Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Tournament and Softball

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-NCAA Women's Championship Pick 'Em Guide (or...How I stopped worrying and learned to love the 'Madness')

-Softball Cards defeat Iowa 6-4

A picture of a bracket

One of the most common complaints I hear (besides not remembering to spray wash my own undergarments and that I snore) is from people who would enter a NCAA Women's Basketball Pick 'Em contest...but aren't real familiar with the teams. Not even Coach Walz is familiar with all the teams. Request denied, sir! Fill out a bracket.

So, today...I will offer sage wisdom, prudent decisions, a few upsets and uncalled-for advice on how you, too, can have a satisfying NCAA Women's Tournament Bracket Pick 'Em. Remember, one man's lock is another man's upset...so don't be afraid to go out on a limb from time-to-time.

Paulie's Rule #1 - Your FINAL FOUR SHOULD READ: Baylor, Stanford, Notre Dame and Connecticut. Anything else is just wishful or moronic thinking.

Paulie's Rule #2 - Play CLOSE attention to where teams are playing the early rounds. Besides the four mentioned above, the majority of NCAA Women's Basketball teams don't do very well too far from home. It's a "village" thing.

OKLAHOMA CITY REGION

Put Baylor in as winning and work your way backwards. Who will they face? The logical (and popular) pick seems to be Tennessee. This is a good "Great Eight" start...but you might want to consider Syracuse and UCLA in place of Tennessee.

I am not scared of Prairie View, Princeton, Liberty, Central Michigan, Stetson, or Oral Roberts. ( I am maybe scared of oral surgery...or wearing a stetson in public.) Creighton may be a dark-horse candidate to uphend Syracuse and Middle Tennessee is a good, not great team. So is Louisville, according to Jeff Walz. I went with Baylor, Louisville, UCLA and Syracuse as the four teams to advance out of the first and second rounds. Yes, Tennessee is playing in Knoxville (let the hate e-mails begin) but I was very impressed with Syracuse this season and like their toughness. I also like pretty balloons and the Three Stooges.

SPOKANE REGION

Write in Stanford (in pencil) as the FINAL FOUR participant in this region but take a close look at these four contenders. South Florida, Villanova, LSU and California. Warch Gonzaga, because they are playing in Spokane (their home town) They'll survive the first round against a good, not great Iowa State squad. They could even advance against a middle-of-the-pack Georgia team who is travelling a long way to be in Spokane.

No fear of Green Bay (unless Aaron Rodgers decides to play), Tulsa, Montana, CalPoly or Fresno State. A great match-up in the first round here is Texas Tech, at home in Lubbock, playing South Florida. But, South Florida went on the road and defeated Louisville in front of the 10,000 rowdy UofL fans. I doubt there will be that many in Lubbock...unless they offer free barbecue.

I have Stanford, Gonzaga, LSU (playing their first two in Baton Rouge) and California in the regional in Spokane. I think Stanford will probably survive...but it wouldn't surprise me to see South Florida or California advance to New Orleans. If Cal-Poly gets there, I'll buy every reader a new laptop...(with Jeff's VISA Card). Pending approval.

NORFOLK REGION

You know the routine. Write in Notre Dame as the winner in the bracket and also scribble in Texas A&M as the team they beat to get there. There are other excellent teams in this region, but they won't advance. Colorado will fall to the Irish. Duke will barely lose to A&M. DePaul will give Duke a test..but lose in the second round. Unless they have cloned Anna Martin and both the clone and the original play. 

Dead zombies...UT Martin (no realation to Anna), Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota St., Chattanooga, Wichita State and Hampton. (I do like the Hampton breakfast bar, though.) I'd love to see Doug Bruno's DePaul squad down Coach Joanie P's Blue Devils and almost picked them. Could be a upset special. I ended up with Notre Dame, Colorado (who beat Louisville in the regular season), Texas A&M and Duke as the teams meeting in Norfolk. Irish eyes will be smiling.

BRIDGEPORT REGION

It's a shame Connecticut has to do such extensive travelling to make the final four. Storrs and then Bridgeport. Maybe they'll go by way of Bristol. Most are liking Kentucky to play them in the final of the GENO Bridgeport regional. I'll offer St. John's, Delaware and maybe even Dayton as possibles to see April Fools Day still alive in Bridgeport. Kentucky did not win the SEC Tournament. That honor went to Texas A&M. Kentucky travels to play in Queens, NY to open the first and second rounds. St. John's is from Queens. I agree with CARDINAL COUPLE reader Joe Hill on one thing...my "uber, outrageous, what's he thinking?"  upset special is St. John's over Kentucky. (Quick, bring my meds!)

Teams that won't need long hotel reservations are Idaho ( a shame they had to travel across country to play UConn) St. Joseph's ( who will need baby aspirin after meeting Vandy), Marist, Quinnipiac, Albany and Navy. The first round match up with Dayton and St. John's will be classic. Delaware and North Carolina will be a close one, too. I have Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware and St. John's going to Bridgeport. The Huskies raise a leg on the Terrapins and Red Storm and trot off to New Orleans.  

FINAL FOUR

I'm leaving you on your own here. I can't spoon-feed everything to you, you know. Baylor won it all last year. Notre Dame came in second. Go from there and good luck in your selections.  Both teams have their best player back.

The CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA Women's Tournament Pick 'Em closes on Saturday, March 23rd. when the first game begins at 11 A.M. All picks need to be in by then. Leave your choices in the comments section or e-mail them to:

cardinalcouple@insightbb.com

Good luck, we hope you play and remember for the tie-breaker you need to give us TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS you think will be scored in the final game. First prize in a $25 Chili's Gift Card. If there isn't a Chili's in the area you live in...move immediately. Or, if you win...just let us know. We'll think of something to substitute. Maybe Bill the Goat's latest CD. Or an afternoon of watching Quentin throw paper wads at a trash can. A guest spot on our radio show.

Also, remember to put your name on your entry. Duh!!



"Whaddya mean Syracuse has no guards? Sir, you are a
moron! And your socks don't match!"

(You can get brackets to fill out at NCAA.com and the Courier-Journal has a nice one in the Tuesday edition. ESPN.com has them, too.) If you want to e-mail your bracket directly us, that's fine...be advised that IF we don't send a confirmation to you that we got it, we may have not received it. We are quite technology challenged.)

Games begin Saturday, March 23rd. at 11 a.m. EDT. The contest is purely for entertainment purposes and Cardinal Couple is a non-profit entity. That ought to keep the CC laywers happy campers.

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Louisville softball bounced back from the Monday loss to Iowa with a Tuesday win at Ulmer Stadium over the visitors 6-4. The Cards found the bats early in this one...touching the Hawkeyes for four first inning runs.

Katie Keller singled and eventually scored when Whitney Arion was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 1-0. Taner Fowler cleared the bags with a deep double and Louisville was up 4-0.

UofL increased the margin to 6-0 in the fifth inning, picking up two runs on just one hit. Jordy Trimble was safe at first on a Hawkeye fielding error and Alicja Wolny was walked. Trimble touched home on a Maggie Ruckenbrod single and Wolny followed when Arion reached on a fielder's choice.

The Hawkeyes fought back late...two runs in the sixth brought in Caralisa Connell to relieve starter Rachel LeCoq. Iowa added two more runs in the seventh but could not fully close the gap. Le Gran Le Coq gets the win and is now 10-2.

Louisville (24-4) takes on Indiana today at 6 p.m.at Ulmer. TV available on this one in case you can't attend...WHAS 11.2 and the accompanying Insight and Comcast numbers...whatever they are. The BIG 10 tour continues.

Paulie

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Louisville's Bracket Selection viewing at PNC Club a big hit.

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Lady Cards will face Michigan State in NCAA


-Softball goes to 20-0 with double-header win over Illinois State 


-CARDINAL COUPLE NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket Challenge is open for picks (and rolls and double screens). 

The University of Louisville women's basketball team will travel to College Park, Maryland, home of the Maryland Terrapins, to face Michigan State University in first round NCAA Championship action. Louisville is a #7 seed. Michigan State a #10 seed. The game will tip at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Winner gets the victor of the #2 Maryland vs. #15 Navy tussle.


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CARDINAL COUPLE staff writer Jenny O'Bryan and CARDINAL COUPLE Commish Mark Schneider were there and we've combined their reports and posted plenty of their pictures for you...

A large and enthusiastic crowd filled the Bracket Selection Party that the University of Louisville held for Cardinal fans at the PNC Plaza at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium for the showing of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Womens' hoops party at a football stadium but the excitement reached the fevered pitch of a women's game at the KFC YUM! Center as the announcement time drew near.

The Cardinal player were on hand in full force and graciously signing autographs for eager fans. The hand had been tipped a bit earlier on who the Lady Cards would face...t-shirts were available for sale with Louisville vs. MSU on the front. Scores of UofL fans chatted with the Cardinal Faithful and plenty of Cardinal merchandise was available for purchase. 

A Tayy !!!!!

Shortly before the Selection Show began, Louisville head basketball coach Jeff Walz went to the podium to address the audience. He spent a good deal of time thanking the crowd and all Cardinal fans for their attendance and support of the program.


Walz also told the crowd that he always reminds the team of how lucky they are to draw the crowds to home games the size and number of those who attend Lady Cards contests at the KFC YUM! Center. He mentioned that the Cards sometimes play in front of 200-300 fans on BIG EAST road trip games, including the home team's coaches, players and pep band. 

Laura Terry, Derty Bird, and Shawnta

Walz told the crowd that Louisville was #2 in the nation in total attendance and that next year's objective was to become #1. He like to see the season ticket base increase from 8000 to 10000. He also revealed that the Lady Cards would home the home schedule next year against Texas A&M and the game would probably be on a Friday night. 


Walz also caught Becky Burke off-guard and called on her for an impromptu speech. Burke handled it well, though and expressed her appreciation for the fans, her teammates and her chance to play for the program. 

Walz seemed happy with the tournament draw and talked about how good a team Michigan State was.


He acknowledged that Maryland could be the net opponent for Louisville and spurred the crowd on by reminding them what Louisville did to them the last time the two teams faced. (That, of course was during the Cards march to the NCAA Championship game...when Louisville knocked them off to reach the Final Four.) 

After the gathering and media obligations this evening, Walz said he'd be busy with his staff watching film of the Spartans in preparation for the Saturday game. The team will practice Tuesday. 


E-mails received here at CARDINAL COUPLE have been mostly positive about the venue and the atmosphere. Here's a few comments...

"The fan-friendly nature of the event is a step above the days when the team was crowded into the Parrish House and no food was available"


"We had a wonderful time at the PNC Club and my daughters got to talk to several of the players, including Shelby Harper -- her favorite. I hope they go there again next year." 

"...Much better than having it at Cardinal Arena. Player interaction with the fans is a must if (Walz) wants to get 10000 season ticket holders." 




"Although the family and I had a great time last night, I do think this annual celebration of Cardinal basketball should be held in a basketball-type setting, not a football one. I would suggest that they go to the KFC YUM! Center next year." 


(Have a take on the event last night? Feel free to leave a comment or shoot us an-email. Due to Sonja's work schedule and Paul being out-of-town, we unfortunately had to miss the event.) 


cardinalcouple@insightbb.com


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Louisville Softball goes to 20-0 in the battle of the Birds (Redbirds vs. Cardinals) yesterday at Ulmer Stadium. 


The start was delayed a couple of hours due to storms, but the soggy conditions didn't dampen the UofL attack once things got underway.


GAME 1


Louisville jumped to an early 2-0 in the bottom of the first. Kristin Austin singled and scored on a Katie Keller single. Keller reached the plate on a wild pitch.


The Cards added four more runs in the third inning. Taner Fowler and Alicja Wolny registered back-to-back doubles to plate a run. Jordan Trimble took first base on a Redbird error, and Hannah Kiyohara cleared the left field fence with a 'goodbye Mr. Splading' to make it 6-0 "Ville". 

The Redbirds notched a run in the fourth and fifth innings. Louisville retaliated in the fifth when Fowler smashed her second double of the game and made it home on a Trimble single. Louisville concluded the scoring in the sixth when Austin singled and made it 8-2 on a Wolny fielder's choice.


Torrid Tori Collins (9-0) went the distance for Sandy Pearsall...allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out eight. 


GAME 2


Louisville hit the scoreboard in the first when Austin singled and scored on Wolny's single. The Cards added five runs in the fourth. Kiyohara's single started it off. She was replaced by pinch-runner Kirsten Straley, who scored on a Whitney Arion double. Esteban reached on an error and scored on a Austin hit. Austin got home on a double steal to make it 3-0.
After a Keller single, Wolny parked a blast over center to put Louisville comfortably ahead 6-0


The Cards ended it with the run-rule in the fifth. Kayla Soles doubled, Kiyohara drew a base on balls and an Arion single sent Soles to greet the home umpire. Kiyohara got the final run on a RedBirds fielding error.

Caralisa Connell (6-0) gets the win, allowing one hit in 2.1 innings of relief. Starter Chelsea Leonard went 2.2 innings and struck out six while allowing just two hits.


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Brackets are ready to be filled out at YAHOO! for the Cardinal Couple Bracket Challenge. Go get some! Our info is 814 and the password is ladycards


Choose wisely and may the hand guiding the mouse be firm and accurate. Not signed up yet? Well, get crackin' man! (or woman). Linkie below:


CARDINAL COUPLE BRACKET CHALLENGE

Commish Mark has banks of laptops set up deep in the secret lair of the CARDINAL COUPLE world headquarters and has our CARDINAL COUPLE staff chimps on the phones to each of the 16 first-round sites for breaking news, trends, off-color jokes and influence-peddling. (Except for Co-Co, who is trying to get her Etch-A-Sketch hooked up to the Internet.) 


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