Thursday Cardinal Couple

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Featured columnist Jeff McAdams looks at WBB Hoops, Lacrosse and softball today. There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that he is out on the recruiting trails helping Coach Walz find a 6'7" center or in the secret CARDINAL COUPLE laboratories assisting Anne Kordes in engineering a Lola Arslanbeckova clone...)

 

A Quick Look at the Standings

Things are starting to look...well...normal...in the Big East standings.

Notre Dame still undefeated in conference putting them on top.  UConn, Syracuse and Villanova tied for second at 4-1...ok, we're not really used to seeing 'Nova that far up the rankings.  Louisville and DePaul tied for fifth at 4-2.  St. Johns seventh at 3-2.  USF, Rutgers, and Marquette all vying for eighth with a 2-3 record.  Georgetown and Seton Hall checking in at 2-4 for the eleventh spot.  Providence has the 13th spot at 1-4.  Pitt and Cincinnati still in the basement at 0-5.

Lacrosse Preseason Conference picks

We're starting to see some spring sports news.  Preseason conference picks for Lacrosse were released, and Louisville was picked in a tie for sixth with UConn.  There are 9 teams that compete in Big East Lacrosse, including Loyola Maryland, who competes in the Big East only in Lacrosse. Syracuse was essentially the consensus pick for the number one position with 8 of the 9 first place votes.  The voting is done by the coaches of the teams, and coaches are not permitted to vote for their own team, so essentially this is a unanimous pick for the first place spot.  The rest of the preseason rankings are Loyola (MD) in second, followed by Notre Dame, and Georgetown in very close voting. Rutgers came in fifth.  Louisville and UConn tied in the voting for the sixth place position.  Villanova and Cincinnati had very close vote totals for eighth and ninth place.

Louisville's Nikki Boltja, out of Medina, OH, was selected for the Preseason All Big-East team.  Her position is listed as "M"...and I think that stands for "Midfield".  We here at Cardinal Couple are just starting to crack the Lacrosse study guides, and hope to have more insightful commentary as the season progresses.

The first game is Feb. 10th at noon, versus Canisius at the Louisville Lacrosse field, which is next door to the Yum! Center, on campus...not the basketball arena downtown.  If you're not familiar with this location, its on Floyd St. north of Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium, just across the railroad tracks towards campus.

Softball Preseason Rankings

The USA Today/NFCA (National Fast-pitch Coaches Association) preseason rankings were released and Louisville is in the 18th spot, after coming off of a great season last year.  The other ranking, the ESPN/USA Softball has not (yet?) released a preseason poll.

The Softball team kicks off their season with five games in Las Vegas from Feb. 8th through 10th. They then have five more in Jacksonville FL the next week.  The first home games are four games Feb. 22nd through 24th.

I think my biggest disappointment is that Chelsea Leonard is not returning. She was my favorite pitcher to watch but bad knees have put an end to her career.

The Louisville Softball Preseason Banquet is this Saturday at the Hyatt Downtown. This gala event will showcase the 2013 team, there is a cash bar and silent auction that features many collectibles and items from all the UofL sports teams. .

I enjoy attending softball games at Ulmer Stadium and hope you will join me this season to watch the defending BIG EAST champs do battle.

We'll provide you the most coverage you will find on the internet on Cardinal Softball this season.

Rumor is that Timmy the Intern has called Coach Pearsall on her yacht (pictured above) to try and commit Sonja to pre-season training in an effort to replace Torrid Tori Collins as one of the pitchers. There are also rumors that she's supervising the construction of the domed stadium that Softball hopes to have someday. The SonjaDome.

Believe it and you can achieve it.

 

LADY CARDS TO FACE ST. JOHN'S IN WBB SHOWDOWN

Calling all fans, calling all fans! The 16-4 Louisville Cardinal womens' basketball team will host St John's Sunday, 1:30 p.m. at the KFC YUM! Center. This promises to be a very tough and exciting matchup in BIG EAST play. SJU returns Cardinal nemeses Shenneika Smith, Nadirah McKenith, Mary Nwachukwu, Briana Brown and a very talented freshman in Aliyyah Handford.

Former SJU Coach Kim Barnes Arico may be gone to Michigan...but the Red Storm doesn't seem to be faltering as a result of it.

Jeff Walz and his team want you there. Please honor this request.



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