Louisville back in the spirit, rolls past Gardner Webb 78-49

The Cards looked much more like the team that won its first 8 games than the one that fell on Tuesday, easily dispatching the Runnin' Bulldogs from the gate.

The starting lineup shift promised by Pitino paid off well, especially the insertion of Gorgui Dieng who lead way early with blocks, rebounds, and overall energy. The Cards also shook the rust off their rebounding, killing Gardner Webb on the glass 45-26. Louisville's offense was incredibly efficient in the first half, finally using the inside-out game to hit shooters in rhythm.

Once building a lead, the Cards kept focus while putting on an entertaining show. Preston Knowles found that incredible shooting groove he has, Peyton Siva slammed home a 360 dunk on the break, 14 blocks were recorded on defense, and even walk-on Tim Henderson got in on the action connecting on an alley-oop.

That's more like it. The opponent police will no doubt still be howling, but the team looked as composed and balanced as it has all season, and the performance will go a long way towards putting the city back in holiday cheer.

Derby ticket lawsuit dismissed, Masiello cleared

In an awesomely lenient 10-page ruling, Circuit Court Judge Charles Cunningham Jr. dismissed the lawsuit brought by ticket broker and overall creepy-looking dude Scott Davis.

The judge essentially ruled that what Davis did to procure the Derby tickets was criminal, and therefore denied him civil relief against Masiello because the courts cannot enforce illegal contracts.

So, a fine day for Derby scalping and UofL basketball. You can go ahead and cue UK fans claiming that in addition to the local media, Tom Jurich now controls the courts, barbershops, the Waterworks and has three hotels on Baltic Avenue.

Looking at Gardiner Webb

I still maintain the Cards can beat anyone in the country save Duke (playing like they are now) if they come out sharp. But if Tuesday taught us nothing else, it's that Louisville can, and probably will, fall to anyone if they show up flat.

So I'm taking a closer look at tomorrow's foe, Gardiner Webb, lest our hubris offend the Basketball Gods.

The famous Wildcat slayers are 6-7 this season. Their best victory appears to be over Charlotte, who they defeated in the first game of the season. Though they've been stomped against better competition like Michigan and Arizona State, they have shown a propensity for hanging close in contests before collapsing at the end.

But they will be without leading scorer Jon Moore tomorrow, who suffered an ankle injury last game that will require surgery. The 6'4'' senior guard was preseason all-conference, and has lead GW averaging almost 16 points a game.

Also keep an eye on Laron Buggs, the 6'1'' guard who transferred to GW from Murray State. He averaged over 17 points as a sophomore for the Racers.

Gardiner Webb's mascot is a Runnin' Bulldog. Which doesn't really make sense, cause bulldogs are one of the slowest breeds I can think of.

Notable alumni include Kelvin Wylie, known as "Hometown Kid" on the AND1 Mixtape Tour, and Brian Johnston, current defensive end for the Miami Dolphins.

There you go Basketball Gods, an offering. I'm taking every opponent seriously from now on. Please don't kick me in the nuts again.

Now, here's a video of bulldogs running. Note the neighbor beagle dog outpacing them like Usain Bolt.

Season's (Starbucks) Greetings from Ricky P.

In case you didn't see this, from a CJ letter writer:

Warm coach

Recently on one of our cold and miserable mornings, my wife and I were entering Starbucks for our morning coffee when we spotted Coach Rick Pitino waiting outside. I said, “Good morning,” and he smiled and gave the standard response — “Good morning, how are you?” I responded, “Cold and grumpy.” He again smiled warmly and said, “Don't be grumpy.”

I am aware that fans constantly bother Pitino when he is in public, and he could have ignored my greeting. In the store, the barista was all a-twitter, “Did you just see who was in here? I was so excited, but I was scared to ask for his autograph.” At that point, Coach re-entered the store to stay warm and gave us an autograph for her. My wife immediately called our sister who is another very loyal U of L and Pitino fan and excitedly told her to guess who we were talking to. She then gave her phone to Pitino, and he talked to our sister. Our sister was so emotional that “her” coach took the time to talk to her.

Thanks to Pitino for being a warm, gracious and friendly person. Thanks, too, for understanding that celebrity is based on public relations. The coach treated some senior citizens as his friends, despite the fact that we were acting like giddy teenagers. As loyal U of L fans, it is great to know that Rick Pitino, despite his celebrity and recent negative publicity, remains a polite, warm and friendly Louisvillian.

KEN ROSENBAUM

Prospect, Ky. 40059

He catches a lot of flak, and maybe a lot of it is deserved, and maybe a lot of it is inevitable because... well, he's Rick Pitino. Small tidbits like this help reassure me that he's "our" coach.

theHoff's Bowl Preview and Bowl Pick 'Em, part uno

(theHoff is a special contributor to Cardinal Laws, this preview breaks down the first wave of bowls from December 18-26)

Ladies and Gents it's bowl season, and like the frigid air and snow, it got here quick. Now we can finally put all the debating to bed. No more back and forth comparing schedules, quality wins, bad losses and point differential. None of that matters anymore, at least until after the National Championship game. There are really only a few games that I'm excited about. Almost any mediocre team gets to play in their own post season. Hooray! I can't be the only one out here that finds it a little ridiculous, can I? If you win half your games you're rewarded, hell, let's stop keeping score while we're at it. I think it's great that a good number of teams are rewarded with bowl appearances, but the pure amount of games makes getting to one a little watered down. This 'everyone wins' thing make me want to puke. Thirty Five bowls, Seventy teams. It's too much. I can't pretend to care about Florida International playing Toledo, but now that Mr. Red has asked me to do Bowl Previews... it looks like I'm going to have to fake it (that's what she said). Let's get to it!

New Mexico Bowl - 12/18 2pm
BYU (6-6, 5-3 MWC) vs. UTEP (6-6, 3-4 C-USA)

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Two .500 teams that no one cares about. Between these two teams the highest NCAA rank in any major offensive category is BYU averaging 163.8 ypg, good for 46th. Yawn. Each team is 1-5 on the road this season. That means the team that is closer to home will win. El Paso is 266 miles away from Albuquerque, so they get the W. 'In-depth analysis brought to you in the most entertaining lazy way possible'- Cardinal-Laws! Also, on the way they can stop at a place called Truth of Consequences which is just south of Elephant Butte. Which is funny because it looks like it says butt. Butt... See kids! Fun with Google Maps... still more exciting than this game will be.

uDrove Humanitarian Bowl- 12/18 5:30pm
N. Illinois (10-3, 8-0 MAC) vs. Fresno State (8-4, 5-3 WAC)

We get our first WAC/MAC barnburner this Saturday. Look for NIU RB Chad Spann to continue busting through opposing 'D'. Spann is on pace to break 1,300 yards and has an impressive 20 TDs this year. With Fresno giving up almost 30 ppg, I don't think this one will be close. Fresno State continues to suffer for firing and/or sexual harassing their former women's basketball coach. $19.1 million, Holy Hell! How did I miss this story! Looks juicy, and bouncy... Ahem, Also, in case you were wondering what uDrove is, I've done the research for you. It's basically a smartphone app that tracks your drive, and logs the information. Whoopty Doo. I'm pretty sure there are free apps out there that already do that, but thanks for sponsoring the bowl. I guess.

R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl- 12/18 9pm
Ohio (8-4, 6-2 MAC) vs. Troy (7-5, 6-2 Sun Belt)

This might be the game to watch out of these three. Troy's Freshman QB, Corey Robinson, has throw for over 3,300 yards with 24 TDs and 15 INTS. This sounds like a 70-80 over/under game to me. It looks like Troy's best game might have come in a loss to Oklahoma St by 3. Other than that, I don't think I can name a mascot for any of the other teams they have beat. Of course in the middle of this post, I find the O/U... 58, take the over*, that is of course if gambling were legal.

*Cardinal-Laws is not responsible for gambling losses, however we will take 10% off the top of any winning bet, if gambling were legal, which it isn't.

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg Bowl- 12/21 8pm
Southern Miss (8-4, 5-3 C-USA) vs. Louisville (6-6, 3-4 Big East)

Brett Favre's penis' alma mater is a surprising 15th in the nation in yards, and points per game. I guess I've been slacking in keeping up with my Conference USA teams. Actually I'm going to leave this one up to the experts Mr. Red and Black. I'm sure everyone is looking for an excuse to drink on a cold Tuesday night , none better than the Cards taking on the Golden Eagles!! The O/U is also 58 for this game... I'm starting to think ESPN is just making this stuff up...

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas- 12/22 8pm
Utah (10-2, 7-1 MWC) vs. Boise State (11-1, 7-1 WAC)

Besides the Cards, this is the first game of the bowls to mark on your calendar. My despise for everything Boise has been well documented. With that said, I must admit that I am super excited about this matchup. For two teams that were once both ranked in the top 5 there is a drastic difference in their offensive output. Boise is winning by an average of 33 pts while the Utes are winning by about 15 and that leads to BSU being favored by 17. That sounds like a lot. But considering that Utah lost to TCU by a score that is still rising, I think it's about right.

-Just a side thought, but doesn't Las Vegas seem like the ultimate bowl location? I've never been, but know plenty that have. I doubt the weather is anything but great out there this time of year ( I could be totally wrong). Let's just say that someday there is a playoff. I could totally see the semis and finals being played in Vegas. That would have to be the ultimate fan experience.

-Alright Cards fans, it's time to join the party and get in on some Bowl Pick 'Em. I have created a pick group on Yahoo! You do have to be a yahoo account holder to sign up, but if you're not, it's simple to do. If you don't want to mess with another email consider this. I also like to use my account as a 'junk email' where I use that address to basically sign up for random junk, that way all the clutter goes there and I basically delete almost all the messages.

Anyway, you can find the link to the group HERE. The Group ID is 9280 and the password is 654321. Right now I am the only one signed up, so I'm taking that as an indication that Mr. Red and Black are both scared, and none of you actually know about it yet. This is based on confidence points, so you can assign a higher value to games you feel more confident about. Prizes will go to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.*

*There will be prizes pending Mr. Red's budget**.

**There probably won't be any prizes, but we'll let you know.

Cards thrilled to takeoff to St. Petersburg

Courtesy of Greg Scruggs twitter...

And the after shot.

Cha cha cha changes!

Following the debacle, Pitino promised "changes", presumably lineup changes in the near future.

If I had to guess, I would expect the comments were directed towards Marra and TJ, two of the least productive rebounders. Pitino forgives bad offense, but he doesn't forgive bad defense/rebounding. As he said last night, you're likely going to get destroyed on the boards if you're getting zero rebounding from the 3 and 5 spots.

I think we'll see more 3 guard lineups, with Chris Smith being the prime beneficiary. He's arguably the most consistent player we have right now. Also expect more George Goode.

I doubt these changes will be permanent, and suspect our starting five going into Big East play will be almost, or exactly, the same as last night.

But right now the Godfather ain't happy, and the lineup is about to get a clear shakeup.

The Nightmare before Christmas

Shoulda seen it coming. When Louisville loses, they sure can do so in high-profile embarassing fashion, mere hours from the time they began turning heads on a national stage, all the sudden scoring points like St. Mary's school for blind girls. C team.

Though it was undoubtedly one of the worst displays of basketball I can remember, I'm not as upset today as I thought I'd be. I agree with my colleague below, there's so much basketball ahead that one night in December, even one as bad as this one, is not going to mean much in the greater scope of things.

But it's time for the team and the fans to put aside rankings and meaningless strength of schedule debates. It's time for this team to get back to work.

All the way back at square one, meaning free throws and rebounding. Pitino always likes to remind his teams about staying hungry and humble. Well, the humbled part is taken care. Now we'll see how hungry they are.

Other thoughts...

* Sometimes it's unclear to me what exactly the Cards are trying to accomplish in their offensive sets. Lots of screens, lots of dribbling, but very little actually being done to put the ball in the hole. There's gotta be a plan B for when the jumpers aren't falling.

* Just based on the call-in shows and other anecdotal evidence, Terrence Jennings has been singled out as whipping boy for the loss. Certainly one rebound is horrendous and inexcusable. But I'm a little sympathetic to TJ and all the bigs because of how little they get to contribute on offense.

All night last night, sometimes almost comically, TJ or Gorgui would be running their tails off in the half court--screen for Siva, screen for Knowles, screen for Marra. They were just running from spot to spot, and none of the guards were looking to reward them, missing the "roll" part of the pick and roll all game.

I know the mantra for Pitino's teams: defense spurs offense. Maybe so for the team as a whole, but individual players need involvement on both ends. Being involved on offense, getting the occassional bucket or designed play, that can also boost a player's confidence and bleed over to his defense and rebounding. It's a chicken-egg thing, but my point is, I think Jennings would be a more effective all-around player for the Cards if he got more looks on offense.
 
And it's not like he's unskilled. His baby-hook is near unguardable when he gets it in good position.

* Mike Marra. Holy lord, what has happened to Marra is two short games? He attempted only one shot, a near airball. He's reverting back to freshman Mike Marra.

* Also MIA is Rakeem Buckles, who seems lost out there. He's taken to dribbling to absurd degrees, and basically just running around the perimeter. Gotta get back to basics, you're a power forward, Rock.

* The "Hot Brown Bites" served at the Metro Grill are divine. Highlight of the game experience for me.

* Gorgui Dieng needs to start getting more minutes, if only cause he earns it through effort. Last night he looked like the only player that wanted to be on the floor.

* I think the Cards need a road game. Why? Because while the new Arena can be loud and imposing, it's not always a warm and fuzzy environment for the home team. UofL fans aren't like the hopping hordes at Duke or whatever wannabe-Duke fan sections are out there that offer unconditional love during the action..

UofL fans are more similar to a pro crowd than college. They cheer what needs to be cheered, they groan what needs to be groaned, and they harass the refs when they deserve to be harassed.

When the offense was falling apart, with only 9 points on the board deep into the first half, the crowd grew restless to say the least, and I think it was reflected on the court. The guys started pressing even more than they were, and seemed to buckle under the collective discontent of the fans.

They need to get away and just focus on basketball. I'm glad they're heading to legendary Diddle Arena this weekend.

** UPDATE **
I just realized this Saturday is Gardner Webb, not Western KY. Cards aren't the only one with off days.

Let's all fly off the handle together now

From Eric Crawford's blog:

This is how fast it turns. After finally breaking into the top 25 and making coach Rick Pitino’s preseason talk about a “bridge” season seeming like a distant memory, minutes after the loss Fox Sports senior basketball writer Jeff Goodman took to the Twitter machine to say, “Now we can all admit that Louisville is still a fringe NCAA tournament team. Beat Butler and UNLV, but schedule has been favorable.”

Yes, Jeff Goodman, thank you for that, we know you could hardly contain yourself. Louisville's schedule has been favorable thus far. If the selection committee had met yesterday, today or tomorrow, Louisville would have significant question marks. But the selection committee doesn't meet yesterday, today or tomorrow. It meets in March. And for Louisville to make the tournament, it will have to defeat some Big East teams between now and then. That was the case both before and after yesterday's loss. But thank you for your insights.

Crawford (whose own analysis I have no qualms with) continues:

So what’s the deal?

Louisville, of course, was not as good as its early results looked. The competition was just too weak. Yes, it beat UNLV and Butler. But consider this: According to the Sagarin ratings, Drexel was the second-best team U of L had played to date. And the Cardinals clearly didn’t come prepared for that.

Sure enough, first loss of the season and everyone's in full panic mode and Pitino's walking out of press conferences and everything that's happened thus far -- the surprising win against Butler, the great win against UNLV, dominant performances for eight straight games -- doesn't matter anymore.

Not that I'm so zen-like or "above it all." I'm upset about the loss too. But I promised myself I wasn't going to flip the Terrence Farley out when the surprising pre-conference loss -- a hallmark of every Pitino season at Louisville, including his Elite Eight and Final Four teams, by the way -- made its yearly appearance.

At the risk of painting the loss as a good thing (it was not): heading into the Kentucky game in a few weeks, I'd rather be humbler with a loss to our name than to walk in undefeated and thinking we were more than we were. (Now, if between now and then we pick up another loss, that's something else entirely. For that to happen would mean we were dealing with confidence and execution issues more screwed up than Mike Marra's jump shot. Zing!)

How we respond in the next few games -- especially the Western Kentucky road game -- will say a whole lot more than the panic-inducing frenzy going on right now.

Pitino: "I'm gonna tell you now because you're not listening, you keep asking the same questions every time."

Yikes. I don't even know what the question was, but that did it. Happy-go-lucky Ricky P. no more.

Louisville undefeated dies: Drexel beat Cards 52-46

So that sucked.

The first road win in the downtown arena goes to Drexel. They deserved the victory and we did not and it's as simple as that. The Dragons played harder than the Cards, were more physical, dominated us on the boards. Their guys picked up fouls bullying us so often that I thought we might squeeze a forfeit out of them once they ran out of players, but time expired first and so they just made us look weak.

My God the rebounding... Louisville was outrebounded 46-26 -- twenty friggin' rebounds behind! Eric Crawford already has noted that Terrence Jennings finished with a single timid rebound. Way to man up TJ.

Buckles(!) was also sleepwalking out there and truth is that's been his story for a few games now. So I'm stripping him of his (!) until he earns it back. Sorry Buckles.

Marra's funk continued, Knowles was back to bad off-the-dribble shots, Siva was good for awhile but then sorta lost it and it became clear at the end -- as we all feared -- that nobody knows who takes the last shot. Worst of all, Cards STILL could have won despite all that if they had just shown up at the free throw line -- 12 of 25 isn't gonna get it done. And we all know how poor free throw shooting can haunt a team throughout a season.

Full stats here.

So yeah, lots to work on. Hey, this was always going to happen and the biggest surprise is that it didn't come earlier than it did. The winning streak was nice while it lasted. Now it's time to go to work. Exciting and hardworking as they are, this Cardinal basketball squad was never destined for perfection. Nor was their record.

"You made a mistake and you need to change."

Such was the advice from 13-year-old ball boy Carlos Gonzales Jr. to former Louisville star Terrence Williams during his exile in D-league. According to Williams, a chance encounter with Carlos Gonzales Jr., ball boy for the Springfield Armor, had a profound effect:

"One of the ball boys there was 12 years old,'' Williams recalled. "I started the first game, I was like, ‘Do you watch the NBA?’ He said, 'Yeah, you’re one of the players I (like to) watch. Why would you blow it?’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘Why would you want to have an attitude, and be late – the simplest things you can control? And you get to be in the NBA? I would die to do that, so don’t blow it.’

"That’s a [13]-year-old telling me that,'' Williams said. "So I think that, and my mom crying was what really got to me. So down there, I decided to take everything serious, like I was here, as far as practicing and playing in a game.''I was like, 'Do you watch the NBA?'

Below is video of the kid describing his advice (which is where I pulled the quote in the title). It was some effective pep-talk too... not only is T-Will back with the Nets, refreshed and recommitted, but also it was announced that he's donated $10,000 to buy Christmas gifts for needy Newark children and will give out the toys himself this Saturday. If this kid's so persuasive, Pitino may have to nab this kid and put him on the bench as his latest protégé. Watch out Scott David Padgett, you might have some company back there at the "coaches in development" table.

For more on T-Will's comeback, read the Newark Star-Ledger's article here. ESPN also had a story here. Hat tip on all this: Yahoo's "Ball Don't Lie" blog.

$$$$

You know Rick, it's not cheap going to U of L basketball games either.

At a recent press conference, reporters asked Rick Pitino about J. Bruce Miller's recent efforts to lure an NBA pro franchise to Louisville, Pitino first responded that Commissioner David Stern would have to approve. Informed by the media that Miller had already spoken with Stern, Pitino responded:

“He’s a big NBA fan and that’s great. You have someone here who is also an NBA fan that doesn’t think the NBA is coming to Louisville,” Pitino said. “I think the ticket prices are too high, I think it’s too much for Louisville people. There are very few (people) in this town with that type of money.”

Rick Pitino certainly has a right to make clear his opinion on the NBA issue and that's fine. I'm neither bothered nor surprised that he's cold to the idea. However, I wouldn't blame fans if they felt insulted by the comment above about having "that type of money." It's a little disingenuous to suggest that Louisville fans couldn't afford NBA-priced tickets when they're paying out the yin yang to support Cardinal basketball. Eric Crawford made some reasonable observations about this on his blog:

The notion that Louisville wouldn’t support it is ridiculous. The notion that the crowds wouldn’t show up shows a basic underestimation of the city’s support for basketball. The idea that the NBA is too expensive for Louisville families was disingenuous. The average ticket for a Memphis Grizzlies game this season is $23.18. The cheapest season ticket left for U of L men’s basketball is $52.75 per game. (The average ticket over the whole NBA is $48.08 this season). Want to go to tonight’s U of L game against San Francisco? The cheapest seat available is $35 — but it’s a pretty good seat, in Section 101 of the lower arena. Want to go see the Indiana Pacers against the Charlotte Bobcats this weekend? You can get a ticket for $10, but you’re going to be in the upper arena. Still, you’re in the building for a third of the price.

My feelings on bringing the NBA to Louisville, by the way, are mixed. I'd love to do anything that will continue to bring people downtown. Seeing people fill the arena and nearby restaurants and bars this season -- hell, just seeing people lining the sidewalks of Main and Second -- has left me swelling with pride. If an NBA team would bring more people downtown, more often... on the whole, that's great. I also respect the push that the guys over at Straightpinkie have mounted in support of an NBA team. They've projected some good ideas, including that under the right conditions, an NBA team could help break down the anti-Louisville bias in this state.

However, in this new downtown arena "era," we are in a truly unique scenario, where our beloved Cardinals (men's and women's) are at the top of the pecking order to play in maybe the nicest arena in the country. Should we really tamper? Is there another city where college basketball is treated with such prestige? Combine it with NCAA tourney games, and all of a sudden we're making claim for college basketball mecca of the 21st century. Automatically that sounds like hyperbole, but if you've been to a game yet this season, seen the arena, rooted on the Cards with typical fervor, then ventured out to a Main Street bar or restaurant to complete the experience, I hope you'll understand what I mean.

As Crawford pointed out, the issue could come to a head due to financial reasons -- an NBA franchise could be beneficial down the road to help pay the bills. That is indeed a possibility. But not now.

So that's my long-winded take on prospects for a pro team. When really all I wanted to highlight were Pitino's comments. So back to that...

Occasionally my Dad will drive up to Indianapolis with my younger brother to go to a Pacers game, and every time he does he remarks to me how good a seat he had and how much it would cost at Freedom Hall, now the downtown arena. He's even got a Larry Bird story. (Dad was sitting in the same section as the Pacers VP and watched, amazed, as a long line form in the aisle, essentially to kiss the ring, and Bird reacted with humility and handled the attention with class, but did insist on signing autographs only during breaks in the game) I live in a pro basketball city, and I've never had a problem getting tickets -- good tickets -- for less than $40 each. Also by way of comparison, I just purchased tickets to the Louisville-Providence game at Providence for $12 (more on that next month) and they're not bad seats either.

For Louisvillians, Cardinal basketball provides a better experience than NBA games. I believe that. But in fairness to those who are paying the big bucks, Cardinal basketball, per game, is not necessarily cheaper.

****UPDATE****

After writing this I actually watched the video of Pitino's comment (Hat tip: Straightpinkie). I still disagree about the ticket prices but at the same time it seems to me that Pitino was speaking somewhat in jest -- though that definitely was not the reaction experienced by the good folks at Straightpinkie.

Words matter

Carrying on from the theme below, while things can certainly be overanalyzed, words do in fact matter.

Especially in the blogosphere. At first things are just bullshit opinion. Then enough bullshit opinions become "whispers", then whispers become "rumors swirling", and then before you know it you find yourself in a full-blown "media firestorm!!"

But none of those add up to a truth.

As a small case in point, consider Thomas Beisner's recent post on the increasingly overfluential KSR, about 3-star commit Jon Davis from Louisville reaffirming his status for the Blue.

Beisner writes/makes up...

He’s (Davis) long been viewed as a pivotal chip in the Charlie Strong vs. Joker Phillips battle for Louisville (recruiting turf).

Jon Davis commited to UK on December 11, 2009. Charlie Strong accepted the head coaching position at UofL on December 9th. Ouch Charlie, that really must sting to lose out on that one.

But since it's "long been viewed" as such, obviously whiffing on such a "pivotal chip" is a huge blow to the program.

Blogs do have a place in media, especially sports media. They have value. Obviously I believe that or I wouldn't spend so much time trying to do it. But doing so without integrity, without some intellectual honesty, and completely agenda-driven is really pathetic.

A pledge of decency...and a caveat

Charlie Strong gave some understated but powerful words today when he was asked about the (formerly) vacant coaching position at Florida, and the slew of other college jobs where his name will invariably come up in the future. His quote was this...

He (Jurich) gave me the keys to his program and I owe him a lot and I would never ever chase a job, and I am totally committed to his job here. I can’t see myself -- when you talk about character, when you talk about respect, you talk about sacrifice, I don’t see myself walking out on a program in one year to go chase another job.

Look, Cards fans are well-jaded about how big the sea is and how big a fish we are (currently) in it. But Strong does ring true when you hear him speak. It was his genuineness that endeared him to the Louisville community long before he won a game here.

So, I believe every word he uttered today. Perhaps it provided even greater insight into the bond between Jurich and Strong.

Buuuut...the lawyer in me has to highlight the words, "I don't see myself walking out on a program in one year to go chase another job". The implication, of course, is that next year we could be fielding the same questions.

Annnnd, the armchair psychologist in me (or psychiatrist, which one gets free pills?) would note the way he said, "I'm commited to his job here", meaning the task of bringing about a championship program is primarily Jurich's, not his own. Psychologists call this distancing.

Annnnd, Mr. Red needs a life.

Basically, I feel the exact same as I did before today. I have no idea how long Charlie Strong will coach the Louisville Cardinals, no one does, I doubt even Strong himself.

Today's presser just reinforced what we've already witnessed, already felt. While he is the coach of the Louisville Cardinals he'll pour every ounce of himself into our success, we're the better for it, and if all goes well, we may just find ourselves in a long-term relationship.

Weekend wrapup

The big story of the weekend was the UofL soccer team's magic ride coming to an end. The Cards left it all on the field yesterday, but ultimately fell short to the Akron Zips one to zip. The first half was a hard-fought contest, where Louisville saw several scoring opportunities and an egregious no-call on a handball in the box that would have set them up for a free kick.

The second half was a different story, Akron dominated, and the game was played almost completely on Louisville's side of the field. Akron's goal had a sense of inevitability about it, and the Cards looked gassed at the end.

But true to this team's form, the drama wasn't quite over. The Cards went to all-out attack mode and nearly got the equalizer with under a minute remaining. (Aside, I love the term equalizer and am all for adding it to the basketball lexicon, "This game's been a wild one with 11 lead changes and 16 equalizers!"). The Akron goalie had been taken out of the play and Aaron Horton had one last opportunity to play hero.

This time, however, the magic ran out, and he wasn't able to get a clean foot on the ball to send it to the back of the net.

Either way, as I said before, they fought hard but the Cards looked gassed at the end, and had the game gone to OT I'd have been surprised if they could have ultimately pulled it out. I don't know if Akron is truly the better team, but they certainly were the better team yesterday.

All in all, it made for an easy transition to reflecting on the incredible accomplishments of this team. Thanks to Ken Lolla and the guys for welcoming fans like me on the bandwagon, it was a lot of fun.

Other news...

* The 5-star commitment of Rodney Purvis is obviously huge news for the Cards, though many fans are rightfully gunshy about overcelebrating the verbal, waiting for the LOI to pop the champagne.

There's also a little bit of confusion over Purvis' class. He was originally supposed to be in the '13 class, but he said he had the "college itch" and has reclassified in order to be eligible in '12. While he's certainly ready from a physical standpoint, it's just crazy to me how these athletes are now picking and choosing the date to take their talents to campus. When I was in high school I just went to classes until they told me to stop showing up. Kids these days.

* In "Holy shit!" news, Cardinal commit for '11 Wayne Blackshear put up some ridiculous stats in a high school showdown of Chicago rivals on Saturday: 56 points, 21 rebounds, 9 blocks, and 7 steals. The trajectory the  Cards are on right now, what we have and what we will be adding, is poised for deep tourney runs. While there are thousands of variables at play, the formula, at least, seems to be finding the chemistry between one or two studs surrounded by solid, heady college ballers.

* But enough about the future, our current Cardinals are offering plenty to be excited about. I don't care about the so-called experts dissecting strength of schedule at these early stages. I've seen enough college basketball in my day to trust my instincts, and mine tell me that these Cards are a legit top #20 team.

Saturday's matchup was tournament-like, as all our UNLV matchups seem to be. They were down 9 early in the second half against a disciplined team that wasn't going to implode. But they punched back with aplomb, and did it by emphasizing defense, the true hallmark of a dangerous Pitino team.

Certainly there will be some off-nights, but anyone that maintains this team is fraudulent either doesn't know basketball, or is agenda-driven.

I'm not sure if greatness lies within this team, but it's going to be fun finding out.

More highlights from Louisville-UNLV...

...these from WHAS 11's roundup.

More interviews from UNLV game

Strong staying at Louisville

Breath easy Cards fans. Yesterday Florida announced it had hired Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to take over from Urban Meyer. To use the local parlance, Charlie Strong ain't going nowhere.

Happy times in Louisville at the moment. The Soccer team is playing for the NCAA title this afternoon. The basketball team hasn't been this exciting since T-Will was kissing the bird. Women's team upset Kentucky. And Charlie Strong is staying at Louisville and prepping for our first bowl game in three years.

Even more reassuring than the announcement was when Strong sent out a tweet to the faithful yesterday from the basketball game. (Who's gonna send out tweets like this that's thinking about a job change?):

"Great atmosphere at the kfc yum center. Great time for the Cardinals."

You got that right.

The Bucketheads

They might be better seen than heard.

Video also has clear and crisp quality and nice court-level game shots. Good job CJ.