SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -- Soccer, Volleyball win on road

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Soccer escapes at UC in overtime

- Volleyball takes 4 game match in Piscataway

- RADIO TODAY!


SOCCER KICKS IT IN AGAINST BEARCATS

Stop me if you've heard this one before. The University of Louisville women's soccer team won in overtime 5-4. Oh, yeah...and the sun will come up this morning.

The Cards are 12-4-1. Almost half of the total games have gone into the "golden goal" extra session. The Cards are getting more overtime than a snow plow operator in blizzard conditions. And...it's beneficial. They are 4-2-1 when they go past the 90 minute mark.

Last night in Southern Ohio, the scoring started almost right after the National Anthem. UC took and early 1-0 lead after two minutes of play. The Bearcats were playing for a top four seed in the AAC Tournament and a win would keep them in the running for that...coupled with a Rutgers loss. 

Louisville responded two minutes later...Charlyn Corral setting up Devyn Ciotti in the box to even it up. Louisville had a lot on the line as well. A Cardinal win and UCF loss on Sunday puts Louisville alone in first place.

In a see-saw battle, UC regained the lead in the 12th. minute of action. Two minutes later, here came the Cards again. This time it was X getting Shannon Dennehey a cross and seeing it converted into netsville.

UC inisisted on returning the favor in the 27th. minute and took that 3-2 lead to the half. UC had a 12-5 shot advantage on the Cards.

Karen Ferguson-Dayes replaced Paige Brown, arguably the best goalie in the AAC, with Taylor Smith in the final half. The Bearcats welcomed the freshman from PeeWee Valley and Christian Academy to the field by scoring on her six minutes into action to grab a 4-2 advantage.

It would be the last UC goal of the evening.

Seniors X and Char combined with 37 minutes left in regulation to draw the Cards closer at 4-3....Char feeding X for the net-finder. Four minutes later, UofL tied it up...this time X feeding Dennehey. The teams played the final 33 minutes of the half to a draw.



Paulie said put a picture of the bracket
up...so here you go.  -Timmy the Intern.

Louisville captialized in the fourth minute of overtime when UC was flagged for a foul inside the box. Penalty kick time and Erin Yenney provided the golden goal to end it.

The Cards will host a quarterfinal ACC Tournament match on Nov 3rd. The bracket matchups will be released after Sunday action. Right now...it's wide open on who will come to Cardinal Park to face the Kickin' Cards. The top eight regular season finishers advance to tourney play.

AAC STANDINGS AS OF 10/25/13
 

UCF	22	7-0-1	0.938	14-2-2	0.833	W4
Louisville	21	7-1	0.875	11-4-1	0.719	W2
UConn	15	5-3	0.625	11-7	0.611	W1
Rutgers	13	4-3-1	0.563	11-4-2	0.706	L1
Cincinnati	13	4-3-1	0.563	8-9-1	0.472	W1
USF	11	3-3-2	0.500	8-4-5	0.618	T2
SMU	10	3-4-1	0.438	8-7-1	0.531	T1
Memphis	9	3-5	0.375	10-7	0.588	W1
Temple	3	1-7	0.125	6-10-1	0.382	L7
Houston	0	0-8	0.000	1-10-3	0.179	L8

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JUHL RULES IN FOUR GAME WIN AGAINST RUTGERS


Senior Emily Juhl unleashed the powerful left arm against the Scarlet Knights last night...getting 21 kills in a 23-25, 25-10, 25-17, 25-20 win over the hapless Rutgers Volleyball contingent. (Good luck in the BIG 10 with this bunch).

THIS IS DINO

Defensive specialist and usual starter Haley Pouliezos was reportedly injured in warmups and did not play for Louisville. Maybe it shook the Cards up a bit...they lost the first game to the "0 for Conference" Scarlet Knights by two...unforced errors and Rutgers aces on serves putting UofL behind early.

Louisville shook it off and repsonded with a 15-point blistering of the New Jersey school in game two. Katie George served for nine straight points in the romp. Juhl had five of her kills in this one.

Juhl tried her hand at serving after the intermission and ran five straight against RU in game three. She also added five more kills. Titanium power!

THIS IS DOCTOR TED.

Louisville rolled out to a 13-6 lead in game four but Rutgers
wasn't quite ready to close the RAC yet...battling back to get within one at 20-19. The Cards got a couple of timely kills from Stomp Mattingly, though, and went on a game and match ending 5-1 run.

Louisville is now 13-7 on the season...8-0 in The American and travels to UCONN next for a Sunday tilt that will be televised on ESPNU at 1 p.m.

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MAMA...THEM PEOPLE IS TALKIN' ON THE RADIO AGAIN!

Based on the overwhelmingly successful article we borrowed and posted on UK Thursday...we'll be bringing Matthew Mitchell, John Calipari, Ashley Judd and Joe B. Hall into the studio this morning for conversations, mud-wrestling and pizza.

Just kidding....

WE do have an excellent show prepared, though, with plenty of volleyball, soccer, field hockey, tennis and a quiz!
Maybe Jenny will even wander in a tell us about what's shakin' in basketball.

It's always interesting and always commercial free. With
Dead Air Al at the control panel...we never really know what to expect. The link below will get you there...


PAULIE THE GRUMPY OLD MAN RUNS THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS OFF HIS LAWN


-PAULIE

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- An article about the Schimmel's

- Volleyball travels to Rutgers

- Soccer looks to score at Cincy

- NCAA WBB with a Friday/Sunday Final Four?

Schimmel Family Extends its Gratitude to Supporters

 

Thanks to Brent Cahwee, NDNSPORTS.COM for sharing this GREAT article!

Cici and Rick Schimmel at the 2013 NABI Championships in Phoenix, AZ

(Oregon) – As the basketball season approaches all across the country for the many colleges and high schools the parents of Shoni and Jude Schimmel, Rick and Cici, released a statement today expressing gratitude to all of the supporters of their family.

The family noted, “As we are so busy just getting through the day sometimes we forget to think about and to thank our friends for what they mean to us. You are always in our hearts and prayers.”

Shoni and Jude Schimmel are of course the two famed Native American basketball players at the University of Louisville who exploded on to the national scene with the Cardinals Women’s basketball team as they marched through the NCAA tournament last season on their way to a national runner-up finish and inspiring many Native Americans from all across the country.

Since that time the family has been on a whirlwind tour across Indian Country and befriending countless tribes and fans along the way.

“We definitely had a busy but productive summer visiting 17 reservations and speaking to over 20,000 Natives. We hope the time we have taken to visit so many places has been a rewarding and inspiring moment in the lives of the people we have had the pleasure to meet.” said the family.

One of those highlights of the summer was a trip to the annual Native American Basketball
Invitational (NABI) where Shoni and Jude were awarded the Phil Homeratha Leadership Award. At the time Jude was the only one of the dynamic duo on site to accept the award(s) as Shoni was competing with the USA Women’s University basketball squad at the World University Games in Russia. The Schimmel family was able to catch a lot of the basketball games and visit with the fans of the family.



Shoni, now a senior at Louisville and Jude a junior, will be starting the season in the next few weeks and will look to make another run for the National Championship.

The family said, “No promises of another Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament this year, but we certainly plan for an exciting season. "
The family is also asking those that are able to this season, to show up and show your support for Shoni’s final game in March.

“I want to highlight the March 3rd game which will be Senior Night. We are encouraging as many of our friends and family to try to attend this game if possible. This will be Shoni’s last regular season game at Louisville and we play UConn so we want to show her lots of support.” said Rick Schimmel.

Whether they make it back to the National Championship game or not, you can bet that the outpouring of support and love for the Schimmels will continue and you can bet there should be more than a handful of Native supporters at Shoni’s final game for the Cardinals. See you there!


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VOLLEYBALL LOOKS TO EXTEND AAC WIN STREAK

THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE VOLLEYBALL TEAM SITS ATOP THE AMERICAN WITH A PERFECT 7-0 RECORD AND WILL LOOK TO KEEP THAT WINNING STREAK INTACT WHEN THEY GO TO PISCATAWAY, NJ TO FACE THE RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS FRIDAY NIGHT AT 7 P.M.

LOUISVILLE HAS WON 10 OUT OF THEIR LAST 11 AND FACES A RUTGERS SQUAD THAT IS 0-7 IN AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAY AND 4-17 OVERALL.

LOUISVILLE HAD BEEN ABLE TO COMBINE A MIX OF THE NEW ( MAYA MCCLENDON AND JANELLE JENKINS) WITH THE OLD (EMILY JUHL, CAITLIN WELCH, BROOKE MATTINGLY) TO SOAR ABOVE THE COMPETITION IN THEIR ONLY SEASON IN THE AAC.


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SOCCER ENDS REGULAR SEASON AGAINST THE BEARCATS


KAREN FERGUSON DAYES WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM ALSO SITS ATOP THE AAC WITH A 7-1-0 RECORD AND 11-4-1 OVERALL. THEY FACE A BEARCATS TEAM IN CINCINNATI TONIGHT THAT TOOK THEM TO DOUBLE OVERTIME LAST YEAR IN CARDINAL PARK BEFORE THE CARDS  2-1 IN SEASON FINALE FOR BOTH SQUADS.

THIS VERSION OF THE BEARCATS IS 8-9-1 AND TIED FOR THIRD IN THE AAC WITH A 4-3-1 RECORD.

CHARLYN CORRAL LEADS THE CARDS WITH 13 GOALS ON THE SEASON AND IS FOLLOWED BY CHRISTINE EXETER...WHO HAS PRODUCED EIGHT. FROSH GOALKEEPER PAIGE BROWN HAD FOUR SHUTOUTS AND 57 SAVES ON THE YEAR.

THE AAC TOURNAMENT GETS UNDERWAY 10-31-13 AT "VARIOUS CAMPUS SITES".


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FRIDAYS AND SUNDAYS?

           

( Thanks to Greg Johnson, NCAA.com for this report)

       

The Women’s Final Four would move to Friday-Sunday competition dates by as early as the 2015 tournament, according to a change approved by the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.

All changes recommended by the committee must be approved by the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet.

The Women’s Final Four will continue to be held on the same weekend as the Men’s Final Four. But instead of the semifinals taking place on a Sunday, with the championship game on a Tuesday –– a formula that has been used since 2003 — it will move to a Friday-Sunday schedule.

Additionally, the committee, which met this week in Indianapolis, decided that the top-16 seeds in the 2015 bracket will host the first- and second-round games, while regionals will be played at neutral sites.

The committee also decided that all games played on the first two weekends of the 2015 championship be conducted on Friday-Sunday, Saturday-Monday.

The move to games on Friday-Sunday for the Women’s Final Four is intended to be more fan friendly because the championship will conclude on a weekend, committee members said. In surveys that committee members reviewed, fans noted that the Sunday-Tuesday playing dates required taking three days away from work.

The committee also discussed moving the Women’s Final Four to the weekend after the Men’s Final Four. But after a thorough debate, the committee decided the current weekend is the best fit for the women’s game.

“It was a difficult decision for us,” Carolayne Henry said, the committee chair and senior associate commissioner/senior woman administrator for the Mountain West Conference.

“The atmosphere on the Final Four weekend is something we can continue to capitalize on. As we grow, we can look to see if we want to be a stand-alone entity. For now, we want to take advantage of the excitement around basketball that takes place on that weekend.”

The committee also decided that allowing the top-16 seeds to host on the first weekend will enhance the student-athlete experience by potentially drawing more fans to the arenas.

The changes will hopefully draw larger crowds because host teams will have spent a whole season building fan support for a successful team.

“We feel this will give teams incentive to get better so they can host,” Henry said. “It was a
challenging and difficult discussion for the committee. We know there are teams that would like to host, but they may not necessarily be in the top 16. We love having fans of teams, and the next step is attracting people who are fans of the game that will come to the arena because they want to see a good game.”

A system that rewards good teams with hosting rights could also save money. Sixteen of 64 teams will not travel on the first weekend of play.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association expressed concern that playing on home courts during the regional rounds created unfair competitive advantages as teams compete for Women’s Final Four berths. The committee agreed that games in the second weekend of the tournament should take place at neutral sites.

-Paulie

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Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Honors for Shoni

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Honors for Shoni

- One writer's opinion on "Big Blue Nation".  


Senior Cardinal guard Shoni Schimmel has been named to the John L. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 watch list. The players named are the early front runners for college basketball's top individual honor.

Selections for the list were made by a poll of WBB media writers. No...they didn't ask us here at CARDINAL COUPLE. Unless Bill the Goat ate the invite.

Shoni was the MVP of the Oklahoma City Regional last season. She was also first-team All-BIG EAST and a WBCA All-Region selection.

She led the Cards with a 14.2 average last season and 3.6 assists.

Here's the 30:

Preseason Top 30, Women

Name	Height	Class	Position	University	Conference
Natalie Achonwa	6-3	Sr.	F	Notre Dame	ACC
Rachel Banham	5-9	Jr.	G	Minnesota	Big Ten
Brittany Boyd	5-9	Jr.	G	California	Pac-12
Gennifer Brandon	6-2	Sr.	F	California	Pac-12
Hallie Christofferson	6-3	Sr.	F	Iowa State	Big 12
Jerica Coley	5-8	Sr.	G	FIU	Conference USA
Jazmine Davis	5-7	Jr.	PG	Washington	Pac-12
Diamond DeShields	6-1	Fr.	G	North Carolina	ACC
Stefanie Dolson	6-5	Sr.	C	UConn	The American
Aaryn Ellenberg	5-7	Sr.	G	Oklahoma	Big 12
Bashaara Graves	6-2	So.	F	Tennessee	SEC
Chelsea Gray	5-11	Sr.	G	Duke	ACC
Cassie Harberts	6-2	Sr.	F	USC	Pac-12
Bria Hartley	5-8	Sr.	G	UConn	The American
Jordan Hooper	6-2	Sr.	F	Nebraska	Big Ten
Tricia Liston	6-1	Sr.	G	Duke	ACC
Maggie Lucas	5-10	Sr.	G	Penn State	Big Ten
Tyuanna Marshall	5-9	Sr.	G	Georgia Tech	ACC
Kayla McBride	5-11	Sr.	G	Notre Dame	ACC
Xylina McDaniel	6-2	So.	F	North Carolina	ACC
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis	6-0	Jr.	F	UConn	The American
Chiney Ogwumike	6-4	Sr.	F	Stanford	Pac-12
Theresa Plaisance	6-5	Sr.	F	LSU	SEC
Shoni Schimmel	5-6	Jr.	G	Louisville	The American
Meighan Simmons	5-9	Sr.	G	Tennessee	SEC
Odyssey Sims	5-8	Sr.	G	Baylor	Big 12
DeNesha Stallworth	6-3	Sr.	F	Kentucky	SEC
Breanna Stewart	6-4	So.	F	UConn	The American
Alyssa Thomas	6-2	Sr.	F	Maryland	ACC
Elizabeth Williams	6-3	Jr.	C/F	Duke	ACC

 

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BAD MOUTHING BIG BLUE?

(The article below may be one of the most controversial and demeaning articles ever written about our rivals to the East and their fan base. No, I didn't write it...and it does not necessarily reflect the opinons and views of CARDINAL COUPLE. Read at your own risk. The author uses naughty words. )      -Paulie

The Ten Dumbest Fan Bases in America: #2 The Kentucky Wildcats

Published on: October 22, 2013 | Written by: Clay Travis

What would happen if you took the worst parts of the Midwest and combined it with the worst parts of the South?


You'd have the state of Kentucky.


Kentucky is the chinstrap bearded white guy in the oversized jean shorts and high top tennis shoes who rolls up to your tailgate and says, "Yo, where the bitches at?"


Not surprisingly, "the bitches" are never with him.


And who do the vast majority of dumb Kentuckians root for? Kentucky's basketball team, of course.
 
Kentucky basketball fans are the dumbest basketball fans in the country and there isn't a close second.
Intelligent Kentucky basketball fans -- and there are at least a handful -- solemnly acknowledge this fact.


While every other Southern school is obsessed with football, Kentucky, forever unable to compete in football, adopted basketball as its chosen sport of choice. That doesn't stop Kentucky basketball fans from choosing other football teams to root for either. Kentucky basketball fans will root for Ohio State, Tennessee, even, of late, and this fan has to be the worst on earth, Alabama for football.
There is no worse human being on earth than a Kentucky basketball fan and an Alabama football fan.


Have you no shame, Wildcat fans?


Of course not. The man they named their arena after, Adolph Rupp, actually got the NCAA death penalty for a year.


What can you say? Cheating is in the Wildcat fan DNA, right down to its present day savior, John Calipari.

John Calipari is the only man alive who has twice had NCAA Final Fours stricken from his record. When he coached at Memphis, Kentucky fans hated him and called him a cheating liar. The moment the Wildcats hired him he became a saint who was unfairly maligned by everyone.


Make no mistake about it, Kentucky is a very dumb state. But unlike other dumb states, there's no real dilution of the stupid when it comes to who to root for in the state of Kentucky. There are no pro sports franchises in the state siphoning off a few idiots, and Louisville is a substantial minority fan base when it comes to rooting interest in the state. If you root for Louisville you either live in Louisville or you went to the school.


If you root for Kentucky you probably failed the GED.
Twice.


What's the dumbest stereotypical Kentucky fan like in his element?


He lives in a mini-trailer behind his mom and dad's actual trailer.


The trailer is made to be pulled behind a truck, but there are no cement blocks to hold it up when it's not attached to a truck so when you enter the "house" you have to walk uphill to the back.
The only furniture is a bed, which is constantly sliding down towards the door.


Inside the trailer there is one poster, a faded Rick Pitino Kentucky Wildcats schedule from 1992 that
is affixed to the ceiling above where the bed is supposed to be. Occasionally he has pretend conversations with Rick Pitino after he's had too much to drink, but he's ashamed of this fact and only admitted it to his second wife once and, DAMNED IF THAT BITCH DIDN'T USE IT TO KEEP CUSTODY OF THEIR LABRADOR RETRIEVER MIX NAMED NAZR.


He has worn a Jeff Sheppard jersey to four consecutive weddings, only three of which were his own.
His three wives have had six children while married to him, but he has failed to be the father five different times when he was tested for child support.


The sixth child was brown and they didn't test him to see if he was the father.


Secretly he's hoping that Tiffanye -- with an e, yes, that's how you really spell it -- wasn't lying when she told him that Tony Delk was the baby daddy.


But he kind of doubts that Tony Delk hangs out at the Frankfort Ruby Tuesday.


Although come to think of it, that kid really didn't have a neck either.
When his first wife, Melodie -- she pronounced it Melodie instead of Melodee, which he always
thought was kind of creepy -- left him on Halloween night while she was still dressed in her slutty Walter McCarty costume, she said, "G-- Damn you all to hell, you don't even live in the suburbs of Frankfort. Frankfort is 45 minutes from here!"


That made him kind of sad because Frankfort is a bad ass town.
You know who is from Frankfort?
Johnny F'ing Depp.


Johnny F'ing Depp could have been born anywhere in the world and he was born in Frankfurt. So there.


He actually lives in between Paris and Frankfort in a town without a name.

 
In addition to Kentucky basketball, Johnny Depp being from Frankfort, and what Rick Pitino looks like shirtless, he is proud of other, unexpected things. For instance, he regularly praises the "cave systems" of Kentucky when he calls in to talk Wildcat basketball.


He has been to Mammoth Cave for 42 consecutive years and he recently got a tattoo of Mammoth Cave on his right arm.


Left arm tattoo?
A picture of Rick Pitino, of course.


The only time he leaves the state is for Kentucky basketball games in Nashville or Atlanta.


Last year he made $12,462 working part-time at Walgreen's before taxes and spent $4,828 on SEC tourney and NCAA basketball tickets.


He owns 12 different versions of the UK 2K t-shirts and thinks whoever came up with the connection between UK and 2k is a "genius."


He doesn't have a television in his trailer so he has to watch the UK games in his parent's trailer.


When he knocked on the trailer door late to watch a late night game from Hawaii, his dad once showed up at the door completely naked holding a shotgun.

"You crazy knocking on a man's trailer door this late at night? It's so dark out here I thought you were Tony Delk," his dad said.
"Wait, dad, has Tony Delk really been coming around here?"
"Never mind," his dad said.
Then his dad watched the entire Kentucky game with him naked while cleaning his shotgun.
Last year he failed the GED for the fourth time, but he's planning on a fifth try.

Why?

Because Rick Pitino tells him he can do it late at night when they talk to each other.
C-A-T-S...CATS, CATS, CATS!

YOU CAN COMMENT IF YOU WISH AT THE SITE LINKED BELOW.

http://outkickthecoverage.com/clays-column.php

-Paulie

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Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Tennis continues to shine

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jenny O'Bryan with the "hump day" recap...tennis 'shines' on, Cards getting into 'the swim' of things and volleyball raids the Blue Raiders!)


FELLERHOFF AND SHINE WIN THE TITLE

Women’s tennis is the newest U of L Athletic program to take a step in to elite status.  On Tuesday morning the doubles team of Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine took the championship in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Tennis Tournament in Memphis.   

The duo dispatched of the second Memphis team in as many days to win.  Fellerhoff and Shine defeated Alyssa Hibberd and Caroline Wegner 8-5 to earn a spot in the ITA National Indoor Tourney at Flushing Meadows, NY November 7-9.

Coach Mark Beckham had this to say about the accomplishment of the duo:

"Wow, what an amazing accomplishment! Winning an event like this puts Louisville Women's Tennis on an elite level.  Julia and Becca will be competing with the best of the best at the National Indoor. I couldn't have scripted it any better. These two girls have raised Louisville tennis to where it is respected throughout the college tennis world. They have worked very hard to get to this level and are very deserving of this championship! They played absolutely amazing and now it's time to see if they can make some noise at the National Indoor. Our Louisville tennis fans should be very proud of them."

What an outstanding accomplishment for Shine and Fellerhoff.  We look forward to their debut in the tournament and wish them continued success. 

(thanks to Nancy Worley, Assistant Director, Sports information for the quote from Coach Beckham.)
 

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TANYA TAKES THE AAC MVP
 

Tanja Kylliainen (junior) won the first American Athletic Conference swimming and diving award handed out by the conference being named female Swimmer of the Week. 

Kylliainen won 5 individual events and a relay event in the first two meets of the season.   She won the 200 Butterfly and took the 200IM in the opening meet as well as a relay win in the butterfly leg 200 medley relay.   The following meet she was named Swimmer of the meet after winning 3 events and setting 2 meet records. 

Congratulations to Kylliainen on the award and a great start to the season. 

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JENKINS JINXS THE MTSU "PINK OUT" NIGHT
 

 

Janelle Jenkins led a balanced UofL Volleyball effort Tuesday night in Murfreesboro, TN...Louisville sweeping the Blue Raiders 25-21, 25-17, 25-20. The game was available on-line at the MTSU website and was an entertaining production by their student staff. WE now have three head coaches of the Cards Volleyball squad..."Annie, Anna and Anne" Kordes. Jenkins wasn't concerned who was carrying the clipboard on the Cardinal sidelines....delivering 10 kills and two blocks in the win.

Coach Kordes:

"Brooke Mattingly was huge! She personified senior leadership out there on the block and then hitting around a double block all night. Emily Juhl's serving let us go on runs that bought us some breathing room and the passing of Caitlin Welch and Haley Pouliezos got our hitters going."

The Cards led early in the first set until a MTSU rally tied the game 13-13. MTSU held a 17-16 advantage until UofL went on a 7-2 final run that saw two Maya McClendon kills. She had six total kills in the first game. 25-21 Cards win!

In set two...the Cards volleyed to an opening 6-0 start and were never seriously challenged by the Blue Raiders. A .154 hitting % by MTSU proved costly in the 25-17 defeat.

After the break, Louisville controlled for most the match until a spirited run by Middle Tennessee cut the Cardinal advantage to 23-20. A Louisville timeout got the Cards back in focus and they captured the final two plays for a 25-20 victory,

Louisville returns to action against Rutgers in Piscataway for a 7 p.m. Friday tilt and then to Storrs, CT to face the Huskies on ESPNU at 1 p.m. Sunday.

-Jenny O Bryan

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