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