It's been a tumultuous time to be a Louisville football fan.
Consider: Within the span of less than two weeks, the Cards win the Orange Bowl over Wake Forest, 24-13; lose their head coach; have their stud-horse running back, who missed all but 33 minutes of the season with a broken leg, declare for the NFL draft; bring in a new head coach; and retain their starting quarterback.
Coach Bobby Petrino's departure for the Atlanta Falcons reminded me of an old joke about a guy who asked an attractive woman, "Would you sleep with me for $1,000,000?"
After a moment's thought, she said, "I suppose so."
"Would you sleep with me for $20?"
WHAP! "What do you think I am?!" she huffed.
"We've established that," he retorted, rubbing his face where she had slapped him. "Now we're negotiating your price."
Falcons owner Arthur Blank found Petrino's price.
U of L athletic director Tom Jurich got the last word, in a sense -- he had Petrino's replacement hired before the chair in Bobby's office got cold. Jurich had his old buddy Steve Kragthorpe, late of the University of Tulsa, on board in under 48 hours. This has all the earmarks of another genius hire; Kragthorpe can just about match Petrino's credentials as an offensive genius and developer of quarterbacks, but has Bobby beat all to hell in terms of charisma. He can smile without straining himself!
About Michael Bush's jump to the pros: many expert prognosticators cited it as a reason to drop the Cards to the bottom, or in some cases clear out, of their early predictions on next fall's Top 25. Hello? Bush was lost for the year three minutes into the second half of the season opener; all the team managed without him was an 11-1 record. I wish Michael well; we U of L fans haven't seen one of our alums succeed as a pro running back since Ernie Green four decades ago.
Of course, most of the naysayers figured that at a minimum, quarterback Brian Brohm also would make the jump to the pros. They were wrong. Brohm didn't announce his decision until the last possible day, but in the end, one more chance to lead his hometown school to a shot at the national championship meant more than possible NFL millions.
And part of Petrino's welcome to Atlanta? His incumbent star QB gets busted in an airport for possible possession of marijuana, setting loose exactly what Petrino loathes most -- a crapstorm of media attention.
If that's not a damned shame, I don't know what is (heh, heh, heh).
Consider: Within the span of less than two weeks, the Cards win the Orange Bowl over Wake Forest, 24-13; lose their head coach; have their stud-horse running back, who missed all but 33 minutes of the season with a broken leg, declare for the NFL draft; bring in a new head coach; and retain their starting quarterback.
Coach Bobby Petrino's departure for the Atlanta Falcons reminded me of an old joke about a guy who asked an attractive woman, "Would you sleep with me for $1,000,000?"
After a moment's thought, she said, "I suppose so."
"Would you sleep with me for $20?"
WHAP! "What do you think I am?!" she huffed.
"We've established that," he retorted, rubbing his face where she had slapped him. "Now we're negotiating your price."
Falcons owner Arthur Blank found Petrino's price.
U of L athletic director Tom Jurich got the last word, in a sense -- he had Petrino's replacement hired before the chair in Bobby's office got cold. Jurich had his old buddy Steve Kragthorpe, late of the University of Tulsa, on board in under 48 hours. This has all the earmarks of another genius hire; Kragthorpe can just about match Petrino's credentials as an offensive genius and developer of quarterbacks, but has Bobby beat all to hell in terms of charisma. He can smile without straining himself!
About Michael Bush's jump to the pros: many expert prognosticators cited it as a reason to drop the Cards to the bottom, or in some cases clear out, of their early predictions on next fall's Top 25. Hello? Bush was lost for the year three minutes into the second half of the season opener; all the team managed without him was an 11-1 record. I wish Michael well; we U of L fans haven't seen one of our alums succeed as a pro running back since Ernie Green four decades ago.
Of course, most of the naysayers figured that at a minimum, quarterback Brian Brohm also would make the jump to the pros. They were wrong. Brohm didn't announce his decision until the last possible day, but in the end, one more chance to lead his hometown school to a shot at the national championship meant more than possible NFL millions.
And part of Petrino's welcome to Atlanta? His incumbent star QB gets busted in an airport for possible possession of marijuana, setting loose exactly what Petrino loathes most -- a crapstorm of media attention.
If that's not a damned shame, I don't know what is (heh, heh, heh).
Labels: college, football, louisville
posted by Alan at 8:36 PM
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