Cards fall in Oregon 35-28...

In one of the best football games I've seen in recent memory. Hats off to Oregon State, particularly Jacquizz Rodgers, good lord, can that kid move.

Obviously, there's a million and a half story lines, and we'll tackle those in due course. For now, I imagine every Louisville fan needs time to breath, first, and then to marinate on what just transpired.
 
Even in defeat, I haven't been this proud to be a Cardinal in quite a while. They left every ounce on the field. Go Cards.

Go Cards!

If you're reading this you can get our predictions directly below. Now turn off the computer and help cheer the Cards to a quantum leap-victory that will immediately conjur two nicknames, Charles "Xavier" Strong and Saint Charlie the Bold.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh C! A! R! D! S! CAAAAAAAAAAAAARDS!.

...and predictions

Most of the time evolution proceeds by steady accretion throughout the eons. But, every once in awhile, nature springs forward in sharp, nigh inexplicable, bolts of progress. Though I'm prettty sure I just cribbed those lines from an X-Men promo, the latter is what must happen on the West Coast today for the Cards to come home with a season-defining, city-inspiring victory.

Here's how it happens. The backbone of the Louisville defense begins to harden this week, with a couple of games under their belts, returning players getting healthy, and the somewhat liberating feeling of playing away from the Papa and its expectations, all ignite the Cards D to force two turnovers in the first half and come up with stops that keep the game from getting out of hand early.

Both offenses struggle with a wet field, but to the greater advantage of the Cards; the OSU speed is neutralized by the elements. The Cardinal offense has another uneven first half, able to pick up first downs only to see drives sputter and stall without points. The Beavers take a 13-3 lead into the locker room

Cards score first in the second half, a deep pass to Doug Beaumont puts OSU on its heels. Vic Anderson breaks loose and takes in a 30-yard TD run. The Beavers answer right back, march downfield, but the Cards manage to hold them to a field goal.

Midway through the 4th quarter, Froman puts together his best series of the season. He hits Josh Bellamy for big yards, then scrambles for another double-digit gainer. Powell does the rest, getting us deep into OSU territory, and setting up a Doug Beaumont TD on a slant route. Cards come home with their biggest win in years. 17-16 Cards. Player of the game: Vic. Book it.

Predictions, predictions...

Contrary to some chatter, Adam Froman will start and we will not see Justin Burke -- I could be wrong about this, but Strong just doesn't strike me as the type of coach to start juggling quarterbacks this early on (and following a win). Otherwise, let's hope that Mike Sanford -- who faced Oregon State last year when he was with UNLV and nearly beat them -- shows us something new tonight.

The Cards will fall behind early but will keep within range throughout the first half. Late in the second quarter, Powell will break for a big touchdown that will pull Louisville within ten and raise the hopes of Cards fans fifteen hundred miles away. In the second half, Froman will have to hit his receivers the way he did in the second quarter against Eastern Kentucky (and not the other three quarters) for the Cards to come up with a big score and pull even. If (and only if) our defensive unit wins the turnover margin and forces a few late in the game, call this one for the Cards, 31-30 -- after which, Louisville would explode and Strong will be canonized. Player of the Game: #14 WR Andrell Smith.

Louisville announces full basketball schedule for 2010-11

Click here for athletic department's write-up, here for schedule in pdf.

Untitled

Click here to gain even more respect for Kyle Kuric.

Simmons on Cal

A problem for Kentucky fans. Should we lambast a writer that every sports fan in America reads and enjoys? No, too risky, jeopardizes their self-proclaimed status as the "IT" program. Do we chuckle and poke fun at ourselves and our coach? Not a UK strong suit. Or, do we double down, push our heads further into the sand, and make another Quick Rick joke. I'm going with the latter.

Here's The Sports Guy's take on Cal and Eric Bledsoe's amazing affinity for algebra...

Time to give up the ghost (referring to the Bengals). I had them making the playoffs; now I'm vacating that spot Calipari-style and keeping it warm for Houston, Baltimore or Tennessee.

(Speaking of Calipari, I tweeted that his nickname should be "The Vacater," prompting a follower to tweet that "The Vacater" sounded like a new TNT drama starring Andy Garcia, then all the Kentucky fans getting ticked off because we're not allowed to joke about the fact that Calipari had seasons vacated at UMass and Memphis and now there's a chance Kentucky might make it 3-for-3 if someone can't come up with a good reason for Eric Bledsoe getting an A in Algebra 3 when he never took Algebra 2. Just so you know, not only would I watch the "The Vacater" every week, I'd also watch "Illegal Contact" with Lou Ferrigno as Bruce Pearl, as well as "The Blotter" with John Krasinski as Urban Meyer.)

Oh when the Sainz, go marchin in...

In the sports media trickle down economics, you can forgive me for just now receiving the memo that we all must comment on the lovely Ines Sainz, the reporter that may or may not have been subject to some sexual harassment in the NY Jets locker room last week.

I'm going PC on this one, though that seems to be the unpopular opinion. I won't say I'm surprised by the behavior, but I won't condone it.

Point #1. NFL players love to repeat the mantra that "this is a business" or "we're professionals" or "I gotta feed my family" or "let's all stick up our fingers in union solidarity". Well, if you wanna be treated as professionals, you gotta act professionally. As some other commenter noted, how many 20-somethings in any corporate office in America could shake their junk at the next attractive sales rep that walks in? How many would still be at work the next day? Okay, fine, maybe Enron (Ziiiinnnnng. How's that for topical humor?).

Point #2. The fallacy of the argument that "the locker room is a sacred place". A place where men, fresh off the field of battle, can holler and cuss and fart and walk around naked: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here! Maybe that was so in the olden days, but it's not so anymore, and hasn't been for awhile. To me, that's the stupidest thing about this story, the notion that a woman coming into a football locker room is a new thing. It's been done for years, many times by attractive females, and the NFL has strict regulations that dictate player-reporter relations post-game.

Point #3. The argument that Ms. Sainz isn't a "reporter", she's just gotten where she is because of her looks. It seems a strange line of thinking from men who won the genetic lottery by being born with 6'4'' 240lb frames, to professionally begrudge the opposite sex for whatever advantages they may have been born with. I doubt anyone in the room is going to solve String Theory, so no one should be casting stones for cashing in on one's physique.

Point #4. If it were a different locker room, it'd be a different story. But Frat-House President in chief, Rex Ryan, has been championing his overhyped, cowboy-style culture from Day One of his administration. So far the rest of the NFL players on the 31 other teams manage to keep their wangs in check during the 45 minute-post game interview segments. Or if they don't, at least they're more discreet about it. It's a Rex Ryan issue, not an NFL issue.

Point #5. Those defending the behavior are the real hypocrites. Many or most, the protypical chubby sportswriter, those that never experienced locker room commaraderie in high school, but still defend the jocks as diligently as they did their Spanish homework for them during lunch period. It's pathological, and further proof that no one ever outgrows high school.

Many of these NFL players are college-degreed family men, with wealth, charities, hopes and hobbies. To make excuses, to treat them as neanderthals that can't help themselves, that's the additional prejudice on top of the prejudice.

In much, much lighter news...

The Cards are 19.5 point dogs against Oregon State this Saturday. And for those relishing the quote from the OSU head coach about how "This is this our Super Bowl", just stop...you're embarassing yourself. It's in context, referring to the fact that his team is overlooking no one. It's not a compliment to these Louisville Cardinals.

We're 19.5 point dogs. The largest margain of victory Vegas has predicted that the Cards will be stomped in recent memory. They star speed at skill positions that we can only hope to reattain (9 players that also star on track and field!), and return lineman of size that actually fit the bill. And the coaching staff, if not the players, remember the rout that the Cards put on them 4 years ago.

My point is, our task in Portland is truly daunting. And the Cards season hangs in the balance. Victory isn't imperative, necessarily, but a good showing is. Our Big East schedule looms, and without a decent performance against a top #25 team, team morale could plummet.

Momentum is a fickle mistress. Rebuilding depends on momentum, on attitude, as much as wins and losses. So send all the postive vibes you can muster towards the Cards as they embark on their West Coast odyssey. Playing good football is imperative. The stakes are high, higher than 19.5 points would indicate.

Quote of the Day

"What is wrong with this world today. It's a damn shame. People killing over dumb shit. Life ain't a game, people don't come back."

-Michael Bush

Tragic

Daniel Covington, a member of the UofL secondary last season, was shot and killed last night in downtown Louisville. He graduated with a justice administration major in 2009. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones. He was 23.

As close as most of you will ever come

Video inside one of the new Papa John's suites. Question: Does the scoreboard monitor inside the stadium run 24/7?

On the NCAA as the new Boogeyman...

We're a forgiving country. We forgive cheating politicians, drug-addled celebs, holier-than-thou evangelicals that prove to be closet cases. No one's perfect, that's not lost on me.

But it seems to me that the zeitgeist is turning against the NCAA and the troops that enforce the amateur status of college athletes, and punish the nonforming coaches. It also seems to me that the sentiment is reaching fever pitch now that the "big boys" are being targeted. USC football, UConn basketball, UNC football, UK and Tennessee basketball.

I can't believe I'm writing this, as if it's controversial, but I appreciate and support the NCAA enforcement committee.

I had a tax professor in law school, in the first day of class she said to a new group of students, none too pleased to be taking Tax Law mind you, that: "It's not glamourous. And everyone loves to complain about the IRS. But the IRS has been given the responsibility of protecting the Treasury of the United States. It's patriotic".

Point is, the NCAA is the IRS of the sporting world. Thankless, but absolutely necessary.

Everyone loves to point fingers at a rival for "cheating", but once the spotlight is turned on ones own colors, it's a "C'mon...c'mon" defense. It's "What are you trying to prove, you NCAA hypocrites? Why aren't these players paid, anyways?"

I wrote awhile ago, though I'm too lazy to look it up in the archives, about fans maintaining intellectual honesty in the midst of passionate fandom. The post was referring to Calipari and his recruiting tactics, but it really applies across the board. You gotta be willing to cast the spotlight back at your own athletic department, so long as we want to rah-rah around our respective university colors.

We are cheering for college teams, right? Amateur athletes? I understand the industry, the millions of bucks made, the fact that many of these athletes aren't really there for higher degrees. But they are there. For one season, at least, under the current system, they are student athletes.

Again. Nolte. Blue Chips: "The rules don't make sense sometimes. But I believe in the rules".

There's no excuse for cheating. And it's not about the "morality" of a particular NCAA bylaw, or grandiose theorizing about what a blue chip athlete "deserves". It's about a coach, booster, or player deciding for himself that a particular regulation is stupid, and that it doesn't apply to him. Even though the majority of schools, their competitors, abide by it. This is about a level playing field, which in theory, is what every fan of sport should cherish.

Anyone that defends a school that flauts the rules is the true hypocrite. The "everyone does it" rebuttal is for losers. Trust me, I practice law, I've tried it.

Gorgui Dieng for instance, was a topic yesterday and today, an anonymous source of Mike Rutherford at CardChronicle has indicated he may not be eligible to play next season.

If he's not, so be it. I'll accept the verdict. I'm cheering for college sports. If he's been paid, if he doesn't qualify academically, you take your medicine and move along.

Louisville denies Gorgui Dieng is ineligible

Yesterday, UofL spokesman Kenny Klein denied reports that foreign big man Gorgui Dieng will be ineligible to play next sesaon. Klein stated that Dieng's status remains the same, he's awaiting clearance from the NCAA, but has no plans to enroll in JUCO for the upcoming season. CJ beat reporter C.L. Brown had this to say...

Gorgui Dieng is enrolled at U of L, but the school is still awaiting the NCAA Clearinghouse green light before allowing him to participate in the team's individual workouts.

(For what it's worth, walk-on Mark Jackson Jr., son of the longtime NBA standout, is still awaiting clearance too.)

Et tu, Gorgui?

If this story being reported over at Card Chronicle proves to be true, well...I'm not sure how to finish this sentence. I'm going to try to refrain the side of me prone to hyberbole and rashness.

But, let's just say 1/2 of this blog is no fan of Rick Pitino at the moment. We are NOT lucky to have him. He is LUCKY to have us. He's on thin ice in the Mr. Red department. Let me preempt my critics, yes, he may be on the way to a big 2011. Maybe. Deuce and Quincy are still taking visits, and frankly, I won't celebrate a single commit till he tips it off in our uniform. Pitino simply can't keep 'em, or he can't recruit ones that'll ever see the floor. Facts are facts.

Pitino's given us one Final Four based on talent that he never even recruited (Garcia and Dean) that committed solely on the fumes of his greatness past. Other than that...well, I don't know how to finish that sentence.

I feel...I feel...I feel...ARRRGGGHHH!!!

I need some time. I feel ill, and not from my regular 4 martini lunch.

Yuck. I'm sick of feeling slimy and humiliated whenever I decide to boast my UofL bastketball fandom. Let's leave it at that. For now.

Recappin...

Thumbs UP: The renovated Papa. Once again, it's just terrific. From the UPS FLIGHT DECK, being able to glance over to your left for a fine view of historic Churchill Downs, and to your right, a view of the Louisville skyline. The whole panorama makes you proud to be where you are, cheering on the Red and Black. But...

Thumbs DOWN: The overbearing "horse racing" references for the Cardinals intro. The horse-heavy montage, the mimicked "call to the post" before the team runs out. We get it, we're in horse country, but we're also here to watch football. If Pat Day rides the Derby winner to take us onto the field, then I'll recant.

Thumbs UP: Doug Beaumont's first TD. Our section celebrated like it was December 20, 2012. I'm glad it came on a 42-yard bomb too, not some dinky goal line pass. Highlight of the game.

Thumbs DOWN: The UofL fan attendance. Despite boasting another sellout, the plethora of empty seats was plainly and painfully visible. And I'm looking at you rich people. The UPS FLIGHT DECK was filled with patrons and passion. The empties were downstairs, many gaps in the most expensive, 50-yard line area. We got to step it up. Big time programs, if that's what we still aspire to, should act like big time programs.

Thumbs UP: Victor Anderson. I assume my gentle calling out/nudging is what spurred his terrific showing on special teams on Saturday. I do wonder about Vic's mindset and his seeming replacement as the featured back/ face of our team. If his contributions will now be felt mostly in the return game, so be it. He looked dangerous back there.

Thumbs DOWN: Adam Froman. Not a stellar showing from old Abe. What's worse, I don't know if he's underperforming, or if this is as good as it gets with him. But I'm really most concerned about the "tackling"  he displayed at the end of his pick-6. Very, um...dainty.

Thumbs UP: The Cardinal defense. The dividends may not show this season, but we've got freshman talent there that is already displaying a nose for the ball. Hakeem Smith, Randy Salmon, BJ Butler. I feel confident those are the names we'll look back fondly upon, the class that marked the big turnaround. We'll call them The Fulcrum Class.

Thumbs DOWN: The Charlie Strong Gatorade bath. I'm aware that there's two minds on the subject, Mr. Black for one liked the sentiment. But I didn't, not after an underwhelming win over a D-II team. Kind of like giving Obama the Nobel Peace Prize for...something. A tad too early. A shower after the game that gets us bowl eligible would be much more appropriate.

Thumbs UP: The first step. I'm proud to say I was at the first win of the Strong Era (and Doug's TD). Those that want beautiful football need not show up (kidding, kidding, we need you to show up. Get your asses in those seats, deadbeats). The rebuilding is real, but it's happening. The team plays hard. Right now it's a lot of mediocrity, with moments of special play. But soon, this season even, I think we'll reach a point when the moments of special play begin to outweigh the mediocrity. If the Cards were stock, you want to get in on the ground floor.

And seriously, you fans on the ground floor, get in. You're making us look bad.