismantle the Wahoos. Louisville MBB has been on fire lately and with all the top 10 losses over the weekend and the Cards huge win...Louisville could move up to as high as #3 in the nation. 

Virginia has been a nemesis. Can the Cards find a way to win this one tonight? 



Especially with the late news that Deng Adel and Mangok Mathiang will sit tonight because of a Saturday night curfew rules violation. 

Gonna be one hard row to plow without them, Q and Hicks...



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PAULIE PICKS GO KERPLUNK

Sunday ACC WBB offered a few surprises (at least to me) in the five game schedule. I went 3-2 in the selections. I did hit the Duke win at Virginia, Syracuse over Boston College and Wake Forest against Pitt...but was unsuccessful in choosing UNC against Clemson (nice win Tigers!) and Virginia Tech stumbled against Georgia Tech. 

Hopefully FSU and UofL can salvage a less than stellar week for your fearless prognosticator.  

ACC. Anything Can Culminate. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Lacrosse takes season opener 19-8 over Vermont -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CONTI LEADS CARDS WITH SIX GOALS

One of the questions about the #18 Lax Cards going into the season was where was the scoring going to come from beside seniors Hannah Koloski and Heidi Smith? And, although the "H & H" girls did their part with three goals each...it was a pair of talented sophomores who found the most 'net' success in McKayla Conti and Meghan Siverson.

The duo combined for 11 goals (Conti six and Siverson five) in Louisville's convincing 19-8 win over un-ranked Vermont.

Conti, a midfielder/attack specialist from Ocean Township, NJ, got things brewing for the Cards early with the first score of the season just 72 seconds into the contest. Koloski, from Lakeville, MN followed that up with a goal at the 27:37 mark and it looked like the Cards were off to a furious start. 

Vermont wasn't ready to climb back on the bus and head for Burlington, though. They countered with four straight goals over the next eight minutes...three of them from another sophomore on the pitch...Jenna James...and Louisville head coach Kellie Young decided to use a timeout with 19 minutes left in the half to talk things over. Young on the time-out: 

"To be honest, it was a pretty calm timeout. It usually would be a time to light this team up but I don't think they needed that. We just needed to settle in. Vermont was using a consistent pattern and we needed to understand that pattern and make the necessary adjustment." 

The adjustment worked.

Louisville shut down the Catamounts offensively and the Cards scored the final six goals of the half...two from Conti, three from Siverson and one by another sophomore in Elsie Koehl and took a 8-4 advantage into halftime. 

Smith kept the Cardinal scoring spree going with an unassisted goal just 12 seconds into second half play. Vermont threw one last challenge into the LouLax 
squad with a three-goal counter...two from Alison Bolt...and the Cardinal lead had been trimmed to 9-7 just five minutes into final half action. 

Once again, the Cards would stiffen up the defense...limiting the America East Conference visitors to just one score the rest of the way. UofL scored eight times in the final ten minutes to put the contest away...Conti getting three in a row and Siverson tossing in the final for the 19-8 win. Freshman Ashley Lynch also picked up the first goal of her career in the second session. 

Brittany Read had six saves in goal for the Cards and allowed all eight Catamount scores. She wasn't as busy as her net counterpart on the other end of the fiedl...the Cards put up 51 shots, compared to Vermont's 18...and Vermont goalkeeper Maddy Kuras allowed 19 goals and had 20 saves. 

The Cards travel to Marquette for their next game...facing the Golden Eagles Friday at 3 p.m.


A Cardinal squad that looks to have a ton of attackers and scoring options. An impressive group of sophomores starting to reap the benefits of working hard and learning as understudy freshmen. And, an opening win on a day where two new names...a couple of Jersey girls (Siverson is from Morristown, NJ)  popped into the Cardinal Lacrosse vocabulary for the fans.

And...the name Conti in Louisville now appears to have an additional description besides a coffee roaster. Someone in Louisville marketing/advertising needs to hop on that pronto, right? 

Photos by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal


QUOTES AND COMMENTS

I caught up with McKayla and Coach Kellie after the game for these comments on the victory. 

MCKAYLA CONTI ON THE VICTORY


COACH KELLIE YOUNG AFTER THE 19-8 WIN


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PAULIE PICKS

Even though Louisville women's basketball doesn't play until Monday night...along with Notre Dame, Miami and Florida State...the rest of the conference isn't taking Sunday off. Let's look at the Sunday contests first and then the Monday games. 

Duke heads north to Wahooland facing a Virginia squad that has been on again and off in their last five games. The "off" button gets selected today for UVA against a Duke squad ensconced in the five-way tie for third in the ACC. DUKE 

Syracuse goes east...something they don't do so very often in ACC play to climb the Chestnut Hill and face Boston College. Q has his oranges in that traffic jam for third-place and should beat Baldwin's bunch in Boston. SYRACUSE

North Carolina takes a southern sojourn to the Tigers den to face a Clemson squad that got dumped by Duke last time out. Things don't get any easier for the felines as they get it stuck to them by the TarHeels. NORTH CAROLINA

In a "tech"nical battle, the Virginia version heads to Georgia to roll with the Ramblin' Wreck. The Hokies haven't been able to find the formula recently but they solve the equation today against Georgia Tech. VIRGINA TECH.

Wake Forest defends the trees against a prowling pack of Panthers in Winston-Salem. A tough call here...but Pittsburgh hasn't won an away game in ACC play yet this year and it's not going to happen today for them. WAKE FOREST

On Monday...

A top-20 battle between the Florida entries in the ACC. Miami heads north to face Florida State looking to topple the tribe. These Noles aren't any wooden Indians and should take another scalp by beating Miami. FLORIDA STATE.

The Cardinals fly north to battle the Irish in a ESPN2 game. Notre Dame has had a few scares this season and, in my upset special, the Birdies take the fight out of the Fighting Irish and get the win in South Bend.  LOUISVILLE.


ON THE ELECTRIC RADIO AND LAPTOP

We gathered in the basement on a hill Saturday for the weekly edition of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR and had a lively time discussing Cardinal men's and women's hoops, lacrosse, Spring Sports Media Day and other topics of possible interest. A fun show where Case outlined how Louisville MBB would defeat Boston College (and they did convincingly) and WorldWide revealed his plans for going to Cincinnati and trying out for the baseball Reds. 

OK, he's going for a test-drive on a new vehicle...not a quest to take over third-base...but the car conversations were inter-spiced with some great audio and observations. You can hear the replay at the link below: 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 2-4-17

Have a GREAT Super Bowl Sunday and we'll be back Monday to preview the Cards WBB squad's contest against Notre Dame. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Lacrosse opens season against Vermont -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

#18 LAX CARDS START 2017 CAMPAIGN AGAINST VERMONT AT 1 P.M. TODAY

Leading scorer Koloski back for UofL

The UofL Lacrosse team takes to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium pitch today for a 1 p.m. match against northern invader Vermont University. With highs expected to rise to the mid-40's...the Cards begin their 2017 season with a wealth of new faces and a return of a few familiar ones. 

Louisville's leading scorer from 2016 Hannah Koloski is back for her senior season. The Lakeville, MN native had 43 goals for the Cards last year. She'll receive help from returnees Heidi Smith, Jillian Balog, Julia Wood and Madison Hoover...plus a strong freshman attack class.  Louisville also gets defenders Stephanie McNamara, Emily Howell and goalkeeper Brittany Read back from 2016...Read is fully recovered from a season-ending knee injury and McNamara a member of the All-ACC squad. 

The Cards finished 12-6 last season...advancing to the NCAA Tournament but... hindered by the loss of Read...bowed out in the first round against Northwestern. The Cards raced out to a 12-1 start to the 2016 campaign but lost their final five after losing Read. 
Word is from the Cardinal Lacrosse crew is that Read is fully recovered from the ACL injury and eager to get back out between the pipes and defend the net. 

The Cards will look to a talented freshman class and the returnees from 2016 to replace a couple of the greatest LAX players in UofL history in Kaylin Morissette and Cortnee Daley. Kelli Gerding has also graduated...but head Coach Kellie Young is hopeful and optimistic about the new and returning talent on the roster...and is pleased with the competition for the openings in the lineup. 

Vermont faces the Cards for the first time and went 6-10 in 2016. The Catamounts return 27 letter-winners and their leading scorer Alex Bernier.

We'll be in attendance for the contest and will have a full report on the action in Sunday's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE...plus a preview on today's THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR today at 11 a.m. 


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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR IS ON THE AIR

We have a great show lined up for you today on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. Reviews and previews of Lacrosse, women's and men's basketball and clips from the Spring Sports Media Day. 

We'll see how Case is prepping for his assignment of learning how to row and Worldwide will fill you in on all the UofL athletic activities coming up in the next seven days. We'll see what technical glitches and malfunctions Monk and Punkin have lined up for us in the basement on a hill and maybe even get in a little curling practice. 

It's live radio and that explains a lot. Join us at www.crescenthillradio.com this morning at 11 a.m. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- Heartbreaker. Cards fall 72-70 in overtime -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SPENCER'S BUZZER BEATER DOWNS CARDS

Miah Spencer hit a last-second jumper at the end of overtime to lead NC State past Louisville 72-70 on Thursday night at the KFC YUM! Center. 

The Cards led 24-10 after the first period...hitting four threes...but managed to score only seven points over the next 10 minutes and saw that lead drop to 31-28 by halftime. More poor shooting in the third and Louisville found themselves trailing 52-45 going into the fourth. 

Louisville tied the contest at 59-59 with two Asia Durr free throws and once again at 61-61 with six seconds remaining on two more Durr free throws to force the extra session. 

The Cards took an early lead in the extra session, the contest went back and forth but Louisville gave the ball back to NC State with 13 seconds on the clock on a shot-clock violation with the score knotted at 70-70.

After a time out, NC State in-bounded the ball and Spencer's desperation jumper at the buzzer went off the backboard, all around the rim and finally through the hoop for the win. 72-70. A heartbreaking loss for the Cards. 

Durr finished with 22 to lead Louisville...11 of those in the fourth quarter and four more in overtime. Mariya Moore ended with 20 and Briahanna Jackson added 11 to close out the Cards double-figure scorers. 

Myisha Hines-Allen did not play in the contest because of an unspecified knee injury. 

A back-and-forth exciting game that either team could have won. Sometimes, you just get beat on the final shot. Louisville was out-scored 40-20 in the paint. A telling stat. 


32.4% from the floor isn't going to win you many games...especially when your opponent goes for 50%. Credit to Moore and Durr for carrying the load and Briahanna Jackson's all-over-the-court hustle. Cortnee Walton and 11 rebounds. Louisville out-scored 40-20 in the paint. An exciting...but ultimately disappointing game. 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Raider great wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff

Free Throws. The Cards were 19-25 from the charity stripe and that's 76% which gets them the capital "F". Durr sank 10-12 and Moore went 6-8. 

Rebounding. The Cards were out-rebounded 42-40. The margin was 39-31 at the end of regulation. Despite Cortnee Walton's 11, we can't award a letter here.

Effort/Execution. The Cards tried, no doubt about it, but as good as those first 10 minutes were...the next 20 were abysmal. A strong finish for UofL and creating overtime will get them a small case "e". 

Defense. NC State shot 50% and, as mentioned, won the points-in-the-paint battle in a big way. Despite the Cards creating 15 turnovers and getting seven steals...the bottom line is that they lost. No letter awarded when you lose. 

FINAL FRED COUNT:  F-_-e-_


WHAT WE LIKED

A nice start. The Cards shredded the NC State zone in the first quarter with four threes and played wonderful defense...holding the Wolfpack to no buckets in the final 7:03 of the initial period. 

Fighting back. Louisville overcame a seven point deficit in the final three minutes to force overtime. Backs against the wall...they made free throws and held NC State to two points in the final 180 seconds. 

Briahanna Jackson. Getting knocked to the floor constantly and elbowed to the face...the diminutive dynamo registered 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes. Guts. 


WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE

No Myisha. You play with what you have available and Walz tried several options in her place. None of them really stepped forward and filled in sufficiently for her. Get well, MHA. 

Consistency. Two good quarters and two not-so-good quarters. Not the trappings of an elite team. Way too lenient in allowing NC State to score inside and letting a huge lead turn into a ten-point deficit at one point in the game. 


SO...

I had an article written and ready to post and then deleted it. We promote the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports here and I felt my initial take wasn't in that vein. This came down to a buzzer beater. A hard way to lose. The Cards competed, fell short and take a loss to a team that has already defeated Duke, Notre Dame and Florida State. It's hard for me to write an article after a UofL loss. Even harder when it comes in the fashion that it did Thursday night. 

Give the winners credit. They won on the road in the ACC against another top-ten opponent. On a night where Super Heroes were the fan theme and promotion...Mighty Mouse Miah stepped up and saved the day for the visitors. 


THEY SAID IT

ASIA DURR POSTGAME COMMENTS


JEFF WALZ POSTGAME COMMENTS

NC ST WES MOORE AND MIAH SPENCER POSTGAME


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AROUND THE ACC

Florida State had no trouble with the Boston College Eagles...rolling to a 85-53 win in Beantown. They remain tied for the conference lead with a 9-1 ACC record and go to 21-2 for the season.

Notre Dame travelled to Virginia Tech and left with a 76-59 triumph over the Hokies. They share the top of the conference standings with FSU at 9-1 and are now 21-3 after two dozen outings. 

Duke held court at Cameron against the Clemson Tigers and dealt the felines a 65-32 drubbing. They move into a third-place tie with three other teams with a 7-3 ACC record and go to 19-4 on the season. 

Syracuse hosted the Pitt Panthers in the Carrier Dome and romped to a 93-65 victory. They join the logjam for third at 7-3 and improve to 16-7 for the year. 

Virginia snuck by Georgia Tech 65-64 in Charlottesville. With the win they go to 4-5 in conference play and 15-7 overall .

Miami brought a Hurricane force to Winston-Salem and toppled the Wake Forest trees 79-56. They sit at 6-4 in the ACC and 17-5 overall.

PAULIE'S PICKS went 6-1 Thursday...the only blemish being Louisville's loss to NC State. The season stats are 57 wins and 13 losses...good for 81.4% for the year.  


paulie
xxxxx







paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Women's Basketball -- Cards, Wolfpack tangle tonight...THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TOP 20 BATTLE TONIGHT AT KFC YUM! CENTER 

The weather may have taken a downturn in the River City but the KFC YUM! Center should be blazing tonight when the #19 NC State Wolfpack WBB squad (16-6, 6-3) comes to town to face the Louisville Cardinals at 7 p.m. The Cards go into the Groundhog Day contest hoping to avoid their shadow and bring on six weeks of excellent basketball...which would take them into the NCAA Tournament. 

It's the first time the Cards have been on the Denny Crum Court since a January 18th. romp over Georgia Tech. They won all three on the road trip that took them to USF, Clemson and Pittsburgh...improving their record to 20-4 overall and 7-2 in conference...which has them in third place behind Notre Dame and Florida State. 

Louisville will look to the hot-hand of Mariya Moore...who had 20 points against the Panthers on Sunday, including five three-pointers. Asia Durr caught fire late and added 13 points for the Cards...who forced 21 turnovers that led to 21 points. Louisville connected for 10 treys in the contest...which equaled their season high in behind-the-arc marksmanship. 

NC State enters as winners of three out of their last four. The Wolfpack had knocked off Duke, Clemson and Pitt at home before travelling to Chapel Hill, NC and falling to North Carolina 83-70 Sunday. The Wolfpack ran into a hot-shooting TarHeel bunch that converted for 52.7% of their shots and went 14-24 from three-point range. UNC also scored 27 fastbreak points. 

Dominique Wilson totalled 18 points for NC State in the loss. She averages 11.3 per game for Wes Moore's squad. Miah Spencer added 15 points and six assists. Spencer leads NC State with 107 assists on the season. Season leading scorer Chelsea Nelson (11.6) and Jennifer Mathurin had double-doubles in the contest with 13 and 11 points and 10 rebounds each.  NC State also has four players (Mathurin, Wilson, Aislinn Konig and Ashley Williams who have bucketed at least 30 threes this season.

The balanced NC State attack has helped them pull a couple of what must be considered upsets this season. In addition to beating Duke, the Raleigh, NC school also has wins over Notre Dame and at Florida State....those wins for the Wolfpack being the only ACC losses that the Irish and Seminoles have had in conference play. UConn is the only other team this year that has wins over both Florida State and Notre Dame. 

Walz's defense will get a tough test tonight trying to slow down the multi-faceted and effective Pack attack. In addition, NC State is #23 in the nation in scoring defense and #26 in field goal percentage defense...so the Cards will have to work hard and make good decisions to put points on the KFC YUM! scoreboard. 

Here's hoping both Cardinal Joneses have big nights.

Last year's match-up was a wild, high scoring affair in the Holiday Gymnasium. The Cards overcame NC State's 14-point halftime lead to win 92-90. Louisville put up 35 points in the final quarter to get the win in a game where Moore poured in 31 points and hit her final four free throws to tie and then win the game for Louisville...who registered their 12th consecutive win of the season with the victory. Both teams shot over 50% in the donnybrook and Durr went 5-5 from trifecta land...part of her 21 points. Wilson had 31 points in the loss for NC State...getting 15 of them from the charity stripe.  

A total of six players fouled out in the contest (NC State 4,  UofL 2) and 57 total fouls were called by the whistle-happy refereeing crew of Bob Enterline, Pualani Spurlock and Dawn Marsh. No offense intended, but here's hoping the three don't get invited back for a repeat performance this year....

It should be a good one tonight down by the Ohio River. "Dandy" Don Russell and Sara White will have the call on the ACC Network Extra. Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson will handle the radio duties on Cards Radio 790 AM WKRD.  

Jeff Walz wants a big crowd in the seats for this one...so fire up the SUV, pick up the neighbors and friends and come out for the Super-Heroes Night themed evening. Let's hope Myisha, Mariya and Asia come as Superwoman, Bat-Girl and Wonder Woman and save the day. 

It might not hurt if Walz breaks out the ol' Billy Barule tonight either...

LINK: Billy, Billy....Billy


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PAULIE PICKS

Seven ACC Contests on the docket for tonight. Let's look at them...


Florida State at Boston College. The 'Noles shouldn't have any trouble grounding the Eagles tonight in Chestnut Hill. Chief Osceola gets to celebrate a "W" for Florida State.

Clemson at Duke. The Tigers did get their first win of the conference slate last time out. That win streak ends tonight in the Cameron as the Blue Devils de-claw the felines and Duke goes to 7-3 in conference.  

NC State at Louisville. Ms. Wuf probably won't be dancing on the sidelines for Wes Moore's bunch but Louie the Cardinal Bird should have a birds' eye view of the Cards 21st win of the year. Louisville flies past the WolfPack. 

Pitt at Syracuse. The Orange have been an on-again, off-again team this year for "Q"...but they should have the juice to flow past the Panthers tonight in front of...oh, 500 or so fans. No excuse for Syracuse not to win this one. 

Georgia Tech at Virginia. Tech wrecked last time out against Clemson and won't find the going any easier in Charlottesville. Wahoo! The Cavs stick the sabre in the Yellow Jackets and UVA takes the fray. 

Notre Dame at Virginia Tech. The Gobblers are on a four-game conference losing streak and that won't end tonight against Muffet's Irish. No karaoke for the Hokie tonight...the Irish win. 

Miami at Wake Forest. This is the one that I had the most trouble in picking for tonight. Wake has been a surprise at 4-4 in the ACC. Miami maybe a disappointment at 5-4. Still, I'll take the 'winds' toppling the Forest tonight.


Thirsty Thursday thoughts? 
Paulie
xxxxx













  

Goals and Expectations...WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DO YOU SET THEM? ARE THEY IMPORTANT? 

The concepts of goals and expectations have been on my mind lately. The seeds for thought were planted by my buddy Howie Linsdey a couple of days ago on his morning radio show LOUISVILLE FIRST...so these two areas of thought weren't original. As I listened to his and Katie George's discussions and debate on goals and expectations...it got me thinking about them, though...and not only in a personal sense...but in terms of some of the athletic teams I follow and report on. These are some of the things that have been on my mind. 

In terms of critical and introspective thinking, they've never really been a fore-runner in my long range plans. I tend to be a "live for today, one-day-at-a time" guy and focus more on daily operational and planning strategy. I suppose my goals and expectations are rather basic and non-complicated, as a rule. I wake up and hope to have a good morning. I want to meet the obligations and events on the day's calendar. I try to be a pleasant person...helpful to my wife and try to look at most things in a positive light. To eat properly and nutritionally. To stay hydrated and try and keep my body in somewhat functional order. You think more about that at 60, I suppose...at least I think I have...than you do at 30. Or 15. Be a good and helpful person. Drive safely. 

The basic concepts of day to day existance come without much thought or deliberation. I also try to find a way to include or inject a little humor or levity into my daily life. Humor is important and a good thing. For you and those around you. It takes less effort to smile than frown. Smile and the world smiles with you type of rationale. Some days go better than others. Sometimes, in the words of Stevie Winwood...you may have had to cry today. It happens. 

HAD TO CRY TODAY -- WINWOOD, CLAPTON, TRUCKS

On sports, it gets a bit more complicated. Goals and expectations for your team(s) you follow and root for. I would venture that most fans, at the start of a season have a goal or expectation for their team to have a successful season. A national championship. Conference title. Or maybe just a winning season...depending on the skill level and strength of  the athletes you cheer for. 

I'd like to see, I expect and my goals for the UofL women's basketball squad are to reach the Final Four and avoid landing in UConn's region. If achieved, then I'll come up with a new goal. I can't control the expectations for this, though...since I'm not on the NCAA Selection Committee and have no influence in the seeding and site locations. I'd guess reaching the Final Four and beyond is a goal some of the players have, as well. 

Jeff Walz will tell you that his goal is to see his squad win the final six games of the year. That, of course, means that they have won each game in the NCAA Tournament and are the National Champions. A great goal. This goal is probably consistent with most of the college coaches in Division I WBB...the expectations of reaching that goal, of course, vary from program to program. I don't expect Boston College to reach the Final Four. I didn't expect Syracuse to last year, though, and I was incorrect in my expectations. Without purposely or intentionally picking on him or his squad...does the coach (Jim Foster) at Chattanooga expect to be in Dallas coaching the Mocs on March 31st? His goal is to get there, I'm sure...but does anyone expect that? I'm sure Connecticut's Geno Auriemma has the same goal...to be a Final Four team and the expectations of that are pretty common around the women's college basketball world. 

Goals and observations get adjusted some times. Once it is clear that you cannot meet your goal, you go through an adjustment time. Pittsburgh WBB and their fans probably realized or observed that their goal of beating Louisville last Sunday wasn't likely to happen when Mariya Moore sank two free throws with 49 second to play to make the score 61-48 Louisville. That goal was still possible, though...and expectations most likely still alive when Brenna Wise sank a three-pointer to make the score 53-46 with 3:30 left in the game. 

Jordan McNary, of Louisville softball fame, was quite clear about what her goals and expectations were for her team this season when I spoke with her recently. To get to the NCAA Regional, advance to the Super Regional and then to the College World Series. To win the ACC Regular season and then conference tournament. So many incoming freshmen will tell you that their goals and expectations are to win a National Championship during their time on campus. Monique Reid told me years ago that she expected to play in the Final Four every year. She's the only UofL WBB player that pulled it off twice in her time on campus

As we roll into February, what are your goals and expectations for the Louisville women's basketball team over these next two months? Does the goal(s) you hope for have a high expectation rate among the rest of the college basketball world? Which players have met the goals you expected from them and who has over-achieved or under-achieved so far? 

Let us know in the comments section. 


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SETTING SIGHTS ON SOFTBALL

So you say that you've got an interest in Louisville Softball this year but don't know just how many games you'll actually be able to attend? 

No worries! The Cards will be shown on the ACC Network Extra and ESPNU a whopping 31 times this season. We also figure we'll be able to pick up some of the away contest through different schools' websites. Here's the scheduled broadcasts....Play Ball! 

2017 Louisville Softball Television Schedule
3/3/17	3:00 PM	Indiana State at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/3/17	5:30 PM	UW-Green Bay at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/4/17	12:30 PM	Bowling Green at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/4/17	3:00 PM	UW-Green Bay at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/5/17	12:30 PM	Bowling Green at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/10/17	1:30 PM	IUPUI at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/10/17	3:00 PM	Ohio at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/11/17	12:30 PM	Wright State at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/11/17	3:00 PM	Northern Iowa at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/12/17	12:30 PM	Northern Iowa at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/17/17	4:00 PM	Pittsburgh at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/18/17	1:00 PM	Pittsburgh at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/19/17	12:00 PM	Pittsburgh at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/22/17	6:00 PM	Wisconsin at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
3/29/17	6:00 PM	Indiana at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/1/17	12:00 PM	Notre Dame at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/2/17	2:00 PM	Notre Dame at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ESPNU
4/3/17	7:00 PM	Notre Dame at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ESPNU
4/12/17	6:00 PM	Kentucky at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/15/17	12:00 PM	Louisville at Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	ACC Network Extra
4/15/17	2:30 PM	Louisville at Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	ACC Network Extra
4/18/17	5:00 PM	Lipscomb at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/19/17	6:00 PM	Western Kentucky at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/22/17	12:00 PM	Florida State at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/23/17	12:00 PM	Florida State at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ESPNU
4/24/17	7:00 PM	Florida State at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ESPNU
4/28/17	6:00 PM	Virginia at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/29/17	1:00 PM	Virginia at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
4/30/17	12:00 PM	Virginia at Louisville	Ulmer Stadium	ACC Network Extra
5/6/17	5:00 PM	Louisville at NC State	Raleigh, N.C.	ACC Network Extra
5/7/17	12:00 PM	Louisville at NC State	Raleigh, N.C.	ACC Network Extra
5/11-13/17	TBD	ACC Championship	Chapel Hill, N.C.	RSN/ACC Network Extra