Big East meetings: Whistling in the dark?

NOTE TO OUR DEAR READERS AND ALL YOU INTERNET BOTS. CARDINAL COUPLE WILL BE GOING DARK FOR A FEW DAYS. THE HAMSTERS THAT POWER OUR HARD DRIVE ARE HEADED TO THE ANNUAL RODENT AND PREDATOR CONVENTION/GAMES IN TRUCKEE, CA. WE HOPE THEY RETURN...

WE'LL BE BACK (WE PROMISE) BIGGER, STRONGER, STEROID AND CAVITY FREE. IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE AMUSE YOURSELF BY CHECKING OUT THE SITES WE RECOMMEND OVER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SITE. OR, ORGANIZE YOUR SOCK DRAW. SEE YOU REAL SOON AND DON'T STOP BELIEVING. SOME ONE OUT THERE JUST MIGHT MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR YOU.

PAUL, SONJA, SCOOTER, RODNEY and MAX AND BERTIE..THE WONDER HAMSTERS.

Big East commisioner John Marinatto just might be feeling like General George Custer these days. The Indians are coming...masked as the Big 10...and they've got plenty of arrows (dollars).

Big East athletic directors and coaches headed to Jacksonville early this week to converge and confab on the league and the future. If the circumstances felt eerily similar to the meeting seven years ago when the league was raided by the ACC and Miami, Va.Tech, and Boston College left...consider the future.

The Big East will likely be raided by another war party in the future. This tribe is called the Big 10 and they are considering the scalps of Pittsburgh, Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse and Notre Dame. Although a snatch and grab of all these schools is unlikely, defection by two or more could have the grim reaper walking down the Big East sidewalk.

And, as it is so often anymore...it's all about the Benjamins. The green stuff. The coffer fillers. Member schools in the Big 10 fare much better financially than their Big East associates. The ESPN package is worth a bilion dollars. The Big East...well, not nearly as much.

We deal with women's sports here at CARDINAL COUPLE. A Big East defection will rock the men's basketball and football programs the most. But, consider Big East women's basketball without say...a UConn or Rutgers. Big East softball missing a Notre Dame or the league's tournament champion Syracuse? Track and field and swimming without the strong prescence of the Irish and the Orange? (As far as Pitt goes...don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out. When's the last time Pitt won anything of consequence except for the Dave Wannstadt lottery?)High on the hill...staring down on what is definitely a pro sports town...Pittsburgh is the only away football tailgate trip I've ever been to where the NFL leather jackets and team jersey logos outnumbered the college team's.

When the battle begins, the Big East will return the favor and go shopping for replacements. It's hard to buy a Camry when you've been driving a Lexus but there are schools that are probably on the addition list.

Depending on the extent of pilfering, these schools would seem to rank as the (3) logical contenders to change affilitations and conference logos.

1) Memphis. The scorned lover back when the Big East expanded last time...the folks down on Beale Street still have an upside this time around. Strong TV market. Successful men's basketball program. A football stadium that can hold 70,000 fans. And Graceland. Ribs and Mud Island. Casinos nearby.

2) East Carolina. They love their football in Greenville and if football is the transmission to the Big East vehicle...you could do a lot worse by adding the Pirates to the drive train. Basketball...well, mediocre basketball teams in the Big East are a dime a dozen (see Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida. OK, you get the picture.) Adding another is a moot point at this juncture.

3) Central Florida. Media, media and location. Successes in football and a desire to grow. They are considered by some sources the "Louisville of the late ninties" a university on the verge of exploding into national prominence and growth. Whether they have a Tom Jurich type at the controls flying the athletic department plane is uncertain...but AD's are susceptible to career changes. Ask Wood Selig.

You may differ with these prognosticated picks. The Big 10 may decide schools like Missouri or Bellarmine are more lucrative. Aliens could land tomorrow and return Barack Obama to the mothership. But, something's going to happen down the road and, as usual...he who displays the most marbles usually wins the game. We'll see who the Big 10 adds to their pillage sack.

C. Viv Stringer and Geno Auriemma playing Northwestern and Illinois instead of Louisville and DePaul? It just could happen...

Your favorite Cardinal women's sports moment?

The University of Louisville's win over Rutgers in the Big East tournament ranks as one of my favorite Cardinal women's sports moments. There have been plenty to celebrate over the years. I can still play back in my mind those final seconds...seeing Laura Terry race downcourt to prevent Rutgers from getting the loose ball with seconds remaining. Angel's dump off pass in the paint to a wide open Candyce Bingham who scored the go ahead goal...me jumping into the air and screaming at the top of my lungs when the buzzer sounded and Patrika Barlow leading a charge of Cardinal players onto the court to celebrate the upset win. The look of disappointment on Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer's face and the phone ringing off the hook for the next thirty minutes...calls from friends raving about the win.

The Lady Cards march to the NCAA Championship game in 2009 had plenty of great McCoughtry moments. Louisville softball's Chelsea Bemis and Melissa Roth have created a few big time Cardinal highlights and the success of field hockey, track and field...there are plenty to choose from. How about Aja Sherman's dominance on the mound when she pitched for the Cards?

Being in Rupp arena two years ago and watching Louisville beat the Lady Cats by 15 in a game where Angel took a shot to the eye, left for stitiches and came back to play the final eight minutes of the game ranks up there also. We'll forget about the game up there in Memorial this year...

My friend Christy reminded me recently of the trip we made to Chattanooga a couple of years ago to watch the women's basketball team compete in the Panera Bread tournament. Louisville looked dominating in those two games and we had a great weekend in Chattanooga...watching hoops, touring the city and making a side trip to the Jack Daniels distillery. It was then we knew that Walz had something very special with this group of Cardinals and Angel had put her stamp on this team and on women's college basketball.

Paul recalls the night Angel lit up DePaul for 41 points during her junior year. She was unstoppable in that game and the Blue Demons had no answer for her.

Maybe you remember how Lola Arslanbekova dominated opposing volleyball teams front lines with 513 kill shots last season. She'll be back to do the same this upcoming season and Leonard Yelin's squad is a serious threat to win the Big East.

Feel free to send any favorite Cardinal women's athletics memories to us at Cardinal Couple or comment on the ones we've listed above.

And don't stop believing...tons more of those big play moments are out there in the future for the women who participate in the Red and Black.

Written by Sonja
5/6/10

USF clips Cards 63-60 with late three.

Speed kills.

Everyone expected overtime in Freedom Hall Saturday. Everyone except USF guard Allyson Speed, that is. With four seconds remaining in regulation, she demanded the ball from the top of the key and calmly released what would be her 8th 3-point connection of the game to put Louisville away.

As it had been thruout the game, when the Cards left Speed open...she made them pay. Her 24 points came from beyond the arc. Walz used everyone but P.A. announcer Sean Moth to try and stop the hot shooting guard.

Far from fitting and eerily ironic that the guard with the nickname "Cat" sinks the Lady Cards in the Freedom Hall farewell. Speed was expected to add valuable depth and three point prowess for Jose Fernandez's Lady Bulls squad this year. The senior guard lived up to her byline yesterday...rolling off picks to launch three point bombs against a step slow Cardinal defense.

Questionable strategy for the final sequence by the Cards skipper Jeff Walz, who removed Rachel Story from the game. Story had been the sole Card able to contain Speed...but Walz went with a taller lineup and no point guard in the final 30. Charlie Springer, over at UofL Card Game offers a nice video of the final sequence and winning shot. Not sure what happened at the end of the video...but Charlie got a great shot of the littered floor in the stands at Freedom Hall.

Such as been the tale of the Lady Cards this season. Close but no cigar. Rallies that fall just short. Outstanding individual efforts (witness Monique Reid's 32 points yesterday) and players who disappear at crucial times. A lack of cohesion, especially on defense and a frustrating and trying season for us in the seats...who continue to cheer loud and proud for our Cardinals.

Hats off to Keisha Hines with 11 hard earned points and 12 boards against the taller, more physical Bulls front line. Reid was magnificent in defeat...11 rebounds to go with her career high in points. Monique going in the paint with Angel skills and seemingly scoring at will inside on USF. Questions about Becky Burke...two points in 31 minutes with 1-8 shooting. A nice final appearance in the Hall for Brandie Radde, nailing a late, key three and finishing with eight points. Rachel Story, to use a horse term... seems to be a stretch runner..going nowhere early in the season and having her best back to back games as the season ends.

The regular season ends for the Lady Cards with a Monday trip to Rutgers. Not the star studded, All-American teams of the past for C. Vivian Stringer...but a solid team with a shot at NCAA postseason play and one that will be very difficult to beat in the RAC. Brittany Ray is a next level player...and they even have a Sykes on the team (no relation).

Next year looks promising. As far as this year...the Walz post game words sum it up very well.

"The whole season has been full of a lot of frustration and heartbreak. Look at our bench. There were no other players to put it. Dez, Nikki, Chauntise unable to play. That's where the frustration sets in. I'm not saying we'd be a 20 win team with them..but we certainly wouldn't be 13-15."

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A tip of the hat to horse trainer Jeffrey Sheets who scored a win in the first race at Turfway on Friday with Steve's Revenge. Off at 6-1, Steve benefitted from a breakneck early pace and swept down the stretch passing the other horses to win going away. Two in a row for Steve's Revenge now and a pat on the back for our favorite trainer. Jeff does not run a lot of them but puts quality ones out there when he does.

Those stable fees and transportation costs seem a little less worrisome today.

Written by Sonja
2/28/10

The question of being "too young"

These 7th grade, middle school basketball players in South Bend are already receiving contact from women's college coaches. One of them recentely "committed" to Rutgers. (She hopes to date in 2 years and get her driving learner's permit in 3...) And, no..the one on the left is NOT wearing a UofL letterjacket...

The college women's basketball recruiting process doesn't draw nearly as much attention as men's college hoops or the granddaddy of them all (college football) but national attention was recently drawn to a 7th grade girls' basketball player who "committed" recently to Rutgers University and C. Vivian Stringer. Kalabrya Gondrezick has made up her mind that she's headed to Rutgers.

After she's cleaned her room and helps Mom do the dishes.

I know what you're thinking. A great publicity piece for the middle school, the girl and a chuckle that C.Viv surely must be the greatest women's basketball recruiting analyst in the land.

I know this neighborhood girl...she's maybe 10 or 11...that can make three pointers in her parents backyard. Someone get on the phone to Jeff Walz or Matthew Mitchell. She's a can't miss prospect.

It's happened before. Current Notre Dame freshman sensation Skylar Diggins was sold on Muffett McGraw and Notre Dame before she entered the 9th grade. Must have been the leopard skin scarf that McGraw occasionally dons for games that did it.

Class of 2010 Louisville signee Antonia Slaughter told anyone that would listen that she was headed to Louisville back when she was a freshman. Probably helped that her older sister Toni was playing for the Lady Cards...but Tom Collen, not Jeff Walz was the current Cardinal coach then. Fortunately, she turned out to be an excellent player for Christian Academy and the Cards have a good one coming in next year.

How early is too early to decide where you are going to spend your four years in college? There is a commercial on the radio, maybe you've heard it, where a young boy is telling his father that he's going to play for the Cardinals..that he's going to be able to play basketball because of some sort of medical miracle that has happened for him. I'm sure Edgar Sosa and Samardo Samuels had UofL and Rick Pitino in their headlights when they were approaching puberty. Childhood dreams are one thing. Holding press conferences to discuss your college recruiting process and progress updates when you're 12 yrs. old is another.

In all seriousness, the increasing amount of authority and pull that AAU ball and the coaches who run it have...now make the skills of young players a year round factor now. I have a friend who has a daughter who plays on a "club" travelling volleyball team and area high school volleyball coaches are already making contact with her parents about her enrolling in their schools.

She is 11 years old.

The fact is this. There are very few women's college basketball programs that make money for their universities. UConn, Tennessee, Stanford, Notre Dame...maybe a handful of others. A lot of the others without the national name recognition are out there shaking the bushes and scouring the nursery schools for the next Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Candice Parker or bionic women that will get fans into the seats, raise the program to a national recognition level and secure the coach's job for the next four years.

It is good that athletics and competition are being stressed to the youth of America...don't get me wrong. I'm all for healthy youngsters. Great skills that will help one later in life. But, there is a seamy side to it, also. A local high school assistant basketball coach recently told me that AAU and Club coaches are "warlords..mafia bosses" when it comes to the talent they posess 8 months a year. He went on to say that these coaches "attend the high school games, sit within earshot of the bench and the huddles and shout out instructions to their stars whenever they get the chance."

Coach Bob says dribble drive to the hoop. Coach Dave says rotate the ball and set up a good shot. Player John is confused.

When I was a kid, we used to play backyard basketball and would occasionally get up a team and ride our bikes to a neighboring subdivision to play kids from that neighborhood. Sometimes, the janitor of the local high school would let us "sneak in" and play on the court on Saturdays. There were no "maximum performance skills camps" or "all age, high hopes potential sports academy enrollments" around. Or the exorbidant fees associated with attending one. Is $2,000 too much to pay for a preteen to participate with other preteens in a 3 month league not associated with any school? Are those days of purity and innocence are gone for youth that want to play and get good at a sport?

I remember a quote from the late, great professional baseball coach Casey Stengel. He was asked about the future potential of one of his young ballplayers on the New York Mets. Casey wowed them when he said:

"Let's see...he's 19 years old now. I think in ten years, if all goes according to plan...he's got a great chance to be 29."

I'd expound more on that loss of innocence, but I've got to hit the door and catch the long awaited, highly anticipated hoops tilt between Miss Mary's Kinderschool and Bright Futures Daycare. I'll twitter, facebook, text and send up smoke signals with the results later.

These 4 year olds can flat out ball.

Written by Paul 2/18/10