Louisville Card File: Championship Edition, Part I

This will be the first of, I expect, several communiques about the championship game. But far from the most in depth.

I was not out among the tear gassed and paint balled celebrants last night, though, on the way home from the HummelDome where I watched the game, I did dodge more than a few somewhat out of control vehicles, whose drivers, obviously under the influence were talking and texting and making left turns simultaneously.

I was up until 1:30, watching recaps and generally decompressing before I could sleep.

I was up at 5:00 am to pen a championship story which will appear online and in the print edition of LEO tomorrow (Wednesday). There will be links. Stay tuned.

I have not had a chance yet to watch the game again.

Thus, these are a few scattered thoughts with more to come. Read More »


Louisville Card File: Wichita State

Now, Rule #3 comes into play, since Rule #1 (Survive and advance) no longer really applies.

Of course, Rule #2 still matters, but, since there is not conjecture at this juncture about an opponent in the next round, it is moot. The who(m) Louisville plays is Michigan.

Rule #3: Close the deal.

On Monday, the decision is rendered. There shall be no tomorrow.

Actually, it’s whether there will be a tomorrow after tomorrow after tomorrow of celebrating Title #3? Or a coulda woulda shoulda Tuesday of sorrow?

* * * * *

So, you might ask why am I thinking at this moment of Wesley Snipes, who coincidentally was released just yesterday, after three years in the hoosegow up the river for tax evasion?

Legit query.

Here’s why. Read More »


Louisville Cardinals’ Four Questions (+ Bonus ??? with Video)

People of the Jewish persuasion have recently completed their annual solemn celebration of Passover. This is the holiday that contemplates the exodus under the leadership of Moses from Egypt.

The plagues. Parting of the red sea. Forty years in the desert. Unleavened bread — matzoh — because they were in such a hurry to leave, there was no time for the bread to rise.  That stuff.

The first two nights of Passover are set aside for sacred dinners, known as Sedars, where the story is repeated so as not to be forgotten. Part of the liturgy that precedes the meal are Four Questions, asked of the elders, the answers to which explain the importance of this remembrance.

Since basketball is religion in these parts. And the Final Four the holiest of holy destinations, I thought I’d present the Four Questions, which must be answered if the Louisville Cardinals are to succeed.

(Which is not to mention, I needed a hook to reel you in, given how much you’ve already read and reread about the upcoming weekend in Atlanta.)

1. Will U of L misunderestimate Wichita State?

Admit it, until last weekend, when Wichita State upset Ohio State — I have purposely avoided use of the word “shocked,” since it is now cliche — you really hadn’t considered the MoValley school much. Maybe you saw them go down to Creighton during Arch Madness. Maybe you discovered Cleanthony Early, when fashioning an All-Name team. But other that that, the team hardly registered on the radar, right?

The numbers prove my point. Less than 1/4 of 1% in the ESPN Bracket Pool have the Shockers in the Final Four. Only 3.3% had them penciled into the Round of 16. Read More »


What Supporting the Cardinals Means to U of L

You’ve bought your t-shirts.

Cardinal flags are flapping from the windows of your car.

You even wore red socks to work today, the ones with Cardinal birds on them. Stylin’. And you intend to heed the mayor’s directive and wear red tomorrow.

So, as the Final Fours are drawing nigh for both Louisville Cardinal basketball programs, you are surely asking yourself, “What more can I do to support U of L sports?”

Well, the school has the answer. Just the thing to display your true allegiance to all matters Red & Black.

Correct Answer: Dig deep. Send mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money.

Nestled in my email In Box now, is a missive from the Cardinal Athletic Fund. There are photos of Peyton and Shoni, and Russ and Monique, etc. The banner reads: “Support the C.A.F. Champions Fund.” Read More »


Amping Up for Shockers: Early Thoughts, Silly & Serious, on Final Four(s) bound U of L

I ate with the usual couple of suspects today at our regular Wednesday lunch.

One of whom made an absurd suggestion, only partially in jest. It was Mike, the fellow I mentioned the other day, the one who acutely observed that Kevin Ware’s injury might have been inadvertently caused by the leaping super sub’s subconscious attempt not to fall off the edge of the raised hardwood in the Dome.

When he went wackamundo at lunch today, I said something like, you won’t be reading that in my blog.

At which point, Don, the third of our lunch bunch, dared me to pass the suggestion on to the cybergalaxy.

Given that I haven’t weighed in for, oh, 48 hours — an eternity in the digital universe — on the magical Cardinal hoops success, I figured what the hell?

Here it comes. We were contemplating what changes Rick Pitino might fashion in the absence of Kevin Ware? Read More »


Louisvile Card File: Duke (Bye Bye Baylor Bonus Coverage)

Not sure that there is anything more to add to the horror we saw and felt and the hope we harbor for Kevin Ware.

The injury is gruesome. My friend Mike, a former Waggener High School and Yale baller, made an interesting observation. “I think Kevin altered his landing mid air because of the raised floor and fear of falling off. Usually they collide with the press corps and scatter laptops.” Which is a legit theory, don’t you think?

The injury is debilitating, but not fatal. Hopefully, the physical loss will be more than offset by the courage Ware displayed while laying with a bone sticking out of his skin on the raised platform of hardwood at Lucas Oil.

“Just win the game,” he implored.

The Cardinals responded, pushing back the tears, reached deep inside for more heart, and did just that.

Won the game.

With extreme prejudice. Read More »


Zeus vs. Thor: Louisville battles Duke for the Regional Crown

Now is the time for your talisman.

You got a lucky shirt? Wear it.

The ballcap you were wearing the night the Cardinals spanked Syracuse in the Garden? Don it.

When the Cards bested Oregon, was your clicker pointed toward Atlanta? (33.7489° N, 84.3881° W)? Make sure your directions are correctly calibrated by 5:05.

After I write this, I’m going for a jog. When I reached into the drawer for a pair of socks, some adorned with Cardinals were at the top of the stack. I can’t remember the last time I wore these, they only come out for special, necessary moments.

A sign? Is my mojo woikin’? I hope so.

* * * * *

I was blessed with the opportunity to sit 10 feet behind the Duke bench the other night when they beat Michigan State. A clear view. Read More »


Louisville Card File: Oregon

There are lots of different ways that teams win games.

Sometime it’s at the foul line.

Sometime a team goes en fuego from beyond the arc, making it impossible for the squad behind to catch up.

Often it’s by forcing lots of turnovers.

On occasion, one player will just hoist his teammates on his back and carry them to victory.

At other times, a team will make a monumental mistake that causes it to lose.

Then there are the games where the winning formula has little to do with the play of the players on the floor that evening. It’s a resume win. A program win. A win generated by the reputation of one of the participating schools, the name on the front of the uni.

That, in essence, is the how and why of U of L’s workmanlike, less than spectacular W over Oregon, which propelled the Cards to an Elite Eight dance off with Duke. Read More »


Scouting Report: Oregon Ducks

I have sat in this same cavernous room deep in the recesses of Lucas Oil Stadium before on this very same date.

March 29, in the Year of Our Lord, 2009.

While the streets around the site were jammed with Cardinal fans, ready to cheer their beloved team one more stop closer to a national crown  — as they are today — I was doing the same thing at that moment on that day as I am doing at this moment on this day. Reading a Louisville opponent’s stats closely for the first time before an NCAA regional game.

That time it was Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

This time it is Oregon in the Round of 16. Read More »


Now There Are Twelve: NCAA 2d Thursday

Correction: When I first wrote this, for some reason not even closely beyond my control, I counted that there were six teams left in the tourney, when, in fact, there were 12. My apologies for the original title, now corrected, and any inconvenience or confusion it might have caused.

f you’ve been paying attention here throughout the season, and shame on you if you haven’t, I’ve been studiously wishy washy about the legitimacy of the Miami Hurricanes.

I’ve wanted them to be good, because, well, new plasma helps keep the royal bloodlines fresh. And Jim Larranaga is, by all accounts, THE nice guy in the college coaching ranks.

My earliest assessment, and the one I should have stuck with because it was the most correct one, was that the Canes, despite their advanced age and super PG, weren’t ready for Bright Lights, Big City. It’s not like winning both the regular season and ACC tournament titles is playing Beef ‘n’ Boards in Yonkers and Peoria. Though Clemson, South Carolina (Pop 13,905) is not exactly Broadway. Or Off Broadway. Or Off Off Broadway, and down he alley.

Yet, Miami finally upchucked last night against the buzzing Marquette Warriors.

It wasn’t pretty. Read More »