Monday Cardinal Couple -- The play's the thing...

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Cards WBB will be challenged in the 2012-13 BIG EAST 


David Watson is the Monday Featured Columnist. Today, he looks at the Cards Big East schedule and other Watson thoughts. 

The Louisville WBB squad will play sixteen games in the BIG EAST in 2012-13. It's about half their schedule and it promises to be just as tough as previous years. At least the WVU Mountaineers are gone. Louisville teams under Jeff Walz were 3-3 against them. I know the Lady Cards won't miss those trips to Morgantown.

The opponents that Louisville will play twice are South Florida and DePaul. Walz is 4-1 against USF and 4-2 against DePaul since he has been at Louisville. Maybe they'll schedule the USF game in Tampa when it's real cold in Louisville. The UofL girls would probably appreciate that. The new arena for the Bulls is supposed to be ready for the upcoming basketball season. USF has been spending a lot of money on athletic facility improvements. They must have been reading about the progress here in Louisville. 

Harry and Martin are a solid
1-2 punch for DePaul

DePaul is going to probably be a little deeper than they were last year. At times it seemed Doug Bruno had Anna Martin, Katherine Harry and three girls from the campus bookstore out there for him. Ask Coach Walz. Being without depth can be a nightmare sometimes. Martin and Harry are back. They're pretty good. 

Will St.John miss head
coach Kim Barnes Arico?

Other home games for Louisville are: Cincinnati, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, St. John's and Seton Hall. The Hoyas and Red Storm have new coaches. They'll probably like the KFC YUM! Center facilities but may not like the results of their games here. It's not too much of a stretch to see Louisville winning all eight home games this year. 

Muffet and Geno are probably
glad they have the Cards at home.

Road trips take women's basketball to UConn, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Syracuse and Villanova. I'd take 5-3 on the road in a heartbeat. It'll probably be the last time the Lady Cards visit the Orange Dome. 


I'll take a 13-3 BIG EAST Conference record. The Cards were 14-2 back in 2008-09. How do you think they'll do in BIG EAST play? 

Once again, the BIG EAST looks to be the best conference in womens' college basketball. The ACC would dispute that, of course, and the BIG 12 might raise an eyebrow, too. It's not hard to see Baylor, UConn, and Stanford having a good chance to work their way back to the Final Four again. 


Let's hope the fourth team is Louisville.
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Saturday at the UofL women's game a part of Breast Cancer Awareness/Play4Kay days.

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Saturday Cardinal Couple

-Syracuse game to raise awareness to fight breast cancer.

- "We're glad to be here...say, how about a loan?"


This may be the most important entry we've ever posted here at Cardinal Couple. There is a killer out there. It's name is Breast Cancer. We'd like to see it arrested.

You can help us in this fight by supporting the women's basketball team with attendance to the many "Play4Kay" games that will donate toward the $ 1 million dollars that
we hope will be raised for breast cancer awareness and funding.

We're going to put it at you pretty simply and direct. If you are reading this, you had a mother. In most cases here, your mother raised and nurtured you. In most cases, you either love and honor that mother that is still alive, or miss her departure from this earth.

My Mom loved the Pink
Panther movies with
Peter Sellers.

I'd give anything to be able to talk to my mom again. If you have a mother still living, or know a mother...please help this worthy cause. A mother's love is unconditional. Breast Cancer is the last thing you'd ever want for your mother...or anyone else's mom.

Please do what you can to help eradicate this horrible killer.

Wear pink tomorrow at the UofL women's game, please...if you go. And, if you are fortunate enough to still have a mother living...tell her how much you love her. 

It's the most beautiful thing out there...

We hope you will make a difference. WE hope to see you tomorrow doing so...by attending. God bless motherhood.

Always.

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During Play4Kay week, women's basketball teams and supporters across the nation will dedicate at least one game to raise breast cancer awareness and funding. Teams, fans and arenas will be decked out in pink, survivors will be honored at games, referees will blow pink whistles (mostly against Syracuse...we hope) and donations will be collected.

Previousy known as the WBCA Pink Zone, the Play4Kay mission remains the same: a nation of coaches raising breast cancer awareness for research on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyon. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund, in partnership with the WBCA and the V Foundation, is the official charity of the initiative.

You can go to http://www.play4kay.org/ , http://www.kayyow.com/ and http://www.jimmyv.org/ for much more information and to find out how you can help.

Game time today is two. WHAS TV has the digital broadcast. We'll after a full recap a few hours after the Cards beat Syracuse.

Remember to wear your pink if you go.

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Finally, in the category of "Really? SMH..."

West Virginia has received their release from the BIG EAST and can now participate in BIG 12 sports. The price tag? $20 million. The problem? WVU only has $11 mil.

So, the other schools in the BIG 12 are putting up $1 million each to pay the tab. It's a loan...of course. The Mountaineers will be expected to pay the money back. This should have been a Seinfeld episode...

George: "Jerry, I'm doing it. I'm making the big move. It's going to cost me...but I can live in your building now!"

Jerry: "That's great, George!

George: "There's just one small problem. I'm coming up a bit short on the down-payment."

Jerry: "How much short?"

George: " 45% of it..."

Kramer: "Well, Jerry will lend it to you! I'll chip in, so will Newman and Elaine. Right, Jerry?"

George: "Really? Thanks, Jerry!"

Jerry: (Rolling his eyes...) "Welcome to the neighborhood.."

( Check out Charlie Springer's column about it and see all the new friends he's made from the "wild and wonderful state")

http://www.uoflcardgame.com/

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BIG 12 waiting on naming additional members...Golf rallies to finish 5th...Pitino gets 19 point win over Pikeville

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THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-BIG 12 waiting on naming new conference members

-Women's golf finishes 5th in Vegas

-Men's Basketball downs Pikeville

Maybe they actually asked the remaining members which school(s) they'd
like to have join. Maybe Mitch McConnell, in raincoat and sunglasses, visited

Has the honorable Mitch McConnell boxed the Eers? 

the midwest. Maybe our article from yesterday got through to someone. Maybe 6 is 9.

In another wild and wacky twist to the soap opera known as conference expansion...the BIG 12 has put off a decision to add WVU to the gang and is now waiting to see if Missouri is going to join the SEC. The crawl line on ESPN
was cryptic and terse. WVU's move is on hold. Rebel forces from the Ohio Valley have made inroads on the main front and strongly object to the decision concerning the Mountaineers uniting forces with the allies. Louie the Cardinal Bird was seen strolling the Belknap Campus in a beret and humming "Country Roads." The I-64 bridge between Ashland, KY and Nitro, WVa. has been barricaded with couches and furniture in the east bound lanes...

Someone bring in General Patton.

Rick...please quit popping off about Owls and Tigers !

Someone put a gag order on Rick Pitino..who keeps singing the "I love Memphis and Temple" mantra. Just coach your team, coach. We don't need no stinking Owls messing things up. 

Really, Rick? Maybe you'd like to try your hand at global warming next. Or climb Mt. Everest. Maybe Charlie Strong should send Clint Hurtt and Pat Moorer over for a visit.

Maybe the BIG 12 rattle-shakers talked to a few folks who aren't real big fans of Morgantown mania on Football Saturdays. Like Pittsburgh or LSU. Like the rest of the staggering BIG EAST football members. Like anyone outside the state of West Virginia.

Maybe Missouri is having second thoughts about making the plunge into the SEC. (Maybe Missouri is crazy if they are...).

This, of course, circumvents the previous BIG 12 statement that WVU was in just as soon as formal approval was reached.

Formal approval...now there's a vague and nebulous phrase. (Hey, Pop..can I borrow the car? Son, you'll have to ask your mother - or the BIG 12 - for formal approval..) 

So...today's words to drool over are:

BIG 12 informs West Virginia that expansion plans are on hold.

"Hey, LOU! Who's in the BIG 12?"

Climb down off the bridges and tall buildings Cardinal football fanatics. The fat lady hasn't sung yet (she can't get the microphone away from Pitino) and looks like we'll go through another weekend of intrigue, speculation, heresy and rumor. 

Meanwhile, in Morgantown...couches are ablaze and any Cardinal fans thinking of making the journey there to watch Louisville play them in football on Saturday, Nov 5th. better make the journey in a Hum-V and carry an assault weapon for protection.

That's Breeders Cup weekend. Stay home and watch the ponies. By then, maybe we'll know if McConnell's on first, if Jurich is on second and if Pitino's on third. BIG 12 informs West Virginia that conference expansion plans are on hold. Say it with me one time. Sounds like the rejection form letter I got in the mail years ago when I applied for a job at Ford....

Meanwhile, in stuff we really care about...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO UofL head women's baketball coach Jeff Walz. If you see him at the Cardinal WBB kickoff luncheon tomorrow, bestow your blessings. He may be the only one left out there with any common sense...when it comes to decision making and avoidance of sticking foot in mouth.

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The University of Louisville women's golf squad rallied on the final day of tournament action in Las Vegas and finished fifth in the Las Vegas Inter-collegiate challenge. The final tallies: 

Tara Lyons                    final round 75     222 total     tied for 20th.
Anna-Karin Ljungstrom   final round 72     225 total     tied for 26th.
Emily Haas                   final round 79     226 total     tied for 31st.
Katie Petrino                final round 76     " " " " " "     "  "  "  "  "  "
Maria Castallanos         final round 82     227 total     tied for 36th.

The Cards also had three players competing as individuals in Vegas:

Sara Karlsson              final round 81     232 total      tied for 55th.
Maike Klein                 final round 84     "  "  "  "       "  "  "  "  '' " "
Candice Wiley             final round 82     242 total      tied for 80th.

Thus endeth the fall gold schedule for the Lady Cards. They'll swing back into action on Feb.20th. back in Nevada...at the UNLV Spring Tournament. Vegas, baby...wonder if any of them need a caddy?

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Cardinal men's hoops started the exhibition season out in the right way with a 74-55 defeat over Pikeville University. This one was over early...the Cards streaking out to a 16-0 lead to start the game. Pitino has some talented "bigs" on the team this year...freshman power forward Chane Behanan with 16 points, center Gorgui Dieng 14 points and 15 boards and tall guy Zach Price with several nice follow up tips for scores.

Maybe the season's start will keep Rick's mind off football for awhile....

nochoiceisachoice

WVU to BIG 12...don't let the door hit you on the way out.

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WEDNESDAY @ THE COUPLE

-The Mountaineers bolt for the prairie

-Women's sports: The BIG EAST remains the best bet.

-Golf in ninth after two days

-Gadd BIG EAST diver of the week.

In a football driven decision, the BIG 12 has offered and the West Virginia Mountaineers have accepted an invitation to join the conference. No matter what Missouri does. Of course,
the Mizzou bunch is headed to the SEC...it just isn't official yet. 

Football. It's had some Cardinal fans sitting on the edge of their stadium seats for the past several months. Some desperately depressed because the Wild and Wonderful state got the
invite instead of the mighty Cardinals. It doesn't surprise us. If football is the qualifier, and engine driving all these conference re-alignments...there is no doubt that West Virginia is better than Louisville. In talent, in tradition, in winning percentage and in fan fervor. 

Ever been to a football Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia? It borders on insanity. Especially the pre-game tailgating fervor. CARDINAL COUPLE has made that trip five times over the years, seen one Cardinal win on those trips, and ran into some of the craziest, out-of-control, passionate, rude and insulting fan bases in college football. Memphis? Forget about it. Nowhere near the crowd or passion. Kentucky? Couldn't carry WVU's water bottle. 

The majority of the trips went pretty well. Here's one from 2005 that didn't...

Louisville loses a triple overtime contest to WVU when Brian Brohm is stopped short of the end zone trying to tie the game with a two-point conversion attempt.  A game Louisville led by 17 in the second half...we watched West Virginia fans streaming toward the exits. Then, the Cards put the WVU starting quarterback out of the game and a young back-up named Pat White enters the game. Witness the WVU scrambling back into Milan Puskar Stadium. Bring in Barbra Streisand instead
of John Denver...because...


A star is born. WVU 46 - Louisville 44.

WE left the stadium...headed to the bus...and watched and heard the spectacle. 60,000 people singing "Country Roads", scores of fans heaping insults and profanities on anyone dressed in red. The three elderly ladies that Sonja and I are escorting back to the bus very scared. A group of inebriated WVU teenagers, approaching our group...pointing fingers, cursing. Paul ready to protect. Sonja...more enraged than she's been in years...screaming back at them to "go home." Fists clenched.

The redneck group... sensing the "backed into a corner mentality" and the big guy menacing a foot above them... retreats. We reach the bus, hear similar stories. We leave...our bus getting rocked, pelted with cans and trash when leaving.

Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor...you have NO idea what you are in store for on football weekends in Morgantown.

WE, at CARDINAL COUPLE, are tired of all this ballyhoo about football, BIG EAST breakups and knee jerk reactions when someone decides to stay, leave or forgets to flush the toilet. Let's go Independent in football (works well for Notre Dame) and keep a BIG EAST affiliation in the other 20 sports that our college athletes work so hard at. WE love the guru Walz quote when asked about conference re-alignment.

"We..I..don't care. We just want to compete. Doesn't matter who it is."

Words to live by.  The needs "of the one" do not outweigh the needs "of the many". I think Spock said that on one of the Star Trek movies.  And, the last time I checked...20 was bigger than 1.

-Paul

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For women's sports, the BIG EAST is still the best option for Louisville. The best basketball conference in college basketball, even with WVU,Syracuse and Pitt out the door. You know who the major players are in BIG EAST WBB. It ain't those three.

West Virginia does not field teams in women's lacrosse, field hockey or softball. They won't have to worry about the first two in the BIG 12. They don't exist. The BIG 12 is a very good softball conference, though.

Louisville has invested a lot of time, money and effort into lacrosse and field hockey.  The best field hockey stadium in NCAA. Their very own lacrosse stadium. Wouldn't want to see these two sports die on the vine because of a football driven conference affiliation.  

Contrary to popular belief, NASCAR is not a
college sport in the SEC or BIG 12...

The problem is this: women's sports has no seat at this table. No matter how many kills Lola Arslanbekova delivers, no-look passes Shoni Schimmel sends or shutouts Caralisa Connell fires...this is all about football. The BIG EAST is best for Louisville in women's hoops, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey. They would enter a tougher conference if they went to the BIG 12 in softball. Golf, track, swimming, rowing, cross country and tennis...it's really about the same wherever the Cards end up...since conference affiliations aren't that essential or the major factor in these sports. 

We wait to see what the gridiron group wants and gets. In the meantime, the University of Louisville women's sports teams continue to excel against some very good competition.

West Virginia...good luck. Don't let the door hit you in the back side as your leaving...And, work on building a softball diamond and getting some infield practice in.

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Katie Petrino at 150.

Meanwhile, in women's sports...the University of Louisville golf team is in ninth place after two days in the Las Vegas Collegiate tournament. Yesterday saw Maria Castallanos led the Cards with a 75, good for a tie for 20th. place and 145 total. The first round star for Louisville, Emily Haas carded a 78...putting her into a tie for 31st. Low Cardinal score belonged to Tara Lyons...with a 72. Katie Petrino is at 150 for two days, touring the Boulder Creek course yesterday with a 76. Anna-Karin Ljungstrom fired a 78 and is at 153 for two days. Three individual scores...Maike Klein with a 74 and 148 total. Sara Karlsson delivered a 72...two day total of 151. Candace Wiley with back-to-back 80's.

The Cards conclude the three day event today.

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Hannah Gadd has been named BIG EAST Diver of the Week, winning both events at the SMU Classic. She won the one and three meter events against stiff competition from Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Virginia, and SMU. Season just starting for the swimming and diving Cards...looking forward to more honors from Gadd and her aquatic crew.


nochoiceisachoice

Women's Soccer, Volleyball get Sunday wins.

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CARDINAL COUPLE MONDAY

-Cards win 2-1 over Georgetown women's soccer

-Volleyball sweeps Rutgers

-Watson on re-alignment (again)

The University of Louisville women's soccer team with an impressive win over the Georgetown Hoyas yesterday in our nation's capital. Christine Exeter with both Cardinal goals in the double overtime 2-1 victory. The win improved Louisville to 7-5-3 overall and also put them in first place in the National Division of the BIG EAST Conference with a 5-1-2 record.

The Hoyas hit the scoreboard first in the match...getting a header goal from Camille Trujillo twenty minutes into the game. That advantage held up through the first half and well into the second...before Exeter took a pass from Angelika Uremovich and found he back of the net in the 79th. minute of play.

Kiefer's goal-tending has sparked
the Cards lately.

It would be 23 minutes later until Exeter nailed the game-winner...taking a throw-in pass from Jennifer Jones and guiding the ball past Georgetown goalie Elizabeth Hanna early in the second overtime to end it. For Exeter, it was her ninth goal of the season - tops for the Cardinals - and her eight goal in the last nine games.

With the win, Louisville edged ahead of the Hoyas (11-5-0, 5-3) in the National division. Chloe Kiefer did another great job defending the net for Karen Ferguson-Dayes team, with four saves. Georgetown out shot the Cards 13-6 in the contest and held a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal...but the Cards led in the most important stat...goals scored.

Louisville returns to Cardinal Park for two this weekend...hosting Rutgers Friday, Oct. 14th. at 7 p.m. and Seton Hall Sunday, Oct 16th. at noon.

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Volleyball also found success on Sunday with a 3-0 sweep of Rutgers in Piscataway, NJ. The Cards took advantage of 19 Lola kills for the 25-19, 25-13, 25-16 sacking of the Scarlet Knights.

"I'm proud of this East Coast swing to get two road league wins and in a sweep says a lot about our team dealing with adversity and injury. I thought Caitlin Welch did a great job passing and serving. We got two big blocks from Gosia Lech and Lola continues to lead our offense." -UofL head coach Anne Kordes.

Emily Juhl and Gwen Rucker are both inactive because of injuries. The Cards played only eight players in the Sunday match.

The Cards battled against Rutgers evenly to start game one - tied at 11-11 - before a 7-3 run gave them a 18-14 advantage. They closed out the first game with three straight Lola kills to take the six point victory. 

Taylor Brauneis had 34 assists in
the win over Rutgers.

Rutgers stayed close in game two, trailing 14-10, until a 7-2 Louisville run put it out of reach at 21-12. Taylor Brauneis served the final three points to close out the Scarlet Knights - including a game ending ace. 

In the final, Louisville jumped out early and had the Piscataway girls down 19-10 before coasting in with the nine point victory. 

The Cards are on a five game winning streak. They return home to prepare for a Friday night contest against arch-rival Cincinnati in Cardinal Arena.

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(The weekend added more mystery and intrigue to conference re-alignment and expansion with the hiatus on Missouri getting a SEC invite and TCU expected to announce Monday they're joining the BIG 12. Our David Watson sounds off.)

Monday morning, you sure look fine.

That line from a classic Fleetwood Mac song would be an apt description of the viewpoint from the Horned Frog campus down in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area. They're expected to announce sometime today that they're accepting the BIG 12 offer to join the band.

This move made sense all along. There was the flirtation with the BIG EAST. Did anyone ever really think that they'd go through with the ridiculous-from-a-geographical-standpoint action of having to travel to Providence to play women's basketball or take their football team to Piscataway to plow through the Scarlet Knights? 

So the BIG EAST takes another right cross to the chin and wobbles back to the corner  behind in points and staggering like a UK fan after a Saturday of Keeneland and Cats football. Syracuse and Pitt gone. Louisville and WVU waiting to hear the word. Connecticut and Rutgers wishing they were on someone's short list.

Missouri appears to hold the key to Louisville's possible inclusion in the BIG 12. Whether the haughty SEC will include the Mizzou Tigers or not remains to be seen, but I don't see the BIG 12 sending out any more party invitations if the Show Me state gets spurned by this non-committal suitor and stays in the BIG 12. 

Watson has an affinity
for lemonade shake-ups,
corn dogs and carnies.

Louisville makes no sense in the previously mentioned from-a-geographical-standpoint scenario inclusion in the BIG 12. Neither does WVU. But, the most I look at the conference re-alignment facade that has shook up college sports like the guy in the lemonade shakeup booth at the state fair midway, I can identify with another 70's rock music line - this one from legendary Jimmy Buffett.

I'm just trying to make a little sense of it all.

Those Louisville fans expecting to be on buses down the road for fall football clashes in Norman, Stillwater and College Station may have to put off those calls to their travel agents for awhile. The conference that no one wants to stay in is still standing. The ring referee, however, is watching closely. 

(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. His oldest daughter will attend Notre Dame next fall unless Ball State ponies up a field hockey scholarship.)
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Hello, I Must Be Going

THE LATE GREAT GROUCHO MARX'S CLASSIC FULLY DESCRIBES THE CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT WHIRLWIND CURRENTLY BLOWING AROUNND COLLEGE SPORTS.

TCU...WE  HARDLY KNEW YOU.

CARDINAL COUPLE FRIDAY:

-Bye, Bye TCU...(until we meet again?)

-Volleyball, Field Hockey in action today

The BIG 12 has extended an invitation to upcoming BIG EAST member (formerly Mountain West participant) TCU. That is, of course, if Missouri gets
voted in as a potential SEC member. They'd rather be in the BIG 10, of course...but that has nothing to do with the situation. The talks continue today for the TCU crew.

Maybe they'll decide to join the Patriot Conference and throw all of college sports observers into fits.

The wheels are now set in motion for the BIG 12 to re-convene and extend an invitation to Louisville to follow TCU into the conference and effectively send the BIG EAST to the canvas for the "10 count." If, that is...they decide to expand back to 12. Meanwhile, back on the farm...Missouri waits to see if the haughty SEC will approve their pool pass. WKU must be really excited about all of this...they actually gave someone a football game last night.

Talk about a Freaky Friday ahead...

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Louisville women's soccer travels to Villanova and volleyball heads to Seton Hall for BIG EAST action this Friday. It's part of a big Cardinal sports weekend that also includes field hockey and football.

CARDINAL COUPLE, meanwhile...will be travelling with Co-Co, La-La and the School for Exceptional Primates for a soccer match at Three Mile Island. The S.E.P. girls are facing The Children With 12 Fingers Academy.

We've got some good writers lined up for you the next couple of days, though and WE'LL pop in electronically to make sure Bill the Goat hasn't eaten the server (or the busboys). 

Everyone have a great weekend and GO CARDS!
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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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Field Hockey falls 2-1 in O.T., Soccer battles to a 2-2 tie...Volleyball sweeps St. John

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CARDINAL COUPLE SATURDAY

-Conrad's 11 saves not enough against Syracuse

-Kiefer's nine saves help Soccer tie

-Lola's double/double keys Volleyball win.

-Softball today, tomorrow at Ulmer

-Will the BIG 12 come calling?

Louisville jumped out to a 1-0 lead against the Orange but falls in overtime to Syracuse Friday at Trager Stadium. The Cards got on the board when a missed Caitlin Collins shot was corralled by Kelsey Rosenmeier...who then fed Erin Schneidtmiller a feed and subsequent score. The Cards held that lead through the first half...Conrad picking up six of her career high eleven saves,

Syracuse wasted no time tying the contest after the break, though. Heather Susek slammed home a pass to knot the score and it remained 1-1 throughout the rest of regulation.

Louisville had opportunities to score in the extra period but couldn't convert on a corner or two direct shots on goal. It looked like the overtime might remain scoreless...but the Cuse put the winner in the net with under a minute to goal in O.T. when Leonie Geyer slipped past the Cardinal defense and connected from the circle for the winning goal.

Tough loss for the Cards (6-3) who will return to action Sunday. Just who they're playing is a bit of a mystery. The UofL schedule lists New Hampshire but a release from the sports information department says Northwestern. Those two face off today at Trager. Whatever, GO CARDS and beat the "N" squad....

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Women's Soccer travelled to Connecticut and earned a 2-2 tie yesterday against the Huskies. This one was a defensive battle in the first half...neither team producing a goal. The second half started the same way and it wasn't until 23 minutes into the final stanza before UConn converted on a corner kick to take a 1-0 advantage.

The Cards roared back, though, and knotted the contest when senior Jennifer Jones took a feed from Angelika Uremovich and found the back of the net for her first score of the year.

Assumption's Jennifer
Jones scored for the Cards

The Huskies regained the lead two minutes later. Louisville gained the tie with under three minutes left when Cardinal star Christine Exeter drove down the field and booted in a shot for an unassisted goal.

Louisville (3-4-3) was buoyed by the outstanding net work of senior Chloe Kiefer...who had nine saves for the Cards in the tie. UConn held the advantage in shots (22-19) and shots on goal (11-10).

The Cards travel to Providence next...for a 1 p.m. match against the Friars tomorrow. Next week, they return to Cardinal Park for two BIG EAST contests...a Friday match up against Marquette and also host USF on Sunday.


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The Volleyball Cards debut in the KFC YUM! Center was a successful one...sweeping St. John's in three games. CARDINAL COUPLE reporter Donnie Yaste was at the match and will have a report for us later today. Be sure to check back for it.

We can tell you that almost 3,000 attended the match last night at the downtown arena and the Cards will play there
again on Sunday....hosting the UConn Huskies.

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Coach "P" is locked and loaded
for another season.

Softball steps to the plate for an exhibition double-header vs. Murray State this afternoon. The Cards received some very strong pitching last weekend in the double-header win over Bellarmine...and should be a major force in BIG EAST softball this spring if Caralisa Connell and Tori Collins can stay healthy and produce like they did against the Knights. Two games, three hits allowed and 27 total strikeouts.

Louisville will also face Morehead State in a double-header Sunday. Sandy Pearsall is probably watching the conference re-alignment drama with as much interest as anyone. A UofL move to the BIG 12 would bump up the competition level to a higher skill level. Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri all participated in the 2011 College Women's World Series.

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Where do you think the Cards will end up? Or do they go anywhere at all. WE'VE got a poll over on the left hand side of the site and invite you to participate in it. According to prominent Louisville sportswriter Howie Lindsey, the momentum for joining the BIG 12 is picking up steam and the BIG 12 has identified Louisville as their top eastern option if the league expands.  

The Cards are a more attractive option than WVU or Rutgers or UConn, in our opinion, if the BIG 12 comes calling...but it would effectively end some great rivalries that UofL has built up over the years. Cincinnati, Notre Dame and UConn have played some classic games over the years against Louisville in both basketballs, softball, field hockey and volleyball.

And, what do you do with field hockey and lacrosse...two sports that the BIG 12 does not offer conference play for?

The future is interesting. The BIG EAST appears to be on life support. Do the Cards bail? Stay tuned, 2014 seems like a long way off...but decisions affecting the future could be coming very soon.
.


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Ron Mann hires Sheehan as assistant...Tom Collen hires his wife (again)...Big Ten hires Nebraska

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE :

-TARYN SHEEHAN joins UofL Track and Field staff

-FORMER UOFL WOMEN'S BB COACH HIRES WIFE

-NEBRASKA OFFICIALLY JOINS BIG 10...uhhh 11...maybe 12...whatever!

Ron Mann has announced that Taryn Sheehan has joined the UofL Track and Field team as an assistant coach. Sheehan competed as a distance runner at UofL for a year (2007-08) and comes to Louisville from Western Michigan...where she held a similar job.

She was Taryn Gibson when
she ran the 3000m in record
time for the Cards.

"We wanted to bolster our distance program to prepare for the NCAA Cross Country Championships when we host it in 2012. Taryn's addition will certainly help us from that standpoint. This also provides us with the opportunity to build the Louisville family with coaches who have been a part of the program in the past and are familiar with Louisville and our supportive community" Mann said about the hiring.

Taryn sounds excited to be back in Louisville:

"When we (her and her husband) were driving in this week and we crossed the (Ohio) river, I felt like I was home again" Sheehan confided. "I loved my time here as an athlete and I started my coaching career here as a volunteer. The chance to come home and take the women' team specifically to another level is an opportunity I'm very excited about."

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Former UofL head women's basketball coach Tom Collen is up to his old tricks again, bring wife Nicki on boards as an assistant coach down at Arkansas. She replaces Tim Eatman, who was Collen's assistant coach and defensive guru. Eatman heads to Boston College to take a similar position in the rough and tough ACC. Nicki will take over the defense and work with the guards. She is the second new hire to Arkansas's staff in the last two months....Tari Cummings joined the Razorbacks when Zenarae Antonie, who was with the Collen's at Louisville, took the head coaching job at Texas State.

Nicki Collen was an assistant for her husband at Colorado State and Louisville in previous years and also held the assistant coaching position at Ball State. She also did a little radio work as color commentator for Lady Cards hoops.

We'll always remember Tom for a couple of things...he did help develop the talent of Jazz Covington, Candyce Bingham and Angel McCoughtry...three of the best to ever don a Lady Cards uniform...and his acceptance of the Arkansas slot gave Tom Jurich the chance to bring in a highly praised Maryland assistant by the name of Jeff Walz.  

Maybe Tim Eatman got an offer he couldn't refuse at B.C. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall that the Razorbacks weren't going to become the bullies of the SEC. In Eatman's four years as an assistant to Collen at Arkansas , the team has complied a 69-63 record. In four years at Louisville...they were 88-37. Best of luck to the Razorbacks as they slug it out in a SEC Western Division that isn't nearly as strong as the Eastern Division.

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Nebraska officially joined the BIG TEN Friday. Gives them 12 teams now. Since the BIG 12 name is already taken, the BIG TEN is stuck with their current moniker. They'll officially start play on Aug 19th. as a BIG TEN member when their women's soccer team battles North Carolina. They may do well in the BIG TEN in women's basketball...leaving a conference that has Baylor and Texas A&M powerhouses....along with always tough Oklahoma and Texas. BIG TEN women's hoops hasn't been relevant in years...with Purdue and maybe Michigan State the only two teams to fear.

Despite the drop-down in competition for women's hoops...the Cornhuskers are going to be a part of a powerhouse football conference with Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State and the rest. Can you name all 12 teams in the BIG TEN?  Which one was the hardest for you to come up with? In OUR case...Paul had to stretch to remember that Minnesota was a member and Sonja always gets confused on whether Iowa or Iowa State is a member. (It's Iowa).

OK, we've given you over half the conference here...see if you can name the other five members...

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Big East waits out the shuffle

It's only fitting that on a stormy, thundering morning in Louisville, KY the news about the storm brewing in college conference alignments rains down on the sports enthusiast.

Texas A&M to the SEC. Colorado to the PAC-10. Nebraska to the Big 10. Suddenly, the Big 12 is starting to look like a horse drawn buggy at the Indy 500. The dice are rolling, logos changing and Louisville and the rest of the Big East sit in the balcony and watch...waiting, wondering and maybe a bit worried.

We report and write on women's sports here at CARDINAL COUPLE...unless Paul goes off on one of his horse racing jags. This is a scenario where stakes runners have lined up to have a heated battle down the stretch and the Big East is a $5,000 claimer in non-winners of one at 99-1 odds....far behind the leaders and lop-legged in the final furlong.

Paul has box of old sporting event programs from UofL games. There are Missouri Valley Conference, Metro, Conference USA and Big East logos on these. Yes, we've been thru change over the last 40 years. Maybe not as big as the potential impending one...but UofL athletics has always managed to survive and prosper.

What will happen is anyone's guess...but don't get your hopes up that the Big East is going to get out of this thing unaffected. Currently on the chopping block...Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. Whether they'll become part of the mega Big 10, 16...whatever name they come up with remains to be seen. Whether the non-football playing schools in the Big East follow thru with their threat to disband the conference if two of the football playing schools leave is anyone's guess. The catholic coalition against the state schools.

The Big East doesn't have a lot of options. Will they scoop up the remnants of the doomed Big 12? Do they raid Conference USA? Do they even continue to exist if they get raided by the big dogs? Can I substitute if I don't like the sides on the daily special?

One thing is for sure. Womens' sports are taking a seat at the back of the bus because of the power and profitablity of football and men's basketball. Would I mind seeing a conference where Jeff Walz got the chance to play Baylor or K-State? Would I groan if the Lady Cards had East Carolina and Southern Miss in their division? Will I have any say in the matter?

UofL athletic director Tom Jurich continues to say that the Big East is where he is comfortable and where Louisville needs to be. But, if the raiding continues...could the Cards receive an invite to an expanded ACC? Just how comfortable are those of us who aren't making a handsome athletic directors salary?

Close your eyes, hold your nose...grab your ankles and down it goes. Louisville recently lost amusement park Six Flags at Kentucky Kingdom. The rollar coaster ride, though...is far from over.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. As Randy Newman wrote many years ago:

"It's money that matters."

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ZENYATTA roared down the Hollywood stretch from last place yesterday to win the Vanity Handicap yeserday by half a length over impressive ST. TRINIANS. A typical Mike Smith ride...hold the powerhouse back far behind the early speed and come roaring down the stretch like a runaway diesel locomotive. The big girl gets her 17th straight win.

Don't fool yourself. RACHEL ALEXANDRA is a fine filly...probably the second best in horse racing but ZENYATTA is the gold standard, the prime cut and the best that is out there today. I hope they get a chance to meet in the Breeders Cup. I hope RACHEL doesn't get whipped too badly. The question has been raised if ZENYATTA will adapt to a dirt surface instead of the synthetic.

Believe me. This horse could run in quicksand and still threaten the track record.

Summers gets third in Hammer throw

Senior Jere' Summers finished third in the hammer throw Thursday at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, OR. She was one of three Cardinals to participate in the event. Junior D'Ana McCarty finished 10th and senior Lindsay Cook ended up 11th.
Both Summers and McCarty received All-American honors for their efforts, since they finished in the top ten.

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It's on. With Colorado leaving the Big 12 and joining the Pac 10, get ready for sizeable earthquakes in the conference alignments. Nebraska, Missouri, Texas, Notre Dame are all candidates to fill out forwarding address cards in this rebuild of the college conference landscape.

The Colorado move makes sense from a geographical standpoint. No big stretch to go to Los Angeles or Phoenix for games than it was to hit Columbia, MO or Austin, TX.
The dollars were there, the invitation on the porch step and they took it.

The next moves could be quite interesting. The ripple effect of four or five teams going from their previous alignments to new pastures will affect all the BCS conferences.

I guess Ralphie the Buffalo will need to sport some shades for his L.A. visits and get ready for rainy Seattle down the road. I wonder if he and Bevo text each other?

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Friday Night Racing at Churchill Downs. Post time at 6 p.m. and it's disco theme night. If you go, expect big crowds and a lot of polyester. They're tossing in a happy hour as well from 4-6 p.m. with reduced prices on Budweiser products, frozen drinks and hot dogs.

I'm going to pass on the bell bottoms, flowered shirt and heels with the goldfish in them. It's gonna be 90 degrees out there and shorts, t-shirt and sandals will do just fine.

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Kentucky High School Girls' Softball Tournament begins today in Owensboro, KY. Sixteen teams will go thru the double elimination format over the next two days to determine the state champ. Local schools PRP and Mercy are involved, so best of luck to the Panthers and Jaguars! We'll have a full recap of the first day of action here at CARDINAL COUPLE tomorrow.