Collins, Wherry get Softball honors, WBB in action tonight.

TUESDAY as seen by CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Collins BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week

-Wherry named to BIG EAST Honor Roll

-LADY CARDS WBB vs. Xavier tonight.

-The Sideline Reporter Great Eight starts today.

-Dumb and Dumber on the air.

Paul Sanderford, pictured above, does color commentary on UofL Women's Basketball games. He'll be on hand for tonight's match up in Cincinnati when Louisville faces Xavier at 7 p.m. at the Cintas Center. Tickets still available. Sanderford was also a coach at Western Kentucky University and Nebraska and they say he was a pretty good catcher 'back in the day'. He and Louisville Bats radio voice Matt Andrews will have the broadcast on 790 AM/101.7 FM WKRD. The game will also be shown on ESPN2. WE strongly urge you to attend, though. Cincinnati is less than two hours away from Louisville and your LADY CARDS need as much "red" in the stands to offset what will be a large home advantage for the Muskies and their fans.

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Tori Collins has been named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week for her 3-0 record last week. She also recorded a save in five appearances. The junior struck out 24 batters and allowed just two runs on 12 hits for a sparkling ERA of 0.59 in 23.2 innings. Opposing batters went an anemic .150 against Tori. It is the second time this season she has been selected Pitcher of the Week.

Colby Wherry swung the big bat for the Cards last week and has been named to the BIG EAST Softball Honor Roll for outstanding performance. Colby was a hitting machine...going .625 at the plate with a home run, three doubles, six RBI's and four scored runs. Her on base % was .611 and her slugging percentage a perfect 1.000. The senior helped lead the Cards to a 4-1 record out at the San Diego Classic II.

Louisville faces in-state rival Kentucky at Ulmer Stadium on campus Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Cards (18-9) also have a weekend series to begin BIG EAST play coming up against Villanova.

Tickets for UK are $5 and can be purchased at the field game day.

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Louisville's LADY CARDS basketball team will take on Xavier tonight at the Cintas Center on the Xavier University Campus tonight at 7 p.m. For the Cards, stopping the gigantic front line of Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips will be a priority, as well as slowing down senior guards Special Jennings and Megan Askew. Local high school girls basketball fans may also remember Jeffersonville star center Sabrina Johnson, who is a reserve on the Xavier team.

The Cards will look to establish their own pace against the Musketeers instead of letting Xavier settle into their half court game of getting the ball inside to their dual post players and controlling the boards on both ends of the court.

The two teams met early in the season, on November 23rd. in the Cintas Center. Although Xavier won 71-59, Louisville jumped out to an eleven point first half lead using transition, fast break basketball and a stifling man-to-man defense. Xavier head coach challenged senior post Amber Harris, from Indianapolis to get more involved in the offense and she turned in a yeoman effort, torching the Cards for 13 points and 10 boards in the first half. Harris ended up with 28 points and 18 rebounds in the game and Xavier used a 19-3 run early in the second half to take control of the game. Senior guard Special Jennings nailed a couple of key 3's during that run.

"She's fantastic." head Louisville coach Jeff Walz remarked about Harris after the game. "She's unbelievable. Next to Maya Moore, she may be the best player in the country." Walz, known for his humorous sarcasm at times, was dead serious about Harris. She is all that.

Ta'Shia Phillips, Xavier's other post dominator, got into early foul trouble against the Cards and only played 20 minutes. The Cards had no one that could stop Harris, though, and it will be interesting to see what tactics Walz employs tonight to keep both from controlling the boards against a usually weak Cardinal rebounding squad. Louisville will also be wary of the three point shooting of guards Jennings, Tyeashia Moss and Katie Rutan.

Monique Reid had 20 points for Louisville in the loss.

SONJA SAYS:

The Cards will need to force the tempo and keep the Xavier guards from working the ball inside
to the Xavier twin towers if they are to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Cut off the head of the beast and the body dies. They'll also need to shut down any Xavier long range marksmanship, which they can do with effective full court pressure and a tight guarding scheme.
Keisha Hines needs to step up and have a big game on both ends of the court and if Walz chooses to give Asia Taylor extended minutes to combat the Xavier height advantage, the Columbus, Ohio sophomore must play prevention defense and avoid the reach-in fouls that have stymied her at times this season. Good shooting from the perimeter from Schimmel, Gibbs and Burke is a must and Reid will be expected to produce her usual stellar performance from inside the arc.

You counter height with quickness and Louisville has the fast break, transition basketball game to keep the Muskateers off balance and on their toes if they can get it started. Steals against the veteran Xavier back court may be hard to come by and turnovers few and far between...but if the Cards can contest ball movement and play smart, they can beat this A-10 powerhouse.
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CARDINAL COUPLE (well, at least 1/2 of the couple...) will be court side for the action and bring you pre-game, in-game and post game reports from the Cintas Center. Look out I-71, the red is on the way...

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The final eight contestant of the Sideline Announcers Bracket are ready and raring to go and the first matchup pits Erin Andrews vs. Heather Cox. Since the NCAA Men's basketball tournament is on CBS and their affiliates this year, we haven't seen much out of the ESPN duo lately. Maybe they're doing some women's or men's NIT games...but we aren't catching them if they are. Both have been embroiled in a bit of controversy lately...Cox and her obscenities during a taping of a halftime report and Andrews and the stalker. WE enjoy both, though, when they are on the air and this will be a tough one to decide. David Watson goes with Andrews, Paul is siding with the red-headed Cox and Sonja selects Andrews. You can weigh in on the fray here in the comments section..or send your vote to us at cardinalcouple@insightbb.com


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Did anyone else out there catch the Tennessee vs. Marquette game last night on ESPN2? We normally don't pay much attention to the meanderings and dribble that flows from the network play by play and color commentators...but Debbie Antonelli and "pretty boy"Dave Ryan must have had money on Marquette. Especially "pretty boy"... who almost reached orgasm every time Marquette's Angel Robinson took a step, tied her shoes or put up a shot. "Debs" was her usual condescending, haughty self...lamenting that Marquette could not produce enough defense to hold Tennessee. Hmmm. That Golden Eagle "d" had it down to a 2 point game late and both "pretty boy" and "Debs" were in full connubial ecstasy. Tough loss for a good and veteran Marquette team. Tougher, though, to listen to the 'dynamic' ESPN duo and their on air love affair for Terri Mitchell's squad. And...who cares if Bruce Pearl got fired and if it would affect the Vols? For goodness sake...do you really think losing a lying men's basketball coach is going to affect the way Pat Summitt prepares for and coaches a game? Please...ESPN and their "head games". We can understand "Debs" hatred for the Vols...she was UK's Director of Marketing early in her professional career. Once a Kat, always a Kat. Ryan, a veteran of both CBS and ESPN broadcasting needs to stick to college football...in our humble opinion.
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We're OK with the studio show and Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck. Wingo stays out of the way and lets Lawson and Peck talk about the sports they know. Lawson has improved dramatically over the past several years and it's good to see her on the studio report with Peck instead of "Ms Negative" Stacey Dales. We do wonder why Carolyn Peck hasn't been hired by someone has a coach. She knows the game quite well and that cute, little southern drawl of hers...well, we're sold. Sure, she had a rough 2006-07 season as Florida Gators head women's basketball coach which led to her dismissal...but she won an NCAA Championship while head coach at Purdue. She has WNBA coaching experience at Orlando, too. Maybe it's of her own choosing to stay in the studio instead of returning to the sidelines...but WE can think of at least five BIG EAST teams that would grow and prosper under Peck's knowledge and coaching ability. Sounds like we're trying to pimp her out as agents...that's not the case, though. We're perfectly fine listening to her intelligent and informative studio commentary. And Walz doesn't need another top flight, opposing coach to worry about in the BIG EAST.
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Lady Cards fall to Xavier 71-59

WEDNESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE:


-Despite Reid's 19 second half points, Cards collapse in final twenty to take the defeat.


A THANKSGIVING story and wishes...






For 20 minutes in the Tuesday night contest in Cincinnati, Louisville had the Xavier Musketeers number. With Monique Reid (pictured here) on the bench for the final 12:47 of the first half due to foul trouble, Louisville still managed to lead by as many as 11 points in the first half and take a 31-28 lead to the locker room.



College basketball consists of two halves, however...and the Muskies came out hot in the second half and used a 12-2 run to begin the final twenty minutes to build a lead Louisville could not overcome.


Louisville started the contest jumping out to an early 11-6 lead in the game, thanks to a couple of three's by Shoni Schimmel and Antonita Slaughter and increased the margin to 11 after another Schimmel trifecta to go up 23-12 with around nine minutes remaining in the first half.

With Reid on the bench saddled with 2 fouls...freshmen Schimmel, Slaughter and Sherrone Vails took control of the Cardinal offense and despite Amber Harris's 13 first half points...led by seven with 3 minutes to go and withstood a late Muskie 4-0 run to go in up by three.


Xavier got 2 three's from guard Special Jennings and and continued strong play from Harris to start the second half and erased the Cardinal margin quickly. The Muskies scored twelve of the first 14 points to open the half and controlled the boards.


With 16:00 to go in the game, Xavier had a 36-33 lead and built that with an opening second half 22-5 run to lead 50-36 halfway through the final stanza. The Cards would manage to cut the deficit to nine at 62-53 late in the game but get no closer in the final five minutes. Despite Reid's heroics in the final twenty minutes...Louisville could not stop Harris inside or keep her off the boards.

Harris had a monster game against the Cards with 28 points and 18 rebounds. Jennings finished with 13 for Xavier. Reid paced the Cards with 20 points in 25 minutes and Schimmel totaled 16 for Louisville. Vails ended up with nine for the Cards..fouling out with 4 minutes to go.


The #5 Muskies (3-0) out rebounded Louisville 40-34 and forced the Cards into 24 turnovers. Louisville seemed out of sync in the second half...rushing shots and failing to slow down the Xavier transition game for much of the final half. Reid, Vails and Schimmel scored 27 of Louisville's 28 second half points...Asia Taylor getting the other on a free throw. The Cards made only two threes in the second half after popping in five in the first half.


Tia Gibbs did not score in the game but grabbed 10 rebounds for Louisville. Xavier shot 64% in the second half...mostly on layups, Harris in the paint and held Louisville to 38.9% from the field for the game after the Cards shot almost 50% in the first half.



Louisville (3-2) returns to the road for a Friday evening match up at Old Dominion next.


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WE here at CARDINAL COUPLE would like to thank our readers as Thanksgiving Day draws upon us. Thanks to you...our readership has grown dramatically this year and WE appreciate the loyalty and interest that you have shown in our "little blog" that is all grown up now.
WE also ask of you to give a little of yourself this holiday season. WE were touched by this story we ran across several years ago in a collection of short, anonymously written stories.



Read it and ask yourself...'Can I do more?"





It was Thanksgiving Day many years ago, and there was the usual assortment of friends and relatives at Grandma's house. Midway thru the day, Grandma came to me with a look of concern in her eyes.


"No one brought any egg nog this year. You know how your Uncle Nick likes his egg nog after the meal."she worriedly whispered.


I knew that look. Although the Thanksgiving Day football game I was watching with the rest of the men was just beginning to get interesting, I volunteered to head out and pick up a couple of jugs. My doting niece Sandra requested to go along, bored with the football and 'women' talk. We headed off and pulled into the gas and grocery near Grandma's house.


As we entered, the cashier was having an animated discussion with a young boy at the register. The boy left the counter. His depression and sadness was easy to see. We gathered up the egg nog and went to check out. Curious over the discussion I saw earlier, I inquired about discussion. The clerk shrugged his shoulders.


"Not enough money to buy what he wanted."


We completed our purchase and headed back to the car. Sandra saw the young boy walking down the road away from us.


"Can't we do something?" she asked. I pulled the car to the side of the road where he was walking and rolled down the window. His coat was insufficient for the brisk weather and he carried a small bag with a couple of cans of tomato soup inside. His name was Jefferey and he explained to me that his mother had sent him to the store to buy bread, bologna and soup for dinner for him and his little brother but she hadn't given him enough money. I asked him to get in the car and we drove back to the store. I handed him a $20 and told him to go get what he needed and I would wait for him and drive him home. His eyes lit up and in a few minutes he came out of the store with several bags. He handed me several dollars back in change and I told him to keep it. We drove him to his residence, an older apartment complex where the impoverished lived. He thanked us and entered one of the doors.


It was after our meal when Sandra came up to me.


"We should have done more." she commented, tears welling in her eyes. "He looked to be about my age. I keep thinking, what if that was me?"


Her words hit home. I spent the next 20 minutes busily working in the kitchen with Sandra and Grandma, who we filled in on the story. Out to the car we went and minutes later, pulled up in front of the battered apartment complex. We knocked on the door, and a tired-looking, middle aged women opened.


"We have Jefferey's order here." I pleasantly informed her. Bewildered, she opened the door and we walked in. Jefferey sat in the kitchen and his eyes lit up when he saw us. We started unloading the bags of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. "Just heat it up and your ready to go." Grandma instructed the now crying mother and she gave her a hug.


."I have no money to pay you." she stammered. Grandma looked at her and with tears rolling down her eyes, replied.


"There is no money due. It's Thanksgiving. We're grateful that you have your family here with you, just as I am grateful that my family is here with me"


At Christmas time, Jefferey and his family received another order...this time it was winter coats and warm clothing. I kept track of Jefferey, his brother Ronnie and their mom for several years until they moved away when their mom got offered a better paying job out of state.


I got a letter in the mail today. In it was a newspaper clipping. The article listed graduates of a certain high school. I scanned the article and saw Jefferey's name listed. The envelope also contained a $20 bill. A small note was attached, reading...'This is for the next kid you find who can only afford tomato soup. Jefferey."


THIS THANKSGIVING... ASK YOURSELF..."CAN I DO A LITTLE MORE?"


MAY THE JOY AND THE GOODWILL OF THE SEASON BE WITH YOU...


-the staff and owners of CARDINAL COUPLE