USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team defeats Croatia -- Boyd to Visit -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DANI BUSBOOM KELLY'S SQUAD WINS IN FOUR SETS

USCNT got a four-set win over Croatia in Maribor, Slovenia 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 on Monday. Louisville head volleyball coach Dani Busboom Kelly, the head coach of the US squad and Amanda Green, UofL Volleyball player are participating in the European event. 

The USA squad defeated the Croatian Select team and got a big effort out of Stanford's Audriana Fitrzmorris, Kentucky's Leah Edmond and Green to take the match. 

"We made great adjustments from yesterday's match. It's awesome to see players that can adjust so quickly and learn so quickly. I thought our setting was much better and our offense just looked much crisper. The setting was awesome but that starts with the pass. We figured out these balls and another day in the gym against these servers allowed us to run a better defense" Busboom Kelly commented after the match. 

Busboom Kelly begins her second season as the Cardinal skipper in Cardinal Arena with the August 18th Red and Black Scrimmage. Louisville won the ACC in 2017 with an 18-2 conference mark and advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a 24-7 overall record. 

Green was a red-shirt sophomore in 2017 who appeared in all 31 Louisville matches and was third on the team with 273 kills as an outside  A 6'1" transfer from Marquette, she's the second Cardinal volleyballer to gain overseas experience this spring/summer...Molly Sauer went with USCNT to China earlier in the year.  


WBB IN ON BOYD

Jada Boyd, a 6'2" senior-to-be forward and student-athlete at Appomattox County High School in Virginia and the Virginia High School Class 1 State Player of the Year intends on visiting UofL as one of her four official visits. Boyd was in Louisville over the weekend playing in the Nike EYBL event and led her Boo Williams AAU team to a third-place finish. 

Boyd had six triple-doubles as a junior and scored 69 points and grabbed 33 rebounds in a loss last year. She's the #48 ranked 2019 player at Hoop Gurlz. 

Maryland has already offered Boyd a scholarship and she plans on visiting there, N.C. State, West Virginia and Louisville on her official visits.


A-TAYY SPEAKS! 

Stumbled across this segment from the Indiana Fever that features Asia Taylor. She discusses the Fever, practice and other items in the clip. 

Despite the Fever's less-than-spectacular record this season, it's good to see that Asia has found a fit for this WNBA season and is excited to be back in the league. Indiana has five players on their 12-player roster that have i or less years experience. The recent addition of Cappie Poindexter, who was waived by L.A. seemed to help the Fever in their recent win at Minnesota. Always good to have a bit of experienced leadership on a roster full of young players, right? 

As Asia mentions in the clip, Wednesday's game in Indinapolis is against the Minnesota Lynx and it's "Kids Day". If you're headed to Indy for this one, be prepared! 

LINK: http://fever.wnba.com/video/practice-report-asia-taylor-180709/



paulie
xxxxx  

Louisville WBB Coaches out on recruiting trail -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COACHES CHECKING OUT 2019 and 2020 TALENT

It is the first July evaluation period for NCAA WBB Coaches to go check out the players that are involved in AAU and Summer ball tournaments and the Cardinal coaching crew was out in full force over the weekend watching plenty of talent in many different locations. Who were the Cards watching? Where did they go? 

We can't honestly say we know exactly who the coaches are keeping an eye on and what places they'e been frequenting...but we do know some of the spots and venues that they've traveled to. Social media pays attention. 

Jeff Walz has been dashing across the nation to see players in Texas and Colorado Springs. Some of the names of interest that we've heard that coach might have been checking out include 2019 stars Nyah Green, Aijha Blackwell, Azzi Fudd, Zia Cooke, Kennedy Brown, Jordan Horston and Charisma Osborne. Walz is coaching the U18 squad later this month but stopped by to see how the U17 girls were doing out in Colorado.

We've heard Steph Norman spent time in Louisville, evaluating the talent at the Run For The Roses tournament and also in Indianapolis so far. Rickea Jackson, another highly prized 2019 recruit was in the Circle City Saturday and Sunday. 

Samantha Williams was scheduled to go to Birmingham and check out the Birmingham Live Girls National Showcase from what we've heard. 2019 prospect Maori Davenport was playing down there and, one of our favorite recruit's names...Treasure Hunt...from the 2020 class was supposed to be there as well. 

Sam Purcell was spotted virtually everywhere at the KEC here in town over the weekend watching The Run For The Roses tournament evaluating all he could get in. We're pretty sure he spent a fair amount of time following Aubrey Griffin. 

these are but a few of the names that the Louisville coaches are showing interest in. They're also evaluating the talent from other classes as well. You can never start too early in the recruiting game. Which reminds me of the old humorous tale: 

"Mr and Mrs Joe Smith announced the birth of their baby son Bill, who was offered a full football scholarship by State U in the delivery room right after birth." 

The question has risen...just how many more 2019 players do the Cards want to add beside Green and Ramani Parker? We don't know that answer but it's possible they might be trying to add two more to fill the spots that Durr, Carter, Fuehring and Diop will vacate after their final season at UofL. 

Recruiting is, in a way, like seeing your Cadillac go over a cliff with your worst enemy behind the wheel. Mixed feelings and both good and bad things can happen. With players leaving schools that originally recruited them and brought them to campus for other programs more and more frequently these days, the days of building a powerhouse that partially consists of four or five seniors that played together all four years is pretty scarce. You have to go after the good players, hope you get them and then try to keep them on campus to graduate. 

Here's hoping the Cards coaches have a "happy hunting" excursion in the month of July and are "bird-watching" some future Cardinals. 

paulie
xxxxx  

Softball Rumors - Sunday Cardinal Couple

Rumors Swirl Around Softball

Cardinal Couple tends to avoid commenting, or covering, mere rumors, but as we start to get some confirmations we will talk about them, with the caveat that nothing official has been announced yet.  Today is one of those situations.

It appears as if Holly Aprile will be the next head coach of UofL Softball.  Aprile will be leaving Pitt after being selected as the 2018 ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to the Coastal Division title within the ACC and meeting the eventual National Champions, Florida State in the ACC Championship game.  She is also responsible for growing the program from essentially a non-entity, to advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in 2015.

Holly has been the head coach at Pitt since 2009 after being elevated to the position after her stint as an assistant that began in 2004.  The Panthers finished last season 16-6 in ACC play, and 33-18 overall.

Prior to her time at Pitt, Aprile was an assistant coach at South Carolina for 9 years.  She brings to Louisville solid experience with ACC play, having been with Pitt since the school joined the ACC at the same time Louisville did, and her experience in the Softball powerhouse SEC conference when she was at South Carolina can only be considered a positive as well.

Aprile played ball at UMass as a pitcher and outfielder, and was selected as a first team all conference player in the A-10 all four years she played, as well as being selected A-10 player of the year twice.  Her senior year at UMass, she lead the team to the WCWS.  She was a member of the US National Softball team from 1993 to 1999.

Academically, she received her Bachelors in Sports Management from UMass, and earned a Masters in Political Science at Eastern Illinois where she was a graduate assistant coach.

All in all, I think it will be a great hire for UofL Softball to bring in a successful coach, that knows the ACC and has succeeded in it, to a school that is hungry for post-season success, and an Administration that has already demonstrated support for all sports, including Softball.

It is interesting that a tweet making the statement about Aprile did include a link to pittsburghpanthers.com. Following that link, though, revealed that the link was no longer available....producing one of those "404 - It looks like you're lost" responses. One might speculate that they are waiting for Louisville to make the official announcement, and that would make sense.

You can go to: https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2018/07/08/report-pitt-loses-softball-coach-to-louisville/ though. They seem to think it is a done deal. We've also received confirmation from a former associate of the Softball program. We'll wait and see.

We'll offer a "Welcome to the Ville" congratulations to Holly, if, in fact, it is a reality. 

There is no word, yet, on when Aprile will be officially announced at UofL.

-- 

JMcA

Griffin Impresses crowd at Run For The Roses -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

AUBREY GRIFFIN GOES FOR 41 and 14 IN OPENER

Creating a bit of a numeric palindrome Thursday night, Hudson River Breeze AAU player Aubrey Griffin put up 41 points and 14 rebounds for her squad in an opening game, 86-76 win in the Run For the Roses Classic at the K.E.C. 

Although I did not get to see the action in person, an avid basketball fan and Cardinal Couple reader spoke with me at length about what she saw out of the Ossining, NY native. Due to her request, I am not identifying her by her real name. We'll call her "Jane". 

"She is pretty amazing. From what I saw Thursday night, she can score from all over the court in the offensive sets that are built around her. Inside, outside, off the dribble -- you name it and she'll find a way to get it in the hoop. She's just as comfortable running the offense as she is down in the paint." Jane told me yesterday.

Aubrey had yet to play in the two Friday games on Hudson River's tournament schedule, but we hear from updates that she tossed in another 41 points Friday morning and 19 in her Friday night game. 

So, the word is out on Aubrey as she prepares for her senior year of high school. Word is also out that there possibly may be a few more schools than Louisville and Connecticut  on her consideration list. 

"I was eavesdropping in on a few conversations and I heard that Dawn Staley [SOUTH CAROLINA], Sylvia Hatchell [NORTH CAROLINA] and Vic Schaefer [MISSISSIPPI STATE] were a few coaches that hadn't been totally ruled out yet. I kinda of hate this for Louisville but it does show that she's got the talent that any major program would be happy to have on campus." Jane continued.

The excitement surrounding Griffin does remind me a bit of the hub-bub about Mercedes Russell when she was being recruited heavily by the Cards and the Vols a few years back. The national rankings on Griffin will most certainly change dramatically for the better as she progresses through her summer ball and her senior high school season. 

To learn more about Aubrey, all one has to do is put the words Aubrey Griffin Basketball in your favorite Internet search engine. She and her family are a great read. 

In Louisville, a fireworks display took place after the 4th of July at a basketball venue and, from all accounts, Aubrey was holding the Victory Torch to set them off. 

Recruiting, evaluation, observation. The steps to finding and identifying student-athletes that can have an impact on a program. They bottom line, though, comes down to a player deciding which program fits them best. A former student-athlete once described the process as very similar to choosing a car. Amidst all the advertising, availability and courtship, it comes down to what you feel comfortable behind the wheel in. 

The program, of course, has to have that same level of interest. 

We can only hope that Aubrey picks the best fit for her. And it wouldn't hurt any Cardinal fans feelings at all if she chose Louisville. 


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

The knuckleheads will not be on the air today. Our broadcast venue, WCHQ 100.9 FM is heavily involved in the Poorcastle Festival this weekend and logistics, time frame and producer availability created a scenario where doing a live show was not feasible. 

We fully understand. We'll be back next week. It doesn't mean that you should abandon the programming that the station has available. Lots of great music and shows emanate from the massive and magnificent media mansion on Mellwood to listen to. Paulie's other project, HANDICAPPING HEROES, is a pre-recorded show, so it will be on at noon today.

Just call it our "summer-camp vacation" week. Although...the prospect of having Paulie, Worldwide Jeff, Case and Jared all together at the same summer camp would be enough to drive any camp counselor crazy. To the rowboats, one and all! Are those Jared's pajamas atop the flagpole? Keep Worldwide away from the camp's I.T. room!! Don't let Case participate in any sports and someone search the woods for Paulie, he's lost again. 

Try to fit Poorcastle into your weekend plans. Great music, great beverages and food trucks. To learn more, go to: www.poorcastle.com


Paulie
xxxxx 

Countdown to Fall Sports -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SEASONS DRAW NEAR

We are within the 60-day mark for all of the fall sports so the countdown has begun.  If you visit the Go Cards website for the composite calendar the month of July is completely blank, but August shows signs of life.

August 11 is the first thing on the calendar with a women's soccer scrimmage.  August 15 is men's soccer scrimmage.  Women's soccer kicks the UofL sports season off with a true match on August 16 when they face Wright State.  Field hockey and men's soccer both have scrimmages on August 18.  Field hockey faces Michigan on August 19 in Columbus for another scrimmage.  The sticks start their official regular season with a game at Indiana on August 24, at 3:00 p.m.  Men's soccer follows just a few hours behind with a game against St. Bonaventure at 7:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer - August 16

Women's soccer has 17 games and one scrimmage listed on the schedule this year.  Nine regular
season games are at home as well as the scrimmage.  Admission into Lynn Stadium does cost money and the bag policy instituted last season remains in tact.

There is one major concern this team faces- injuries.  There are at least four key players still returning from late season or season-ending injuries plus a couple more who had early season injuries last year.  With an entire off-season of rest and recovery we can only hope they're ready to go.

The biggest strength this year is the talent.  Every position on the pitch has some of the best players in either the state or country, including one of the ACC's best in Emina Ekic.  If this coaching staff can make the most of the talent on the roster this team can compete for the top spot in the ACC.

Field Hockey - August 19

The 18-game season starts with a trip up the road to Indiana.  You'll have eight chances to see Coach Sowry's group play at home this season.  Admission is free.

The biggest question surrounding this team is who will play in Minout "Minnie" Mink's role.  The Cards' leading scorer from the past two years returned home to Europe to finish school. We hear Mercedes Pastor might be the one to fill those shoes. 

Ayeisha McFerran is the backbone to this year's squad.  Now a senior, McFerran holds three solid years of experience under her belt as well as playing with the Irish National Team.  McFerran will man the goal and keep opposing offenses under control.

Volleyball - August 24

The reigning ACC champs start later than the other sports.  All home games are scheduled for
Cardinal Arena once again.  14 of the 29 games are home.  Admission does cost money at Cardinal Arena.

Four big time players graduated last year and trying to fill those shoes is a concern, especially with two of them dominating the front line.  Younger players will have to step up into bigger roles this year to continue the dominance from last year.

Molly Sauer is the biggest strength this year.  The Louisville-native has reached her senior year and has been impressive as libero since day one on campus.  Under her wing is Alexis Hamilton, who will most likely take her place following graduation.  Sauer has always been under control on the court and has done a good job mentoring players.

With the 2018 season swiftly approaching I know I am not the only one excited for UofL games to start back up.  Catch all of your favorite Cardinal Couple folks hustling up and down Floyd Street trying to cover it all.


WHAT DAY IS IT? 

Today is National Fried Chicken Day! Do you have a favorite? We know it was one of Myisha Hines-Allen's favorites and Sam Fuehring expressed a like for it as well. It was Lindsey Duvall's favorite food back in high school but a recent update indicates she's switched to steak or Chinese. Is it chicken strips, tenders, white meat or dark meat for you? Are you a wings person or do you crave that drumstick or thigh?  

We know Paulie has a legendary love for Bojangles...but what about Popeye's, KFC, Church's, Lee's Famous Recipe, Chick-Fil-A, King's or your grandma's home-made variety? 

Paulie relates that the WORST Fried Chicken he ever had was in Atlanta last December in a hotel restaurant. He also dreams of the fried chicken his Dad used to make in the big cast-iron skillet over a gas stove and regrets he didn't get that recipe. Do you have a fried chicken story? Share it with us in the comments section! 

The Louisville Bats recently had a Media Hot Dog Eating contest. I wonder how'd they'd do with a chicken drumstick eating contest? 

  
Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Griffin in Louisville, visits UofL WBB -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

AUBREY GRIFFIN IN LOUISVILLE FOR RUN FOR THE ROSES TOURNAMENT

Another potential player for Louisville WBB's 2019 class is in the the 'Ville and has made a visit to the UofL campus and Jeff Walz. 

Sources confirm and tweets with pictures back up  Cardinal Couple information that 6'0" wing Aubrey Griffin flew into Louisville on Wednesday to play in the Run For The Roses tournament with her Hudson River Breeze AAU squad and visited the UofL campus and Jeff Walz on the fourth of July. 

Griffin averaged 28.3 points per game and 8.7 rebounds as a junior at Ossining, NY High School in the 2017-18 season. She is currently ranked as the 12th. best wing and 56th. overall best player in ESPN's Hoop Gulz 2019 rankings. She recently narrowed her list of potenial schools down to two -- Louisville and Connecticut -- and will play in four games out at the Kentucky Expo Center over the next three days. A list of scheduled appreances is available at the bottom of this article. 

Louisville currently has two players that have given verbals for 2019. Nyah Green is a 6'1" guard from Allen, TX that is ranked the #4 guard prospect by ESPN. Ramani Parker, a 6'4" forward that will play for Monteverde (FL) Academy in 2018-19 is #11 ranked in the forward spot. The academy is west of Orlando, off Florida's Turnpike. 

The Cards WBB squad has four that will leave the squad at the completion of the 2018-19 season....Asia Durr, Arica Carter, Sam Fuehring and Yacine Diop.

The visit to UofL is a couple of days before Friday's official seven day, NCAA sanctioned recruiting visits window...where coaches can hit the road to see players.

Since she came to see UofL and Walz, and is with her club team...it's obviously quite O.K. that it's a couple of days before this window. You can be assured Walz and his staff will be busy, not only following Griffin...but other players. You can also expect a cacophonous conglomeration in the congregation of college coaches in Louisville for the next three days for the highly prestigious and talent-laden Run For The Roses event. 

As you may have determined from previous Cardinal Couple articles, we're big fans of Griffin and are hoping that she'll choose the 'Ville" as her student-athlete home. 

If you want to see her in action, here is a list of where she'll be over at the K.E.C in the next three days: 


THURS.  6:45 p.m.  COURT 57
FRIDAY  11:54 a.m. COURT 73
FRIDAY  7:12 p.m.  COURT 74
SAT.       2:25 p.m.  COURT 23


THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR


We won't be on the air or Facebook Live this Saturday with The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. Our host station... WCHQ...is one of the sponsors and also one of the benefactors of Poorcastle..a three day, 36 local artist(s) musical event that takes play at the Apocalypse Brew Works on Mellwood Avenue July 6-8th. The doors open at 1 p.m. each day and it was a station management decision that, since we are on until noon on Saturday, it would just be too long of a day for our station manager (who also produces our show). We step aside. Gallantly.

WCHQ is pretty much a music station in it's entity anyway and we are a sports talk show specializing in UofL women's sports. This "Tom and Jerry" coupling has gone as well as can be expected over the years and...we've actually made friends with a few of the other personalities that appear on the station. Whether any of the other show hosts would be able to pick Paulie or Worldwide Jeff out of a "suspects lineup" is debatable...but we still appreciate our time. it's also our "slow season". All you quiz lovers will just have to wait another week. 

Handicapping Heroes will also be dark Saturday. That ought to just please the sponsor for that show to death...

It should be noted that this isn't Forecastle. That musical event takes place the weekend following Poorcastle (July 13-15) down on the Ohio River at Waterfront Park

More on Poorcastle can be found at the events official website: 

www.poorcastle.com

You should go if you're into music and don't mind standing out in hot weather. There will be beverages and food trucks. It's only $5 a day or $10 for all three days. 


paulie
xxxxx

Camp Quality -- Softball Coaching Search -- 4th of July -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Athletes Volunteer at Camp Quality

Several student-athletes from women's basketball, women's soccer, volleyball, and men's swimming took a day out of their summer participating in community service.  A small group of Cards visited Camp Quality to work with over 100 children with cancer and other illnesses.

The day consisted of activities, games, and face painting, among other things.  The purpose of the event was to build courage, strength, and hope for the children.  UofL Cards Care is a program at Louisville for student-athletes to get involved in community service.

How many different athletes can you name?  Can you do better than the Cardinal Couple staff?  I was able to name 11 of the 16 Cardinals in the picture that is posted above.

http://gocards.com/news/2018/7/2/lcare-uofl-student-athletes-volunteer-at-camp-quality.aspx


Softball Continues Coaching Search



The coaching search for Louisville softball is still underway.  No one has been hired.  Recently, an assistant coach for Florida State was spotted on campus, but it appears nothing came of it.  My guess is money.

Budget cuts have affected every aspect of Louisville.  Tuition for the upcoming fall semester saw a small spike in tuition costs.  Positions in nearly very department have been cut.  Ticket prices for athletic events have risen.  It would not surprise me if the budget for a new head coach is not as high as we initially expected.

If anyone knows of someone wanting to be a collegiate softball coach send them down to Floyd Street.

What Day Is It?

Why, it's Independence Day!  It is a holiday where we, as Americans, celebrate the day our founders declared the United States of America become its own country.  Today, we honor and celebrate the sacrifices that many men and women who came before us gave so we could have the freedom that we do today.

Several people like to celebrate this occasion with adult beverages or colorful explosives.  Cardinal Couple does not condone any activities that are illegal or could put yourself or someone else at risk of harm.  However, if you do wish to partake in certain activities make sure to be smart and use common sense!

Thunder Over Louisville

Fun fact: The only legal keys that the Star-Spangled Banner can be performed in by a professional group are Bb and Ab.  Enjoy the United States Marine Corps Band performing our country's national anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R39e5dOc7AU

Have fun on this hot, hot, hot day and enjoy a relaxing day off.  Happy Wednesday, Happy Fourth of July, and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Woods to World Cup -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NICOLE WOODS ON USA FIELD HOCKEY WORLD CUP SQUAD

To represent your country on the International stage. To be considered one of the best 18 players in the nation and making one of the 16 squads that will compete for the World Cup. It is a very prestigious and high honor in Field Hockey and Louisville's Nicole Woods will be one of the Americans participating in London, England beginning July 21th to vie for the title. 

Woods, who graduated in 2017 from UofL, is the second Cardinal to be selected for the event. Goalkeeper Ayeshia McFerran will play for the Irish squad. Both the USA and Ireland are in the same pool and will meet each other in first round competition on July 19th. 

Louisville head coach Justine Sowry must be bursting at the seams with pride for the two. 
In a recent interview, she indicated to Cardinal Couple that she'd be traveling to the event as a spectator to see her two play. 

Woods has had a storied career at Louisville. The Beverly, MA. native has earned 24 caps in her Field Hockey career. She helped the USA squad qualify for the World Cup when USA won the 2017 World League Semifinals. She also went with USWNT for matches against The Netherlands, Chile and Argentina. 

At UofL, Woods was selected for NFHCA All-American honors in 2017. In her career, she was a three-time NFHCA All-West Region selection. A three-time ACC selection, Woods finished her student-athlete time with the Cards as the ninth-highest in history in career points and assists. Louisville advanced to the ACC Championships in 2017 with an upset win over Duke at Trager Field. 

For Nicole, it came down to either Field Hockey or Ice Hockey as she entered her junior year at Beverly High School. She ultimately chose the "un-frozen" sport and one of the reasons was because of having "to put on that wet and cold ice hockey suit." 

A life-long New England Patriots fan, Nicole made no effort to hide that in her four years at Louisville...often seen in a Pats hat, sweatshirt or Brady or Gronk jersey. She's also a big fan of musical rockers U-2. Unlike Bono or The Edge...it does look like Nicole has found what she's searching for...she got her degree in middle and senior high school education and aspires to teach. 

The USA will compete in one of four pools in the World Cup. Each pool has four participants. In Pool B, the USA squad joins #10 India and #16 Ireland. With a #7 World ranking, USA is also in the pool with #2 England, who took the 2016 Olympic Gold in Rio.

The USA squad returns six players who competed in the 2014 World Cup.  The Netherlands drew the #1 ranking for the 16-team format. Those Dutch have an impressive record in both the World Cup and Olympics....winning seven World Cup titles since 1974 and three golds in the Olympics since 1980. As assistant UofL coach Lucas Piccioli once expained to me...Field Hockey is...in The Netherlands what the NCAA College Football season is here in the United States. 

The World Cup format consists of one game against each of your pool opponents. The USA faces Ireland on Saturday, July 21st, England on July 25th. and India on Sunday, July 25th. The quarterfinals begin Aug. 1st. and the final is set for August 5th. 

We'll monitor the USA's progress here at Cardinal Couple and hope that Nicole and her teammates can advance out of their pool play and make Field Hockey's Final Four in 2018. 



paulie
xxxxx 

WNBA Update -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TWO CARDS WBB FACE EACH OTHER LAST NIGHT

A thriller to the wire last night, as Angel McCoughtry brought her Atlanta Dream to Indianapolis last night to face the Indiana Fever and Asia Taylor. The Fever made a late push to try and get their second win of the WNBA season, but the Dream held on for a 87-83 win. 

Angel with 15 points for the 8-8 Dream, taking a slight back-seat to Brittany Sykes (no relation to Paulie) who contributed 20 and Tiffany Hayes who finished with 19. Asia with not a lot of minutes for the Fever but did get a rebound in 8:28 of playing time. 

It was a busy Sunday in the WNBA, with 10 of the 12 squads in action. One of the squads that had the day off was the Washington Mystics and Myisha Hines-Allen. Her Mystics are in the thick of the battle for top spot in the league...three teams (Phoenix, Seattle and L.A) have five losses and the Mystics are 10-6 along with Minnesota. The Washington squad did go up against Phoenix on Saturday and fell 84-74. No minutes for "Doo-blay" in the contest on Saturday but she played seven minutes on the 28th in a loss to Phoenix...contributing two points and three grabs. 

Did you know that voting is open for the WNBA All-Star Game? You can cast your ballot through July 12th at www.wnba.com

My picks: 

Tiffany Hayes, Angel, Myisha, Asia, Tiffany Mitchell, Kelsey Mitchell, Sue Bird, Elena Della Donne, Natalie Achonwa, A'ja Wilson. I went strictly on my personal favorites, not necessarily stats.  

The All-Star game will be played July 19th at 8 p.m. and will be on ESPN 2. 

Did you see this "Cool-as-a-cucumber" buzzer beater from Della Donne against the New York Liberty? Definitely an All-Star shot there: 

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=23939908


WHO'S NEXT? 

With three Cards in the WNBA and as many as four at the start of the year, the question naturally arises...which WBB Cards will be next in "The League"? 

Walz loses four at the end of the 2018-19 season. 

ASIA DURR is about as "sure as it gets" to advance to the professional ranks. Count her "in" with no doubt. Imagine her, Angel, Tiff Hayes and Brittany Sykes on the same team? 

SAM FUEHRING has the grit, determination and body to be a WNBA contributor. Her senior season will be a key in if she gets drafted or not, obviously. I think she will. 

ARICA CARTER is another that will deserve some looks by the 12-team league. Her shot is there, her ball-handling sufficient...and she knows how to keep other shooters happy. I say "Yes". A.C. gets drafted. 

YACINE DIOP can improve her stock with a year under Walz and Company. 5'10" forwards aren't the first thing you think of on WNBA rosters, but she's shown great shooting and rebounding skills playing for a pretty pitiful Pittsburgh squad. Again, her key will be her graduate year as a Card. 

What are your thoughts? 


Have a great Monday! If you gotta do the "outdoors" thing...hydrate, hydrate and repeat. 

paulie
xxxxx

  

All Quiet...SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

All Quiet...

All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel, originally in German, tells of the monotony, terror, and
horrific conditions that faced soldiers in World War I.  It also speaks of their detachment from society upon returning home from the front lines of the war.

In no way does being a college sports fan in summer compare to any real degree to the horrors of war, but the phrase "All quiet on the western front" has entered the English lexicon as a description of stagnation and lack of activity.  It, in it's modern usage, is an apt description of summer sports media coverage.  We've discussed it plenty of times before, laughed about it on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, and revived the CCRH quiz as a coping mechanism.

There is activity, and we strive to bring you the news as it happens.  The challenge is that most of the activity in the summer is individual and behind the scenes.  Individual athletes are off competing in various far flung places, particularly the Field Hockey and Swimming squads, two of the most international teams on campus.  Ayeisha McFerran will be off playing Field Hockey, in England, for Ireland (July 21 - August 5) Molly Sauer went to China to play volleyball with one of the US Collegiate National Teams (May 20-31), while Dani Busboom Kelly and Amanda Green will be off to Europe to coach and play for another CNT (July 4-15).  This list could go on and on.  News on these activities can be surprisingly difficult to come by.

Otherwise, the activity just isn't all that interesting to talk about or write about.  Camps are happening, athletes are doing individual workouts, many, but not all, on campus (Volleyball has one athlete still to report to campus as summer club tournaments are still in progress, Soccer and Field Hockey may not have all of their athletes arrive until after the start of the season in August).  Coaches are travelling on the recruiting trails, and, yes, occasionally enjoying a moment of summer fun (Sam Purcell posted a totally adorable video with his daughters, in celebration of Reese's birthday, that included their trip to last night's Taylor Swift concert).  Paulie, the retired one of us knuckleheads, has been chasing down a number of great interviews, as you've no doubt seen, with the likes of Justine Sowry, Kay Morissette.  He's got one lined up for this week that should be great, and a line on another, but not set in stone.  Be sure to check those out when he posts them.



So, we go on with the daily coverage.  

In the meantime, we soldier on, no worse for the wear when mid-August comes around and Cardinal competitions start up again.  In the meantime, give a thought for these athletes out competing, many of them outdoors, in the summer heat.  Maybe give a particular thought to Field Hockey Goalkeepers such as McFerran.  Imagine wearing padding such as that pictured to the right on a field with no shade on a 90+ degree day.  Yikes!

CCRH

Yesterday's show and Facebook Live presentation of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour can be heard and watched at the link below. From clothing styles, to hiccups...angry Case and total free form idiocy...plus solar panels and World Cup soccer...the "show about nothing" lived up to its billing:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/2090547727635166/

JMcA