Lots of catching up to do....

A year and a half with no posts?  Thank you, BlogSpot, for not shutting down this blog as abandoned.  Sheesh....

It appears The Year of the Cardinal has not yet died; the University of Louisville baseball team won a wacky, rain-ravaged regional at Jim Patterson Stadium to advance to a super-regional against upstart Kennesaw (Ga.) State, also at home.  The Cards now stand two victories away from their second consecutive College World Series appearance.

U of L, Kentucky, Kansas and Kent State spent more time battling the weather than each other.  UK and Kansas suffered nearly four hours of thunderstorm delays in the opening game, and as a consequence, the U of L-Kent State game lasted well past 11 p.m.  The next two days followed a similar pattern, culminating in a U of L-UK tilt that began more than four hours later than scheduled due to persistent lightning in the vicinity.

Not surprisingly, the game provided its own fireworks -- the benches emptied twice due to home plate collisions, but no punches were thrown.  In the top of the seventh inning, U of L's Alex Chittenden stumbled trying to slide head first, taking UK first baseman Thomas Bernal's legs out from underneath him.  Then in the bottom half, Bernal ran over Cardinal catcher Kyle Gibson and by rule was ejected.  The Cards won 4-1.

Thanks to No. 5 national seed Florida State's shocking early exit from its regional, the Cards now host the upstart Kennesaw State Owls and stand two wins from a return to Omaha.

Sweet.

* * * * * * * * *

 

By UK men's basketball coach John Calipari's standards, U of L football enjoyed the greatest day in its history when three Cardinals were selected in the first round -- safety Calvin Pryor by the New York Jets, defensive end Marcus Smith by the Philadelphia Eagles, and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater by the Minnesota Vikings, who traded with the Seattle Seahawks to grab him with the last pick of the first round.

 

Bridgewater, who endured three months of badmouthing from the "experts" prior to the draft, now is being touted by some of these same "experts" as the frontrunner to start at QB for the Vikings.  I guess his supposed skinny legs and small hands wound up not as detrimental as they thought.

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

The men's basketball team followed its national championship with a Sweet Sixteen loss to eventual runner-up Kentucky, in a regional dubbed by many the Murderous Midwest.  This regional included the previous two national champions, as well as two of the other three teams from the 2013 Final Four.

 

As far as I can determine, the only other time the previous two champions met was the 1962 final, when Cincinnati beat Ohio State for the second consecutive year -- the Buckeyes won the title in 1960.  Never before had three teams from the preceding year's Final Four been placed in the same regional.

 

It was difficult not to look at that bracket and suspect skullduggery within the selection committee.

 

Too difficult for me -- in my eyes, something surely was rotten in Indianapolis.

 

* * * * * * * * *

In about four weeks, Louisville ends its one-year sojourn in the American Athletic Conference and joins the Atlantic Coast Conference.  While scoffers expect the Cards to get a general comeuppance from the stiffer competition in the ACC, I would caution naysayers to look at U of L's history under athletic director Tom Jurich.  Based on what happened when U of L moved from Conference USA to the Big East in 2005, I expect the Cards to contend for ACC championships in multiple sports within a very few years.

 

We have Tom Jurich; no one else does.  I believe that's enough.

U of L's 2012 midseason grade: A-minus

Halfway through the 2012 regular season, the University of Louisville football team has won all six of its games, yet also has shown areas where it has ample room to improve.  Overall, I'll grade them an A-minus so far: good, but not up to potential.

The offense has performed well -- the Cards have put up at least 28 points in each of their games except the the monsoon at Southern Mississippi, and sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been, if anything, better than advertised.  To date, he is completing 71.8 percent of his passes, with 9 TDs and three interceptions, and has made very few ill-advised throws; the way he has skippered the offense, I'd say he's already the best Cardinal QB I've ever seen -- and I go back to 1964 as a U of L fan.

The running game gets good marks as well -- between them, Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright have carried 195 times for 1050 yards and 15 touchdowns, and if they remain healthy. each could conceivably rack up 1000 yards on the ground.  To my knowledge, this hasn't been done at U of L in a very long time, if ever -- maybe Nathan Poole and Calvin Prince did it one season in the '70s, but I haven't found any documentation.

Overall, the offense is averaging 409.2 yards a game, and the defense is allowing 331.2.  In the red zone, the Cards have scored 21 touchdowns and five field goals in 27 trips -- 96 percent efficiency.

Now for the "needs improvement" categories:

I expected better defense against the pass -- U of L has yielded a 65.6 completion percentage and 11 passing touchdowns.  It appears that at least going into the Pitt game that followed a bye week, the linebackers had contributed little to the pass defense -- opposing offenses have feasted on the large gap between the linebackers and the defensive backs.  This has contributed to 44 percent third-down conversions and 74 percent touchdowns in the red zone.  Room to improve here, fellas.

Special teams have produced mixed results.  Punters Josh Appleby and Ryan Johnson have averaged only 31.3 net yards per punt, with opponents getting an average of 7.9 yards per return.  U of L also has yielded 24.4 yards per kickoff return, resulting in opponents averaging starting at their own 28-yard line.  Appleby and John Wallace have combined for only three touchbacks in 39 kickoffs; weather conditions have contributed, certainly, but the Cards could use deeper kickoffs to worsen opponents' field position.

This U of L team has shown flashes of how good it can be -- notably, the first half of the North Carolina game and the second half last Saturday at Pitt.  If they can sustain that kind of effort for four quarters consistently, a final grade of A-plus isn't beyond reason.

* * * * * * * * *

Alex Rodriguez may have made himself an ex-Yankee with his shenanigans during the American League playoffs, capped by his flipping a baseball inscribed with a request for her phone number to a woman sitting behind the dugout during the late innings of a one-run contest.

When asked for his reaction to being benched for Game 4 of the ALCS, Rodriguez said he understood Yankee manager Joe Girardi had do do what he thought best for the team, but concluded, "I have to believe any lineup is stronger when I'm in it."

Really?

Here's a news flash, A-Rod: when you're hitting .130 and striking out in more than half your at-bats, you are the only one who believes that.  Your ego has written a check your performance can't cash -- it's time you were shipped elsewhere.

Springtime surprises

As I was growing up, it often seemed there were no college sports to get excited about after the NCAA basketball championship game.  After a few days of acute withdrawal, I reset my sights to major league baseball.

I don't do that any more -- especially not this year.

University of Louisville women's softball and University of Kentucky baseball have exploded into dominance, so much so that an otherwise fine U of L baseball season has flown pretty much under the radar -- except for two poundings of top-ranked UK.

The softball Cards, as of this writing, have produced a credulity-straining 44-2 overall record, 14-2 in Big East play.  That's right -- 44 wins, two losses.  Ace senior pitcher Tori Collins is 21-1, and pulled a Johnny Vander Meer when she tossed back-to-back no-hitters against Longwood two weekends ago.  U of L is poised to claim the top seed in the conference tournament, and barring a total collapse, should find itself playing some NCAA games at home in Ulmer Stadium.

UK baseball, meanwhile, has run roughshod over every team on its schedule not named Louisville -- the Cards are the only squad that has beaten the Cats more than once.  Kentucky has spent most of the season atop at least one of the three major polls, and has won every series is Southeastern Conference play this year.

The baseball Cards swept UK this season for the first time since 1999, and their 12-0 win at Cliff Hagan Stadium on Apr. 10 marked their first shutout of the Cats in Lexington in 78 years.  Heading into this weekend's home series against Connecticut, U of L stands 29-12 overall and tied with the Huskies for the Big East lead at 10-5.

And oh, by the way -- U of L men's tennis has repeated as Big East champions.

* * * * * * * * *

I'd like to add big props to UK basketball player Terrence Jones, who ran over a U of L cheerleader in pursuit of a loose ball during the Cats' 69-61 win over the Cards in a national semifinal.  When informed the young lady had received stitches due to the collision, Jones said he would bring her flowers by way of apology.  Last week, he did.

Classy.

Of unexpected pleasures and coronations

Anyone who says he or she foresaw the University of Louisville's run to the Final Four back in January lies.  Big time.

I didn't see it coming, and I'll put my belief in the Cardinals -- and Rick Pitino -- up against anyone's.  However, I do recall telling several of my friends who were ready to bail on the Cards that we've seen this movie before.  Not only Pitino's teams, but also some of Denny Crum's, have gone through awful-looking stretches in January, only to emerge as world-beaters come March.

I had U of L pegged as a Sweet Sixteen team before the season -- I thought given the talent on hand, that was a reasonable expectation.  I must admit I've never been happier to be wrong.

At midseason, a noisy chunk of Planet Red started howling for Pitino's head, claiming the game had passed him by.  Pitino silenced the doubters by crafting a terrific postseason run.  The Cards caught fire in the Big East tournament, and carried that championship momentum into the Big Dance, riding a suffocating defense into the last weekend of the season.

Looking forward to next season, if the Cards can avoid the epidemic of injuries that plagued them last year and this year, they could be scary good.  I don't recall seeing a U of L team improve as much over the last third of the season as this one did.  Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith will be missed, but if Mike Marra returns from his injury and Wayne Blackshear gets healthy, they along with transfer Luke Hancock should provide additional outside firepower.

On the inside, Chane Behanan continues to refine his Rodney McCray impression, and if Gorgui Dieng delivers on his vow to add 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason, he will become a beast on the glass.  Throw in a healthy Stephan Van Treese and an improved Zach Price, and the Cards should rebound with anyone on their schedule.

I'm not yet ready to make this a prediction, but next season marks the 30th anniversary of the only back-to-back Final Four appearances in U of L history.  Just sayin'.

* * * * * * * * *

Now a thought or two on the University of Kentucky's national championship.

First, it looks like John Calipari can coach a little.  It's one thing to assemble a collection of talent like this;  it's another to mold them into a group that values collective success more than individual achievement.  We've seen teams nearly as talented implode under the weight of clashing egos -- North Carolina in 2009-10 comes to mind.

But Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones and the rest of the Cats truly played as though the "Kentucky" on the front of the jersey mattered more than their own names on the back.  And even though my Cards twice fell victim to their virtuosity, I applaud the Cats and was thrilled to watch them validate a season's worth of sky-high expectations and cut down the nets in New Orleans.  It probably will make Big Blue Nation's lunatic fringe a bit tough to deal with for the next few weeks, but I'm extremely happy for the team.

A few random observations....

I sense a burgeoning trend: more and more, it appears a University of Louisville men's basketball season is not complete without at least one winning comeback from a double-figure second half deficit.

While not in the mold of last season's "Miracle on Main Street" against Marquette, U of L's erasure of an 11-point West Virginia lead yesterday in Morgantown impressed many observers.  For the first time since they came out of the gate with 12 consecutive wins, the Cards looked like the team the pollsters voted to the preseason Top 10.

Not coincidentally, for the first time all year, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has enough bodies available to employ his trademark relentless defense and still have fresher legs than the opposition come the last 10 minutes.  Such was the case in Morgantown, where a game-ending 13-3 run produced a 77-74 Cardinal win, sealed by Kyle Kuric's steal and two free throws with :05.5 left.

Freshman Wayne Blackshear started the Cards' closing kick with a backdoor layup, the last two of 13 points in his U of L career debut.  Pitino had maintained all week he didn't expect Blackshear to play until next Saturday's game at DePaul, but said afterwards he had planned all along to play him against the Mountaineers.  Pitino said the deception was mainly to keep WVU head coach Bob Huggins from tweaking his game plan by taking advantage of Internet resources to "e-scout," if you will.

In fact, Blackshear said, Pitino didn't tell him he'd be playing until just before the game.  Blackshear's 20 solid minutes erased a lot of speculation about how far he might be from game fitness, although to be fair, there were moments that made clear he still is far from mastering Pitino's system.  Even so, that impressive a performance in a February first appearance more than a year removed from his last serious game action gave some credence to the preseason hype.  One can only hope Blackshear can sustain something close to that level of performance.

Now that the Cards finally are getting healthy and the newest players have a firmer grasp of Pitino's system, U of L is becoming a dangerous team.  We've seen this movie before, Cardinal fans -- and a few times, it's had a pretty happy ending.

* * * * * * * * *

Stepping away from sports for a moment, I was stunned and saddened at the news of Whitney Houston's passing.  The 48-year-old pop sensation had a well-chronicled struggle with substance abuse, and in a recent attempt at a comeback, her formerly magnificent voice had shown evidence of severe wear and tear, the ravages of addiction combined with poor vocal technique. 

I hope she now has found comfort -- rest in peace, dear diva.

We may not be as good as we thought....

...But we're a lot better than we looked a couple of weeks ago.

So say fans of the University of Louisville men's basketball team, winners of four consecutive Big East Conference games and playing with a confidence missing since at least December.

Saturday, the Cardinals dispatched visiting Rutgers 78-66 at the KFC Yum! Center, behind 23 points and 11 rebounds from freshman forward Chane Behanan.  Behanan recorded his sixth double-double of the season and hit 11 of 12 attempts from the field, his only miss a wide-open three-point try -- a good shot, merely off target.  He finally shows signs of learning the craft of rebounding at the college level; as a result, other players, teammates and opponents alike, who dare dispute a missed shot with him do so at their peril.

Behanan said his major influence is former Pittsburgh forward DeJuan Blair, now of the San Antonio Spurs, whose mantra is "Treat every rebound like a dollar sign."  That voracious pursuit of every carom reminds me of a host of former Cardinals, but when I look at Behanan, I see Rodney McCray.  If Behanan wore No. 22 instead of 24, he'd be a figurative McCray clone.

Behanan                                                             McCray

These head shots don't look much alike -- facially, Behanan looks more like McCray's older brother Scooter -- but from the neck down, the resemblance borders on eerie.  The two also play very similar games in the paint, and their statistics are very much alike as well.  Here's a comparison between Behanan this year and McCray as a freshman in 1979-80:

                                                   Behanan                             McCray

Minutes played per game                  24.9                                   32.6

Field goal percentage                        .486                                   .543

Free throw percentage                      .605                                   .647

Rebounds per game                           7.7                                    7.5

Blocked shots per game                     0.5                                    1.8

Steals per game                                0.8                                    0.8

Assists per game                               0.9                                    2.0

Points per game                                9.7                                    7.8 

Overall, McCray shot slightly better from the field and from the line.  Rebounding is practically a draw.  McCray averaged about three times as many blocked shots, but unlike Behanan, he didn't play with an eraser like Gorgui Dieng; on the '79-80 Cards, McCray played center and was the team's best shotblocker.  Steals are dead even.  McCray averaged double the assists, and indeed was a brilliant passer, but in order to record an assist, two things must happen: a player must make a pass, and the receiving teammate must make a shot.  McCray played on a team that shot 52 percent from the floor; Behanan plays on one that currently shoots 43 percent.

Behanan averages 9.7 points per game for a team that averages 71.3; McCray averaged 7.8 on a team that not only scored 76.9, but had Darrell Griffith averaging 22.9 -- nearly 30 percent of the total.  Kyle Kuric, this season's top scorer, has accounted for 16.9 percent of U of L's points, leaving more offense for Behanan to grab a share of.

Similar physique, similar numbers -- if Behanan stays healthy and continues to improve, I believe he could join McCray in U of L's very exclusive 1000-point, 1000-rebound club.  (The other members are Charlie Tyra, Wes Unseld and Pervis Ellison.)

* * * * * * * * *

Some observers believe U of L was overrated as a preseason Top 10 team, based on the record so far this season.  I would presume to point out the team the pollsters ranked so highly before play began in November has never yet been on the court.

That team would have had a healthy Mike Marra and Rakeem Buckles and gotten meaningful contributions from Wayne Blackshear and Kevin Ware.  It also wouldn't have lost more than 80 player-games to injuries and spent so much time unable to practice due to lack of bodies.

With a full complement of healthy bodies getting more meaningful practice time, Louisville arguably would have collectively learned its offensive and defensive systems more quickly, thereby avoiding the mistakes that cost it late leads against Georgetown and Notre Dame and negated a brilliant start at Marquette.

Had the Associated Press and ESPN/USA TODAY polls not held the Cards in such high preseason esteem, I think Planet Red would be more accepting of the current 18-5 record.  The current 6-4 Big East record still might have engendered some grousing, but I believe the collective angst level would be lower.

Perspective and patience are called for, I think.  This team is rounding into shape, and as long as Dieng can roam the paint and block and alter shots, this team is capable of great things.  We shall see.

Come down off that ledge, folks....

It seems there's life left in this flock of Cardinals after all.

Perhaps determined to overcome the absence of leading scorer Kyle Kuric, his University of Louisville teammates jumped with both feet on visiting DePaul, roaring to an early 18-5 advantage and snuffing a late rally enroute to a 76-59 victory.

The "Smith Brothers," unrelated Russ and Chris, sparked the win with 25 and 18 points respectively.  Watching the two of them, I'm reminded of a comment Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams, then the Chicago Cubs' closer, made to Sports Illustrated contrasting himself with ace starter Rick Sutcliffe.

"Sutcliffe pitches like he's in a rocking chair," Williams said.  "I pitch like my hair's on fire."

While I wouldn't quite call Chris Smith rocking-chair calm, I'll buy Russ as the next Wild Thing.  In fact, I see him more as a basketball version of former NHRA/Formula 1/IndyCar racer Danny Ongais, a/k/a Danny On-The-Gas.  Ongais drove only one way: flat out -- as though his only options were win or crash.  Similarly, Russ Smith's motor seems stuck in overdrive; his 25 points came on 22 field goal attempts -- but he also racked up six assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins became known as The Human Highlight Reel; perhaps we should call Russ Smith something like The Human Thrill Ride.

* * * * * * * * *

This evening in Foxboro, MA, the Tim Tebow train finally derailed.  Behind nonpareil quarterback Tom Brady's six touchdown passes, the New England Patriots bludgeoned Tebow's Denver Broncos 45-10.  Brady's six TD throws tied the NFL playoff game record; he threw a record five in the first half, three to tight end Rob Gronkowski.  Tebow completed only nine of 26 attempts for 136 yards; he suffered five sacks and seemingly spent most of the night running for his life.

Lest I be accused of Schadenfreude, I took no special pleasure in watching Tebow and the Broncos getting strafed.  I was rooting for the Patriots, though -- I like Brady, and the Pats also have former U of L standout Deion Branch.  (See there?  Cardinal content.)  Tebow's out-front Christian faith doesn't bother me either, although if I never hear him sing "Awesome God" again, it'll be too soon.

What does bother me, though, is the sniping Tebow draws because of his faith and the way he demonstrates it -- as though somehow being devout and an NFL quarterback have become mutually exclusive.  Tebow may pray for victory if he chooses; sometimes, as against the Patriots, that doesn't work.

As Napoleon supposedly said, "God fights on the side with the heaviest artillery."  Tonight, that was the Patriots.