Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Forget the Laundry - Let It Rain Recruits!

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- We'll just call her Hurricane Sandy today


(Cardinal Couple columnist Sandy Walker takes us on her weekly stormy deluge through Cardinal Women's Athletics and more this morning. We'll be back later today with coverage on women's basketball recruiting announcements.)



Pass out the Bubble Gum

IT’S Another GIRL!

Emmonnie joins Janelle Cannon

Hoping for Sextuplets

Check out Jenny’s Monday special Cardinal Couple Insert

EMMONNIE HENDERSON COMMITMENT

and again later today for the 5:30

MERECEDES RUSSELLL ANNOUNCEMENT

Janelle

Emmonnie

Don't make a POOR decision!

YOUR PICTURE BELONGS HERE!

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WHIRLWIND TIMES

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy I have been reminded that there truly is no place like home.   Since leaving Louisville for what was to be a short vacation -- wind and rain from my namesake has literally chased me from Washington DC down the east coast to Asheville, NC, through the mountains and for me now safely back home although the car continues its journey on to Houston, TX.   I find it remarkable that while in the same relatively short period of time that I have been holding onto what was to be a local use vacation rental car which now has enough new mileage to need replacement tires and a tune up that in addition to Janelle Cannon Emmonnie Henderson has announced that she will also be calling Louisville home for the next 4 years.  Such a great double treat to also learn of Emmonnie’s announcement and hopefully today additional commitments by what are to be the future stars and adopted family members of Cardinal basketball. Emmonnie is ranked #21 in the latest ASGR report.

I wonder if they yet really and truly understand the virtual rock star status the players and coaches hold in what is truly a southern atmosphere college-team town.  Fans of the Cards begin their attendance in strollers and end it in wheelchairs, yet they keep coming to watch returning and new Cardinal family members such as Emmonnie and Janelle -- and hopefully others which will commit today and beyond.  I hope they do and are able to soak it all in as just as how so much had changed in the short time I was away, their time as a Cardinal player will pass all too quickly but they will always be a member of the Card Nation

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CARD Nation Success


Louisville defeats Cincinnati in Volleyball, Football and Men’s Soccer.

Louisville's current ranked teams: M Basketball 2, W Basketball 9, Football 12, Volleyball 13, M Soccer 14, M Swim/Dive 16, W Swim 24 #L1C4

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SCHOOL RANKINGS

U of L teams hold a separate but uniquely additional joint national record.  Currently Women’s basketball is ranked 9^th, Men’s basketball is ranked 2^nd, Football is ranked 12^th, Volleyball is ranked 12^th, Men’s Soccer holds 14^th while Men’s Swimming/Diving is  16^th and the Women’s team holds the 24^th spot.  We are unaware of any other team in the nation with 7 of its teams holding one of the top 25 national spots. 

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BASKETBALL GAME TICKETS

Single game tickets went on Sale Monday.   Corner arena and baseline season tickets are still available.  http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/102912aaa.html  Contact the ticket office at 502-852-5151. Also, don’t forget – U of L is pleased to be hosting the first and second rounds of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament in the KFC Yum Center!. Tickets are currently on sale.  Coach Walz had indicated the need to pre-sale at least 8,000 tickets at this year’s award of the openings rounds is hoped to be the beginning of what some day will culminate in the hosting of the Final 4 Championships.  Selection to the 64 team NCAA tournament team will insure that U of L will play in the first round in their regular season home.  A win would give them home court advantage also in the 2^nd round which is also being played in Louisville.   U of L has not enjoyed the tournament home court advantage in recent years, if ever.  I would advise you to get your tickets now before the tournament teams are announced and you find yourself competing with fans from other teams for premium seats.

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GOLF

The women’s golf team is in 12^th Place of the Alamo Invitational After First Round.

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FIELD HOCKEY

Senior goalkeeper, Erin Conrad,                                                     

was named BIG EAST Conference Field Hockey Defensive Player of the week.  She had 10 saves for the week including six in the 2-1 Providence win.  She added four saves in the 4-3 overtime win against Ohio State.  The 12-7, 3-3 Big East team faces Connecticut Friday in the semifinals which are being played at Trager Stadium.

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MEDIA

CARDINAL COUPLE

Coach Walz is scheduled to talk to the media at noon today.  The players will then be made available at 12: 30.  Paul and possibly Coco will be attending and providing a report

BASKET BALL PRE-SEASON RANKING

Saturday the Associated Press released the current pre-season rankings.  Four returning starters from a 23-10 prior year’s record earned Louisville a 9^th place position and is the highest pre-season projection ever received by the team.  The always tough Big East had 5 teams included in the top 25.  They are Connecticut, Notre Dame, St. John’s and DePaul.

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BASKETBALL EXHIBITION GAME!

The long awaited pre-season basketball tip-off game begins with an exhibition match with Eckerd College on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 7:00 p.m. The KFC Yum! Center match will be the only exhibition game of the season and admission is free.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

The regular season tip off for women’s basketball is next Friday November 9.   The return match from last year against No. 15 Texas A&M is at the YUM Center! At 7:00 p.m. and is a great opportunity to see the ladies avenge last year’s loss when the 2011 National Champion Aggies benefited not only by playing at home but also did not have to compete against Shoni.   It will also be great to see Monique and Tia again on the court after the long rehab.

This game is a

RED OUT with the goal of filling the house this and every game as we the fans control U of L’s advance into placing the Cards in a position of having the highest average attendance of NCAA women’s basketball.   Make your plans now for the game and bring a friend for what is the best value event for entertainment in the region.  Coach Walz indicated at the tip off luncheon that if you get them in the door for the first time, the team will keep them coming back.    

To help you painlessly get them in the door you can bring several friends to this match for $2.00 a ticket by showing a Kroger Plus Card at any U of L ticket office location.  Information can be obtained by calling the U of L  ticket office at (502) 852-5151.

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VOLLEYBALL

The AVCA coaches poll has moved U of L up to No. 12 in the nation.  Gwen Rucker was named to BIG EAST honor roll for the week. http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/102912aaa.html.   Sunday’s win over Cincinnati gave the Volleycards a perfect record of 7-0 in away matches for the season. They are joined only by Hawaii and Marquette with perfect away match records for the year. Louisville will host a match against Marquette on Nov. 9 in Cardinal Arena.  Prior to the NCAA tournament they will play the final four games of the regular season in Louisville against Villanova on Nov. 2, Georgetown on Nov. 4, Marquette on Nov. 9, and Cincinnati on Nov. 11.


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BEST 2012-2013 BASKETBALL PROGRAMS IN DIVISION I

Yesterday James Bowman of SB Nation / Swish Appeal has again created what it considers to be the best 100 women’s basketball  Division I programs for the 2012-2013 season.  The link indicated are for teams published on Monday ranked as 71-100 http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/10/29/3509016/ncaa-womens-college-basketball-top-programs-71-100. The schedule continues today for teams ranked #41-70, Wednesday for #26-40 Thursday: #11-25 and Friday ends with teams they have ranked #1-10.

What caught my attention is that the rankings are their ranking of the 100 best programs in Division I. This is not the same thing as the 100 best teams in Division I for the 2012-13 season.  Considerations were Wins and quality of competition, Attendance, Recruiting, and Hitting benchmarks.  Benchmarks are Postseason play, win totals, Conference titles and tournament victories, All Americans and WNBA high draft picks.  Excluded were Faraway glory, Coaching records and longevity and Academics.  I will be checking each day looking for Louisville.  

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FIELD HOCKEY

The Field Hockey team clinched 3^rd place in the Big East Tournament by defeating Providence 2-1. 

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"The logical choice, Jim is that she verbals to Louisville."

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So Much Laundry, So Little Time!

 

We were live and greeting people at the CENTRAL CARDINAL CLUB BOUTIQUE AND FASHION SHOW.

HI! Paulie here and we had a blast meeting and talking to all the womens' sports fans here at the show! Thanks to columnist Jeff McAdams and Donny Yaste for helping Sonja and I man (and woman) the booth. Also, thanks to everyone who stopped by and saw us!

THE WINNING TICKET NUMBER FOR THE 1980 UofL MEN'S TEAM PLAQUE WAS 702211 AND THE WINNER WAS AL PARRISH..

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Our staff columnist Sandy Walker is back with her weekly romp through all things Cardinal Women's sports related. Be sure to stop by the CARDINAL COUPLE table to meet her this evening at the Central Cardinal Club Holiday Bazaar and Fashion Show at the PNC Club inside Papa John's Cardinal Stadium! Hours are 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. While at the table, be sure to register to win UofL memoribilia and talk Cardinal womens' athletics with us! See you there!

Today is a mixed bag of bleached to delicate articles!

TENNIS

The Tennis team is participating in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships October 15th. - 18th. with matches being played all day at West Lafayette, Indiana.

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Digging specialists!

VOLLEYBALL

The 18-3 VolleyCards with their # 15 NCAA ranking returns to action Friday afternoon at Syracuse and then on to Marquette on Sunday. Louisville is currently in second place in BIG EAST Volleyball and this weekend's action could propel them into the #1 spot if they can win two tough tests on the road. The Marquette game could be crucial, since the Golden Eagles currently sit atop the league with no conference losses. Louisville's only loss was to Notre Dame.



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SOCCER

The Soccer team brings its 9-4-3 record into a home match against Cinncinnati.   The game begins at 7:00 at Cardinal Park Friday night The weekend matches are also a chance to say thank you and goodbye to the hard working seniors on the Cardinal squad.

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SWIM AND DIVE

On Friday the swim team will be in action at the SMU Classic in Dallas, TX.

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FIELD HOCKEY

Saturday at 12:00 we have the opportunity to watch the field hockey team play Villanova at 12:00 with plenty of time to gather elsewhere before the 3:30 football game.  The game is played at our home field, Trager Stadium.  If that is too much activity for you in one day you have a 2^nd opportunity on Monday at 4:00.

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GOLF

Women’s Golf finished 11th at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational which is no small accomplishment.

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WOMENS' BASKETBALL EXHIBITION GAME

15 days remain before the Halloween night (October 31) date our U of L women will match up with the St. Petersburg, FL. Eckard College team for the first exhibition game of the season.    

This is a free game. You don't need a ticket and won't receive one in your season ticket packages, which should be arriving in a couple of days. Just show up, walk in the KFC YUM! Center and have a seat. It's a great chance to see your Lady Cards hoopsters "on the house". The conflict with Halloween is a bit unfortunate, but if you're looking for a way to get out of handing out Halloween candy, here's your  chance.                                           

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WOMENS' BASKETBALL TIP-OFF LUNCHEON

TIP OFF WOMENS' BASKETBALL LUNCHEON

Reminder: The basketball tip off luncheon is set for Tuesday October 23.  Be sure to call and make your reservations for the noon start time on center court of the KFC YUM! Center.   $30.00 tickets can be purchased by calling the U of L special events office at (502) 852-0706 or completing the form found at http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lou/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/2012Luncheon.pdf.  Jeff Walz is the featured speaker. Bill the Goat declined an offer to sing the National Anthem but Timmy is calling in favors trying to find a replacement.

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SPORTS GENDER EQUITY STUDY

Student athletes and fans at the University of Louisville are fortunate to be in an era of growing women’s athletic support from both the school and their fans.  Unfortunately this is not apparently the nationwide trend.  Unless we know where we have been we cannot know where we are going and studies like this are still necessary. 

This month a special report was released by the Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center for Women and Girls (SHARP).  The original research at can be found at http://irwg.research.umich.edu/pdf/OCR.pdf.  It studied the state of high school athletics and the inequalities in the US public school system. It reports on historical changes in the provision of athletic opportunity in U.S. high schools. It is intended to provide educators and policymakers current information. Unfortunately, even 40 years after the passing of Title IX the report indicated this as the decade of decline as the gender gap in opportunities between boys and girls persisted at 11-12%.  Supporters of girl’s and women’s athletics are the front line of defense in our local grade and high schools.  Awareness and prevention of the continued decline in the opportunities for girls must not be allowed.

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LITIGATION

Just when we had thought that things had calmed down Kelli Anderson of SI.com has posted in her Inside College Basketball an overview of the Tennessee Athletic Departments’ difficulties.  Included was information that others besides Debby Jennings have also filed litigation against the school.   The complete article can be read at:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/kelli_anderson/10/15/Tennessee-discrimination-lawsuits/index.html?xid=si_ncaab

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