Cardinal Couple Thursday Edition

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jeff McAdams jumps behind the wheel of the CARDINAL COUPLE 1975 Ford Pinto and takes us for a spin through BIG EAST Women's Basketball Conference..with side stops at the ACC lounge and volleyball courts. We've always said Jeff is out standing in his field. What he's doing out there, we have no idea...but we just let him roll with it...)

 

Standings, We've Got Standings

Starting at home in The Big East

Things are starting to look a bit more normal in the Big East standings.  With four unbeatens, UConn is still lurking around further down the list than any of us are used to seeing, but the overall complexion is starting to take on a more familiar tone.

Notre Dame still holds onto the top spot with an unblemished 4-0 record in conference matchups so far dispatching Rutgers and Georgetown since we last checked in, and with relative ease. Also unbeaten with 3-0 starts are Syracuse, Villanova, and St. Johns.  The Cuse also beat up on Georgetown but they barely escaped DePaul...both at home...while Villanova got a solid win on the road over Pitt.  'Nova played a cross-town non-conference matchup against Penn last night and barely escaped with a win, though it wouldn't have had any impact on conference standings in any case, of course.

UConn is the only one loss team, coming in at the fifth spot.  In addition to hanging the loss on our dear Cardinals, they handed one to Marquette as well...with an even more overwhelming margin of victory.

We're currently at 2-2, along with Seton Hall and DePaul.  Seton Hall continues the backwards slide with the loss to St. Johns mentioned above, and they lost a squeaker to Marquette.  DePaul picked up the loss to Syracuse, and beat USF pretty handily.

USF and Marquette show up at 1-2.  USF got an easy win over Cincinnati, but suffered about the same sort of loss at the hands of DePaul.  Marquette's games were both mentioned already, being fodder for UConn, and sneaking the win out against Seton Hall in New Jersey.

Georgetown and Rutgers are both 1-3.  Georgetown taking a beating from both Syracuse and Notre Dame...though that Notre Dame wasn't as bad of a blow out as win-loss records would suggest it would've been.  Rutgers was run over...like just about everyone is...by Notre Dame, but got their first conference win against Providence...not exactly a win to hang tournament hopes on, there.

In the basement are the oh-fors, Pitt, Cincinnati, and Providence...all still looking for their first conference win after dropping three.

How's the New Construction Coming Along?

 

The ACC is starting to fall into a pretty normal looking pattern as well.

I'll skip the commentary on these and just list them off in their women's basketball records.

Duke and North Carolina are both 5-0.  Maryland at 4-1.  Florida State, Miami, and Virginia have 3-2 marks.  Wake Forest and Boston College with .500 records at 2-2.  The Techs, Georgia and Virginia, side by side at 1-4.  And the basement has NC State and Clemson still unfeated (is that a word?) in conference at 0-5.

I gotta have some Volleyball in here

Congratulations to Lola Arslanbeckova on picking up another post-season accolade.  This one comes from Volleyball Magazine, which named our favorite number 9 to the All-American second team.

Lola is suffering for her sport, clearly enjoying the warmth and sun in Puerto Rico.  Gwen Rucker, meanwhile, at least has warmer weather than we do...for the moment anyway...in Azerbaijan.  Kaitlynn James lost the weather lottery, pursuing pro volleyball in snowy Sweden.

Best wishes to the three of them as they set off on their careers.

( Great info today from Jeff McAdams, who will probably make road trips to see all three before April. One sure way to get Jeff to cover an event is to set up a volleyball net or basketball goal and have Al Greener's pep band show up...)
 

The regular season tips off!

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards WBB starts regular season vs Texas A&M

(Staff columnist Jenny O'Bryan previews the Louisville vs. Texas A&M game on Friday)

Basketball tips off the regular season on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at The KFC YUM Center against #12 ranked Texas A&M.   This opening night match is a strong matchup on opening night, is a Red Out, and is  hopefully a sold out affair!

Two years ago Texas A&M won the National Championship for the first time.  Nearly one year ago Louisville travelled to College Station, Texas and took a hard loss 76-58. 

A lot has happened in two years.  A&M has only 5 players on the roster from their championship team.  They also lost 5 seniors last year to graduation and return only two starters from the team that beat Louisville last season. 

Louisville limped in to College Station last year with a severe loss of personnel.  Tia Gibbs had already been injured, Mo Reid was sidelined with back and foot injuries and Shoni Schimmel was serving a suspension.  Instead of heading in to this game with an experienced team, three then freshman (B. Smith, S. Hammond and J. Schimmel) played 34, 14 and 31 minutes (respectively). 

Kelsey Bone (6-4 Center) led A&M with 9 boards and 15 points in last year's match up.  For Louisville, freshman Bria Smith led Louisville in points scored with 20 and tied Cierra Warren for the lead in rebounds with 7. 

I expect a wildly different affair this go round.  While Louisville is still plagued with some nagging injuries (Gibbs, A. Taylor) and not-at-full-speed Reid and Walton, Louisville returns some very seasoned players (Reid, S. Schimmel, Vails, Slaughter and Harper), sophomores who got a wealth of experience during last year (Dyer, Hammond, Smith and J. Schimmel) and what looks to be 2 great freshman in Deines and Walton.   On paper I give Louisville the nod with experience and strength players. 

Louisville will need to find a way to contain Kelsey Bone while finding a way to score around her in the paint.  This will be Louisville’s biggest challenge, I believe. 

Texas A&M has a very strong freshman class, their highest ranked class ever, at #2.  There are 6 freshmen that signed in this class and 4 of the 6 are top 25 kids.  Courtney Williams, a forward/guard leads this class as the # 9 ranked player in the country.   I expect these kids will be making a big impact for this team. Will it show up in their first game? I do not know.  But look for these kids, with some experience under their belt, to offer a big impact for this team later in the season...if not before. 

What do we need to see from our team?  Shoni at the point is a huge advantage for us.  She needs to have a strong showing in leading this team and minimizing turnovers.  Look for some snazzy no-look passes and a hopefully good night of shooting.  The combination of Shoni, Smith, J. Schimmel, Harper and Deines gives us a strong presence on the perimeter. While Reid’s time in the game will be limited, due to continued swelling in her knee, she will need to be efficient in her scoring and her athleticism inside with rebounding is a must.  Combine that with a strong showing from Dyer, Hammond and Vails and Louisville wins the battle inside.

It will be a battle, though.

Louisville's  'bigs' are going to need to rebound and defend against Bone.  This is no small task.  With the wealth of experience Dyer and Hammond gained last year in Reid’s absence -- I think we have an edge in this category.   Hammond will need to stay out of early foul trouble (hopefully summer workouts on footwork will minimize this) and Vails needs to have a big game defensively.   I am a little concerned about rebounding, as Taylor seemed to carry the load last season when Reid was out, but, she is sidelined still for a bit.  Reid can impact this stat while she plays, but the others will need to step up in a big way in this area. 

Another area that doomed Louisville in last years match-up was turnovers.  Louisville had 27 turnovers to A&M’s 15.   With Shoni and Gibbs not in this game last year, one could have predicted turnovers from the young guards.  Combine the Cardinals primary guards being out and the very strong guard play of Sydney Carter and Tyra White (both having since graduated) and the full court press was very difficult for Louisville to handle.  This looks to be, and needs to be, a very different stat this year. 

In my humble opinion Louisville can, should, and will win this game.   I do not expect it to be an easy win, but a win none-the-less. 

As a fan base, we can impact this game with our attendance.  This is a great opportunity to showcase our growing fandom.  Coach Walz has thrown down the gauntlet and has asked for a sell out for the opening game.   I’ll be there, will you?

( As Jenny mentioned, it is a Red Out game, so get there and cheer on the Cards!)  

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( Editor's link. Watch this girl absolutely tear up the competition in youth football! LINK BELOW:


Sam Gordon blows by the boys....

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Volleyball falls to Illinois

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Volleyball against the Illini

-Grieshaber finishes second

-Football Cards: Shoulda been...

Charlie Strong (pictured right) appears to be a bit disgruntled...maybe it was the pre-game meal? Stick with Panera Bread next time, coach.

We'll have some observations on the Cards 35-28 loss at Oregon State at the end of this column. Meanwhile, let's talk women's sports... (photo by H. Lindsey/Cardinal Sports.com)

The University of Louisville women's volleyball team gave a good effort yesterday against #5 Illinois but lost the match 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18. Louisville looked ready to pull the upset early on, winning the first game by three...thanks to the play of Emily Juhl. The freshman had five kills and the Cards finished strong in the opener with three of the final four points.

Illinois regrouped, though, and swept the remaining three games. Besides Juhl, Lola Arslanbeckova, Anastasia Artemeva and Amanda Simmons played well for the Cards. Arslanbeckova and Artemeva finished with 12 kills each. Louisville (5-4) placed Simmons on the All-Tournament team.

Tough competition on both Friday and Saturday that will undoubtedly help the Cards as they prepare for the BIG EAST schedule. Leonid Yelin's young team has shown flashes of being a top 25 caliber squad and will only get better with each game...learning and improving as they've gone thru a murderous pre-conference slate of matches.

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Kim Grieshaber finished second in the Navy Invitational cross country event in Annapolis Saturday. The UofL women finished fifth out of the nine teams participating in the meet. Louisville's men's team did very well...finishing second...just three point back of Navy.

Grieshaber was only seven seconds behind the winner and the Cards placed three runners in the top eleven. The Cards return to action in two weeks...hosting the Greater Louisville Classic at Sawyer Park in eastern Jefferson County.

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A big time comeback got Louisville within seven points of the Oregon State Beavers in football action Saturday but it was the start of the game that actually did the Cards in. Two blown scoring opportunities in the first quarter had Cardinal fans watching the game at Tailgaters Bar and Restaurant ready to tear their hair out yesterday. A yard short on a fourth and two run by Bilal Powell deep in Beaver territory and a wacky sequence a few minutes later when Louisville QB Adam Froman appeared to run one in for a touchdown but had the ball poked out of his grasp as he reached the end zone. Out of bounds, a touchback and Oregon State ball at the 20.

I'm not Charlie Strong...nor would I ever pretend that have better judgement than him...but you take the field goal and get the lead during that first drive....in my opinion.

The Cards rolled back from a 21 point deficit early in the third quarter and had a chance to tie it late but Froman threw one right into the paws of a Beaver defensive back.

This very well may have been the toughest opponent Louisville will face this year. These Cards will be just fine and this writer can see UofL winning the next four.

As for Charlie...enough can't be said. A Steve Kragthorpe team would have thrown in the towel and gone thru the motions down by 21. This team, with this leader, was moving late in the game to send it to overtime...shocking the 45,000 in attendance.

Tom Cahill, in attendance at Tailgaters to view the televised match, summed it up perfectly when he said:

"Nobody gave Louisville a chance before the game. They should have won this thing at least by three. Louisville may have lost the game...but they won the hearts and minds of every Cardinal fan out there tonight...including me."

At 95...Ruby still represents

Learning the internet at 91? It sounded like a good idea to Ruby. A fiercely loyal fan of the UNC women's basketball program, she waited anxiously for her grand-daughters visits...armed with her laptop, she would fill Ruby in on the latest developments of the Lady Tar Heels and show her clips from away games. Then, she got the news that her grand-daughter and her husband were being relocated out of state for his job. She knew what she had to do.

"I had her order me a lap top. I spent hours on it each day...learning how to work it. I went to the community college and took a beginner's course on it. I was the oldest person in there by 30 years. I upgraded my home service to broadband. I am truly amazed at the things I find on-line."

For Ruby, it is just another chapter in a life that has been one adventure after another. Born in 1915, the second of six children of a hard-working farmer and farmer's wife in rural North Carolina...Ruby recalls she walked 3 miles a day round trip to attend a one room school. She used a horse some days...by the time she entered high school...she made the 9 mile trip with her siblings in a Model T Ford.

"I fell in love with basketball in the 7th grade. We had a team, and our coach made me a guard. We had a jump ball after every basket and there was one particular spot on the court that I shot from very successfully. I scored 7 goals in a game...that was unheard of back then and they sent out a reporter from the local paper to do a piece about me. I was so embarrassed and nervous about it that I swallowed my gum and nearly choked during the interview."

The Depression hit Ruby's family hard and any plans of going to college disappeared when she graduated from high school in 1934. A friend got her a job as a waitress in a Charlotte, NC restaurant...and an apartment upstairs that they shared with "a woman of the streets. She made three times the money we did..but we wouldn't let her 'entertain her clients' in our place...so she had a deal worked out at one of the hotels. We worked the morning shift and lunch...I bet I've served a million cups of coffee in my life..."

"That's when I met Charlie. He would stop in and drink coffee. He was so handsome, a broad, bushy mustache and tall and strong. All of us girls, we were crazy over him. I almost fainted when he asked me to the movies."

"Well, the movies turned into a 59 year marriage...producing 4 children, 13 grand children and 'I have no idea' how many great grandkids...I can't even remember their names." she laughs. "He moved us to Raleigh to take a job as a hosiery salesman. I found a job as a waitress. I had our first son...Gerald...exactly nine months after we got married."

After Charlie passed away in 1995, the kids wanted Ruby to move in with one of them. She had no such intentions.

"This is my home. I will stay here until I go to meet Charlie in the heavens above. They finally gave up on trying to get me to move and they're good about stopping in all the time to clean, cook and they take me to Cracker Barrel for breakfast sometimes."

I asked her to share a favorite memory with me and she responded with:

"Charlie and I took an airplane trip to Calfornia years ago. We drove to Atlanta and flew out of there. He had us first class seats and we were sitting next to this short, kind of ugly man but...honey, he was funny! He had us in stitches...everyone in first class..the entire flight. His name was Rodney Dangerfield. He was going to Hollywood to play a role in a movie called "Caddyshack". I still have an autographed picture of him."

Ruby attends almost all of the Lady Tar Heel home games each year. Her youngest son Robert takes her and she likes to sit across from the opposing team's bench.

"I've been watching Sylvia Hatchell on the sidelines for it seems like 30 years..I like to see what some of the other coaches are up to when they come in to play Carolina Blue."

She has her rituals. Robert takes her for a post game drink...win or lose...at a restaurant in Chapel Hill. She'll have (1) Winston cigarette on the ride home...her final smoke of the day... she'll have three smokes each day.

"The doctor he told me years ago to give up the cigarettes. I attended his funeral, too." she laughs. "And, I like a shot of Makers' Mark...water back...now and then. That's was Charlie's drink. He'd drive to Louisville sometimes on business and bring back a case of it. We couldn't get it down here in the ABC stores for a long time. Charlie was a hustler..a great salesman. He paid practically nothing for that Makers...always working an angle..making a deal."

She takes her Carolina Blue towel to home games and will fluff it in disgust if a call goes against UNC. She'll tell you that she likes "that pretty girl coach out in Oklahoma" and "that handsome guy at UConn."....but "I wouldn't walk across the street to shake hands with prissy Pat Summitt or that "phony Joanie" coaching Duke. I really liked Kay Yow...even though she was at State. I cried when she passed away. You have a good young coach up there in Louisville with that Jeff Walz and I fell in love with the way Miss Angel played. I follow her Atlanta team on line."

She'll cue up this blog sometime later today and probably shoot me a e-mail fussing about all the attention. She'll browse the internet and look for Lady Tar Heel articles. She's told me to tell coach Walz that he's getting a steal with Cierra Warren's transfer from UNC to Louisville. Eventually sometime today, she'll go outside..assisted by one of the kids or grandkids and check on her tomatoes and marigolds. Then, she'll spend her evening crusing the 'net...and I'll probably get another e-mail if she finds an article on something UofL related.

I look forward to it.