photo – UofL’s Logan Baumann

It’s okay if you stare at this for awhile….

*Gorgui says Louisville will be better next year

“It’s tough to believe but I think they’re going to have a better team. They have a lot of guards and the biggest guy on the team is 6-8. So they’re going to do the things that they are known (for), which is like press, press more, press more because they have a lot of guards. Last year we had a lot of bigs but this year we have more guards. We have four, five guys coming in.”

*The latest NBA mock drafts on Draft Express and NBADraft.net have Gorgui at #20 going to Chicago and Peyton going #53 to Indiana.

*Gorgs believes he can help the Knicks, or any NBA team that will draft him.

“I played for a coach that was very demanding,” he said of Pitino. “I came from a winning program. All I care is winning, nothing less, just winning, whatever it takes. I want to see a coach again that drives me the way that Coach ‘P’ drives me. Just be honest with you. Like I said I came from a winning program and it’s all about winning to me so I think wherever I go, I won’t have a problem fitting in.”

*UofL football’s schedule isn’t one the strongest out there

7. Louisville – Index: 1.63: No team in major college football has an easier overall schedule than the Cards. It’s doubtful they’ll face a top-40 team this season, much less one in the top 25. The non-conference slate is pretty tame as well. They open with an Ohio team that is coming off a 9-4 season and won at Penn State to start 2012. The Bobcats, though, are No. 98 in the country for most starters returning with just 11. After that, Louisville gets FCS Eastern Kentucky; then visits arch-rival Kentucky, which was 2-10 last season and then faces an FIU program that went 3-9, is in the midst of a coaching transition and returns only eight starters.

*Tom Jurich Spoke to David Glenn of ACCSports.com; listen to the podcast here

Jurich expressed some of his hesitations in taking over a program that need to address what he called a “culture of compliance”.

“What I asked the president at the time, I said ‘tell me where all the bodies are buried’. This job is open for a reason and I wanted to know what it was I had to deal with. I knew I had to change that culture of compliance because you had a bad reputation with the NCAA. I had never had a compliance issue in my career and I hope I never have one. We’ve had a zero tolerance policy across the board and it’s really worked out great for us,” Jurich said on the show.

*Louisville’s football class currently ranks 19th nationally according the 247sports

photo – @PintinoPizzaria

Pitino and Pitbull, together at last.

photo – kentucky.com

Team Russia isn’t ready for “Trez, either is Croatia.

*UofL’s Nick Ratajczak will never forget his last at bat as a Louisville Cardinal

“To not play as much as I wanted to, it was killing me inside,” Ratajczak said. “I had to wear the fake smile.”

Ratajczak hit that fly ball with a separated right shoulder. He hit it even though he had not taken batting practice for more than a week. He hit it after taking the smelly black sling that protected his shoulder and tossing on the bench.

“A bunch of us were out in the bullpen,” said Joe Filomeno, a Louisville relief pitcher. “Jeff Gardner was down there and he said, ‘Rat’s on deck.’ I looked up and there was Rat, just swinging.

“Everything that Rat’s been through these last few weeks. Tears came to my eyes when I saw him take the batter’s box. Just hearing his name. It’s hard to hold back tears right now just because of what he’s been through and how much he’s done for this team.”

*Even the New York Times knows what’s up about UofL’s crazy success this season

Athletic Director Tom Jurich and the Cardinals are definitely on a roll. The university accepted an invitation to the Atlantic Coast Conference beginning in 2014. That move and the Cardinals’ recent performances challenge them to do even better.

“I’d be lying if I said I envisioned doing what we did this year,” Jurich said last week. “This is a magical time, and we’re going to enjoy it and not take it for granted.

“But we’re not going to gloat, because that’s not how this university and athletic department is built. We’re always going to be humble and hungry.”

*UofL is hosting a QB Academy with elite talent now on campus

The University of Louisville football team’s camp series continues today with the first day of the Louisville Quarterback Academy – a new camp for the Cardinals modeled after ones run  by offensive coordinator Shawn Watson when he was on the staff at Nebraska. It goes until Wednesday.

Three Class of 2015 quarterbacks – Jack Beneventi of Illinois (highlights below), Zach Gentry of New Mexico and Ross Trail of Olive Branch, Miss. – who already have offers from the Cardinals are among the players expected to participate.

*SB Nation’s Bowl Predictions are out

Orange: After picking last seemingly every year ever, the Orange gets to go next. Finally, the chance to have something besides ACC-Big East! Except ACC-former Big East might be the pick (the AAC champion is promised a BCS spot, for one more year). That’s especially if Teddy Bridgewater’s a Heisman finalist and in line to be the No. 1 NFL Draft pick. And since the ACC will soon hold even more sway over the Orange, it could push to feature two eventual ACC teams. Guaranteed win, sort of.

Shocker I know, UK isn’t mentioned….

*Montrezl makes the U19 Team USA squad.  Team Russia ain’t ready to handle ‘Trez in the paint….

*Russ was vibin’ last night

photo – @restivotommy

adidas has made a name for themselves.  Whether it be by designing some rather odd uniforms, i.e infrareds or their Houston Astro-like baseball jerseys, people are talking about them.  But perhaps most importantly, their teams are representing in the postseason.  adidas accounts for only 20% of the the power conference teams (13 out of 65)* yet the three stripes shoe company finds their teams in the thick of it all during the postseason across a wide range of sports.  Let’s take the “big three” so to speak; football, basketball, and baseball and see how many adidas teams made it to the mainstream of the postseason.

*Louisville is included with the ACC, as is Notre Dame.  Baylor wears adidas for basketball, but Nike for football.

Louisville – Sugar Bowl

Notre Dame – BCS Championship

Northern Illinois – Orange Bowl

Wisconsin – Rose Bowl

40% of BCS Bowl teams wear adidas

Louisville and Michgan

50% of the Final Four teams wear adidas

Indiana, Louisville, Mississippi State, NC State, UCLA

63% of College World Series team wear adidas

On the fields and on the court, adidas schools are getting it done.  Maybe it’s time to put the conspiracy theories away about adidas being an inferior product, because in the postseason, their teams are ‘all in’.

photo – scout.com

Business First reported that Old Cardinal Stadium is on its last leg and needs to be repaired as soon as as possible or “taken out of service.”  Since UofL football moved to PJCS, the former home of the Cards and the triple-A Louisville Redbirds has been used only for state fair concerts.  This year, it’s in such bad shape, concertgoers will have to watch the show on the field rather than the stands because of the deteriorating nature  of the structure.  While it was never the best in terms of facilities, the old Cardinal Stadium never lacked in the memories department.  The original Crunch Zone was started there, Brett Favre threw his infamous ‘Hail Mary’ to beat the Cards, and UofL busted the visiting Longhorns of Texas 41-10.  A final decision on what to do with the facility should come within a few weeks.  If it’s torn down, the plan is to build an amphitheater and warehouse in its place.

Engineers have determined that old Cardinal Stadium at the Kentucky Exposition Center should be repaired at the “earliest possible time” or taken out of service.

Louisville-based Senler, Campbell & Associates Inc. said in a report released today by the Kentucky State Fair Board that the structure is “not on the verge of collapse” but rather “in a great state of disrepair.”

photo – blogs.dallasobserver.com

Berry Tramel, a guest on LSL and staunch supporter of UofL, writes (again) how the Big 12′s inaction cost that league the nation’s hottest program.  What’s most surprising is that he mentioned that Texas’ beat reporter said that UT AD DeLoss Dodds tried to persuade Big 12 members to add Louisville. Hmmm, not sure I buy that.

And the Big 12 would have gotten one of the nation’s best athletic programs. This academic year, Louisville has beaten Florida in the Sugar Bowl, won the NCAA men’s basketball title, reached the NCAA women’s basketball championship game and now its baseball team is on its way to Omaha.

Plus, there’s this nugget, courtesy of the Austin American-Statesman’s Kirk Bohls, who reported that Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said he tried to sell his Big 12 colleagues on Louisville, but to no avail.

What? Texas wanted Louisville? We already know that OU — both president David Boren and athletic director Joe Castiglione — were pro-Louisville. If the Big 12 kingpins, Texas and OU, both wanted the Cardinals, why didn’t Louisville get an invite? Has the Big 12 gone all egalitarian? Does Texas not hold the sway we all thought? Does Texas and OU combined not swing a big enough stick to get Louisville?

LSL is on today at 6:00 on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com talking about the extraordinary year the athletic program is having.  We’ll also be asking who you would want to see UofL schedule a home-and-home with for football and basketball.  As always, we want you to be apart of the program, hit us up at 267-9680 and on twitter @LvilleSprtsLive.

The school up the road’s Athletic Director is known more for his goofy faces than his department’s success. Lexghanistan’s College is known for hoops and….well, that’s about it.  We appreciate his going out on a limb and saying that UofL “had a nice year.”  Really?  Pretty insightful Mitch.  Luckily, here at LSL we have some interpreters that can tell you what he really meant about the Cards’ success.

What he said:

What do you make of the year Louisville is having?

“They’ve had a nice year. At the end of the day, they’ve done some things in their major sports and they should be congratulated on that. They’ve had a nice year. What I’m proud of is the depth of our sports program and what we’ve done. Going into these last three or four sports in the Director’s Cup*** where they rank all the sports, our department is 22nd in the country and ranked fourth in the league. I don’t know if we can hold that through track and field — we have some really strong track programs in our league and we might not hold that — but we’ll be good. We’ll be solid again.

“At the end of the day, the depth of our program is pretty good. They’ve had a really nice year in their major sports. The depth of our program though, I think, it outstanding. We’ve just got to get back. It’s not like we didn’t win a national championship two years ago. I know everybody remembers it, we won that. Don’t forget that our women’s basketball team has been to the Elite Eight in three of the last five years. Matthew had a nice year this year, second in our league and second in the tournament, went to the Elite Eight. It wasn’t a horrible year for us (laughs).

“We’re not going to get into this back-and-forth stuff. Give them credit for what they’ve done. They had a nice year, and that’s good for them. But I’m proud of what we’ve done. Our kids competed hard and we made significant improvements in a lot of sports and the consistency with which we’ve done on the field, on the court, those type of things, I’m really pleased with what our coaches are doing. It’s across the board. It hasn’t wavered much. There have been a couple hiccups, but we’ll get back to where we want to be. For the most part, our coaches have been rock solid.”

What he meant:

“Louisville’s had a phenomenal year; one that’s unprecedented in the history of college athletics.  They beat us head-to-head in the two major sports and their top non-revenue programs competed for national championships. I had my underlings scour the internet to find a ranking that would have us ahead of them by including ridiculous criteria.  The Capital One Cup was so bad looking for us, we had to find something that looked a little better.  After a painstakingly long search, we discovered the NACDA Director’s Cup, which had us ahead of them, so we are going with that.  It’s like the NIT of athletic program measurements, so that fit our profile of who we are  (makes a goofy face).

At the end of the day, the depth of our program is pretty good. Their football team beat us again, and I thanked Tom for making Charlie feel bad for Joker and not running up the score.  Let’s not kid ourselves, they could’ve put 50 on us easily with Teddy still in the game.  We didn’t win a conference game the entire year, but UofL showed us how to actually beat a team in our own conference by beating Florida in the Sugar Bowl.  That’s pretty impressive considering we haven’t been able to do that in 27 years.  If people thought that the Gators were disinterested when they played Louisville, they basically sleepwalk every year and take us to the woodshed.   They finished 11-2 and 13th in the country and we ended up at 2-10 and 4th in the state behind WKU and Trinity; but at least we had BBN supporting us last year with 19,000 screaming fans at Commonwealth.  That’s the epitome of SEC football right there.  But hey, we had over 50,000 fans for our spring game; there has to be a banner for that, right?

We’re not going to get into this back-and-forth stuff. Give them credit for what they’ve done. They had a nice year, and that’s good for them.  Our women’s team lost in the Elite Eight, but their women’s team finished national runner-up for the second time in school history.  I don’t think we’ve ever gotten that far.  What can you say about their men’s basketball team?  A group of kids who actually value a college education.  They were molded into a well-oiled machine who used the Kevin Ware injury as a turning point in their tournament run.  Our team on the other hand was preseason #3 and lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.  I didn’t like all of our fans saying ‘wait until basketball season’ during the football campaign; it really made them look silly when the Robert Morris fans were storming the court. 

Our baseball team started out in the top 10 in the preseason, too.  Looking back on it, the comment President Todd made a few years ago about UofL over hyping and under performing is certainly ironic.  Anyway, we did manage to beat Louisville once, but they came back up to Lexington and hammered us on our home field.  Like their football team, their baseball team showed us how to win in the SEC by beating Vanderbilt in the Super Regional, something we couldn’t do in three tries this year.  But, like I said, I really like our depth in all of our programs.  I’m going to be following up on that spring game attendance banner. ”

We’re happy to clear that up for you.

Go Cards.

It’s another day, and UofL is still really good at whatever they do

*Louisville and Indiana will square off in the CWS in prime time on Saturday at 8:00 on ESPN

*Peyton Siva’s replacement, Chris Jones, is ranked 10th in Sporting News’ Point Guard rankings

His entry into Division I basketball was delayed by two years, but it was time well spent. Jones led Northwest Florida State to the NJCAA title game as a freshman and sophomore, and last season was named national player of the year. His teams were 62-6. Louisville needs a new point guard with Peyton Siva gone. Jones has the talent to do more than just fill the job.

*WDRB’s Rick Bozich writes how Jurich sees ‘a different game’

Before he saw net-cutting and celebratory dog piles, U of L athletic director Tom Jurich saw something in Strong, Walz and McDonnell that others missed or ignored.

“I’d much rather go through the learning curve than have somebody who is resting on their laurels,” Jurich said. “We’re going to give them enough support around them to let them be successful.

“I look for people who have the same passion that I do. That’s the most important thing to me. If we get people like that, they turn their hard work into having fun. I think people want to work here. I think people want to come to Louisville.”

*Eric Crawford discusses UofL baseball’s ‘Cardinal Slam’

Earlier in the game, with U of L up 2-1, pitcher Cory Ege described himself as a bundle of nervous energy in the bullpen.

“I went to get a drink of water, and realized when I was holding the cup that my hand was shaking,” Ege said. “That’s how good Vanderbilt is, and how close we were.”

But when the game went to the ninth and Ege got the word to warm up, there was not a whole lot of shaking going on. And when McDonnell made the unusual decision to pull his closer with one out and one on in the ninth, Ege was steady. He got Vandy leadoff man Tony Kemp, a .400 hitter with a .480 on-base percentage, to line out to left.

Then Xavier Turner singled to right and Vandy had runners at the corners.

“That’s when you’re dying to be between the lines,” Retajczak said. “I knew Ege was going to get that last out. All I could think of was how close we were, not worry about how close Vandy was getting.” He was right, Ege blew a 2-2 pitch by Yastrzemski and Louisville was headed for Omaha.

“I just dropped to my knees and raised my arms,” Ege said. “We had a feeling we were going to do this. But to be in that moment, it was something else.”

*The FedEx Forum in Memphis is expected to host the AAC’s first conference basketball tournament

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco visited FedExForum and is set to announce “sooner rather than later” that the FedEx Forum, home of the Memphis Tigers and Memphis Grizzlies, will host the tournament, according to the report.

The tournament dates are expected to be March 13-15.

*While the SEC doormat up the road is recruiting nicely, let’s not forget that Strong and staff are putting in work towards a a class ranked 16th nationally.

*The Sugar Bowl champs report to campus on August 5th, begin practice on the 6th.

*Louisville’s men are tied for 7th in the most recent Capital One Cup standings; the women are 25th.

Pinch me.  Seriously.  I hope everyone in CardNation can sit back and enjoy the unprecedented success from UofL athletics this season.  There must be something in the water on Floyd Street, and it’s got to be filled with championship ingredients because the national domination from Louisville’s sports teams in simply unreal.  Let’s recap what only one school has accomplished all in the same year.

What an unbelievable run this athletic program is on.  While there have been a handful of schools able to achieve these milestones with a few years of each other, nobody has been able to accomplish these feats all within the same year – until now.  Major kudos to the players, their respective coaches, and staffs as the aforementioned squads have amassed a combined record of 126-28; a winning percentage of (.818).

photo – nbcconnecticut.com

As the Cards join the ACC in 2014, talk of a potential ACC Netowrk continues to heat up.  ESPN’s senior vice president of college sports programming Burke Mangus mentioned UofL as one of the catalysts in making the ACC the best basketball conference ever.

Q: How significant was the ACC Grant of Rights deal in which the schools tied their media revenue to each other?

“It’s a big deal. I think they recognized in order to quell the conversation — real or imagined — about their perceived instability, they needed to demonstrate in the most meaningful way there was solidarity and shared purpose. That allows them to operate without the specter of realignment and reach their full potential. They’re in the process — especially a year from now with Louisville — of having a spectacular basketball conference, the likes of which we’ve probably never seen. The promise is there in football. They would recognize they could be better in football.

Q: Football drives the ratings and in many ways realignment. If a conference is that good in basketball, how much of an impact can that have in dollars from networks?

“I think what the ACC has created could in many ways redefine what’s possible in college basketball in terms of fan interest. When you have the likes of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville joining Tobacco Road along with their other basketball brands, there are real possibilities there. We’re going to move them into our franchise Big Monday slot with the Big 12 so they’ll have early games on Monday nights.