Bye week Friday roundup

Bad timing for our bye week. I'd rather have seen the Cards ride the wave of confidence and hit the field to take another big step towards bowl eligibility. But alas, at least we have nonstop conference realignment talk at our disposal. The goings on...

* Cards got a nice commit yesterday out of the unholy land. Four star QB Kyle Bolin out of Lex-Catholic is heading the good way up I-64. He's a 2013 prospect, but has been one of the best performers in the state and was highly coveted by Jeff Brohm, now at Illinois. Nice pickup for the Cards.

Oh, wait. I forgot that local recruiting requires way more melodrama. Take two.

In the immortal wars between Charlie Strong and Joker Phillips for intrastate supremacy, the two warriors, horns forever locked, are engaged in a fight only one man will walk away from. Charlie Strong, ever cunning, landed a fierce uppercut yesterday with the commitment of young hurler Kyle Bolin plucked squarely from the capitol of Big Blue Nation. Upon hearing the news, a visibly shaken Joker Phillips was seen looking wistfully out the window, murmuring, "Et tu Kyle? Et tu?".

* I respect the devotion and effort that the Froman/Burke/Stein three-headed monster gave to turning around the Louisville program last year. But none was exactly the type of talent that keeps defensive coordinators up at nights. But with the likes of Teddy Bridgewater, perhaps DaMarcus Smith, and now Kyle Bolin pushing each other in practice instead, I don't think that'll be the case for quite some time.

* Two supposedly evenly matched Big East-ACC schools squared off last night. The Cinci Bearcats, rejuvenated under Butch Jones, routed NC State 44-14. Soooo, there's that.

* A nice article of the Louisville defensive line in the CJ today. After two subpar performaces and one dominant showing so far this year, the article reinforces what many already suspected. The return of the versatile and talented BJ Butler is the true difference for that unit, perhaps the entire defense.

* It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Cards have a new conference come Monday. The latest steam (meaning, whatever idea was thrown against the wall last) is UofL to the Big 12. If this happens, then the meeting earlier in the week of all the remaining Big East schools will go down as an enormous farce, and you'll be able to add Louisville to the list of the disloyal schemers. I know I'm probably in the minority, but I hope this doesn't happen.

Orange Flight: The most galling thing you'll read today

The elitism in this piece is astounding. Let me rephrase. Elitism is okay if you are elite. The self-delusion in this piece is astounding. Here's a Syracuse blogger at Orangefizz rationalizing the move from a Big East neighborhood that was getting a little "too eclectic" for his taste and forced a move to the 'burbs...

But now we are them, no different than those original greedy bastards who chose money over history and geography. And ya know what? I’m fine with that. Because it was untenable. We were all whistling past the graveyard since ‘05. Especially lately. Yeah, we still had the epic affairs against Georgetown and Villanova. We had new gridiron blood battles with UConn and Rutgers. But we also all cheered when TCU walked through that door – those Horned Frogs from Fort Worth were going to save our football conference. Which in retrospect just sounds pathetic. When you’re waiting on a private school from the Mountain West 2,000 miles away to save anything, you’re in some mighty trouble. 

Syracuse and Pitt join three other schools from the old Big East to bring the band back together in some ways. If the ACC reaches out to UConn or West Virginia or Rutgers, it might not even feel all that different on Saturdays in the fall or cold winter nights inside the gyms of the Northeast. And who are we to judge, really? USF – a huge, sprawling commuter state-school soaked in 95-degree heat and a pirate ship in its end zone – was our rival? Louisville and Cincinnati and DePaul and Marquette always seemed like new actors in old sitcoms that never quite fit in with the cast anyway.

So the Big East has been whistling past the graveyard since '05 when all that C-USA riff raff moved in. But now, with his new ACC perspective just 4 days after the move, it's just sooooo funny to think that USF was once considered their rival. But bear in mind that the sprawling commuter state-school with a pirate ship in the endzone HAS GONE 5-1 AGAINST SYRACUSE SINCE JOINING THE BIG EAST. And listen to some of these scores. 27-0. 27-10. 41-10. 45-13. 34-20. Perhaps the author is right after all. I'd be embarrassed to call that a "rivalry" too. But none of those numbers are as important as a pirate ship in the endzone...ughh, how gauche.

And then there's Louisville's mention in the piece. The new actor that never quite fit with the original Big East cast. The Cardinal basketball team has beaten the Orange into pulp so bad over the last 5 years their own coach threw a hissy fit in a press conference when the topic of his being regarded as the personal property of another certain coach came up. Pitino actually was forced to come to his old friend Boeheim's defense at one point. Louisville football has also gone 4-2 against the 'Cuse since joining the conference, even while going through one of the worst stretches in our program's history.

And finally, perhaps the most puzzling, the line about TCU:  " But we also all cheered when TCU walked through that door – those Horned Frogs from Fort Worth were going to save our football conference. Which in retrospect just sounds pathetic."

WHAT. THE. HELL. ARE. YOU. TALKING. ABOUT?? Those Horned Frogs from Fort Worth, yea those guys, the ones that won the fucking Rose Bowl last year! And I don't know if they were heralded as "saving" the conference, but they sure are a quality addition. A team that you can count on to appear in the Top 25 from week to week, unlike your program, who hasn't seen a number next to its name since lord knows when.

Like I said, elitism is fine if you've got something to brag about. But when I read preppie, "Bushwood Country Club" fantasy like this with no correlation to that thing called the real world, it makes this conference realignment seem even more surreal.

In the 6 years since the '05 quasi-merger, Big East football has been won by that former C-USA riff raff 3 times. So instead of patting yourself on the back so heartily for your quick escape, maybe you should be looking in the mirror. If the Big East sucks so bad at football, it's largely because charter members like Syracuse suck so bad at football.

Never let a crisis go to waste

The famous line of Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel when he was Obama's chief-of-staff is one that I feel fits what's happening in the Big East at the moment.

Such a surreal situation makes seemingly impossible scenarios suddenly possible. Look, Pitt, 'Cuse, and perhaps UConn have made their beds. I think they'll come to regret their decision, but what's done is done. The more I think about it, the more I see this as an opportunity for the Big East to revamp its image and become an exciting and important cog in the wheel of college football.

Four things I'd like to see the Big East do to not let this crisis go waste and perhaps come out stronger than it was before...

1) The funny thing is, Big East football already received little respect nationally. Does the departure of Syracuse and Pitt really change that? The only way to change that image is an honest evaluation of who you are, where you fit in the grander scheme of college football, and seek the best way to reinvent yourself in that scheme. Most established programs, ones with long histories and traditions, aren't going to be enthralled by the prospect of joining the Big East. So to me the answer seems fairly obvious. The Big East has to go after the mid-major programs that long to be something more. Programs like Louisville, to be honest.

That's what made TCU such a fine addition, and one of the top priorities of the commish should be to get on the horn with the Horned Frogs and make sure they are still on board. You've got to sell them on a vision; sell them on the idea that the "new" Big East is going to be one filled with programs just like them, ones that have worked for years to gain respect and a chance at the big time. On the flip side, that's also what makes Navy and Army, two names mentioned to fill our depleted ranks, such uninspired choices. Both programs are what they are based on their admirable and unique requirements. But it's unlikely that either becomes any better than they already are.

The Big East should try to position itself as the major conference for the mid-majors, the small fish with large ambitions. The teams many like to laugh at but no one wants to play. The Boise States and TCUs of the world. There should be a list of benchmarks required for potential programs, or at least guidelines for them to meet in terms of improving facilities, athletic budgets, etc... But if a team like Baylor, located in the heart of football country, can meet those and is sick of getting "big timed" by Texas and wants its own shot at glory? Come right in. You too, Kansas State.

2) Triple the buyout clause. You gotta go Mafia-style, only one way in and out here, there's just no other way.

3) Fish or cut bait with Notre Dame. I'm not mad at Notre Dame, they signed up for a special arrangement with the Big East and have complied with that arrangement. But desperate times call for yada yada yada, and Notre Dame receives substantial benefits from its alliance with the Big East in every area except football. And the writing's on the walls, the football Fightin' Irish ain't what they used to be and its clear they never will be again. When that NBC contract comes up in a few years, that fact is certainly going to be brought up.

With Brian Kelly, a coach likely most comfortable in the Big East at the helm, now is the time to exert that pressure. Again, I don't know why Louisville seems to be the only program in the country to recognize the benefit of playing in an up-and-down conference like the Big East. That you're only a few recruiting classes away from playing in major bowl games again, unlike schools like UK or Vandy, who are stuck in ruts they cannot get out of.

So dangle that carrot. If the powerful ND boosters and TV execs are all drooling and dreaming of a return of the old Gold n Blue to the BCS, there's no better place than the Big East.

4) Image and marketing. Even some cheesy slogan for the conference like "Big East: Crashing the Party" or "Big East: Then Play Us" could be effective. Again, I think it bears repeating how universally loathed this conference realignment is and how transparent the motivations. Once these superconferences are achieved, mid-major programs will be locked out of big time college football like never before. The Big East could position itself as the anti-that. There could even be silent encouragement that the "new" Big East schools schedule the FIUs and other promising young programs as part of their non-conference. They could be the ones that highlight such schools while the bluebloods are running from them because they have "nothing to gain" by scheduling them.

But you have to give them a vision. In a quagmire of self-preservation, you have to give them something that appeals to the better angels of our nature. As a Louisville or TCU administrator, you have to recognize the programs that are in the exact same boat we were not very long ago. And you have to be willing to throw those schools a lifeline.

Not because it's in our best interest per se, but because of John Nash's game theory: YOU DO WHAT'S BEST FOR YOURSELF AND THE GROUP.

Louisville just lost to FIU, a program less than a decade old and was roundly mocked for it. But why? FIU is now #45 in the RPI and is trending upwards, has a darkhorse Heisman candidate on its roster, is actually receiving votes for the Top 25, and is now looking to expand its stadium. Good for them, those are programs that should be celebrated rather than shunned.

I'm not sayin' that FIU should be the next Big East team (though it's not impossible) it's just that we need to find the programs out there like that, the mid-majors that are the most ambitious and with the most potential and then invite them to the party. Hell, we are one of those programs.

Like I said in the post below, the trick is to not view these programs as if they are frozen in time. You have to be a little bit more of a visionary than that and look at what a program could be with a higher profile and a bigger budget. The goal isn't to win the snarkfest on the radio: "So the Big East just added Houston to their conference, that's a smooth move ex lax. Yuk yuk yuk". Gotta think more like, yea, the Big East just added Houston, a team with a 60-year history that includes Heisman trophy winners and a 35K+ stadium, a huge untapped TV market and a bright young coach in Kevin Sumlin. You'll get to know them in a few years, if your team has the balls to schedule them.

The laundry-worship and consolidation going on now is anathema to the spirit of college sports and needs to be challenged. The Big East now finds itself in a unique position to reemerge as that challenge. It's perhaps the only way to change the karma of this whole mess, engender some goodwill, and produce some good football all at the same.

(A few schools I feel fit this bill off the top of my head without regard to geography)

TCU
Boise State
Houston
Baylor
Kansas State
UCF (after thorough vetting)
Iowa State

(No to Villanova. Any FCS program that says they would consider going to the Big East "if asked" is the opposite of what I'm proposing).

(Mr. Red...sobbing: "It's not a memo, it was a mission statement.")

Are we having fun yet?

You won't get the reference if you never watched "Party Down", a really funny show on Starz that is on the "Arrested Development" list of programs canceled before their time. It also stars underrated hottie Lizzie Caplan, so if you've never seen it, check it out on DVD.

Anyways, you know what's even more fun than watching the entire college landscape be ravaged by greed and fear? Stretching that two-week process out into a two-year process.

That appears what's likely to happen after it was reported last night that the PAC won't be expanding (for now) which means that Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are still going to be keeping the Big 12 afloat (for now). Where does that leave Louisville? No one has a freaking clue. But here's a few other thoughts on the shitshow currently going on...

* No one looks more foolish now than Syracuse, Pitt, and the ACC. Both programs claimed to be concerned about the long-term viability of the Big East and then tried to self-fulfill the prophecy by bolting early. But now it looks like the Big East is going to survive.

The Big East was never ever ever in any danger of losing a guaranteed BCS spot if it had remained intact as it was, with perhaps some selective new additions. But now two Big East stalwarts have bailed on decades of tradition for a downward move in basketball and perhaps a smallish step up the football ladder (has anyone noticed the Big East is actually pretty good in football this year, and that the ACC isn't all that much better? Especially after what's coming the Miami Hurricanes way very soon).

Well done, guys.

* The greatest tragedy of the whole spiel is that one of the greatest events in sports, the Big East tournament in Madison Square Gardens will never be the same. Especially if UConn jumps somewhere else, which they appear ready to do. Ugh. Just ugh. They'll never be anything else like it, and I'm just glad that the Cards got a chance to take home the trophy once in their short Big East history.

* The common meme around here is that even though Louisville's future is up in the air at the moment, that there's nothing to fear because Tom Jurich is the absolute man to guide us through. I largely agree, but there's one thing I keep thinking about.

I've never met Jurich, but I have talked to several people that have met and talked with him at length, so for what it's worth, the one trait most people mention first about the man is how forthright and direct he is. Most cannot believe some of the things he's spilling to them just within a few minutes of shaking hands.

He's a blunt, direct, charismatic problem-solver. That's a benefit in almost every way for an AD, but I could see it being a negative in this situation when so many others are talking out of both sides of their mouths. I can picture him going into the meeting last night with all the remaining Big East teams, entering the room with a swagger and just sayin', "Alright guys, are we in or out? In? Alright, let's get this thing done".

But when so many are saying one thing and then doing another, such bluntness and trust can be a negative.

* For what it's worth though, I don't think the Cards are going anywhere. Even after losing bluebloods like 'Cuse/Pitt/UConn, the Big East is still primed to be one of the best basketball conferences in the country. It won't be what it was, but Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Villanova, Marquette, Cinci will guarantee top notch basketball. Bball will be fine.

Football of course, is a different story. But what blows my mind is how everyone is looking and evaluating football programs as if they are frozen in time and value, completely ignoring how programs improve or get worse over time. Five years ago South Florida would have been viewed as a conference liability, but now, under the guidance of Skip Holtz (and with the imminent axing of the Miami Hurricanes) USF looks poised to be a perennial Top 25 team.

The point is, for all the bloviating, no one knows what these conferences are going to look like in 3 years, ya know, when many of these moves actually happen. If Louisville is good again, if USF, West Virginia and TCU are too, and if the conference still has its automatic bid, people that moved out in a moment of panic years back are going to look pretty stupid.

* Furthermore, I think Tom Jurich is very comfortable in the Big East. He has great relationships, and apparently there's been talk of the possibility of Jurich taking the Big East commissioner role one day. Plus, with many of the founders leaving, Louisville's status in the conference is immediately enhanced. Rather than just being a medium fish is a medium pond, the Cardinals are now one of the lynch pins of the conference and its future. I think that has to appeal to a man like Tom Jurich, even if he never admits it.

* If the reports are true, that last night all the remaining Big East football schools reaffirmed their allegiance to sticking and making the conference work, the first move by the commish should be to follow the ACC's lead and double or triple the buyout clause should anyone break ranks. That's the only way to ensure compliance, we're well passed a handshake and "my word is my bond" stage.

* And finally, I've never seen a story so heavily reported but universally despised like conference realignment. Everyone hates it. Everyone. It's disgusting that the powers-that-be claim that a National Championship game that makes sense is absolutely untenable (after all, their student athletes cannot afford to miss more class time) but that the entire makeup of collegiate sports can be shifted in two-weeks. It's unconscionable, and it makes me love college football much less.

But the reason I can't turn a tin ear to the whole mess and set my alarm for when/if Louisville has a new conference home is two words. Charlie. Strong. When the day comes to talk contract extension with Charlie, I think Louisville will be able to dig deep and make a very competitive offer with some of the other "big dogs" on the block. The Cardinals are very profitable.

But Strong won't stick around if, once he's moved past "rebuilding" mode, he's not playing for the biggest prizes in the sport. We have to position ourselves in such a place.

DeVante freaking Parker

#3 and counting, with what has to be some of the highest degree of difficulty catches we've seen from a freshman wideout...

Stein it is

Well, apparently Charlie Strong isn't keeping up with his Cardinal Laws reading, or he would have known I decreed that the QB torch has been passed already.

Nonetheless, Strong said today that Will Stein is still our starting QB, and that he believes no one should lose their spot because of injury. That he believes in competition.

I know that "not losing your spot because of injury" is a tenet in locker rooms that football players hold dear. Having never played, I guess I can't really understand it. But isn't going out and logging a stellar performance a form of competition as well? I think Strong is saying the PC football things, but deep down he has to know.

The greatest would-be play of the game was when Teddy Bridgewater was forced to scramble left, did a shimmy shuffle with his feet to buy time, and threw a right-handed rope on the run to Scott Radcliff's breadbasket that he dropped in the endzone.

That's a play that Stein just can't make. And while I respect Strong's loyalty to his guys, he said it himself. It's a competition.

If nothing else, it's not fair to Stein to put him out there, and after every missed completion or stalled drive, to have the entire fanbase thinking: "Hmmmm. I wonder what Teddy could have done there?"

Pull the trigger, Coach. It's Bridgewater's time.

The unsung heroes

Most of the accolades will go to Teddy Bridgewater, Charlie Strong, Dominique Brown, and DeVante Parker. And rightfully so. But there were many under the radar heroes on Saturday. If the Louisville team, let's say, was a boat with a door for a bottom. These players would be the glue, the Flex that sealed the victory, if you will...

* Josh Bellamy. His TD snag was high profile, but some of his best plays came at other times. That quick pass to him in the flat, designed simply to put the ball in his hands, was very effective. He looked lightning fast every time he touched the ball, a threat to take it to the house in a blink. Picked up some big first downs.

* Senorise Perry. Many predicted the outcome depended on a large special teams play. I don't know if it depended on it, but Perry's blocked punt was a huge momentum changer. The sideline went nuts. And it flipped the field and allowed UofL to operate on a short field for much of the game.

* The boo birds. Whistle Guy may steal the headlines, but more impacting was probably the cascading boos that rained down at several points in the game. I made known my views on booing the home team way back in the Kragthorpe days. I didn't like it then for us, and I didn't like it for them on Saturday. Talk about making it easy on the visitors.

* BJ Butler. The impact D-end plagued by injuries this season shook them off to see his first action of the year. He had 4 tackles, 2 solo, and a sack. All came at big times, and he brought much needed depth to our defensive line that kept bodies fresh and coming at Newton in waves.

The Teddy Administration?

Only 3 games into a young season, and it appears that Teddy Bridgewater is ready to take the reigns of the offense. Will Stein played admirably, guiding us through the wave of UK adrenaline when things looked shaky at the start. I'm not sure Bridgewater could have done that.

Stein gave UofL a lead they never relinquished with a 34 yard dagger to Andrell Smith. And he left the game precisely the way you'd expect from a warrior like him; having injured his throwing arm while scrapping for more yardage, landed on by a very large man more blessed by the football gods. The anti-Cutler, Stein stayed engaged for the rest of the game from the sidelines, encouraging and guiding Teddy and celebrating each score as if he did it himself. You've done yourself and your city proud, Will.

But the fact remains Teddy Bridgewater brought the offense to life in a way it hadn't been this season. He has power in that skinny arm somewhere, because it looks like he just effortlessly flicks the ball downfield with a snap of his wrist. He was checking in and out of audibles (perhaps too much) like a young Peyton Manning, showing a mastery of the playbook. The sky's the limit for this kid, and it appears that his future is now.

It looked like Stein certainly could have returned, but there was no way Strong was going to take the ball away from a QB with a hot hand. Coach, still savoring the win afterwards, perhaps, and not ready to make any permanent roster decisions, deflected questions about it, only offering the vague, "We have two starting QBs".

I agree with a caller to the Early Birds this morning, who basically said that it looked like the UK defense had to take a step back when Bridgewater came in the game. Instead of creeping up and cheating on coverages, it was like they were forced to back off and respect his talent and playmaking ability.

In perhaps the most pressure packed game of the year Bridgewater showed he was bigger than the moment.

Haha

Most of the time I like to take the high road. Now is not such a time. Here's Mr. Red's victory lap...

* You know what's really fun? Ignoring KSR "Hate Day" but then going back to read it after we win. Let's do it all together now..."(while cracking a beer) Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". Scoreboard.

* You know what else is really fun? Reading every scrap of game coverage all week from the UofL side and not once reading anything close to the feces flung our way from our UK counterparts. I don't care what anyone says, there's nothing like the vitriol spewed and celebrated on KSR from our side. And not all of it "is in good fun".

* But you know what else is really fun? Not having to rally around the fat waste of skin known as "Whistle Guy" as some kind of bizarre gallows humor.

* Oh! Oh. Here's something else pretty fun. Not having to turn a blind eye to fairly transparent racism emanating from a portion of your fanbase that is larger than most care to admit.

* Here's something else pretty enjoyable. Reading Aaron Cordero, UK's super football fan, share brilliant insights like...

As I have been writing for weeks, the Cats needed to play a sound football game in order win (sic).

You called it, Aaron.

* You know something else I find pleasant? Listening to Matt Jones alienate Trinity, the local high school most filled with major college talent.

* Also pleasing to the senses is realizing that it only takes 2-years to catch up to a program supposedly miles ahead in continuity and momentum. Louisville football's ceiling is simply much higher than UK's. Even in Louisville's darkest Kragthorpian days, with UK at its apex and the Cards at our lowest, we were only losing to UK by a touchdown or less (with one 27-2 disaster).

When Louisville has things humming we win by 30. And seeing how many true frosh and sophomores were making plays yesterday, I think those days are closer to returning than most think.

* And finally....scoreboard. That's always nice. Good game though.

Victory is Ours

Kudos to the CJ:

  

Fat Whistle Guy

This masculine marvel is the esteemed UK fan who interrupted play when he blew his secret whistle, causing both sides to think the play was over and negating a Louisville gain of fifteen to twenty yards. He was then escorted out by security.

Reports from other fans in the stadium suggest he was performing the same antics on several plays before. And Rick Bozich tweeted that his sources say he's "a big advocate of HateLouisvilleWeek."

Fat Whistle Guy joins a list of UK legends such as Key-Your-Car Hick on the illustrious roll call of class acts who have made their mark on the rivalry. Congrats, you fat, Fat Whistle Guy.

Wait, wha??

There was a lot of great, great post game video provided on the CJ website, with interviews from every key player.

But the biggest player, of course, is head coach Strong, who was forced to answer one of the least comprehensible questions I've ever heard...

Q: Coach, after this game last year you weren't particularly happy about the final result, tonight you win, are you just as happy now as you were upset last year? And why so?

That's not a joke, that was an actual press conference question. I've read and listened to those words a few times now just to make sure I wasn't misquoting, and I still have absolutely no idea what response was supposed to be elicited.

But the fact that Charlie Strong treated it as an actual English sentence with meaning counts for something, I suppose. So, thank you, anonymous questioner. I don't know how you got credentialed, but we are now dumber for having listened to you, and may god have mercy on your soul.

Mayor called this one

From Bozich's blog before the game:

Just saw Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. He likes the Cards, 24-17.

So Greg Fischer got the victor and score exactly right, hitting much closer than Bozich (who admirably recanted), Mr. Red (who nonetheless landed his pretty close) or myself (way off). 

Such clairvoyance must come in handy to the city's top-ranking politician. Now, about that bridge... 

Quote of the Night

"Coach said once we win tonight they'll never win again. The Governor's Cup is staying with us."

-- Defensive End William Savoy

Charlie got loose...

Make no mistake, the King has returned. There's only room for one optimistic football program in this Commonwealth. UK ain't it. They're just proud to be SEC participants. They dream of little more.

UofL just lost to a Sun Belt conference team last week so of course we're no world-beaters. But we're back on the right track, or "train" if you will, and we just got a BIG monkey off our back. We got the Governor's Cup. So in that regard...

The. King. Has. Re. Turned.

Other thoughts...

* Dominique Brown takes Player of the Game honors. And I see no reason why he shouldn't be our starting running back. Every single person knows that he's running the ball when he's in the game. But no one could tackle him tonight once he got a head of steam moving. He was stellar. Tough. Rugged. He was our best athlete. When he stiff-armed Winston Guy, arguably UK's best athlete, on his way to a big first down, I knew that was all she wrote.

What a performance from D. Brown. Studly.

* The Whistle Guy. UK fans spend an untold amount of time expounding against straw men. Straw men are fake people that don't really exist but make a convenient target to direct ire. UK fans have made themselves such a "Louisville" strawman; KSR dedicates an entire day on their site to hating him.

Of course, the Cards hate UK fans as well. But at least we hate people that actually exist. Like the UK douche (and what a fat waste of skin he was) that whistled dead a seemingly big UofL gainer from the stands. Or perhaps the guy last year that keyed dozens of cars in the UofL parking lot after the game.

Those people are real. Actual real life examples of UK classlessness. To me, those mean much more than hypothetical strawmen.

* DeVante Parker is magic. I don't know what he has. But he's got it.

* This one wasn't as close as it needed to be. Our D-line dominated the entire game for the most part. Scruggs, Savoy, Butler, Philon. Those big boys need to share the game ball between them. And then eat it.

* I listened to a little of Tom Leach's interview with Joker Phillips after the game. He sounded beat down and despondent. And I questioned his acumen a little bit when he referred to Dominique Brown, who killed them all night running the ball, as "that #10".

He sounded like a dead coach walking.

* On the other hand, that's the most amped I've ever seen Charlie Strong. Make no mistake, he wanted this game badly. And on a side note to the ESPN media. I know Joker and Charlie are on good terms, friends perhaps, but just because they're two young black coaches doesn't mean that they're absolute bestie best friends that love each other sooooooo much and call each other every night to dish about team gossip.

You never see "white guilt" on display quite like from ESPN analysts during a Joker-Charlie matchup.

* The refs sucked and UofL got robbed on two safeties that should have gone the Cards way when Newton threw the ball away TWICE between his tackles in the endzone with no receiver in sight. This game shouldn't have been that close.

* Victory bourbon is very tasty. I had almost forgotten.

GO. CARDS.