U of L Card Game

Enjoy The Break Louisville Fans

Charlie Springer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:40:26 PDT

Why the break between the conference tournaments and the NCAA basketball tournament is totally necessary for Louisville basketball fans:

Recovering from a frustrating season with an unpredictable team.

Adjusting to the reality that the season may soon be over.

Recalling that Rick Pitino can be a master motivator.

Watching other teams is boring, the games all looking the same after a while.

Getting a reprieve from the grim possibility of a nasty rival going deep in the tournament.

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Dan McDonnell’s Baseball Cards are 15-1 after a 7-4 win over Xavier Tuesday. Derek Self the winner, boosting his record to 3-0, Gabriel Shaw with his second save.

Adam Duvall, the player you most want to see at the plate in the clutch, with two home runs, a double and three runs batted. He now has six four-baggers.

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Actually not a total break from basketball because the Louisville women’s team has at least one more game in Freedom Hall. Jeff Walz too competitive to turn it down, and it would be good to go out with a win.

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Louisville Women Will Host Bradley

Charlie Springer — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:35:31 PDT

At least one more game in friendly Freedom Hall for the University of Louisville women’s basketball team, thanks to the new Women’s Basketball Invitational.

The Lady Cards will square off against Bradley at 7 p.m. in the opening round on Wednesday. The winner will face the survivor of the Morehead State-College of Charleston on Friday. The location of the second round game hasn’t been announced.

Other teams participating in the tournament include Memphis, Wichita State, Akron, Washington, Portland, Charleston Southern, Towson State, Fairfield, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Cal State-Bakersfield, and Appalachian State.

Brackets available here.

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Louisville Women Back To Freedom Hall

Charlie Springer — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:11:00 PDT

The University of Louisville women’s basketball team will return to Freedom Hall Wednesday, opening game in Women’s Basketball Invitational. Opponent will be named late (very late) Monday night. They are still working on the field, according to the person who answered the WBI phone.

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Good Homecoming For Dan McDonnell

Charlie Springer — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:35:45 PDT

They take college baseball seriously in Oxford, Miss,, attracting between 6,000 and 7,000 fans per game. Southern hospitality goes out the window, like in the dumpster for visiting teams.

Dan McDonnell returned over the weekend to the University of Mississippi where he served for six seasons as assistant baseball coach before taking the head job at Louisville. Ole Miss was eager to knock U of L from the ranks of the undefeated and out of the nation’s elite.

Mississippi did end U of L’s winning streak at 13 games with an 8-3 win in the second game. However, Louisville took the series, the opener 6-1 and the third game 10-8. Louisville also moved up a notch — from eighth to ninth — in this week’s Baseball America poll.

Louisville will host Xavier at Jim Patterson Field Tuesday, with a Noon start time.

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Louisville’s First Round Opponent Rolling

Charlie Springer — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:47:55 PDT

By Paul Sykes

The University of Louisville basketball team’s first round opponent in the NCAA may have a long way to migrate for the game but don’t count on California arriving in Jacksonville in a state of hibernation. Cal is one of the hottest teams around.

The regular season champs in the Pac-10, California narrowly lost the conference tournament in the championship game to Washington 79-75. Coached by Mike Montgomery, California (23-10, 13-5) has won nine of its last 10 games, defeating Oregon and UCLA to reach the final.

The scoring leader is Jerome Randle with 18.7 points per game. He is also a Sporting News All- American selection. Three other Bears also score in double figures — Patrick Christopher (16.0), Theo Robinson (14.1) and Jamal Boykin (12.0), also the rebounding threat. Randle and Robinson are the three-point threats.

Cal has one opponent in common with Louisville, losing early to Syracuse 95-73. Cal opened the season with a 75-50 win over Murray State. California is 6-6 on the road and 2-3 at neutral sites. They dropped games against NCAA Tournament participants Ohio State, New Mexico and Kansas…all on the road

Game time is Friday 9:55 p.m.

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Louisville Will Be Rested And Motivated

Charlie Springer — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:56:31 PDT

A rested University of Louisville basketball team will play California in the first round of the NCAA’s South Regional at Jacksonville on Friday.

Rested is the key word. Rick Pitino has a habit of running his teams to the point of emotional and physical exhaustion, no matter the point in the season. Any conceivable benefits of the Big East Tournament would have been offset by wear and tear.

After making an early exit from the tournament, PItino’s squad has had a few days to cool its heels. He will have all week to get his team jacked up, motivated to play name teams, California in the first game, Duke, if both teams win, in the second game.

Throw a no-name at these guys, they don’t get excited, they lose. Even with the master motivator pulling out all stops. They will be motivated for California even if they know nothing about the basketball team.

Duke and Pitino, there’s a history. So yes …

NCAA Tournament Brackets

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Selection Sunday

Charlie Springer — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:58:36 PDT

Here’s how Joe Lunardi of ESPN sees it:

Not just your average NCAA Tournament bracket, obviously. Under this scenario, Louisville would have the responsibility for denying Kentucky another title. A possibility to savor.

Printable Brackets

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College Presidents Skirt Big East Expansion Issues

Charlie Springer — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:21:03 PST

The issue of conference expansion came up during a meeting of college presidents during the Big East basketball tournament in New York, according to University of Louisville President James Ramsey. This is the first public indication that the presidents have acknowledged a possible crisis for the conference.

Ramsey said something to the effect that it was time the presidents stopped ignoring the elephant in the room. “It’s an area of concern for all of us,” he said. “We need to be prepared.”

And they talked about the issue, in what had to be one of the most generic discussions in conference history. There’s no indication of a committee being formed or consultants being hired to consider the league’s options.

Converging these interests into a common agenda would appear to be an insurmountable challenge.

Who would make up a Big East committee on expansion issues? The presidents of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, even Connecticut, are salivating about being included in a Big Ten expansion. How could any discussion involving them be productive?

Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida aren’t in any position to have much of an impact on discussions. The only leverage they have is the investment they’re making in their athletic facilities. U of L is among the most profitable basketball programs in the nation. Cincinnati has a great following when its teams are winning. South Florida, in Tampa, is in the 14th largest media market.

None of which is apparently a big deal when it comes to Big Ten versus non-Big Ten considerations.

Converging these interests into a common agenda would appear to be an insurmountable challenge. The Big East is locked into a position of having to respond to whatever the Big Ten decides what it’s going to do — and that won’t be known until summer.

Don’t expect the Big East college presidents to have serious discussions before then.

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Louisville Stadium, Arena Tickets Moving

Charlie Springer — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:36:50 PST

The news, from WDRB-41, is that ticket sales are going well for Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium and the new Downtown Arena, and that Mark Jurich, the son of Tom, is apparently Associate Director of Development.

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Ethel Finds Redemption, Louisville Rips Mississippi

Charlie Springer — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:54:46 PST

J. J. Ethel, an unlikely hero, punching the key hit in the University of Louisville baseball team’s 6-1 win over Mississippi.

J. J. Ethel

The junior catcher striking out his four times at bat, enough to make one find the most obscure spot in the dugout.

Top of the 12th, score knotted 1-1, two runners on, Ethel smashes a double down the left field line, driving in two runs.

The rest is gravy, and the nightmare is shortlived for J.J. Ethel.

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