Cards fall

To the Vanderbilt Leaners, 3-2, in extra innings. Hats off to Dan McDonnell and his squad on a terrific season.

Quote of the Day

Here's Michael Ventre's take on the terrific Final's game last night, glad to see he's doing his part to bring about the death of mainstream sportswriting. One inane blurb...

“We’ve just got to go to Boston and win,” he (Kobe) said with a shrug.

That last item is key here. The shrug. Bryant has apparently made a commitment to aloofness in public. If the Mamba has a mantra, it’s probably “Whatever.” He came out in Sunday’s post-game press conference with the nonchalant look of someone who is vacationing on the Isle of Capri and bored stiff about it.

Seriously? A shrug in a post-game interview after a fierce contest is a referendum on Kobe's commitment to winning? Please read the entire thing, it's the dumbest, most poorly-argued, over-the-top reactionary article I've read in awhile (and I read KSR once a day). Michael, I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

For all the marbles

After getting completely shutdown against Vandy last night, the Cards will play the rubber match for all the marbles tonight at 6:00. I have absolutely no idea what to expect, but it does seem that the Cards batters fare better against supposed "overpowering" fastball pitchers rather than the Greg Maddox junk-artists.

But Dan McDonnell will be back, the crowd will be loud and the temperature hot. High drama at Jim Patterson tonight. By the way, what do you think of the ads? From my limited understanding I think we get paid when they're clicked. We've made roughly 3 cents.

Suck that beak, Commodores!

The Louisville baseball team took down highly-touted Vanderbilt in the regional semifinals on Saturday afternoon, 7-1. Along the way, the Cards rocked star pitcher Sonny Gray for seven runs, which according to Rick Bozich is among his worst shellackings. See Bozich's blog post on the victory here, including the rundown of what happens next:

Vandy moves into the loser's bracket to play Illinois State at noon Sunday. The Commodores beat ISU, 8-7, Friday in 13 innings. The winner of that game plays Louisville at 4 p.m. If the Cards win, they are the regional champs and will host the Super Regional on June 11. If Louisville loses, there will be a rematch for the title on Monday at 6 p.m.

I can't ever get my head around how double-elimination works no matter the sport, so I was grateful for the explanation. Was also interesting to read this recap from the Vandy side. Hat tip to Ditchball yet again. Go Cards!

Eat that bird, Billikens!

The Cards baseball team defeated St. Louis 11-2 yesterday in the first round of the regionals. Today at 4 p.m. they play second-ranked Vanderbilt. See the Louisville Cardinal's coverage here, Cardinal Sport's coverage here. As always, hats off to Ditchball for the great links. See also Charlie Springer's video of Ryan Wright's two run homer in the seventh... loved seeing the packed house at Jim Patterson Stadium, and that the entire team greeted Wright at home plate. Go Cards!

House Divided

Although Mr. Red and I have our occasional scrapes, we can usually find common ground on most any issue related to Cardinal athletics to say nothing of sports in general, politics, movies, standards of hygiene, etc. But with the NBA finals beginning this evening, the kiddie gloves have come flying off here at the Cardinal Laws compound. I am an avowed Boston fan, sensibly drawn to the Celts' experience and perseverance and overall toughness. Meanwhile a starry-eyed Mr. Red, as is often his wont, gravitates to the glamour and is rooting for Kobe and the Zen Master. Starting tonight, we'll see who's got it right. But don't expect much friendly collaboration over the next few weeks here at Cardinal Laws.

****ADDENDUM****
Forgot to include my prediction for the series. Celtics in six. Boston closed out both Orlando and Cleveland in six games (and this underscores the competing narrative for the series, that for the Lakers to win Kobe has to rise to a level of dominance that neither LeBron nor Dwight Howard could achieve). However, those were home games under the 2-2-1-1-1 format. In the 2-3-2 format of the finals, Boston would have to win Game 6 in LA. I'm thinking they can do it, giving Paul Pierce another title won in his hometown. But if it goes to seven, this series belongs to the Lakers.

Bum-ped Out

Dan McDonnell has been suspended 3 games for bumping an umpire during the Big East tournament. Such a dumb ruling, but these Cards have been through worse.

IfHipHopWereHighSchool

This kid's a keeper. Motormouth combo guard Russ Smith obliterated any Twitter record I've ever seen last night, with 68 tweets in a little over an hour on the trending topic IfHipHopWereHighSchool. Simply amazing.

Circle the wagons

Head on out to Shelbyville tonight for the final stop in the Cardinal Caravan tour. It starts at 5:30, so it's best to cut out of work a little early. Here's Charlie Strong's instant classic from the Owensboro stop, I believe.