Saturday Cardinal Couple -- The Walz Interview and pre-game Georgetown

 
SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- The Coach Walz interview

- Georgetown preview from "Q" and "P"

( It's a long read today at CARDINAL COUPLE. But a good one. You have been warned.)

Coach Jeff Walz is a busy man. Our Friday interview with him is below. We were slightly delayed in the start of the actual interview time because of important things he had to take care of, he multi-tasked during the interview and had former Card great Becky Burke waiting to see him after we were done. It is, however, we think a great interview that takes a look at the man, the legend and the philosophies of the most successful women's basketball coach in Cardinal history. We appreciate the time he gave us...


CARDINAL COUPLE: You've had a couple of days to reflect on and watch some film from the huge win at USF. Your thoughts?

COACH WALZ: For the most part, I was really pleased with our effort. Not just our physical effort, but out mental effort. We did a really nice job of following a game plan. Those are the things we're trying to get accomplished as a staff. To get the players to do what we ask them to do. I thought they did a really nice job. USF's #10 came in the game and I told them...make her shoot the basketball. And she scores 11 in the first half, makes a big three right at halftime to cut it to a one-point game. In the locker room I told our players...hey, you did exactly what I told you to do, I'll take the blame. It's my fault. I tell them all the time, if you'll play hard and do what I ask...we can adjust to the next thing. And, I told them...USF has a problem over there now. Andrea Smith played 12 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. The freshman comes in and scores 11...which one are you playing now? I knew they weren't going to play both at the same time. So, they go with Andrea Smith, which I would have too, and the freshman ends up playing only two minutes in the second half.

Our game plan was to come out and do some different things defensively . All in all, I was really pleased with the mental side of us against South Florida.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Coaches talk about their players' "basketball IQ". Your evaluation of your players' IQ?

COACH WALZ:  Well, if they've watched our games...sometimes it's not very good. It's really an amazing thing at times. At the end of the South Florida game, we wanted Sherrone Vails to try and foul #32 McDonald. And, what you all couldn't see on the radio is that she put two arms around her and gave her a hug, grabbed her. It should have been an intentional foul on Vails. Two free throws and the ball possession. And I asked her...what are you doing?

"Well, you said to foul her."

I don't know...they don't watch a lot of basketball. They play the game, love to do that...but to sit and watch hours of basketball on TV? I'm not sure they do that. It's constantly a teaching process. Working on turnovers. We have to put them in situations and teach them the game. I joked with them after the St. John's game. We had three of the worst basketball plays in a row that I've seen in a long time at the end of that game. I mean...THREE CONSECUTIVE plays. Normally, you don't see three plays that bad over the life of a game. For us to foul somebody 28 feet away from the basket and up five...and then to drive the length of the court and shoot it with 23 seconds left on the shot clock and us up by three? Then, we get a stop, get the ball back and with seven seconds left and three time outs left and we try to throw it over the top of somebody and turn it over and give them a chance to tie the game.

Those are things I keep harping on to them. You've got to understand the situation. You can't just go out and play. You have to be thinking about what's going on. So, that's our challenge. But, we have made improvements. It's not like they're not giving good effort. I don't question their physical effort but weve challenged to take the next step defensively to get better.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Every year it seems like this team has to cope with injuries. Talk a little about this year's injuries and how it's affected your coaching style.

COACH WALZ: It's not that it affects the way I coach, it's just that I have to sit back and evaluate the rotation. Figuring out who's going to play, whose not going to play. I've got Asia Taylor back to play and she's practicing more and more but I don't know if she's ready to go full strength and actually play. If she could, this last month of the season...I'd do it. It's her senior year, she's going to graduate and we play our first two NCAA Tournament games at home. I'm just a big believer in not passing up an opportunity that's right there in front of you. If she'd be able to play a solid eight-nine games, I'd play her because I think she could really help us but I'm not sure she's there yet.

On Monique Reid, Mo was kind of off and on early in the year, I was trying to watch the amount of minutes she played. She hurts her knee again doing a box-out drill in practice but we're hoping to have her back in three weeks. If that works out it's a big lift for us.

Tia Gibbs has actually been doing some running and basketball agility drills on the floor. She feels good. So, she's one I'm (originally) not thinking is going to come back and play...but there's a possibility she might. If she can, that'd be great. I love to see a kid be able to go out on her own terms and if she can go on Senior Night, I'll put her out there. I'm just not sure her body is able to handle a full season. So, would I love to red-shirt her again in which we would get a sixth year for her and have her play a whole year? Sure I would. But I just don't believe her body is going to allow her to do that. If we could get her to play the last five or six games for us, I think it would be a big lift for us.

Shawnta Dyer's surgery went very well for her ACL and MCL. She's doing a great job with her rehab and hopefully she'll be back in six months.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Give us an example of a player you've coached that you wish you could clone. In all aspects, not just points scored.

COACH WALZ: I'd probably go back to my days at Maryland. Crystal Langhorne. She's probably the best player, person and student I've coached. I've often told her that if my daughter grows up to be like her, I'd be happy. We've had some great players, some great kids here, too. In Crystal, you've talking about a kid that was a Kodak All-American a couple of years, lead the country in field goal percentage all four years she played, was a 3.9 student. Had all of it. If I could have two or three of her, it's be great. Candyce Bingham, Angel...we've had a lot of great ones here but Crystal would be at the top of my list.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Speaking of Candyce, is she going to participate in the alumni game Saturday?

COACH WALZ: She says she is and she's excited about that. We have a good turnout showing up. We have about 70 that are coming back and about 30 that have said they're playing, so it should be fun!

CARDINAL COUPLE: Have you chosen coaches for these teams?

COACH WALZ:  I'm not sure if we're going to do that. We'll have somebody out there. I've got Adrienne Johnson and Coach Sam (Samantha Williams). They're going to work on dividing up the groups. It's going to be fun! We're really trying and working on getting the alumni back on campus and getting them involved in things.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Any chance of Angel coming back over for the game?

COACH WALZ: No, no...we can't pay her enough (Laughs).

CARDINAL COUPLE: A Georgetown question...how do you plan on "unsweetening Sugar Rodgers?

COACH WALZ: We're going to have to do a good job of making all her shots tough. She's going to score. No question about that. What we have to do is try to make her earn everything she gets. It's been our focus the past couple of days. Knowing where she is on the floor. Making sure we're there on the catch. We have to communicate if they come out and screen for her. It'll be tough. We'll have our hands full.

We need to try and control the pace of the game. We have to do a really good job of dictating what they do offensively.

CARDINAL COUPLE: The team seems to have trouble at times on inbounds plays. How can you improve these?  

COACH WALZ: We need to do a better job at setting screens and coming off screens. It comes down to half-court execution. You have to take pride in going hard, coming hard off a screen. Those are things that we'd been working on and I believe we're getting that taken care of, we're getting better at it.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Tell us a little about what a coach has to do off the court with the players.

COACH WALZ: There's a whole lot that we have to do that nobody sees. It's part of it. Our job is to try and see that they're prepared to succeed in life. I tell them all the time...that if you can handle me and the way I coach you and treat you in practice...then when you get a job, your boss is going to be a piece of cake. I like to say I'm tough on them, but if they do what we ask them to do, then I'm not very tough at all. If you play hard, if you show up on time, if you give me a good effort...then I'm not hard to deal with at all. If you're not taking care of business, though, I'm a bear. I do demand that from them. Our job here is, obviously, to win basketball games but it's also to make sure they're prepared for life after this.

(We appreciate the time and the insights that Coach Walz gave us about the Cardinal women's basketball program and players and we can easily see why he is one of the best at what he does.)

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DOIN THE HUSTLE WITH THE HOYAS

After all, what is a Hoya? A lengthy attempt to define what it is -- is at the internet site "Hoya Saxa". Some say the name is rooted in Greek or Latin. It's also been suggested that the name is derived from the one-time student newspaper that was called the "Hilltopper". Curiously, the term "Hoya" can be found in the fight songs of two other Jesuit colleges in the U.S.

Holy Cross -- and the "Hoiah, Holy Cross" and Marquette's "Ring Out AHOYA!"

I know who I'd pick in a basketball game between the two...

A depiction of a Hoya with its' pointy ears conjures up an image of a character that looks a bit devilish. Father Merrin and Father Karras, once Jesuit clerics on the staff of Georgetown, were last heard from doing their best to exorcise from a lovely little girl named Regan an entity that was a little bit devilish in the 1974 movie The Exorcist.

I'm not suggesting anything paranormal might be rising at the YUM!, of course. Sugar Rodgers can play holy hell on an opponent's defense, though.

And, Rodgers is the show for first-year coach Keith Brown -- who toiled underneath Terri Williams Floruney as an assistant before she packed her bags and headed to "Sweet Home Alabama" and Auburn University.

Rodgers averages 23.7 points per game. Thus endeth the Georgetown scout. Stop Rodgers, win yourself a game.

If the Cards can play the fast, hard-nosed style of defense and score like they did against the USF Bulls, they'll "destroya the Hoyas" .

-Quentin Voigt.

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Although I agree in the "cut off the head of the snake and the rest of the body will die" philosophy to beat Georgetown...the Hoyas, Bulldogs...whatever you want to call them...are averaging 64.5 points a game. Those extra 40 that "Sugar, Sugar" isn't scoring aren't coming from Linda Blair (who played "Regan" in the Exorcist) or from Ronald Reagan either.

Andrea White is very capable of putting up double-doubles and shot 55% last week against Seton Hall, Rutgers and Pitt. And the team was 14-5 as of Jan 27th. , with wins over Delaware, George Washington, LSU and Temple...so they're an opponent to be feared.

Louisville leads the series 5-2 against the Hoyas and Coach Walz is 3-2. The Cards beat them 64-61 last year in Washington. Shoni, Burke, Bria and Nita had 53 of those Cardinal points and even though we won't be able to toss "Big Shot Becky" at them this year...the elder Schimmel appears to have found her groove and we hope it stays found. Maybe the Hoyas can stay around and watch Becky in the alumnae game following the BIG EAST tilt if they miss her at all. 

Two things come to mind when I think of the Louisville vs. Georgetown WBB series. The infamous fight up there back in 2010 during the pre-game warm ups and the way GU blew the doors off the Cards in the second half of the 2011 meeting in the KFC YUM! Center...winning 76-52. It may have been the team's biggest "hiccup" of the season that year.

Sugar was there for both of those days of Cardinal infamy, and she'll be there today (unless Timmy the Intern can convince her she's won the lottery and take her on a mansion-shopping spree). She's harder to handle that wet fish with greased rubber gloves on and this one could very well be a "pacemaker clutcher" -- in true "Cardiac Card" fashion.

Since I gave the team good luck by picking against them in Tampa (yeah, that's the ticket!) I'm doing it again and saying Georgetown by two. This, of course, means Louisville will win by four...if you follow the Paulie Boolean Mathematical Formula for Cardinal success based on the principal of diminishing returns for qualified gains.

What the heck did I just say? Maybe I can get CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Jeff O'Bryan to explain it to me later at the Volleyball banquet. Or Co-Co. Thanks to reader Dougie, who sent me a link for Boolean algorhythms. Made no sense at all to me...

Whatever...should be a barn-burner and we'll see ya at the arena later. Coach Walz is requesting your attendance and he's the kind of guy who would come out and shovel your driveway for you if called him and said you wanted to attend.

( You can bet your bippy we'll be back later tonight with a game recap and also a report on how the Volleyball banquet went. )

Ahoya!

-Paulie
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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Where are they now? Watson looks at the UofL Womens' Basketball runner up team from 2009.


( David takes on the task of tracking down the players on the 2009 National Runner-Up UofL women's basketball team. As far as we know, no laws were broken or animals injured in his attempts..)

I was rummaging the other day. You do that from time to time when you reach my age. This search was for a box of drill bits that I remember purchasing a few years ago at a yard sale and had "stored" somewhere. The search led from my garage to my basement. While looking, I came across a DVD marked UL v.Okla Final Four 2009.


Yes, I recorded that game. Any accounts of it  or rebroadcast are expressly forbidden by -- whatever. Come get me, officer. Put the cuffs on me. Louisville won the game. 


You probably knew that.


What it did was get me thinking about the players on that Louisville team. Later that night I started thinking about where they were these days. 


I thought it might make a good column for my Monday writings. I called Paul and asked if he had pictures somewhere of those players and he said he'd be glad to add them to my article.


So, where are they now? Some of these are chip shots, gimmies -- easy to track. Some weren't so easy. Some I had to ask Paul about. 


-- Angel McCoughtry

OK, this is an easy one for 99% of you. She's currently in Washington, practicing and preparing to play in the Summer Olympics for the United States women's basketball team. She's in the WNBA, playing for Atlanta. She's pretty good, huh?


To the 1%...Welcome out of your coma. Barack Obama's our president and they took House off the air. West Virginia's in the BIG 12 and Pittsburgh headed to the ACC. Traitors.  


-- Candyce Bingham

Candyce is now the head women's basketball coach at (Louisville) Fern Creek High School. She started there last year after spending a few years playing international basketball and working assorted jobs at UofL. It's rumored she still works out with some of the former and current UofL players. 


I wonder if she's still got that power move to the hoop that always seemed to produce a basket or a trip to the line? And if she's teaching it to any of her players. 


-- Deseree Byrd


Dez's whereabouts were a mystery to me, so I asked Paul about her. He told me that he had asked Coach Walz about her a few weeks back and that Dez was doing well and working. Coach talks to her from time to time. 

She was one that I figured might have had a good shot at overseas or professional ball if she hadn't got injured.


Paul told me a story about her. The women's basketball team had made an impromptu visit to the Parrish House during a Saturday afternoon of football tailgaiting. There were troops there from Fort Knox visiting as well. Dez challenged one of them to a push-up contest and won. The winner got a cold bottle of water from Paul. 


Monty Hall he isn't.


-- Keisha Hines

You'll probably remember that Keisha came on strong at center for the team near the end of the year, inspired by her sick grandmother. I never heard how the grandma turned out but I hope she, and Keisha are OK. Keisha returned the next year and played in the post for two more seasons at UofL. She's graduated and working. 


I asked Paul if he knew anymore about her. He said he thought either he or Sonja were friends with her on Facebook. Maybe she'll read this and catch us up with her. 


-- Gwen Rucker

When Keisha wasn't in the paint, Gwen usually was. She was a freshman on that team and played one more season while also playing volleyball for UofL. She's a red-shirt senior on the UofL Volleyball team now and was competing for a spot on the A2 National Red team earlier this month.


Who could ever forget "the staredown" with Kia Vaughn? 


Here's hoping she's 100% healed from the injury that had her sidelined for part of the 2011 season and she can help lead the Volleyball Cards to BIG EAST supremacy again.


-- Brandie Radde

Brandie played part of that season before taking some time off to concentrate on academics. Not that she was doing poorly, she was focused on getting into medical school. She did return for the last part of the following season when the depth roster on the team dropped to dangerous levels. 


She now part of the labratory personnel in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville. 

I'm guessing the academic thing turned out pretty well for her. She looks pretty happy (she's the one on the right) in the picture Paul found of her. 


-- Laura Terry

The last I heard about Laura was that she was a Spring 2012 graduate from UofL and had been a student assistant on the basketball team the last couple of years. She's probably taking a little time to enjoy her graduation. CARDINAL COUPLE reader Mike D. says she going to join up with Michelle Clark-Heard's staff at WKU.


I'm glad she's staying in basketball. I don't know if she reads CARDINAL COUPLE or not, but it'd be great to get an update from her from time-to-time.


She was a tough-as-nails post player that had some bad breaks with her knees. She also had a pretty good three, if I remember right. 


-- Monique Reid

Sonja did a pretty good write-up on her in the Sunday edition of Cardinal Couple. In case you missed it, she'll be a red-shirt senior on the 2012-13 team and will hopefully be fully recovered from the knee injury that kept her out of most of the 2011-12 season.


Who else thinks that if Mo and Tia would have been available last year that the Cards would have reached another Final Four? 


-- Janae Howard

She played for NAIA St. Catherine last season after leaving Louisville after her freshman year and transferring to Western Kentucky. A good spot-up three point shooter, I'll always wonder how her career would have turned out if she had stayed at Louisville. She's got one season remaining for St. Catherine College. I hope she scores a lot. 


-- Tiera Stephen

Another reserve that transferred after her freshman year, Stephen went to Wisconsin and joined the basketball team there. A reserve guard for the Badgers, she'll be a senior for them this fall. 


With the rash of guard injuries that UofL had in the 2009-10 season, I wonder if she would have seen considerable time for Louisville? 


-- Mary Jackson

Left Louisville after her freshman year and went back to Memphis, where she played her high school ball. She was a member of the Tigers basketball team before leaving to play for NAIA Lee University last year. 


I couldn't determine whether she still has another year of eligibility left or not. 


Lee University is in Cleveland, TN.


-- Becky Burke

I saved my favorite player for last. Becky completed her senior season in the spring and also graduated. She's on her way to play over in Poland in the Euro-Leagues this summer.


She also played for the US Women's All-Stars during their recent tour of China. Is she the best "three" shooter in Cardinal history? I know Paul will argue for Kristin Mattox. He's been in love with her since the early nineties. Give me "Big Shot" Becky on the square-up and release anyday. 


I hope this helps get you caught up on the girls that were part of that special season in Louisville women's basketball history. Thanks to Paul for adding the pictures. 

I'm going to have to take some time in the near future and watch that DVD again. I remember it was an exciting game. I think Candyce hit a free throw to put UofL up 61-59 with a few seconds left and Oklahoma missed a three at the buzzer that could have won it for them. Take that, Courtney Paris. 


( Editor's note : We have attached the promo clip for this game. )


Courtney guarantees title shot for OU 


Guaranteeing a victory is risky business. I know. It was me who bravely predicted that I'd beat my son in bean bag toss at a 4th of July picnic. I have grass-cutting duties for the rest of July because of that inept wager. I'm glad it's been dry lately. 


Maybe I'll do a report like this in 3-4 years on where the ladies are now that were part of the 2012-13 Louisville Cardinals NCAA Women's Basketball Championship team are. If you dream it, you can achieve it. Who else besides me would love to go to New Orleans next spring and watch Louisville's ladies in another Final Four? 


I still haven't found the drill bits yet. 


( Thanks for all the hard work on today's column, David. And the phone calls. I wasn't really trying to take a Sunday afternoon nap all that seriously. The phone kept waking me up.) 
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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Burke to play for USA

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Burke on USA team


-Volleyball Schedule released


-Dirt Bowl rises from the dust


-Olympics around the corner


-Paso Fino: A different type of horse competition


(Sandy Walker brings us today's CARDINAL COUPLE. WE feel pretty lucky here at CARDINAL COUPLE to have writers who have knowledge on the entire realm of the sporting world. Sandy is one of those and we know you'll enjoy today's topics!) 


Becky Burke Named to USA Four Nations Invitational Squad

B.B. representing

She will be a member of the USA team that will play in the Four Nations Invitational, June 26 – July 11, starting in Yancheng, China.  The US squad will be playing three Olympic national teams from China, Russia and Great Britain who are preparing to playing the 2012 London Olympic Games.   This non-federation team is the first to participate in a FIBA Olympic tune-up event.  Team members also include Katie Bussey, Montana State; Dawn Evans, James Madison; Ashley Corrall, USC; Jence Rhoads, Vanderbilt; Brittany Carter, Memphis; Briana Gilbreath, USC; Amanda Johnson, Oregon; Kristina Santiago, Cal Poly; Cierra Bravard, Florida State; Becca Tobin, Arizona State; and Kali Bennett of Arizona State.  The China trip can be followed at http://netscoutsbasketball.com/category/blog/


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Volleyball Releases the 2012 Schedule http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/061812aab.html for a new article about these years’ team and schedule. The biggest news is that most of the games will now be played at the YUM arena rather than the Cardinal area which fortunately was outgrown due to the growth of popularity and attendance. The complete schedule can be found at http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-volley/sched/lou-w-volley-sched.html. The first event will be an Alumnae Match set for Saturday August 18, 2012 at the Cardinal Arena at 6:00 with the first regular season match at the YUM Center scheduled for Friday August 24, 2012 at 7:30 PM.  See you there!

Cards ready to rock the BIG EAST again

Season tickets are now on sale with 15-match plans beginning at less than $6 per match for all the exciting action at the KFC Yum! Fans can purchase tickets online at www.UofLSports.com.  




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Dust from the Dirt Bowl Rises Again

"Think we could get a team together, Andy?"

Councilwoman Cheri Bryant-Hamilton and local community leader Neal Robertson have been working for months to bring back the Dirt Bowl to Louisville.   After an absence of several years local officials are planning to revive its 42^nd year of competition for not only men’s teams but also women and children whose entries will be at a reduced entry rate of $50.00.  The competition will begin June 30 and continue on July 1, 7, 8, 14, 15 and August 4, 5, 11 with the championship game held on August 12.   You can join by calling 664-0780 or make your way down to Shawnee Park and watch the games or participate in an associated job fair for no charge.


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Olympics and Women’s Participation

Qatar and the lower peninsula of Michigan.
Are they the same thing? 

Be still my beating heart – for the first time, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei will let its female athletes compete in the Olympics!   How mighty big of their governments to allow such a thing as it is quite a risk for other women of their country to see women actually competing in anything.  As women in the US continue to fight to gain recognition and equality in the 40 year anniversary of Title IX, these women are fighting just to be able to compete for the first time which should really come as no surprise from a country such as Saudi Arabia where women are still banned from driving, voting or holding public office (which changes in 2015). Of course maybe that isn’t such a big deal since they also cannot marry, leave the country, go to school or open bank accounts without permission from a male guardian. 

Title IX. 40 years old and getting stronger.

Talk about backward thinking – perhaps the real issue is not being backward but instead being fearful of the women’s success both in athletics and in life.  The prior objection from their governments was due to women being barred from participating in front of men that makes me wonder if Timmy, the CARDINAL COUPLE intern or Bill the Goat, could attend?  Banning women's participation in national competitive sports is reported to reflect the "predominant conservative view” that opening sports to women and girls will lead to immorality: “steps of the devil”.  These governments should be careful because once the genie is out of the bottle; she can never be put back in again.  40 years for Title IX has overcome what has been centuries of discrimination for these women but before we get too smug I will remind you that in the year which my grandmother was born – women in the US could not vote and girls/women my age grew up wearing “pennies” (and not like the ones available online today) to identify opposite teams rather than uniforms.  Hang in there women and every other oppressed group – change comes slow – but with exposure comes public pressure where the indefensible does cause change to happen.


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Horses - About the Paso Fino Horse

"Hey, no sitting down on the job!"

After all of the great information about Thoroughbred’s and Bull Riding, I thought it only right to give some exposure to versatile Paso Fino horse (horse with the fine gait) which competes throughout the world (including Kentucky) in not only show competitions but in just about every other modality including competitive trail or pleasure rides.  These horses have brought myself and many others as much joy, pride and confidence as many of the other sporting activities from which I have participated. 

While reflecting its Spanish heritage through its proud carriage, grace and elegance horses of this breed have:

*Won the North American Wind Rider Challenge Championship.

*Competed in 100 mile endurance rides.

*Won competitive trail rides.

*Won USEF/PFHA sponsored regional, national, and international shows.

*Won drill team competitions.

*Been ridden hours on the trail without rider fatigue. No posting required. Just sit back and enjoy the smoothest ride ever.

*Shown the brilliance of the breed in parades and demonstrations.

*Been that perfect equine partner for the youth rider.

*Been trained to drive.

*Worked cattle.

Beauty, power, speed and agility.

The Paso Fino is often billed as “The smoothest riding horse in the world”  as it has a well-proportioned conformation and strength with power without extreme muscling. 


Even from birth shows its natural refined 4 beat lateral gait which well suits those of us with physical difficulties either through age related changes or injury.   This breed is growing in popularity with the ancient history of the Paso Fino  fast becoming the future of show and pleasure horses throughout the world.   The Paso Fino is a recognized breed of United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) with such adability that they also compete in Western classes (Trail and Versatility), as well as costume and Pleasure Driving.   Paso Fino horses compete in endurance rides, including the 100 mile rides, sponsored by the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) and the competitive trail rides sponsored by the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC).   They compete in team penning events, drill team competitions, and are always the crowd pleaser at parades.

Grinnin' and ridin'! 

They continue to grow in popularity, as one by one, converts are won over through a single riding experience.   Folks who test ride a Paso Fino horse quickly display the infamous "Paso Grin".   “The Paso Fino is born with a gait unique to the breed, which is smooth, rhythmic, purposeful, straight, balanced in flexion and synchronous front to rear, resulting in unequalled comfort and smoothness for the rider.   The Paso Fino is a graceful, agile and supple equine athlete that uses all four legs with precision and harmony.   The gait of the Paso Fino horse is totally natural and normally exhibited from birth.   It is an evenly-spaced four-beat lateral gait with each foot contacting the ground independently in a regular sequence at precise intervals creating a rapid, unbroken rhythm.   Executed perfectly, the four hoof beats are absolutely even in both cadence and impact, resulting in unequaled smoothness and comfort for the rider. 

The Paso Fino is capable of executing other gaits that are natural to horses, including the relaxed walk, the canter and the gallop but I could never figure out why anyone would want to teach such a smooth riding horse to perform the gaits of others but, to each their own.

"Conquistador" was also a song by
Procol Harem in the sixties. 

The History of the Paso Fino --  The Paso Fino horse’s journey to the Americas began more than 500 years ago with the importation of Andalusians, Spanish Barbs from North Africa, and smooth gaited Spanish Jennets (now extinct as a breed) to the "New World" by Spanish Conquistadors.   Bred for their stamina, smooth gait and beauty, "Los Caballos de Paso Fino" – the horses with the fine walk – served as the foundation stock for remount stations of the Conquistadors. Centuries of selective breeding by those who colonized the Caribbean and Latin America produced variations of the "Caballo de Criollo," among them the Paso Fino that flourished initially in Puerto Rico and Colombia, and later, in many other Latin American countries (primarily Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Venezuela).   Descendents of the Conquistadors’ horses are believed to have spread into North America after the Spanish soldiers forayed for a brief time into this territory.  Awareness of the Paso Fino as we know it today didn’t spread outside Latin America until after WWII, when American servicemen came into contact with the stunning Paso Fino horse while stationed in Puerto Rico.   Americans began importing Paso Fino horses from Puerto Rico in the mid-1940s.   Two decades later, many Paso Fino horses began to be imported from Colombia.  

Lots to see and do at the Horse Park!

The National and Kentucky Paso Fino Horse Association is proud to have their home at the Kentucky Horse Park, where over 850,000 horse lovers from all over the world visit each year. Those visitors are able to daily see the Paso Fino on display. The Horse Park and our Kentucky Paso Fino Horse Association are working with love for not only the Paso Fino, but also in the promotion of all horses and their future in America. The Kentucky Paso Fino Horse Association continues to build new membership with an enthusiastic team of individuals who primarily reside in the Kentuckiana region. Our members actively participate in the day to day as well as show, trail and clinic activities of not only our association, but also regularly help to expand the awareness of our breed through their mixed breed activities.

The Kentucky Region members are a group with diverse experience and knowledge of the special abilities of our breed, and welcome former and new Paso Fino enthusiasts. They include active breeders, show riders, trainers, judges, regional association representatives, trail and endurance riders, as well as participants in local gaited horse shows such as those held in Bardstown, Meade County, Hart County, and the Bardstown Gaited Horse Association. You are encouraged to participate with others in the preparations and attendance of our annual regional show, basic horsemanship clinics, demonstrations at local businesses, and trail rides. We welcome one and all to the beautiful bluegrass of Kentucky. 

Shelbyville is just 30 minutes from Downtown
Louisville. 

This year the Kentucky Classic 2012 is being held once again at the Shelbyville, Kentucky Shelbyville Fairgrounds on July 20-22, 2012.   The fairgrounds address for your GPS is 1513 Midland Tr. Shelbyville, KY with class’s schedules and details available at the website.   I invite you to come out for a great weekend of horses where the admission and social atmosphere of any horse event is free.

For its 40^th anniversary and for the first time in many years, the Paso Fino Horse Association Grand National Show will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park October 7-14, 2012 where information can be found at http://kyhorsepark.com/ .  Please come out and enjoy the event where your admission to the park includes entry to the show and also to support a breed that has made a choice to invest in Kentucky by moving its national home office and grand national show to the great state of KY.

As you can tell, much of this information came from others and is reprinted with permission from the Kentucky Paso Fino Horse Association Kentuckypasofinohorse.us  or has been provided by the National Paso Fino Horse Association.  pfha.org

Sandy W.

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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- B.B. headed to Poland

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Becky Burke headed to Poland for Eurohoops


-Theophille, Okoro lead Cards in NCAA Track/Field


-Ky. High School Girls thump Ind. 75-47


-Angel movie?


-Belmont Stakes picks


Louisville womens basketball player Becky Burke has signed a contract to play for ROW Rybnik Poland in the highly competitive EuroBasketball leagues. 

Burke joins a team that went 15-11 in competition in the 2011-12 season. A scan of the roster from last year shows several former USA college stars were on the squad last season. Alexis Rack (Miss. St./San Antonio), Mekia Valentine (UCSB/N.Y. Liberty), Sybil Dotsy (Ariz. St.) and Rebecca Harris (Illinois) played for Rybnik last season.

Given the transient nature of players and rosters in Euro basketball, it's hard to say whether they'll be there in the upcoming season to help Becky learn the important phrases in Polish like pizza, cereal, remote control and Justin Bieber...but it's a great opportunity for the Clarks Summit, PA star who was UofL's long range specialist in her four years at the Ville. We'll always remember the "Beckster" for that big smile, too. 


Going from the red and black to the green and orange. Load up on the Cocoa Puffs, B.B. Just in case. We hear the Polish cereal brands aren't that great. 


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Results from Friday NCAA Outdoor Championships:

Four UofL womens track and field stars were in action yesterday in Des Moines, Iowa for the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Michelle Theophille tied for 6th in the high jump and Maggie Gilbertson tied for 17th. Theophille cleared six feet (or 1.83m...for
you metric fans) in her best attempt. 


In the shot put, Chinwe Okoro finished seventh with a toss of 56-5.75 and Khadila Abdullah grabbed eleventh place...hurling the ball 54-4.75. 


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The Kentucky All-Star girls basketball team took it to Indiana last night in Freedom Hall, pounding the Hoosiers 75-47. Kentucky Miss Basketball Sydney Moss led the way for the winners with 14 points and 11 grabs. She was proud of the feat:


" Been a lot of good Kentucky teams to come through here and to beat them by the second-biggest margin is saying a lot."


Moss is headed to Florida this fall to be a student-athlete and is the daughter of NFL great Randy Moss. 


Took the Kentucky squad a bit to get started, going scoreless in the first five minutes of the contest, played in front of a sparse crowd in Freedom Hall. Marion County's Bre Elder (Dayton) finally connected for KY and it was 39-27 at the half for the home team. Indiana was 0 for game from the three-point arc. 


The two squads will battle again today in Indy.


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Film in the works for #35? Charlie Springer spills the beans (hopefully not the popcorn) over at the very fine UofL Card Game. Give "The Observer" a read at the link below. 


Angel documentary


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OK, here they are. The CARDINAL COUPLE Belmont Stakes picks. A revised forecast, since the "scratch" of I'll Have Another. 

Not gonna happen...

Disappointment? Sure. Everyone wanted to see the California hero try for the Triple Crown. Tendinitis in the left front leg will make that something that isn't going to happen. We're guessing no amount of Aleve could have taken care of the pain (that's what Paul takes for his tendinitis) and it's a shame that the three-year old can't go...but the care, well-being and safety of the horse is the main thing here and Doug O'Neill made the right call. There are plans to walk him around
in the paddock area today. Previous plans to lead the post parade in the BELMONT STAKES have been scratched.


PAUL

Dullahan, you da man!

One of my favorite bartenders at Churchill gave me a DULLAHAN pin to wear earlier this week for Saturday. Didn't think too much of it at the time, but now I believe it is manifest destiny and the horse is my top pick here. His late-closing style is ideal for the lengthy Belmont stretch. I'll go with ATIGUN for second. Was impressed with his win on the undercard at Churchill on Derby Day and he's another who flies by them from the back. D.Wayne Lukas keeps bringing OPTIMIZER back for punishment in Triple Crown races and maybe he'll appreciate the added distance today...so we'll peg him for third. UNION RAGS should be good enough to pick up the pieces for fourth. 


I'll play exacta and trifecta wheels with these four and make sure they're included in a pick three that I'll start in the ninth race with my best pick of the day...Hierro. 


SONYA

"Hello, Sonja? I think we have
a live one Saturday. How's Co-Co?"

Bob Baffert is up to something. I figured he wouldn't toss BODEMEISTER in the Belmont, too far for the mile specialist, but he has entered PAYNTER. Ol' white-hair was puffing the goods on this one early in the Derby trail and he was impressive in winning a big allowance race at Pimilco on Preakness day. PAYNTER, at a price, is my top pick. I think DULLAHAN will be gobbling up ground at the end, and it wouldn't surprise me if he wins...but I'm picking him second today. ATIGUN comes out of Kenny McPeek's barn and is a closer who will like Belmont's surface. He only knows one speed and it is flying late. He'll get third. UNION RAGS will contest it for awhile before fading to fourth. 
It would not surprise me if "Ragsie" wins, though. 


I'll box these four in an exacta and put win, place and show money on Paynter, Dullahan and Atigun. By the time the Belmont Stakes, the 11th race on the Belmont card today, I'll also probably come up with a few "hunch bets"...paying particular attention to how speed is holding up on the rock-hard, lighting fast track. 


DAVID

I've chased OPTIMIZER in the first two legs of the Triple Crown so far. Not backing off now and that's my top selection. Trainer D.Wayne Lukas got a noggin thump from one of his horses earlier in the week. It would be fitting if they played Dean Martin's "Ain't that a kick in the head" during the post parade. Give me DULLAHAN for second and I don't care who comes in third or fourth.


Paul still hasn't paid me for my I'll Have Another score in the Derby. Something about the increased cost of UofL Football tickets. I'll call him later Saturday morning and tell him to invest my Derby winnings on any horse that nods and winks at the TV cameras during the post parade. These horses -- they're smarter than you think. 


Paulie, cue up a little Dino for me...


(Ask and you shall receive. Click the link below for classic Dean Martin) 


Ain't That A Kick In The Head?


NBC has the coverage again. Post time around 6:30 p.m. Good luck and remember that our selections are for entertainment purposes only. 
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