Dream vs. Fever tonight...Lola wins BIG EAST Player of the Week...Shine shines for women's tennis

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TUESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-Atlanta and Indiana decide it tonight

-Lola Arslanbekova named BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Week

-Becca Shine sweeps at Michigan St.

-David Watson looks at re-alignment.

-Louisville Sports Report on-line

The Atlanta Dream look to advance to the WNBA Final for the second straight year by knocking off the Indiana Fever tonight in Indianapolis. ESPN 2 will have the coverage. Game time is 8 p.m. CARDINAL COUPLE'S Sandy Walker gives this preview:

The "Three Amigos" will be missing
Erika De Souza tonight in Indianapolis.

The deciding third at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight will draw a fevered bunch of Indiana fans to try and rally the Fever against Angel McCoughtry and the Atlanta Dream. Indiana head coach Frank Vogel has become a part of the several promotions designed to get fans in the stands. 1,000 attendees will be the guest of coach Vogel.  

Indiana's Tamika Catchings status for tonight's game is doubtful. Her injury in Sunday's loss to Atlanta has been diagnosed as a "foot injury" so far (much better than an Achilles heel problem). The Fever will most likely go to either second year player Shavonte Zellous (Pittsburgh) or rookie Jeanette Pohlen (Stanford) to replace Catchings if she can't go.

Tonight's battle will once again feature Atlanta as the top scoring Eastern Conference team vs. the Eastern Conference's best defensive squad. The Dream will be without the services of front liner Erika De Souza...who has left the squad to try and help Brazilian National Team qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The key to Atlanta's success tonight will be playing their fast and exciting transition game. If Izzy Castro-Marquez, Angel and Lindsey Harding can keep the Fever on their heels like they did Sunday...expect the Dream to advance to the WNBA Finals to face Minnesota.  

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Louisville Volleyball's Lola Arslanbekova has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week for her outstanding performances over the weekend in the KFC YUM! Center. The junior averaged 5.33 kills per set against St. John's and Connecticut and Louisville swept all six games against the conference foes.

Arslanbekova is 10th. all time on the Cardinal's kill list with 1,216 and had a total 32 this weekend. It is her second BIG EAST Player of the Week honor this season. 

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Louisville sophomore Becca Shine had a big weekend on the tennis courts for the Cards in the Michigan State Spartan Invitational. She won the Draw A Singles and she and teammate Gabrielle Duncan captured the Draw B Doubles in East Lansing.

Shine's coach, Mark Beckham, likes what he is seeing out of Shine:

"This has been a very impressive showing by Becca. For her to win her doubles event with a partner she's never played with before this weekend and then to win the top flight of singles really shows how good of an all-around player she is. We have been coming to this tournament for four or five years and this was the highest level of competition we have faced. There were two nationally ranked players and two starters from a top ten Michigan team in this draw, so for Becca to win a tournament of this quality just shows her will to be a great player. She is improving at a scary rate right now"

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(David Watson recently took his Ford Pinto in for an alignment, tire rotation and balance. It got him thinking about alignments in general.)

Texas A&M to the SEC. Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC. Connecticut and Rutgers wanting to follow. Missouri debating a switch to the SEC. Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen in the Two and A Half Men's Association. Notre Dame turning a deaf ear to all but Touchdown Jesus. It's enough to make you switch from Total to Rice Krispies in the morning.

And, it's all money related (except for the Rice Krispies). I get the part about self-preservation and increased revenue. What I don't get is the back-stabbing and false promises scenarios. Pitt basically tells the rest of the BIG EAST a few bold face lies and bails. Texas waves it's Longhorn Network at the rest of the BIG 12 and tells them to deal with it. Whatever happened to integrity, honesty and commitment?

Louisville could be the next rat to jump off the sinking BIG LEAST garbage scow and tread water to another conference. Which would, effectively, be the final barrage that would sink the vessel. Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich is faced with the Rubik's cube dilemma. Leave a conference that is staggering on the ropes and waiting for the bell or stay and absorb a few more body blows from the opponents?

Money. It's all about it. And, that isn't changing, friends. In a beautiful world, Notre Dame would commit to BIG EAST football and the league would expand to 12 teams.

Real life, though, isn't that pretty. As long as NBC continues to fund the Irish coffers, the South Bend boys will watch aloofly from the grotto. Who can blame them? Strictly business. And business is good. Maybe the BIG EAST needs to hire Gordon Gekko as Commisioner.
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LOUISVILLE SPORTS REPORT is offering an on-line version of their weekly sports review. You can access it by going to our Sites We Recommend section on the left side of the board and clicking on Louisville Sports News. Howie Lindsey and the boys do a great job of covering Louisville sports and he's a Blues Traveller fan as well...what else could you want?


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