Alright...

Try and put your hatred aside, this is a pretty cool quote. Bob Huggins on his hometown of Midvale, Ohio; which he describes as having 500 people, two stop-lights, and nine bars...

"I got in a truck with this guy one time. I looked and he didn't have a rear-view mirror. I said 'You don't have a rear-view mirror.' He said 'I don't back-up. We're going forward, son.' And that's kind of how I've lived my life."

Freeze!

I cannot fathom a better weekend for my fiance to head to Chicago for a bachelorette party. Not only do I have nonstop college basketball at my disposal, but as a cherry on top, Mr. Red goes and finds "Batman and Robin" in the clearance bin at the local Walmart. Needless to say, I'll be wallowing in my own crapulence for the next 36 hours.

During the work week, however, I listen to the Denny and Joe B. Show religiously. Since I'm not at all religious, that means I listen as often as I can. You've probably tuned in before, but if you just chuckled and turned back to music, I implore you, give it a longer chance. Both coaches are so likeable, and their respectful dialogue is such a welcome difference amongst the shoutfest.

I'm not trying to go "Mayberry" on you, both coaches make astute observations about their respective teams hidden amidst their hilarious senior-moments. This wasn't my intent for this post when I began typing, but if you haven't done so, LISTEN. The show is a local treasure.

Anywho, those familiar with Denny's commentary know how careful he is (or as much as he can be) not to step on Pitino's toes. But in his own way he's been railing all season that our starting 5 should be Siva-Sosa-Samuels-Jennings-Buckles (he's got a thing for Buckles, he's not a fan of Swop).

We ain't changing pilots at this point. Sosa is our floor general and that's that. But I see no reason why Denny's advice should be dismissed when it comes to our post play. Even this late in the season, if we're being outrebounded by 25, we can afford to be unpredicatable.

Lord, what a glorious and terrible movie. "Vhat killed dee dinosaurs? Dee ICE AGE!!!"

Raider and his Lost Arc

Has Preston Knowles ever dunked in a Louisville uniform? I've been thinking a lot today about the brilliant point I made before, that Knowles' quirky perimeter game makes it difficult for him to get back in a groove. Jerry responded to his widely-publicized shooting woes by looking for other ways to stay productive on offense. He took it to the hole, an ability most fans did not know was in his arsenal till this year.

This got me thinking. I can't remember Knowles ever scoring a bucket that wasn't a 3 or a mid-range jumper (the occassional fastbreak notwithstanding). I'm not complaining; Preston's ability to knock down jumpers inside the arc is a lost art. It's just become too lost recently.

The Cards are getting next to nothing from the power forward position. As the Cinci loss proved, we cannot afford to add shooting guard to that list.

The irrational fan inside me used to welcome a quiet slump from a solid shooter. It guaranteed a dramatic blaze when he invariably returned to form. But Jerry hasn't busted out. Nor has Preston. For a team who's strength was supposed to be our skill from the perimeter, it's been costly. We're running out of time waiting for that blaze. But should it be found, it sure would be dramatic.

The Sharphead Situation

Does anyone know how many fouls TJ had against Cinci? I can't seem to find a box score anywhere that includes individual fouls, and I assume there had to be a reason for his meager 16 minutes of playing time.

I bring it up especially after reading another cringe-worthy postgame quote from Samardo Samuels. His take on the Bearcats...

They're like football players. Push in the back; they're real physical. They just out-toughed us.

Yes, Mardo. If only we had someone, I don't know, a 6'9'' 265lbs specimen perhaps, if we had someone like that, then maybe he could body up some of those football players. That really could have made a world of difference.

The point is, you can't teach mean. While he's a capable scorer, Samuels lacks the mean gene to compete in the post on defense and on the boards when things get nasty.

Jennings may miss assignments on occassion, but geez, after the 115th tip-in bucket, I think we could afford to take a chance and go with our 6'11'' enforcer. In 16 minutes he logged 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a blocked shot. So it's not as if he's unproductive when on the court.

TJ has been a convenient target of Pitino's ire throughout the season because of his poor off-season workouts and, no doubt, his hijinks in southern Indiana. But at this point I don't care if he didn't come into the season as polished on offense as he could have been. I care about the things he can do for the team. Namely, keeping other teams from collecting footage for their pre-game highlight reels against us.

Having said that, for me, Jennings own missed dunk in the second half was when objects started getting flung in the manor.

Umm...are we a lock?

I couldn't have been the only one that breathed a small sigh of relief when WVU knocked off Cinci with a buzzer beater last night. The Big East is strong this year, but I doubt the committee would reward it with a history-making 9th bid.

Had Cinci made an improbable but not impossible run to win the tournament, one of the trio of Notre Dame, Marquette, and Louisville would have been left out in the cold. The way the Fightin' Irish and the Golden Eagles are playing right now, I would not have liked UofL's chances in that backroom discussion. But WVU came through in dramatic fashion, hopefully marking the first and last time I ever have to cheer the Mountaineers.

I'm assuming we're safe. Pitino, after all, decreed that 11 Big East wins gets us in and we got 11 Big East wins, dammit! But, we have only two wins over top-50 RPI teams (UConn dropped out). Both of those are against Syracuse, not sure if that matters, but it seems to diminish it a tad.

Until I hear otherwise from the national pundits, I'm assuming we're safe; I'm not trying to start a grassroots movement to put us back on the Bubble. But that's what happens when you're not playing basketball heading into championship weekend. Doubts fester. Charging teams can nose you at the wire. It just seems like I can remember teams with better resumes than ours being snubbed in the past.

What am I saying? We're in. Of course, we're in. We're in. We are. Right?

Just how bad?

How bad a setback was last night's loss to the Bearcats? Really, really, really bad, but not devastating. Let me explain.

I found myself in agreement with Denny Crum today (shocking, I know) listening to his radio show. Crum suggested that Pitino give the team a couple days off until Selection Sunday to recover physically, but more importantly, mentally. Squarely on the Bubble for over a month, the squad has been playing in tournament-mode for too long. Once they finally punched their ticket with the huge Syracuse upset, we shouldn't have been that surprised when they exhaled and fell victim to a hungrier opponent.

They need to get away for a couple of days. Most will work out anyways, so it's not like conditioning will suffer. But more importantly, they need some time to reflect on the season and what lies ahead. It's tough to gauge the negative effect a one-and-done performance in the Big East tournament can have on a team's psyche.

Traveling to the Big Apple, the Gardens, with the spotlight that ESPN puts on the nation's marquis conference tournament? Coming off Cloud 9, it truly must hurt to lose to a lesser team, turn right around and come home with your tail tucked between your legs.

Sosa must be thoroughly befuddled, having flashbacks to his freshman Texas AM game: "How can I score so many points and we still lose?". Swop's confidence surely is at an all-time low; he was tossed around like a rag doll down low, which seemed to convince him he's a perimeter player, except he struggled there too. Jerry is banged up, Preston must be doubting himself, and TJ is probably wondering if it's worth it to spend the next two seasons in Pitino's doghouse.

We learned through Big East play that matchups are everything. The Cards matchup well against Syracuse, for instance, but we don't against the Bearcats. It was appropriate that Huggy Bear was in attendance, because I couldn't have been the only one having Conference USA flashbacks to when more skilled Louisville teams were occassionally felled by Bearcat brawn. We know the formula to beat that kind of team; crisp passing, good spacing, block out. The Cards just didn't get it done last night in the second half. It doesn't mean they can't. Nor should we overly panic, because frankly, there aren't many teams out there like that.

They need a break. Coach should give them one, and we fans should too.

Counter Point

I must disagree with my esteemed colleague and multiple fans that are placing blame for last night's loss largely at the feet of Edgar Sosa. Was he uneven in the second half after a scintillating first half? Yes. Was he mugging for the cameras instead of focusing on defense? Yes. Unclutch from the free throw line? Yes. Do I like answering my own questions? You bet.

But 28 points (10-16 from the field) and 6 rebounds (most on the team) cannot be set aside lightly. The Cards wouldn't have even been in the game without Sosa's performance. And I cannot fault him for continuing to shoot when others on his team are hiding from the ball, playing scared, and shirking the moment. In the second half Samardo and Edgar were the only two players in white that looked to have any confidence.

Rebounding told the tale of the game. Had any post player remembered (or did they ever learn?) how to block out, we'd be talking about Sosa glowingly, not goating-ly. Get it? Eh? Eh? Nahhhh. And if we must name names, we should single out Swop and Knowles for completely laying an egg before we look to our leading scorer. Edgar has been whipping boy for so long it's almost become second nature, most fans can only see the bad.

He wasn't perfect. But we shouldn't let perfect become the enemy of the good, which is what he was last night.

Preston?

In the last 3 games Preston Knowles has gone 2-20 from the field. Mr. Reliable has lost his stroke at the worst possible time. And having buttered his bread throughout his career by consistently knocking down those leaning jumpers or off-balanced runners, he's made it tough on himself to ever get back in the groove and rediscover his game.

Letdown... disappointment... again

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I didn't see the glorious first half of play described by Mr. Red. No, my thoughts are based entirely on the monstrosity that was our second half effort. It nearly made me sick.

In particular:

After playing an (apparently) brilliant first half, Edgar Sosa regressed back into the ball-hogging, out-of-control, free-throw-missing player with which we have grown too accustomed, the characteristics of which we have witnessed so often that it feels cliche even to describe... it is how Sosa seems destined to close out his career. Never is it a good sign when you have to substitute your freshman point guard for your senior point guard because the latter is playing out of control during the end-of-year conference tournament, but sure enough that's what Pitino found himself doing midway through the second half. At the end of the day, however, Peyton Siva is a freshman and can't fill the veteran leadership void on this team. He too committed disastrous turnovers, rounding out the terrible output from the point guard position overall.

No one else bothered to step up. Knowles was 1 of 13o or somewhere thereabouts. Swop kept grabbing rebounds and then having them ripped away, a boy playing a man's game against the gruff forwards of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Samardo continues to grasp blindly trying to reclaim the dominant play shown midseason. Kuric was predictably faint following his breakout performance. Delk didn't do too many things wrong in the second half -- he almost brought us back from the brink at the end -- but where was he during the critical stretches before the final five minutes? Cincinnati won the game by outrebounding us. Outhustling us. Out-toughing us.

I keep coming back to Sosa. For this team, it always comes back to Sosa, even if Jerry Smith had been healthy. I don't want to pick on him unnecessarily. He's our heart, our most consistently acknowledged clutch performer (ignoring his season-long habit of bricking crucial free throws), our point guard, our general. As poorly as he played, he was still one of only two guys who had scored for us during most of the second half (the other was Samardo). Who else could lead this team? These Cards could only rise as high as Sosa rises, fall as far as Sosa falls. As every game from this point forward is now his possible last in a Cardinal uniform, we must appreciate him for what he brought all-along: excitement, energy, talent, and I think, the heartfelt intense desire to deliver victory. He was always capable of taking a game over, as he did here during the first twenty minutes. But in the end, Edgar could not provide the veteran leadership needed so desperately from him, the presence necessary to calm things down, rather than speed things up. That's just not who he is, I guess. And that probably will be part of the final epitaph of this team.

We beat the #1 team in the country three days ago. Tonight, we choked. These Cards are capable of greatness, but they lack whatever it takes to grind out the "good," the ugly victory. They can dominate any team in the country for twenty minutes, but not forty. They combine awesome and terrible in the same game more fluently than any team I have ever seen. They are gut-wrenching in that way. They show so many flashes of brilliance, they give you so many reasons to hope, to fawn over them, to declare that our Cards have finally turned the corner. Then, inevitably, they lay another egg. They have proven their ability to win on the highest stage, but never on the lower tiers needed to reach any such pinnacle. Or maybe they only know how to beat, with conviction, Syracuse. I don't know. Either way, it all bodes ill for our chances in the tournament.

I'm glad we will make it to the Big Dance. It surpasses what it looked like we could accomplish three weeks ago. But the team that showed up last night, the team we have more or less seen all season, didn't offer any hope that they will make much noise. That will be disappointing. Then again, who can predict anything about these enigmatic Cardinals?

Swop dropped and got rolled

You know that transfer speech Pitino famously gave to Edgar Sosa, the one we're all sick of hearing about? I hope he kept it handy, because tonight everyone saw damning visual evidence that Jared Swopshire can't play forward in the Big East. Soft on the boards, soft on D, soft with the ball in his hands. He couldn't even handle a rebound when the Cinci defender was essentially going through the motions; handing them the ball back and the game along with it.

I can't remember a single productive thing he did on the court tonight. Power forward is such an important position in the Big East, especially against a team like Cinci who's offense basically consists of throwing the ball at the direction of the goal and sending 4 guys in like kamikazes to tip it in.

There's blame to spread, but most is just the same tired crap we've heard all year about playing 40 minutes. That's not what I'm talking about. Swop's performance had nothing to do with focus or lack thereof. It had to do with not having the strength to play in the prison-riot basketball atmosphere that is the Big East tournament. He looked and played like the next great forward of the Bellarmine Knights.

Halftime Report

How do you motivate Edgar Sosa? Apparently you threaten to take away his point guard role when he's playing in his home town. An incredible offensive performance from Sosa in the first half. He's asserting himself but remaining unselfish. He orchestrated perhaps the best team half of basketball all season.

Delk has been spot on spotting up, Siva remarkable slipping by defenders, Jennings-Samuels-Buckles banging and staying active down low. Our only deficiency thus far is on the defensive glass, largely because Cinci possesses that intuition about where the ball is going that really poor-shooting teams develop.

Nonetheless, a sharp half of basketball from our side. Go CARDS!!!

Chemistry Lesson

So, this is going to be interesting. When Jerry's injury was made known, were you like me, expecting a starting 5 of Sosa-Knowles-Kuric-Swop-Samuels? I'd have been fine with that.

Maybe I have a fear of happiness, but now that my wish has been granted and Pitino has apparently given the go-ahead to the Siva-Sosa duo, I find myself scratching my head.

Changing points at this point? What if it goes horribly wrong, and Siva stumbles and loses confidence heading into the tournament? Or what if it goes horribly right, what happens when Jerry recovers from his thumb injury?

Rewatching the Syracuse win, two things were apparent. Sosa, regardless of his percentage, is a clutch shooter. He hit the most timely 3s of the game not shot by someone named Kyle. He hit two treys in the first half that halted a 'Cuse run, kept it close, and kept our confidence up heading into halftime. And he almost made the half court shot as the buzzer sounded that was so, sooo close to dropping (and he was fouled). But Siva is our true point, and he was at the helm when the Cards made their second half run and extended our lead.

Playing them together seems to be so natural. But at this point in the season? Can it work? Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of who starts, as our head coach always says. If we get off to a slow start tonight, Pitino can call a TO and return to a more experienced lineup. The real question is who is on the court during crunch time, during the 2nd and 3rd TV timeouts of the second half when the game is decided.

You can call them unpredictable, frustrating, formidable, or inconsistent. But you can't call them boring.

The Sosa and Siva Show?

According to the CJ:

To make up for Smith's potential absence, Pitino said he might use freshman Peyton Siva at the point and move Edgar Sosa to shooting guard, a combination he has not used all season.

Pitino said it shouldn't be a problem on offense. In fact, he said that during Monday's practice Sosa enjoyed the move, saying it reminded him of his high school days when he played off the ball. But Pitino said it could be an issue on defense because “Edgar isn't real physical guarding a two.”

That's the backcourt that Cardinal Laws has dreamt about since early in the season. But can it work now? Will it be successful in the Big East tourney, having never been attempted during the regular season? I would be certain that it could, but I hate experimenting in tournament play, and in the past five to ten games Sosa has, believe it or not, come into his own as an assist man...

Cinci and Smith

Sorry for the delay, Mr. Red has been dealing with car troubles for the majority of the afternoon. It's a good thing blogging is a lucrative business that renders such pedestrian concerns quite trivial.

The Cards are a bit dinged up as well. The big news is that Jerry Smith may miss considerable time in the Big East tourney trying to rehad his sprained thumb. Because of our depth, I think this injury is being treated lightly by some, but I think we'll see significant negative impact. Primarily his perimeter defense, which has been stellar the second half of the season. Marquette exposed our slow-footed defenders, so losing one of our best isn't a good sign.

Buuuuut...just like transmission problems, it's not the end of the world. More Preston, more Peyton, and more PT for Kyle Kuric. Those are all good things. Bring on the Bearcats!

On Big Ben B.S.

I'm going to take the Hoff's cue and get a few non-Cards things off my chest before delving headfirst into the Madness tomorrow.

For the record, I don't like Ben Roethlisberger. Not one bit. And not only because he torched the Cards for 376 yards in the GMAC Bowl in 2003. I don't like the way he carries himself. He just seems like a schlub; a fat, unkempt, overgrown frat boy that's a decent quarterback in the mold of Trent Dilfer. He's successfully crafted himself a blue-collar appeal, but to me, whenever I see him on late night interviews or reality shows, he always comes off as dumb, extroverted, and quite pleased with himself. A lethal combination.

So I wasn't that surprised when I read the recent accusations of "aggressively hitting on" coeds at a small Georgia bar. It seemed fitting. While we are yet to discover if Big Ben committed a crime that night, from the reports of multiple witnesses at the bar, we do know he's guilty of some pretty epic douchery. For example...

Amber Hanley, a 21-year-old college student, said she and a few friends were also in the VIP area with Roethlisberger. She said she asked the quarterback to take a photo with her friend, whose boyfriend was a fan, but he seemed disappointed that's all she wanted. Hanley said she rolled her eyes, and Roethlisberger called her an expletive and walked away. Later, Roethlisberger was aggressively hitting on another girl, Hanley said.

Stay classy, Ben. So, big deal, Big Ben's a bit of a tool, say you? Agreed. But what's been most galling for me is the way situations such as these are treated in the sports media and the way it illuminates its many flaws. Or more pointedly, the way they illuminate everything that's wrong with the sports media as currently dominated by ESPN.

The only recriminations out of Bristol we've seen towards the Paul Bunyan-esque quarterback is wondering "how he could put himself in that situation?"  Wait...wha????? As the event has gone through the analysis wringer, every commenter the broaches the subject has carefully said that they will refrain from judgment until the facts come out, of course, but then proceeds to comment nonetheless, and offer general insinuations about how athletes need to be wary in such social atmospheres. After all, there are plenty of parasites out there looking to cash in on their fame.

First of all, this misrepresents the situation. Ben is facing possible criminal charges, not a civil suit from someone looking to cash in (at least not yet). Second, I don't believe this has anything to do with his race, but it has everything to do with the kid gloves treatment that ESPN gives its favorite and most accessible athletes.

Primary culprit? One Michael R. Wilbon. He doesn't just cover sports anymore, he's fully immersed in them and merged his social and professional worlds. He's "boys" as Kornheiser jokes, with, among others, Donovan McNabb, Shaq, Charles Barkley, Tiger Woods, and, as we discovered from yesterday's show, Ben Roethlisberger. I suppose he deserves a little credit for disclosing his friendship with Ben. But then he went on to talk about Ben's "gregarious personality" and how he finds it difficult to believe he could do such a thing.

I don't want to get political, but if you watch Jon Stewart, you may have seen his expose on Fox News last week about the manner it deliberately blurs news and opinion. Well, ESPN is guilty of the same business model. A news outlet of immense power that blends entertainment with opinion with news. And apparently becoming drinking buddies with those they cover after the lights go off.

It's paradoxic, because the blogosphere, often derided by mainstream sources for its wild biases and inaccuracies, is the medium filling the gap. Or rather, it's the medium restoring the gap, the proper distance between coverager and coveragee.

The good, the bad and the Texter

Note: theHoff is a special contributor to Cardinal Laws

Something's been on my mind for awhile now, and I can't let it linger any longer. A good two to three times a week I will meet up with my buddies at a local watering hole and catch the game of the night. We drink, maybe eat. We share thoughts, ideas, criticism, and obscenities. We break down the game to its core, including which coach would look better with/without a stache. The conversation is always intriguing and never dull. Thrown in occasionally is a dap for a alley-oop , or a $#%&! for a stupid turnover. The one thing we try NOT to do is be like the reactionary fools around us, or at least less stupid sounding. Those people are in every bar. The fat redneck who can't believe a 18 year old threw a bad pass, the balding 65 year old who is on the verge of a coronary because of a missed free throw, the frat guy who has had one too many Jager Baaaahhhhmmms!, they're all there. We can make fun of them, hate them, and share a high five at the same time. It's a guy thing I guess.

But then, there's the ladies.

I don't get women. Period. I know it's cliché, but shouldn't I be able to wrap my head around the female fan? This is probably the closest I'll come to understanding a woman: when she's sitting in a bar watching the same sporting event that I am. Through years of rigorous research, and many bar tabs, I think I might be willing to break down the female fan.

For the sake of this experiment let's set the scene. A sports bar on a Saturday evening, everyone packed in the stools, waitresses squeezing through to get to tables, loud, but not too loud, 3-4 different games on with the hometown favorite dominating the big screens. You have a good 270 degree picture of who/what is going on around you. Let's see what kind of ladies are here tonight:

Your Girlfriend: Yup, she crashed the party. She is going into one of two groups-

- The good: She has good knowledge of the team i.e. players names, etc, has a basic understanding of the game, and asks a couple questions a game (not during play). She cheers, but not for every single act. She drops a couple F-bombs, but only audible to the surrounding tables (as opposed to the entire bar). You feel fine, and she's accepted by your pals.

- The bad: Claims to be a fan, but asks who the guy in the suit yelling is. Or why everyone huddles around him at random points in the game. Not a good start. Blatantly cheering for every. Single. Thing. That. Happens.(moms usually fall here too). Too many questions. Gets angry with you for not 'listening' to her. Might even make a scene and leave (better for you AND the surrounding tables. Go home afterward, apologize, and have makeup sex). See, even a bad night can end well.

Your Bud's Girlfriend: He didn't tell you she's coming, did he?? Bastard.

- The good: See above. The difference here is that while you respect her for her knowledge and fandom, you are immensely impressed that your friend found a good one. Everyone wins.

- The bad: See above. This is the reason you're thinking about not telling Steve when the guys are getting together. She kinda ruins the night for everyone. Just when you think he has to face the wrath of a woman who stormed off during a late second half timeout, don't feel bad for him. Remember the post-game apology and .... bastard.

The Texter: Disinterested, but not distracting. You can actually sit with this girl for an entire half without even having to say a word to her. She has mastered ordering another drink without her thumbs leaving the buttons of her phone. She cares more about what the 64 Bachelor tourney seedings are rather than the game that is going on. She's fine as long as she doesn't turn into the text response reader. Then we have problems.

The Cross-Examiner: She can't let any play or call go unquestioned. "Why did that guy fall and the ref didn't call a foul?", "Why is that coach wearing that tie?", etc. Usually she's sitting right behind you with her boyfriend and you have to listen to this the entire game. Of course, you totally feel sorry for the guy as he stares blankly at the TV right above him. He is hoping she gets a text from her friend so he can have a few quiet minutes of beer and basketball.

The Chicken Coup: Only applicable to a group of two or more women at the sports bar without a male presence. It goes something like this: They're never right next to you. Probably about two tables over. The collective attractiveness determines your amount of annoyance, and yes ladies, your fat friend is bringing down the average. It generally takes about a half before they realize that a game is even on, and even then it's a battle of blah, blah, blah, chick talk, blah blah, with an occasional high pitch scream for the Zach Morris-esque guy on the team that makes a garbage basket. They continue to get louder as the game goes on, but c'mon, their fandom is as genuine as my buddy wing-manning the fat chick later.

The Screamer: This is the chick that reminds you of the Chris Rock quote: "I'll never hit a woman, but I'll sure shake the shit out of her!" In 99 percent of the cases, she is never attractive, but feels the need to draw attention to herself. Volume does not equal knowledge. Contrary to popular belief, I do not find women who cuss enough to make me blush attractive.

The Stay-at-Home: She's alright by me.

The Savant: Nailed it. She's money. She knows the game. She knows the team. She drinks beer. She eats wings. We don't mind the legitimate, well timed questions. She sometimes makes us think of a different perspective like 'yes, those uniforms are very form fitting', or 'damn, that cheerleader IS fat'. Best of all this chick is very likely to put up with our drunken ranting and ravings.

Wow. Glad I got that off my chest. I doubt there is a single woman out there that will read this, but if you do, remember this: Most of you are okay and fall in the middle. There are a good amount of the Savants out there. You may not even think of yourself as one, but as you look around the bar you should be able to find the characters... if there's one missing, it might just be in the mirror. Now if you'll excuse me I have some beer to drink, and some 18 year old amateur athletes to criticize as I scarf down some hot wings.

I don't want to come back down from this cloud!

It's taken me all this ti, eye, eye, eye, eye, -ime. But come down we must, after 72 hours of soaking up stories and nostalgia, consider me fully sponged.

The Cards depart for New York today, home to Madison Square Gardens and the most hard-nosed guards in all the land. We'll first face either Rutgers or Cinci and get our first glimpse of what the Furies of March have in store for us. We had some bball appeteizers last night, but I'm impatiently awaiting the main entree of the greatest sports meal of the year.

In the meantime, here's an intriguing article on Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez, who sounds like a nut job of the first order. A fascinating read, with a Louisville reference tucked in there. Apparently Gonzalez almost came to blows with Louisville assistant Steve Masiello due to some he-said, she-said going on behind the scenes of Samardo Samuels' recruitment.

Louisville-Syracuse Highlights

What it lacks in picture quality, it makes up for in soundtrack...

Quick nits

* Just because a guard comes from New York City does not automatically make him "hard-nosed". I'm not sure how much research these analysts are doing, but not every b-baller from the Big Apple can be tough. Just once I want to hear one say, "I like the shooting stroke on this Jermaine Smith. He hails from the Bronx, but actually he's a total pussy."

* Fellow sports blogs. I propose a moratorium on jokes about opposing senior players, like, "Here's Edgar Sosa, who's been playin' point guard for Loserville for roughly 37 seasons. Haha". Some players contribute for four years, you've faced him several times, we got it.

Locked In

For the first time this season the Cards have been added to ESPN's Bubble Watch "Lock"ed list. It may not have been exactly the season we envisioned, but I can't lie, it feels really good.

My advice is to suppress every instinct you probably have, stop worrying, and just enjoy the ride.

Bootlegged highlights

Watch for Never Nervous Pervis midway through the video, chewing gum and calmly applauding while Freedom Hall goes berserk.

Kuric alley oop with a minute to play

Give it to Sosa, he laid it up perfectly for Kuric to slam home.