The Card Report

Papas Got A Brand New Blog

2006-10-04T02:42:00.000-04:00

This is the end, my only three readers, the end.

Yes the rumors are all true, this will be our last post on The Card Report, but we invite (beg) all of you to come check us out at our new home Card Chronicle. New name, same lame...ness.

We'd like to thank blogger for being such kind of hosts over the past seven months, and we ask that they leave the door unlocked because there's a solid chance that we'll be back after we're exposed for the hacks we truly are. Or call one too many people dicks.

Peace, love, Cards.

What To Read While Exchanging Erotic E-Mails With Mark Foley

2006-10-02T23:22:00.000-04:00

Apparently the University of Louisville will be fielding a men's basketball team this season, and said team will partake in a Red-White intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 9:30 a.m. in Cardinal Arena.

Tickets (which go on sale Wednesday) are $10 and will benefit the Metro United Way.

In a surprisingly awesome move, the AP has released the ballots of each top 25 voter to the public. We think our own Fred Cowgill represented himself quite well, although Michigan at seven and Georgia at eight is difficult to defend. But what do you expect, everytime the guy walks down the street, assholes keep "challenging" him to do crazy stuff. How the hell is he supposed to get any game watching done? What's that? They don't do that anymore? Well was anybody gonna bother to tell us? Unbelievable. Don't look at us like that.

We love Brock Bolen. For fear of being murdered in our sleep, that's all we have to say about that.

David Patrick was one pick away from winning $100,o00 in wagerline.com's Survivor contest, but his bet that Arizona State would cover the two-point spread at home against Oregon was a dud. Not to be a Sunday morning gambler, but dude? It looks like the Pac 10 (and, ahem, the WNBA) is your thing, so why the hell wouldn't you jump on Cal only giving nine to Oregon State or U Dub GETTING two at Arizona?

If this kid had won 20 straight without gambling on women's basketball then we wouldn't have said a word.

If the season ended today, Louisville would finish sixth in the BCS rankings. Ohio State and USC would battle it out for the championship.

Adam Nettina talks about the lack of respect the Navy football program still receives from some Big East members.

The poll on Dick Vitale's website (yeah we check it, wanna fight about it?) asks readers if Louisville or Kentucky will advance further in this year's NCAA Tournament. Kentucky is winning, and this pleases us not. Vote or die...by the freakishly weak hands of an internet blogger.

Not exactly sure how they celebrate down at Texas A&M, and quite frankly we'd just as soon not be enlightened.

A brilliant rant on the wonder of the internet, the demise of ESPN, the importance of blogs, and Bill Simmons from Kissing Suzy Kolber.

When Ron Zook wins a football game, Ron Zook WILL celebrate by water skiing.

We have no idea why, but we just cannot control ourselves every time we look at this picture. God Ron Zook rules.

Our last order of business is to announce that the Oct. 14 matchup between Louisville and Cincinnati will be played at 3:30 and will be televised by ESPNU.

Peace, love, Cards.

I Don't Want Anybody Else....

2006-10-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

Note: we're focusing on the creepy guy in the white shirt on the bottom left.

Apprently finally having a football team with a winning record is justification for public masturbation to UK fans.

Cards Stay Put In Both Polls

2006-10-01T22:57:00.000-04:00

Louisville is ranked eighth in the country for the second straight week in both major polls, losing one point in the AP, and picking up 35 in the Coaches. The ridiculous unwillingness of the voters to stray from their meaningless original rankings is beginning to show as Michigan remains in the six hole despite giving the most impressive performance of the weekend among the teams ranked 2-6.

The Coaches poll continues to improve on its status as the most dismissable poll in the universe with its undefendable ranking of Georgia Tech behind Virginia Tech, a team they manhandled on Saturday. We don't blame the coaches for producing an unreliable poll (when you're actually coaching in a game it slightly hinders your ability to catch as many teams in action as possible on Saturday), we blame whoever is allowing this poll to still carry any weight.

Week 6 AP Top 25

1. Ohio State (62) 5-0 1,622
2. Auburn (1) 5-0 1,498
3. USC 4-0 1,470
4. West Virginia (2) 4-0 1,395
5. Florida 5-0 1,393
6. Michigan 5-0 1,342
7. Texas 4-1 1,204
8. Louisville 4-0 1,165
9. LSU 4-1 1,157
10. Georgia 5-0 968
11. Oregon 4-0 946
12. Notre Dame 4-1 921
13. Tennessee 4-1 824
14. Oklahoma 3-1 735
15. Clemson 4-1 689
16. California 4-1 633
17. Florida State 3-1 548
18. Georgia Tech 4-1 539
19. Iowa 4-1 444
20. Boise State 5-0 353
21. Virginia Tech 4-1 339
22. Nebraska 4-1 325
23. Missouri 5-0 208
24. Rutgers 5-0 178
25. Boston College 4-1 52

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Texas Tech 34, Wake Forest 29, Washington 28, TCU 25, Wisconsin 19, Penn State 15, Miami (FL) 14, UCLA 7, Arkansas 5, Pittsburgh 1.

Week 6 USA Today Poll

1. Ohio State (62) 5-0 1,574
2. USC 4-0 1,475
3. Auburn (1) 5-0 1,418
4. West Virginia 4-0 1,366
5. Florida 5-0 1,309
6. Michigan 5-0 1,277
7. Texas 4-1 1,178
8. Louisville 4-0 1,140
9. Georgia 5-0 1,039
10. LSU 4-1 1,038
11. Oregon 4-0 946
12. Notre Dame 4-1 851
13. Oklahoma 3-1 706
14. Tennessee 4-1 673
15. Clemson 4-1 657
16. Florida State 3-1 601
17. California 4-1 588
18. Virginia Tech 4-1 421
19. Iowa 4-1 418
20. Georgia Tech 4-1 347
21. Boise State 5-0 344
22. Nebraska 4-1 326
23. Rutgers 5-0 192
24. Texas Tech 4-1 141
25. Missouri 5-0 136

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

TCU 92, Boston College 88, Penn State 29, Arkansas 23, Wake Forest 16, Washington 14, Purdue 13, Miami (FL) 11, Wisconsin 11, Texas A&M 6, Brigham Young 6, South Carolina 2, Pittsburgh 2, UCLA 1.

DROPPED FROM RANKINGS
TCU 15, Boston College 25.

Saying Bye For The Bye Weekend

2006-09-29T04:04:00.000-04:00

Due to some family bidness, we're going to be largely MIA for the next couple of days. Enjoy the bye weekend, it's your last chance to refrain from pure unadulterated and unhealthy fanatacism for about six months.

We leave you now with the only thing that could possibly keep your spirits up during such a time, we speak of course of the gift that keeps on giving....

Peace, love, Cards.

Big East Preview: Week 5

2006-09-29T01:47:00.000-04:00

Lost in the fracas that was the beginning of this week was the fact that we never got a chance to recap how our Big East brethren had fared over the weekend. Also conveniently absent was an admission by us that we had just suffered our first multi-loss week of the season.

The vile act of screwing us over was committed by the suspected villainous duo of one Connecticut and one South Florida.

Can you believe we actually bought a pair of Uconn shorts once? Well those days are long gone "friends," oh and by the way, Kahlid El Amin.....really fat and really annoying. Yeah we went there...bitch. Oh and Matt "Gunner" Grothe, you're dangerously close to getting a new nickname, and for the record that nickname will be Herbert. Don't you EVER bring that weak ass shit when we pick you again, if we pick you again.

Week five in the Big East presents a slate of games noticeably lacking it's two top ten guns, meaning it's kind of like Simon and Garfunkel without Simon and Garfunkel. Although we suppose for this scenario Rutgers could be Chevy Chase from the"You Can Call me Al" deal with Simon. Sure his appearance was completely unjustified, he looked goofy and no one took him all that seriously, but he was there, you know.

Anyhow this week does provide us with the second (and first solid) conference matchup of the year, as well as four fairly intriguing non-conference clashes.

(Friday) Rutgers (4-0) at South Florida (3-1)

Time/TV: 8:00/ESPN2

Favorite: Rutgers by 4

Rutgers enters Friday's conference opener against the Bulls nationally ranked for the first time since 1976. What they don't want you to know is they haven't beaten a team anywhere near being relevant, sophomore QB Mike Teel ranks 10th in an eight-team Big East in passing efficiency, averaging a mere 126.5 yards per game through the air, and they just lost their best receiver and senior captain, Shawn Tucker, to a fractured ankle.

The Scarlet Knights will walk into Raymond James Stadium with a depleted receiving corps that has a combined five starts amongst them. Senior Willie Foster and sophomore Tiquan Underwood are listed as the starters now, with redshirt freshman Dennis Campbell and Iowa transfer James Townsend, a junior, listed as the backups. True freshmen Tim Brown and Kenny Britt should see increased time because of Tucker's absence.

The good news for RU is that they still have the remarkably resilient Ray Rice rushing rapidly towards the #1 spot on the list of the nation's top rushers. Rice is fourth nationally in rushing at 151 yards per game, and has 604 yards overall and nine touchdowns. He also has a streak of six 100-yard games, which is just one shy of J.J. Jennings' school record set 33 years ago.

Matt "Gunner (Herbert?)" Grothe has been just about the entire offense for the Bulls, who are comign off their first loss of the season last Saturday at Kansas. Not only has Grothe passed for 843 yards and six score, but the redshirt freshman also has rushed for a team-leading 279 yards and ranks 10th nationally in total offense overall.

USF has used several running backs to try and fill the void of graduated tailback Andre Hall, the Big East's second-leading rusher in 2005. But neither Benjamin Williams or Walt Smith are game-breaking threats. While Ean Randolph (15 catches, 206 yards) has been Grothe's favorite target, 12 different players have at least one reception.

Timing is huge in college football, and the timing couldn't be any more perfect for Rutgers if they hope to expand on their new found national attention. The Brian Leonard Heisman nonsense has fizzled, so maybe this could be the coming out party for Ray Rice who hopes to live up to the billing of his statistics.

A huge game in terms of being able to gauge whether or not Rutgers is an actual contender as well as whether or not Teel is going to be able to turn things around and be the guy for the state university of New Jersey. A loss could mean a trip back to obscurity for another thirty years.

If you like offense, shield your eyes.

TCR Prediction: Rutgers 17, South Florida 14

Navy (3-1) at Connecticut (2-1)

Time/TV: Noon/ESPN Regional

Favorite: Uconn by 2

Two of the top rushing attacks in the country will meet when these two mildly disappointing squads duke it out in what could be a battle to earn the right to play in the bowl game with the worst name since the Stab Yourself in the Stomach Bowl (made it up. never existed).

Navy's triple-option offense is ranked first in the country, averaging more than 330 yards on the ground, while the Huskies rank fourth at more than 267 yards per game.

Tailbacks Terry Caulley, Lou Allen and Donald Brown lead the charge for our new least favorite college football team. Caulley, a fifth-year senior, is Connecticut's all-time leading rusher and is coming off a 155-yard performance against Indiana.

The Huskies have shelved sophomore quarterback D.J. Hernandez in favor of senior Matt Bonislawski. Bonislawski started the first five games of the 2005 season before breaking his left collarbone on Oct. 7 against Syracuse. He returned to face Pitt on Nov. 12 and re-injured his collarbone the following week against South Florida. He completed 82 of 162 passes for 836 yards and six touchdowns.

Perhaps Bonislawski doesn't hate us as much as Hernandez did, quite frankly my dear, we don't give a damn.

TCR Prediction: Navy 24, Uconn 20

Toledo (2-2) at Pittsburgh (3-1)

Time/TV: Noon/ESPNU

Favorite: Pitt by 16 1/2

Three years ago Pitt was ranked ninth in the country, had a budding Heisman Trophy candidate in Larry Fitzgerald, and appeared poised for a landmark season. Everything changed with a 35-31 loss at Toledo (their first ever to a MAC oppponent), that set the tone for a disappointing 8-5 campaign.

Pitt enters the revenge game looking to get to 4-1 for the first time since 2000.

The Panthers early season success (to use the term loosely) can be attributed largely to the performance of the "feisty" (read: douchey) Tyler Palko who has looked much more comfortable in coach Dave Wannstedt's offense than he did last season. Palko has completed 71 of 107 passes with 12 TDs and three interceptions, numbers much like those of a sophomore season in which he threw for 24 touchdowns and had only seven interceptions.

Adding to the spice of this game is the move by Dave Wannstedt to play top freshman recruit Dorin Dickerson for the first time. Dickerson had been bothered by injuries during training camp and only now is getting into game shape.

Dickerson played at Palko's former Pittsburgh-area high school, West Allegheny, for Palko's father Bob, and is versatile enough to line up at wide receiver or running back.

Toledo is going through a bit of a quarterback controversy, as well as....alright we're just going to stop ourselves right here because they're not gonna win.

TCR Prediction: Pitt 31, Toledo 14

Wyoming (1-3) at Syracuse (2-2)

Time/TV: 1:30/ESPN 360

Favorite: Syracuse by 5

We give you Wyoming tailback Devin Moore:

"I'm going to guarantee a win next week against Syracuse," Moore said in the aftermath of last week's home loss to Air Force, the Cowboys' third straight setback. "We're going to win, that's the bottom line."

Whoah ho ho, not bad my friend, but why don't you try this on real quick: We guarantee that not only will you lose on Saturday, but absolutely nobody is going to give a shit about the game or the fact that you made yourself look like a total dick, meaning this will officially go down as the most pathetic attempt at a guarantee since a no-legged, one armed, retarded, blind, midget Roman named Chappy guaranteed he could slay 37 tigers without a weapon in 182 AD.

TCR Prediction: Syracuse 27, Wyoming 20

Miami (OH) (O-4) at Cincinnati (1-3)

Time/TV: 3:30/None

Favorite: Cincinnati by 11 1/2

The 111th "Battle for the Bell" will take place at Nippert Stadium on Saturday in front of several thousand sad human beings.

UC has been impressive in the first half of consecutive games against top 15 opponents, a fact that doesn't change the larger one that focuses on them not having won a game against a Division 1 opponent.

The Bearcats (1-3) opened the season with a 31-0 victory against Eastern Kentucky before losing to Pittsburgh, Ohio State and Virginia Tech. The RedHawks (0-4) have lost to Northwestern, Purdue, Kent State and Syracuse.

Cincinnati wins the rivalry game for just the second time in six years in a squeaker. We probably won't notice until late Sunday.

TCR Prediction: Cincinnati 24, Miami 23

Last Week: 5-2

Season: 26-3

Quickies

2006-09-28T23:13:00.001-04:00

If you've never clicked on one of our links before, please, for the love of God make this one be your first. If you're a fan of radio hosts absolutely losing their shit on the air after a traumatizing loss then today is your lucky day my friend.

The folks over at Orange 44 have a pretty interesting formula for ranking the most efficient offenses and defenses in the Big East. The formula shows Louisville has easily the most efficient offense in the conference, and the fifth most efficient defense.

The first lady of collegiate mustaches, Jan Wannstedt, recently organized and taught a one-night introductory class for women only on the game of football. Over 180 women attended the class including 64-year-old Marianne Hindman.

Marianne Hindman, 64, of West Mifflin walked into the locker room and went straight for quarterback Tyler Palko’s locker.

“His locker is so nice and neat,” said Hindman, who has attended Pitt, Steelers and high school football games since she was 5 years old. “I bet it is always that way, because (the position) is the brains of the team. He needs to have everything organized. I really enjoyed this because I learned some things I didn’t know about the game. Women need to do more things like this. We can’t go to the mall every day.”

This is us slowly backing away with both hands in the air.

Is this weekend's Navy/Uconn contest a Meineke Car Care Bowl elimination game? Adam Nettina says it is.

EDSBS has the scoop on the latest disappointment for John L. Smith in what has turned out to be a very disappointing week for the current and former asshole.

Kentucky has landed a 7-foot "project" for the 17th straight year, only they're hoping that because he's from England it will mean he won't suck at basketball. Mike Williams averaged 12 points and eight rebounds for Bishop Ireton (VA) as a junior, and is described as having a "solid upside." Williams was not ranked in anyone's top 100 besides his own.

If that didn't sell you on Williams, then check out these ringing endorsements:

"If you're trying to replace the Polish kid (or) Shagari Alleyne, he's a good guy," Clark Francis of the Hoop Scoop recruiting service said of Williams. "He has nice potential. He may pan out. He may not."

"He passes the 'look' test," Oettinger said. "He'll look good in an airport. I've never seen him pass the 'play' test."

"You don't have to worry about his grades or about him getting in trouble."

"I don't think Kentucky brought him in to be a starter."

"When you've got four or five scholarships you need to fill, size is a premium this time of year."

Remember when UK used to pull recruiting classes that made us all feel embarrassed? Yeah, this is a lot better.

This is Nebraska football player Terrance Nunn. This is Nebraska football player Terrance Nunn's girlfriend. This is why you hate Nebraska football player Terrance Nunn.

Globeandmail.com takes a look at the issue of whether or not instant replay in college football actually works, and makes brief mention of a certain incorrect ruling on a certain onside kick in a certain game that made us want to jump off a cliff.

Those are your quickies, stay classy Miami fans.

Louisville is a Football City (For Now)

2006-09-28T01:21:00.001-04:00

The city of Louisville has committed adultery.

Surely you noticed and simply looked the other way, but while the wormy apple of marriage still survives, the denial must cease.

The infidelity can be traced directly to the persistent advances of a fiery young flame that plays it's games on a surface that isn't bouncy and with a ball that isn't round.

'Tis the same temptress that caught our eye for the first time a decade and a half ago.

It was something new, it was bold, and it felt like the very thing we'd been missing all our lives. The innocent, early courting days seemed to have gone so well, and yet she rarely called over the next several years. And then even when she did the conversations seemed a bit forced, certainly nothing was said to make us entertain thoughts of leaving a comfortable relationship founded on decades of trust.

She clawed back into our lives near the turn of the century, only this time it appeared she'd reinvented herself. She was edgier, sexier and her once starry eyes now held the undeniable hungry glare of desire. With the new look came new problems, she was unreliable and overly outrageous. Certainly nothing worthy of commitment.

And then she almost had us for good two years ago. She'd shown us she could change, that she was ready to devote everything she had to making us happy. But it was a minor slip up, just for a brief second, that was enough to keep us from falling head over heels.

And now we've finally bitten. The total package is here, the flash of the Doctors of Dunk, the speed and the spirit of Secretariat, and the fight and resiliency of Muhammad Ali. We've taken our hearts and we've moved them from midcourt to the 50-yard-line.

The realization of the official shift in the city hit us two weeks ago.

It was four days before Louisville tackled the notorious Miami Hurricanes and we were on our way to suffer through the next in a long line of mundane tasks in the middle of a mundane work week. We ran into a bit of traffic which backed us up to a position where we were parallel with a playground outside of an elementary school.

We glanced out the right window and observed two or three classes of youngsters partaking in the pinnacle of youth that is recess. We looked a bit harder and spied a glowing little tyke wearing a red Brian Brohm jersey. The young Cardinal fan apparently had taken notice of our curiosity and in one brief motion trampled (symbolically) the four-foot fence that separated us and restored our faith in the future of this world.

The young man flashed us an "L."

Two thoughts immediately emerged, the first being an elaborate plan to sabotage the young Brohm fan's parents in way that would enable us to obtain sole custody of the little gift from God. The second was the realization of how unfathomable such a sight would have been merely a decade ago.

Indeed there was a time of which we are not far removed when Louisville football apparel was harder to find than an African American fan not named Smith in Rupp Arena. A time when an adolescent U of L fanatic's only way of showing off Cardinal pride at school in September was to don a #32 Dejuan Wheat basketball jersey.

Times have changed and being here you can't help but notice it.

The atmosphere in the city two weeks ago was unlike anything we'd ever experienced. There was that certain buzz usually reserved for the month of March or a particular week in December, but the buzz was different, oddly different. Louisville wanted this, they desparately wanted to fall in love with this football team.

Sometime between 3:30 and 6 p.m. on Sept. 16, it happened.

An elaborate sequence of events has led us to this point, from obscurity to Fiesta Bowl to PJCS to the Big East and now to being on the verge of becoming a national power.

This is a rapport built on trust. Miami communicated to us that we can trust you, that the days of the South Floridas, and Armys, and bowl game disasters are officially a thing of the past. We want this to last as much as you do, but sadly all it takes is a stunner in the Carrier Dome or a John L-esque performance at Rutgers Stadium and our focus will go from Giacomini to Gianiny before the team plane takes off.

You have our attention like you've never had it before. It's your show.

Week Five BlogPoll Out

2006-09-27T14:49:00.000-04:00

Louisville still holding steady at 7.

1 Ohio State (43)
2 Auburn (8)
3 Southern Cal (5)
4 Michigan
5 Florida
6 West Virginia
7 Louisville
8 Texas
9 Louisiana State
10 Virginia Tech
11 Georgia
12 Iowa
13 Oregon
14 Notre Dame
15 Tennessee
16 Oklahoma
17 Clemson
18 TCU
19 Cal
20 Nebraska
21 Florida State
22 Boise State
23 Rutgers
24 Georgia Tech
25 Missouri

Also Receiving Votes: Boston College(0.7), Wake Forest(0.6), Ohio(0.4), Washington(0.4), Michigan State(0.4), Arizona State(0.4), Arkansas(0.3), Purdue(0.3), Penn State(0.3), Texas Tech(0.2), Miami (Florida)(0.2), Wisconsin(0.2), UCLA(0.2), Houston(0.2), Texas A&M(0.1), Utah(0.1), Tulsa(0.0), Pittsburgh(0.0), Alabama(0.0), South Carolina(0.0),

Total Ballots: 59

The Card Report Store

2006-09-27T01:28:00.000-04:00

It is with great pleasure and a creepy expression that we announce the grand opening of The Card Report Store.

Featured (only) items available on this specialest of special occasions include...

And then for our fullback/The Scorpions loving readers we have....

(Also available in white)

And then of course everybody's favorite....

(Also available in white and black).

Now we've just begun to tinker with this idea, but we're hoping that you clever people will help it expand. If you have an idea you think is good, or just something you want for yourself, hit us up and we'll see what we can do.

All of these shirts are available in just about every color imaginable, as well as in the long sleeve and sweatshirt variety (if that's your kind of thing). So if you had your heart set on a "got John L?" in say, grey, then all you'd have to do is let us know.

We can also make shirts for specific games, so if you're really amped on beating Middle Tennessee State, you'd better get a request in quickly.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Peace, love, Cards.

BlogPoll: Week Five

2006-09-26T16:45:00.000-04:00

Call it what you want as long as you call it:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Auburn	--
3	Michigan	1
4	Southern Cal	1
5	Florida	--
6	Louisville	--
7	West Virginia	--
8	Louisiana State	--
9	Texas	1
10	Iowa	2
11	Oregon	2
12	Oklahoma	3
13	Tennessee	1
14	Georgia	3
15	TCU	3
16	Virginia Tech	3
17	Notre Dame	1
18	Clemson	2
19	Cal	4
20	Georgia Tech	4
21	Nebraska	1
22	Rutgers	4
23	Boise State	2
24	Washington	2
25	Florida State	--

Dropped Out: Boston College (#17), Arizona State (#19).

Half-baked reasonings:

1. Ohio State: Thought briefly about dropping them, but tOSU still has the biggest road win of the season and still looks like the best team in the country. Get by Iowa and they're going to be number one everywhere for quite some time.

2. Auburn: Buffalo? We thought you'd learned your lesson.

3. Michigan: Here comes pressure Chad Henne, are you ready for it?

4. USC: 2003-2005 USC wouldn't have had that much trouble scoring on Arizona.

5. Florida: You're suspect. Yeah, you. I don't know what your reputation is, in this town, but after the shit you tried to pull today you can bet I'll be looking into it.

6. Louisville: Brock you like a hurricane.

7. West Virginia: Yeah, so, East Carolina? Really? We're gonna let it slide, just this once.

8. LSU: The best team in the SEC.

9. Texas: Does Iowa State just quit trying after the CyHawk game?

10. Iowa: It's your big chance, so take it baby It's your big chance, don't fake it baby....

11. Oregon: We've decided to treat the Oregon/Oklahoma game as a draw, Oregon gets the nod because we think they're the better team.

12. Oklahoma: What he said.

13. Tennessee: Got nothin.

14. Georgia: You have three quarterbacks and none of them can win the SEC.

15. TCU: TCU's going to be in the BCS, and some pissed off team from a power conference is going to play them.

16. Virginia Tech: You suck, we just know it, you suck.

17. Notre Dame: This is a very average team that's going to go to the BCS because they beat nobody and lost to two teams that were better than them.

18. Clemson: Lauren Bowden.

19. Cal: Should help that you were publicly humiliated in early September rather than publicly humiliated in late November because your team might actually be as good as everyone thought they would be.

20. Georgia Tech: Should probably win the SEC (Edit: ACC), but won't because it's Georgia Tech and that's what Georgia Tech does. That and beat teams by 222 points.

21. Nebraska: Seems like a team that's going to beat everyone they should and no one they shouldn't.

22. Rutgers: A moment like this, some fat New Jersey guys have waited a lifetime, for a moment like this.

23. Boise State: Did you know their field is blue?

24. Washington: One bad win, a bad loss to a good team and two good wins. An equation that ends in 24.

25. Florida State: Sometimes these slutty girls come to their games and they don't wear that much clothing. It's awesome.

Closer Look: Offense vs. K-State

2006-09-26T01:07:00.000-04:00

We're all about you TCR readers. We understand that you may be growing weary of this aging partership of ours, what with the mundane repitition of all the same tiresome installments week after week.

Well we can change.

Today we're offering up a new angle (don't leave!) that will take a closer look at our offense by breaking it down play by play and we'll also throw in a neato individual rating system to boot.

How it works is actually quite simple. If a player gives an exceptionally inspired performance then he will get a +1 for that play, if he Mosses it for a down then he'll receive a one with a small line in front of it. We'll then give a scoring summary for each player at the end.

This idea was inspired by Brian over at Mgoblog (we'll tackle creativity after we get variety down), only we've decided not to do it as well or as organized.

For each play we'll give (in order) the down and distance, formation, brief play description and then a brief commentary.

Let the fun begin:

First Drive:

1. 1st and 10 from the UL 3. I tight formation. Kolby Smith (+1) carries off the right tackle for 14 yards. Key blocks by George Busey (+1) and Kurt Quarterman (+1)

2. 1st and 10 from the UL 17. I tight Douglas in motion. Smith carries up the middle for two yards. Missed block by Breno Giacomini (-1)

3. 2nd and 8 from the UL 19. Shotgun four wide. Cantwell (+1) checks and throws complete to Harry Douglas (+1) for seven yards.

4. 3rd and 1 from the UL 26. Single back (Smith), overload right. Brock Bolen (+1) runs right for six yards. Good initial block by Gary Barnidge, (+1) but misses a second (-1) that could have sprung a big gain.

5. 1st and 10 from the UL 32. Single back (Smith), twins right. Jet sweep to JaJuan Spillman (+1) for 11 yards. Great seal block by Kolby Smith (+2) and another by a pulling Renardo Foster (+1).

6. 1st and 10 from the UL 43. Shotgun, twin backs. Misdirection counter to Kolby Smith who runs for three yards. Smith (-1) slows up and tries to dance instead of taking advantage of the big hole made by Busey (+2) and Giacomini (+1)

7. 2nd and 7 from the UL 46. I formation, split wideouts, Barnidge in motion. Toss left to George Stripling for three yards. Gets a good block by Bolen (+2) but a missed block by Mario Urrutia (-1) nearly leaves Stripling decapitated.

8. 3rd and 4 from the UL 49. Shotgun, twins left, single back (Stripling). Pass left complete by Cantwell (+2) to Urrutia (+1) for 14 yards. Mario establishes inside position, runs a sharp route and then shows off his soft hands.

9. 1st and 10 from the KS 37. Ace backfield, trips right. Play action pass complete to Harry Douglas (+2) on an out route for 13 yards. Harry beats McKinney in man coverage and makes the catch on a ball thrown slightly behind him. Urrutia runs his man off long.

10. 1st and 10 from the KS 24. Strong left, Smith deep back. Toss left to Kolby Smith for three yards. Smith tries to stretch and play takes too long to develop.

11. 2nd and 7 from the KS 21. Strong right, Stripling deep back, Barnidge in motion. Draw to Stripling for two yards. Small hole disappears as Stripling (-1) hesitates after his third step.

12. 3rd and 5 from the KS 19. Shotgun, empty backfield, trips right, twins left. Cantwell checks and throws complete (+3) to Harry Douglas (+3) who makes a man miss and takes the ball in for a 19-yard touchdown. Eric Wood (+1) picks up middle blitz, OLB came free off the left side.

Second Drive:

13. 1st and 10 from the KS 49. Ace right (Smith), split wideouts. Cantwell throws complete to Scott Kuhn (+1) for five yards. Cats faked blitz, should have been a piling on penalty on #22.

14. 2nd and 5 from the KS 44. Ace right (Smith), split wideouts. Smith runs right for 11 yards. Outstanding blocks by Quarterman (+2), Barnidge (+2), and Kuhn (+2). Crowd looks stunned as Louisville seems to be doing whatever they want.

15. 1st and 10 from the KS 33. Shotgun, twins left, single back strong side (Smith). Cantwell (-1) throws incomplete behind Harry Douglas. Douglas heavily covered by strong safety Williams and corner Watts over the middle.

--Delay of game penalty

16. 2nd and 15 from the KS 38. Shotgun, empty backfield, trips left, twins right. Cantwell sacked for a loss of 8. Quarterman (-1) gets abused and K-State gets momentum.

17. 3rd and 23 from the KS 46. Shotgun, twins left, single back (Smith). Cantwell throws screen pass complete to Smith for a loss of 1. Giacomini (-2) doesn’t get out quick enough and Brandon Archer blows up the screen.

Third Drive:

18. 1st and 10 from the UL 11. Trips left, single back (Smith). Cantwell throws complete to Harry Douglas (+4) for nine yards. Another stop route, Douglas makes catch and then loses ball but is ruled down by contact. Looks like the correct call, although close enough that it should have been reviewed.

19. 2nd and 1 from the UL 20. Twins left, stacked backfield, Bolen motions left. Smith carries to the left for five yards. Solid blocks by Douglas (+5) and Pat Carter (+1) on the outside.

--Timeout Louisville

20. 1st and 10 from the UL 25. Single back (Smith), twins right. Smith carries to the left for no gain. Slight hole initially, but Quarterman’s (-2) man came from the weak side and made the tackle.

21. 2nd and 10 from the UL 25. Shotgun, twins right, weak side single back (Smith). Cantwell throws behind (-2) Pat Carter. Good pick up by Smith (+3). Carter settles in underneath the defense and Hunter just misses him.

22. 3rd and 10 from the UL 25. Shotgun, trips right, twins left, empty backfield. Incomplete pass, dropped by Scott Long (-1). Left defensive end comes in untouched, but Cantwell escapes and then throws short of the first down to Long who doesn’t look it in. Blown assignment by Giacomini (-3).

--Personal foul penalty on Kansas State

23. 1st and 10 from the UL 40. Strong right (Smith), split wideouts. Kolby Smith runs to the right for no gain. Smith (-2) misses the inside hole and runs right into Brandon Archer.

24. 2nd and 10 from the UL 40. Strong right (Stripling), split wideouts, Barnidge motions to the right. Stripling runs up the middle for 4 yards. Good surge by the O-line and huge pop by Brock Bolen (+3)

--End of first quarter

25. 3rd and 6 from the UL 44. Shotgun, trips left, single back (Smith). Incomplete pass intended for Harry Douglas. Play action, Hunter keys on Douglas’ short route over the middle, but Williams comes across with his left hand and makes a great play.

Fourth Drive:

26. 1st and 10 from the UL 27. I formation (Stripling deep), split wideouts, Bolen motions to the right. Harry Douglas runs for three yards on a reverse. Reverse looks to be set up perfectly, but Douglas (-1) fumbles the ball which luckily bounces right back to him, but his momentum is slowed and Baldwin makes the play for a minimal gain.

27. 2nd and 7 from the UL 30. Ace right (Stripling), split wideouts. Stripling runs to the left for three yards. George finds a small hole before being drilled by the linebacker Walker, who then appears to blow a kiss to the crowd.

28. 3rd and 4 from the UL 33. Ace right (Stripling), split wideouts, Barnidge motions left. Stripling runs to the left for no gain. Run to the weak side and Barnidge (-2) forgets to block Archer who makes the play.

--Nate Harris runs for 39 yards on a fake punt.

29. 1st and 10 from the KS 28. Ace right (Stripling), split wideouts. Cantwell’s pass dropped by Scott Kuhn (-1). Would have only been a gain of about five. Color man says “that’s a drop by what is usually a sure-handed football player.” Guess he’s seen a solid amount of Scott Kuhn over the years.

30. 2nd and 10 from the KS 28. Shotgun, split wideouts, single back (Smith). Cantwell throws complete to Urrutia for no gain. Mario runs a short crossing route (pick play) and stiff arms the first defender, but is tripped up by the linebacker Echols.

31. 3rd and 10 from the KS 28. Single back (Smith), twins left. Kolby Smith runs up the middle for two yards. Delayed handoff goes nowhere as Giacomini (-4) can’t keep the left end Campbell outside. Also appears Busey gets away with a false start.

--Illegal substitution penalty on Louisville.

--Timeout Louisville.

32. 4th and 13 from the KS 31. Shotgun, twins right, single back (Bolen). Cantwell hit as he throws and the pass falls incomplete. Quarterman (-3) not ready when the ball’s snapped, Barnidge destroyed on the left side, Cantwell (-3) holds on to the ball too long.

Fifth Drive:

33. 1st and 10 from the KS 16. Strong right (Smith), split wideouts, Barnidge motions left. Kolby Smith runs left for six yards. Counter play to the weak side sprung by great blocks by Giacomini (+2) and Bolen (+4).

34. 2nd and 4 from the KS 10. Strong right (Smith), split wideouts. Kolby Smith runs up the middle for no gain. Bolen (-1) completely whiffs on a block that would have created a score.

35. 2rd and 4 from the KS 10. Single back (Smith), twins left. Cantwell checks, toss right to Smith for one yard. Again the play takes too long to develop, Kolby gets slowed up by Archer and then three Wildcats stop him before he can get to the yellow line.

Sixth Drive:

36. 1st and 10 from the UL 33. Shotgun, trips right, empty backfield. Cantwell throws complete to Kolby Smith for eight yards. Really didn’t have to run a play here as the clock was running following the change of possession on the Gay interception.

--Halftime

Seventh Drive:

37. 1st and 10 from the UL 28. Shotgun, twin backs, twins left. Cantwell (+4) throws complete to Jimmy Riley (+1) for nine yards. Hunter squeezes the pass between two defenders to Riley for his first catch of the season.

38. 2nd and 1 from the KS 37. Single back (Stripling) split wideouts. Stripling (+1) runs to the right for three yards. Finds a hole, lowers his shoulder and picks up the first down.

--This is where our Tivo breaks out from the storm, so here is the abbreviated summary of the rest of the drive:

39. 1st and 10 from the UL 39. STRIPLING, George rush for 4 yards to the LOU43

40. 2nd and 6 from the UL 43. STRIPLING, George rush for 5 yards to the LOU48

41. 3rd and 1 from the UL 48. Bolen, Brock (+5) rush for 26 yards to the KS26

42. 1st and 10 from the KS 26. CANTWELL, H (+4).pass complete to Smith, Kolby (+4) for 19 yards to the KS7.

43. 1st and goal from the KS 7. STRIPLING, George rush for 4 yards to the KS3

--PENALTY KS face mask (Archer, Brandon) 2 yards to the KS1,

--Timeout Kansas State, clock 10:14.

44.1st and goal from the KS 1.STRIPLING, Geor (+2) rush for 1 yard to the KS0, TOUCHDOWN.

Eighth Drive:

45. 1st and 10 from the UL 41. Single back (Smith), twins right. Cantwell sacked for a loss of five. K-State brings six and Hunter (-4) not only holds on to the ball too long, but he rolls to the place the pressure is coming from.

46. 2nd and 15 from the UL 36. Shotgun, twins left, single back (Smith). Screen pass complete to Kolby Smith (+5) for 8 yards. K-State sends a man off the left end which sets up the screen perfectly. Could have gone for big yardage if not for missed assignments by Danny Barlowe (-1) and Chris Vaughn (-1).

47. 3rd and 7 from the UL 44. Shotgun, four wide, empty backfield. Cantwell (+6) throws complete to Chris Vaughn (+1) for 11 yards. Nice pocket, Hunter throws a bullet over the middle, and Vaughn pops his cherry.

48. 1st and 10 from the KS 45. I formation, split wideouts, Barnidge motions right. Cantwell’s pass dropped by Harry Douglas (-2). Play action, plenty of time, good route, Douglas just lets the ball get into his body and drops what would have been an 11-yard pickup.

49. 2nd and 10 from the KS 45. Single back, twins right. Kolby Smith (-3) fumbles, K-State recovers. Draw play picks up about five after Smith makes a couple guys miss, but is stripped just before (or just after?) he hits the ground by #24 Mack. Still looks to us like he might be down, but definitely nothing indisputable.

Ninth Drive:

50. 1st and 10 from the UL 26. I formation, split wideouts, Barnidge motions right. Toss to George Stripling (+3) for 14 yards. Cantwell fakes to the fullback who goes to the right and then option pitches to Stripling who has the left side open after the end bites. Great utilization of Stripling’s speed and gives him a chance to go one-on-one with the corner. A play we’ll definitely be seeing more.

51. 1st and 10 from the UL 40. Trips right, single back (Stripling). Pass complete to Harry Douglas for 11 yards. Play fake, simple throw, easy catch.

52. 1st and 10 from the KS 49. Twins left, single back (Stripling). Pass complete to Chris Vaughn (+2) for 14 yards. Another short throw and then Vaughn makes an outstanding move to get past the corner and then holds on to the ball when Watts tries to punch it out from behind.

53. 1st and 10 from the KS 34. Twins left, single back (Stripling). Cantwell’s (-5) pass incomplete, intended for Urrutia. Hunter locks into Mario and throws it right between the hands of the defensive end who dropped into coverage. If Hunter doesn’t have such a cannon then this is a pick..

54. 2nd and 10 from the KS 34. Twins left, single back (Stripling), Barnidge motions right. Stripling (+4) runs to the right for nine yards. Stripling explodes through the hole made by the tackle Giacomini (+3) and the tight end Barnidge (+3).

55. 3rd and 1 from the KS 25. Single back (Bolen), two tight ends to the right. Bolen (+6) runs to the right for three yards. Bolen eludes a tackler with some solid footwork and then lowers his shoulder to pick up the first down.

--Substitution penalty on K-state makes previous play void, but we like Brock’s run so we’re leaving it in there.

55. 1st and 10 from the KS 20. Overload right, single back (Bolen), Allen motions left. Bolen runs straight ahead for two yards. Kuhn (-2) misses a block that blows up the play.

56. 2nd and 8 from the KS 18. Trips left (tight), single back (Smith), Barnidge motions right. Cantwell’s (-6) pass intercepted by Watts. Hunter stares down Urrutia yet again and throws to the guy standing right in front of him. Mario (+2) saves a touchdown by running like he’s on the Discovery Channel and catching Watts around the UL 25.

Tenth Drive:

57. 1st and 10 from the UL 46. Ace right (Smith), split wideouts. Cantwell’s (+5) pass complete to Harry Douglas (+6) for 21 yards. QB waggle to the right and Hunter lets fly his best pass of the game and Douglas shows what he can do when he catches the ball with his hands.

58. 1st and 10 from the KS 32. Ace right (Smith), split wideouts, Allen motions left. Smith (+6) runs to the left for 15 yards. Run designed to go to the right, but Kolby finally (and likely accidentally) makes the right cut and bounces the play back out to the left and picks up a solid gain. His best effort of the day.

59. 1st and 10 from the KS 17. I formation (Bolen), split wideouts, Barnidge motions right. Bolen (+7) runs 15 yards to the left for the Louisville TOUCHDOWN. Key blocks by Anthony Allen (+1) and Breno Giacomini (+4) start the play, and Bolen finishes it with a stiff arm to get into the endzone.

Eleventh Drive:

60. 1st and 10 from the UL16. I formation (Stripling), split wideouts. Stripling runs to the right for six yards. The same belly fake and pitch to Stripling that worked earlier, only the end and LOLB didn’t bite on the initial fake as much this time.

61. 2nd and 4 from the UL 22. Strong left (Bolen), split wideouts, Barnidge motions left. Bolen runs off the left guard for two yards. K-State stacks the box and the MLB comes free and makes the play.

62. 3rd and 2 from the UL 24. Twins right (tight), Barnidge motion right, Smith lined up in the slot. Cantwell pass complete to Barnidge (-3) for one yard. Play works but Barnidge runs his route a step short.

Twelth Drive:

63. 1st and 10 from the UL 17. Strong left (Smith), split wideouts, Douglas motions left. Smith (-4) runs to the left for no gain. Again Kolby wrongly tries to stretch the play to the outside when there’s positive yardage to be had straight ahead. Also we’re up 18 and there’s six minutes to go at this point, do everything you can to ensure that you’ll be tackled in bounds.

64. 2nd and 10 from the UL 17. Shotgun, twins right, twin backs. Cantwell (+6) throws complete to Bolen (+8) for two yards. Hunter sees there’s nothing going on downfield and makes the right choice not to force anything with the lead. Excellent hands showed by Bolen on a ball that was thrown a bit too tall.

65. 3rd and 8 from the UL 19. Shotgun, trips left, single back (Smith). Smith hit in the backfield for a loss of one. We try the counter again, but poor efforts by Wood (-1) and Quarterman (-4) enable the play to be shut down quickly.

Thirteenth Drive:

66. 1st and 10 from the UL 12. I formation (Allen), tight end right, Barnidge motions left. Anothony Allen (+2) runs to the left for four yards. Busey misses a block, but Allen once again shows why everyone is so high on him, by taking the lineman on and rumbling forward for a decent gain.

67. 2nd and 6 from the UL 16. I formation (Allen), tight end right, Bolen motions left. Allen runs to the right for three yards.

--End of the game.

Scoring Summary:

Cantwell: 0 (+6, -6)
Smith: +2 (+6, -4)
Stripling: +3 (+4, -1)
Quarterman: -2 (+2, -4)
Busey: +2 (+2)
Douglas: +4 (+6, -2)
Giacomini: 0 (+4, -4)
Bolen: +7 (+8, -1)
Barnidge: -1 (+2, -3)
Spillman: +1 (+1)
Foster: +1 (+1)
Urrutia: +1 (+2, -1)
Wood: 0 (+1, -1)
Kuhn: 0 (+2, -2)
Carter: +1 (+1)
Long: -1 (-1)
Riley: +1 (+1)
Barlowe: -1 (-1)
Vaughn: +1 (+2, -1)
Allen: +2 (+2)

Thoughts:

This system is pretty unfair to the offensive lineman who only get noticed if they absolutely destroy their man or if their man absolutely destroys them, the offensive line played a fantastic game on Saturday and this doesn't properly reflect that. We think the numbers are about right on Cantwell, but probably a bit generous in regards to Smith and Douglas. Mario didn't get involved much which isn't all that surprising since this didn't seem much like his type of game. Brock Bolen is cool, really cool, Fonzi spliced with Joe Namath cool.

In total:

68 plays (including Brock's run, play #55a), 42 rush, 26 pass. 228 yards rushing (5.4 per play), 173 passing (9.6 per completion) for a grand total of 401 yards and an average of 5.9 yards per play.

Peace, love, Cards.

John Ed Pearce (1917-2006)

2006-09-25T14:42:00.000-04:00

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Ed Pearce passed away this morning at Jewish Hospital from complications of Cancer. It was his 89th birthday.

Pearce was an editorial and feature writer and columnist at the Courier-Journal for much of the second half of the 20th century, and shared a Pulitzer Prize for public service that the newspaper won in 1967 for its successful fight for stronger strip-mining controls.

A 1982 Louisville Magazine profile of Pearce, a member of The Courier-Journal editorial staff for a quarter century, described him as one of journalism’s “superstars.” Pearce was also described by one of his editors as the paper's "best writer ever."

He was named Outstanding Kentucky Journalist in 1985 by Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi, and was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1986.

His other honors included the Governor’s Medallion for public service in conservation and other recognitions from the Freedom Foundation and the American Bar Association. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 1958.

Pearce served four years in the Navy during World War II and then 27 more in the Naval Reserve, rising to the rank of commander. He was a reporter for Time-Life and United Press and then briefly edited the Somerset (Ky.) Journal before joining The Courier-Journal in 1947 as an associate editor and editorial writer.

An often-cantankerous and provocative writer, Pearce, a Virginia native who worked as a Kentucky newsman since the late 1940s, was revered in many corners of the commonwealth. His smooth, liberal-leaning prose stirred readers’ emotions and often spurred politicians into action.

In one particular incident in 1948, Pearce was involved in a confrontation with then-Governor Earle C. Clements.

"(Clements) lifted him up off the floor and banged his head against that marble floor," recalled Edward F. Pritchard. "I saw it, in the '48 session. Just pulled him right up off the floor and shook him and batted his head. John Ed had just asked him in a sassy way, 'Why'd you kill that utility thing, did the KU (Kentucky Utilities) get get you to do that?' Clements just picked him up and started banging that head against the marble, sounded like a watermelon. Oh, listen he was rough."

Richard Wilson, a retired Courier-Journal reporter, said Pearce was his mentor, starting when Wilson was a student editor at The Kernel at the University of Kentucky in the early 1960s.

“We worked together for 30 years. John Ed remained sort of a mentor to me through most of my career, primarily because of his vast, vast knowledge of, and interest in, Kentucky. A lot of people who have worked at The Courier-Journal over the years have become Kentucky institutions, but I think John Ed … is probably one for whom I would use a capital ‘I’ for that word.”

In addition to his newspaper work, Pearce published several dozen articles and short stories for national magazines and wrote books (most of which centered around his passion, the state of Kentucky) and television plays.

In his “Memoirs: 50 years at The Courier-Journal and Other Places,” published in 1997, Pearce wrote, “Time tends to chip away truth, producing over the years outlines easier for the ego to accept, making the past more pleasant to recall.”

In the book, Pearce said he had probably not gotten to the “top of the hill I intended to climb,” but, he added, “I have come a considerable way. … I have known love, and the satisfaction of work done to the best of my ability. … There is a lot of the world I haven’t seen, music I haven’t heard. … And there are words yet inside me.”

I suppose this is the part where I say that John Ed Pearce was my grandfather and that I will miss him dearly.

I love you grandaddy.

Louisville 8th In Both Major Polls

2006-09-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

The Cards hop up one spot in the Coaches and stay put in the AP. Not much movement in the top 15 of either poll, further illustrating that these guys don't watch all that much football.

TCR would like to send a special congratulations to the state University of New Jersey in honor of their first national ranking since 1976. The Scarlet Knights enter both polls this week at #23.

Week 5 AP Top 25

1. Ohio State (59) 4-0 1,617
2. Auburn (2) 4-0 1,513
3. USC (2) 3-0 1,491
4. West Virginia (2) 4-0 1,404
5. Florida 4-0 1,363
6. Michigan 4-0 1,318
7. Texas 3-1 1,196
8. Louisville 4-0 1,166
9. LSU 3-1 1,114
10. Georgia 4-0 972
11. Virginia Tech 4-0 945
12. Notre Dame 3-1 879
13. Iowa 4-0 864
14. Oregon 3-0 805
15. Tennessee 3-1 658
16. Oklahoma 3-1 613
17. TCU 3-0 563
18. Clemson 3-1 529
19. Florida State 3-1 510
20. California 3-1 508
21. Nebraska 3-1 327
22. Boise State 4-0 226
23. Rutgers 4-0 117
24. Georgia Tech 3-1 77
25. Missouri 4-0 70

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

Boston College 42, Miami (FL) 37, Arizona State 34, Purdue 34, Texas A&M 20, Michigan State 20, PENNST 19, Texas Tech 17, Arkansas 13, Washington 13, Wake Forest 12, Wisconsin 6, Houston 5, UCLA 5, Alabama 3.
DROPPED FROM RANKINGS
Boston College 20, Arizona State 22.

Week 5 USA Today Poll

1. Ohio State (59) 4-0 1,570
2. USC (2) 3-0 1,489
3. Auburn (2) 4-0 1,441
4. West Virginia 4-0 1,357
5. Florida 4-0 1,294
6. Michigan 4-0 1,239
7. Texas 3-1 1,155
8. Louisville 4-0 1,105
9. Georgia 4-0 1,079
10. LSU 3-1 963
10. Virginia Tech 4-0 963
12. Oregon 3-0 854
13. Iowa 4-0 802
14. Notre Dame 3-1 758
15. TCU 3-0 647
16. Oklahoma 3-1 615
17. Florida State 3-1 509
18. Tennessee 3-1 504
19. Clemson 3-1 477
20. California 3-1 452
21. Nebraska 3-1 289
22. Boise State 4-0 257
23. Rutgers 4-0 124
24. Texas Tech 3-1 81
25. Boston College 3-1 78

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

Alabama 52, Arizona State 39, Arkansas 39, Missouri 39, Purdue 36, Georgia Tech 33, Miami (FL) 29, Penn State 24, Texas A&M 23, Michigan State 17, Wake Forest 16, Washington 6, Wisconsin 5, Southern Miss 4, Houston 3, UCLA 2, Pittsburgh 2, South Carolina 2, Utah 1, Nevada 1.

DROPPED FROM RANKINGS
Arizona State 18, Alabama 22.

Quick Thoughts: Louisville 24, Kansas State 6

2006-09-24T01:03:00.000-04:00

First off, we love this win. We love this win for a wide variety of reasons, but mainly because we won by three scores in a very "un-Louisville" game.

We beat a solid opponent on the road (which, speaking recently, is very "un-Louisville in itself) and our guys never looked unprepared, flustered or lackadaisical. Already we have a road performance more impressive than any we gave all of last season.

We didn't take that many chances down the field, or have that many plays that went for more than 20 yards (although the first fake punt of the season worked out fairly well).

Our defense again outplayed our offense.

We only had 401 yards of total offense, and we committed more turnovers than our opponent.

And yet despite all of this "un-Louisvilleness," we went into a hostile environment, against a Big 12 team, with multiple key starters out, and won convincingly. We love this win.

Hunter Cantwell played a solid game. Sure he has a rocket for an arm, and is tough as nails, but those facts seem to make people forget that he is:
A) A backup
B) A sophomore
C) A former walk-on
and
D) A young man making just his third career start.

Hunter has a Brian Brohm arm, but so does Josh Freeman. Neither one are in the class our first string guy is.

People can talk all they want about our offense, Amobi Okoye has been our most valuable player to date.

Will Gay, come on man. We stopped calling you "Big Play Willie Gay" because it seemed like you'd finally come into your own as a senior captain, don't make us have to come up with another nickname reflecting your affinity for committing ridiculously stupid personal fouls. Also, two words: Stick 'Em.

Hey #13 on K-State special teams: if you want to live, NEVER TOUCH ART CARMODY AGAIN.

When you name your kid Brock, there's not much chance he's going to be playing trombone in the marching band. Bolen was bred to be a football player and he played like it on Saturday.

For this team to be really special Kolby Smith needs to do a better job of recognizing where the hole is, and George Stripling needs to start securing the ball.

Sergio Spencer suffered a broken ankle. Pretty soon Earl Heyman is going to be returning kicks.

Lee Corso is a monkey whose sole purpose on this planet is to dance when the powers that be tell him to dance.

There wasn't much of a passing game to keep them honest, but Smart, Sharpe and Buchanan looked as good as they ever have.

Good to see Jajuan Spillman's speed utilized. Rumor is they'd love to see him returning punts, but he can't seem to hold on to the ball. Say what you want about Pat Carter's lack of excitement, but if we go the entire season without turning the ball over on a return he will have done a heck of a job.

TCR would like to congratulate Chris Vaughan and Jimmy Riley for hauling in their first catches of the season.

Our defense is good, but it's not that good. K-State is sorely lacking in the offensive weapons category.

When all is said and done we will have beaten a bowl team on the road. It may be a 6-6 bowl team, but the Wildcats will win at least three more games.

Prince should stick with Meier. He may have looked bad today, but he's not going to face many defenses with that much speed and he's good enough to make some big plays and win a few more games. Freeman is the future, but the future might not be as bright if he's rushed into duty.

It's going to be tough to go without Cardinal football for more than seven days, but we need this off week like Pete Dougherty needs smack.

Todd Flannery is good, and he's helped this team more than he'll ever get credit for.

Breno started at tackle, and he's probably going to from now on.

We're 4-0 and there's never been a better time to be a Louisville football fan, relish every second.

Gameday: Louisville vs. Kansas State

2006-09-23T10:56:00.000-04:00

Site: Bill Snyder Family Stadium: Manhattan, KS

Time/TV: Noon/Fox Sports Net

Favorite: Louisville by 14

Series: First Meeting

Storylines: Injuries, Hunter Cantwell, walk-on, letdown game. There, now you can zone out during the 15 minute pregame preview.

Lee Corso picks Kansas State.

Louisville looking to prove road woes are a thing of the past.

Cards 4-10 all-time vs. the Big 12.

Opposing Players to Watch:

Dylan Meier (44-of-81, 544 yds, 3 TD)

Jordy Nelson (9 rec, 133 yds)

Brandon Archer (24 tackles)

Game Will be a Success if: At this point, all of our players returning to Louisville with alll their limbs in tact will be a success. Louisville wins by at least two touchdowns. No second half let-up. Defense turns K-State over at least twice.

Game Will be a Horrible, Horrible Failure if: We lose. Cantwell goes down. The team looks uninspired.

Game Attire: Red "Got Pitino" underneath white "Cardinals Rule" is officially here to stay.

Pre-game meal: Waffles (daddy's not feeling so hot).

Anxiety Level (1-10): 5.8. Really should be higher. Decent team, on the road, top QB and RB and two defensive starters out, but for some reason we just can't seem to feel all that nervous about this one. Another eery reminder of the South Florida game.

Poll Results: We asked: "With Hunter Cantwell calling the shots, how will the Louisville offense perform against Kansas State?"

You said:

1) Won't miss a beat: 51% (70)
2) Not quite as impressive without Brohm, but close: 37% (51)
3) More productive than with Brohm: 6% (8)
4) We'll look like Temple: 4% (6)
5) Below average: 2% (3)

Annoying phrase you'll hear all day if you're watching the game on tv: "Trap game," or some play off of Hunter's last name.

Star of the game: Malik Jackson. Defense needs to start producing some turnovers, today would be a nice start.

Pregame Quote to Make You Hope We Spurrier it Up: Not much to work with besides the Corso nonsense this week, but we'll go with:

"It's not what everybody makes it seem. I'm not saying they're not a good team. They're a good team. It's just that people have them hyped up going into the game with us"---Cornerback Byron Garvin.

TCR Prediction: Louisville 34, Kansas State 17

GO CARDS!!!

Big East Preview: Week 4

2006-09-22T14:29:00.000-04:00

Due to time constraints, our preview will be void of any type of statistics or smart ass comments. You're welcome.

Cincinnati (1-2) at Virginia Tech (3-0)

Noon/ESPNU

We probably wouldn't have done much talking about this game anyway.

TCR Prediction: Virginia Tech 31-7

Howard at Rutgers (3-0)

2:00/Local

The duck?

TCR Prediction: Rutgers 44-6

The Citadel at Pittsburgh (2-1)

2:00/ESPN360

God damn this week sucks.

TCR Prediction: Pitt 31-0

Connecticut (1-1) at Indiana (2-1)

3:30/Local

Interesting macthup between two teams coming off of disappointing weeks. One lost to a division 1AA foe while their coach was recovering from brain surgery, and the other was busy screwing us out of our perfect season. Usually when coaches return in situations like this and the game is at home, the team responds in a big way. Although it is Indiana. Then again we haven't gotten our steak or DVD personally delivered by Jim Calhoun yet. Hmm....

TCR Prediction: Indiana 21-16

West Virginia (3-0) at East Carolina (1-2)

4:30/ESPN2

WVU's first road game against a team that we were beginning to forget existed.

TCR Prediction: West Virginia 37-14

Miami (OH) (0-3) at Syracuse (1-2)

7:00/ESPNU

Dare we say, en fuego.

TCR Prediction: Syracuse 21-13

South Florida (3-0) at Kansas (2-1)

7:OO/FSN

There is a 100% certainty that this game will be decided by less than 13 points. We have a bad feeling about this game, but when we get bad feelings and South Florida is involved, we put our faith in reigning BE Offensive POTW Gunner Grothe. Let the record show that Grothe has not lost and thrown for 302 yards/game since we started calling him Gunner.

TCR Prediction: South Florida 24-17

Last Week: 7-1

Season: 21-1

State of Affairs

2006-09-22T01:35:00.000-04:00

With all of the moving and shaking on the depth chart, and all the breaking of bones on the playing field, we thought we'd go ahead and give a quick rundown as to who will and will not be playing on Saturday for those who may be confused. If anyone has any corrections, feel free to let us know.

Probable Offensive Starting Lineup (Yes, we start 12 guys, we're that good):

QB: Hunter Cantwell
FB: Brock Bolen
TB: Kolby Smith
W Receiver: Pat Carter
Z Receiver: Harry Douglas
X Receiver: Mario Urrutia
TE: Gary Barnidge
RG: Kurt Quarterman
RT: Renardo Foster
C: Eric Wood
LG: Danny Barlowe
LT: George Bussey

Probable Defensive Starting Lineup:

DE: Zach Anderson
DE: DeAntwan "Peanut" Whitehead
DT: Amobi Okoye
DT: Earl Heyman
MLB: Nate Harris
SLB: Malik Jackson
WLB: Abe Brown
LC: Gavin Smart
RC: William Gay
SS: Brandon Sharp
FS: Latarrius Thomas

Probable Special Teams Starters:

KR: Sergio Spencer/Harry Douglas/Trent Guy
PR: Pat Carter
K: Art "I love it when you call me big poppa" Carmody
P: Todd Flannery

Injured and out for tomorrow:

Michael Bush (sigh)
Brian Brohm (double sigh)
Adrien Grady
Rod Council
Brandon Heath (likely redshirt)

Will dress:

Brandon Cox (saw time against Miami, still unlikely to start)
Jonathan Holston
Trent Guy
Chris Vaughn (saw time against Miami)

Items of Note

2006-09-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

It looks more and more like John Clay is doing everything he can to get himself run out of Lexington. His latest column, in which he diagnoses several thousand members of Big Blew nation with "Obsessive Cardinal Disorder," has drawn the ire of many a jort wearer in Louisville Jr.

Some of the symptoms of this sad and pathetic affliction are:

-If you spent more time last Sunday thinking of ways to downgrade Louisville football's signature win over Miami than time celebrating Kentucky football's significant win over Mississippi, you may have OCD.

-If you still have a "Traitor Rick" bumper sticker on the back of your Suburban, you may have OCD.

-If you would consider a 1-11 Kentucky football season a success as long as that one win was over Louisville, you may have OCD.

Now we love John Clay and think he may be the best thing to happen to Lexington since Claude Bassett, but if you can believe it, we're actually going to defend Wildcat nation a bit here.

This is an issue that needed to be addressed and we're glad it was. The constant schedule references, "paper Cardinal" talk, and persistent denial of recent Louisville dominance has been getting even more ridiculous than usual; we just think Clay went about it in the wrong way.

The OCD idea is creative and funny, but they're just weren't enough over the top instances to fill an entire column.

For instance, a UK fan referring to Freedom Hall as "Cheat'em Hall" may be horribly ironic, but it's hardly a case that warrants the adjective obsessed. Fairly regularly we'll refer to the home of the Wildcats as coRUPPt Arena, it doesn't mean that we're overly focused on Kentucky, just that we enjoy lame jokes and taking jabs at our bitter rival when we get a chance. Hell we even substituted "blue" with "blew" earlier in this post, maybe we have OKD.

We do think there is a large (and sad) contingency of folk in this state who cheer against Louisville more than they cheer for Kentucky, and this is the point we think Clay was trying to make, but he used a few too many mild examples and the umbrella for which fans with "OCD" fell under became too large. If Bozich had written a column saying that a U of L fan who refers to Lexington as "Lessington" is obsessed with Kentucky, then we'd be pretty pissed. This is where we can sympathize with Cat fans who enjoy the occasional shot at Louisville, but are more concerned with the play of their own squad.

Lessington.

Everyone's favorite sneering asshole, Tom Crean, has had his contract withMarquette extended through the 2016-2017 season. So relax Cardinal fans, the next time one of your players goes down with a career threatening injury, Crean will still be right there to say that he's faking.

The MU blog Cracked Sidewalks has more.

Louisville's win over Miami did much more than just garner loads of national respect for the program, it finally got them into Joel's animated race to the BCS over at Rocky Top Talk.

Remember Ron Zook of thousands of web sites calling for his head fame? Yeah well he's at Illinois and things aren't going so well their either. And instead of trying to get the Illini back on the map with sophisticated offensive and defensive schemes, or a revolutionary offseason workout program, Zook has decided the best approach is to physically assault his players.

Ron Franklin, the voice of ESPN Saturday night for as long as we can remember, has been pulled from his primetime position and moved to the late afternoon slot on ESPN2. Dodgy at Best is none too pleased about this.

Every Day Should be Saturday has all you need to know about the annual autumn awesomeness that is Florida vs. Kentucky.

Contrary to popular perception, the Kentucky rivalry has been a particularly rich and storied one of late for Florida. Consider the following:

–The 2003 game, where a young Chris Leak went into Kentucky and nearly lost before Jared Lorenzen, evidently displaying the panicked frustration signalling the advent of an acute need to defecate immediately, crapped away Kentucky’s biggest chance at an upset by heaving a prayer into the arms of Johnny Lamar, who happily trucked downfield to ice a fourth-quarter collapse for Kentucky. The dangers of wearing white pants as a football player become doubly apparent when you consider the hazards of not being able to shit yourself on field–let Lorenzen be a warning to you all.

–The 1994 game, where Old Testament Spurrier put 73 points up on Kentucky in retaliation for Bill Curry, the Kentucky coach at the time, not retaining Spurrier as an assistant at Georgia Tech. Google “florida kentucky 73″ and the first thing you will get is an article about a basketball score. This fact is very, very cool.

And finally, Clemson University has released information about the trust fund set up for Fahmarr McElrathbey, the younger brother of freshman Ray Ray McElrathbey who was nominated for the FedEx Orange Bowl Courage Award earlier this week.

Louisville/Miami Highlight Videos

2006-09-21T00:57:00.000-04:00

We're sure a lot of you have already seen these Klimpt-rivaling works of art, but we still felt we'd be remiss of we didn't post them and make absolutely sure that their magic reaches the maximum number of mere mortals.

First up is "Not In Our House," a thrilling piece about self-discovery, the plight of the common man, and the dangers of stomping on the logo of a team that's a lot better than you at football.

From the same God sent pair of hands that brought you "Not Even Close" (the story of the 2006 Battle For the Governor's Cup) comes "Changing Their Perception." We're sure you'll enjoy it.

We heard that if you play both videos at the same time and listen to Toad the Wet Sprocket's Dulcinea, it totally matches up.

We think we speak for all of Cardinal nation when we say we can't thank you all enough for these videos, they've made all our lives a little more worth living.

Peace, love, Cards.

BlogPoll Roundtable #3

2006-09-20T23:50:00.000-04:00

So we dropped by the Michigan blog Maize N Brew for what we thought was an Adam Sandler movie marathon, but were taken aback when about a minute into our visit our host began bombarding us with questions. Here's how the somewhat awkward night played out:

1. Its only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?

I reckon this is the part where we name an SEC school, but not today sir, not today.

Ohio State.

We are still believers in Anthony Morelli and kind of dig the way the Nittany Lions match up against the Bucks. Tressel will build this up as a revenge game for tOSU, and it's at home so the environment should be THE electric (doesn't work? ok.). Anyhow if tOSU comes in extremely jacked and dismantles Penn State, then perhaps that means they will have trouble recovering in time for Iowa, whom they play in Iowa City a week later. The Eyes haven't been overly impressive the last couple of weeks, but hole-in-one Tate should be back in the groove by the 30th, and Kirk Ferentz will assuredly pull out all the stops.

If Ohio State makes it through these two games then they sleep walk to Nov. 18.

By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party ?

How about Arizona State? Carpenter struggled for a half against Northern Arizona and everybody kind of dismissed the Devils, but while no one was paying attention they put up 62 against Nevada and then kind of went through the motions and breezed past Colorado last weekend. Dirk Koetter needs to file a grievance with whoever crafted his schedule. The next three games for ASU see them at Cal, hosting Oregon, and then at USC.

Virginia Tech also seems like they might be the beneficiaries of an ACC that sucks harder than (choose your own joke). VPI hasn't really proved anything but apparently they've not done it in style, earning a top 10 ranking in the Coaches Poll.

Another team that couldn't be called a surprise contender, but is just kind of hanging out right now is West Virginia. The Mounties were the darlings of the preseason and everyone still has them in their top 5 or 10, but no one is really talking about them. Louisville has garnered a lot of the BE attention with both their win over Miami and their loss of two Heisman candidates. Meanwhile it seems like WVU is just sort of content to hang around until Nov. 2.

3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the &*%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky wasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?

Did you know that Kentucky hasn't beaten Florida period since 1986? Or that this is the first time the Wildcats have started 1-0 in the SEC since 1987? Indeed there is a veritable bevy of horribly embarrassing Kentucky football facts out there but we don't have the time nor the patience to navigate through them all.

This is just Louisville's second year in the Big East so we don't have much of a history with many of these guys. South Florida has made a habit of luring us into a false sense of security by looking pathetically awful in their first few games, and then coming out like the Goddamn '79 Steelers against us. We're yet to beat the Bulls in two tries at their place, but they come here this season.

Historically the only place the Cardinals go this season where they've struggled in the past is Rutgers, where Louisville is 0-2 all-time including a 41-0 shellacking in 1986. Also the Cardinals are winless all-time on Fox Sports Net which is broadcasting this weekend's game against Kansas State. So there's that.

4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.

Big East Conference

1. Louisville
2. West Virginia
3. Pittsburgh (They're going to be tough to handle starting in late October)
4. Rutgers (If Teel doesn't start stepping up it's going to cost them)
5. Connecticut (Still waiting Calhoun)
6. South Florida
7. Syracuse
8. Cincinnati

5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.

Must...Avoid....Lame....Zima....Joke

Zima.

Damnit.

K-State Suspends Norwood And We Call Out Jerry Abramson

2006-09-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

Kansas State tight end Rashaad Norwood, the team's leading receiver this season, has been suspended from this Saturday's home game against Louisville after having been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct Sunday morning.

Norwood has caught 13 passes for 143 yards this season for the Wildcats, who are 3-0 and coming off a 23-7 victory over Marshall this past Saturday.

Kudos to Ron Prince for going the Larry Coker route taking a stand even when his team is about to tackle a top ten squad.

Now that we think about it Prince does kind of remind us of a younger, smarter, and not crying on the floor of his kitchen right now Larry Coker.

And now to our second order of business...

We demand that the purple lights be taken off of the Second Street Bridge.

That's right we're talking to you Jerry.

Just days removed from Louisville's historic (locally) crushing of Miami, the city is alive and buzzing as the Cardinals are now in prime position to make a run at the national championship for the first time in the history of the program. Everyone's spirits are high in the morning and afternoon as they persevere through the monotonous hours at school or work with daydreams of Brian Brohm hoisting the crystal football in Tempe and Bobby Petrino giving the generic "greatest fans in the world" speech at midfield.

And then night comes.

Night comes and all those faces that were so bright just hours earlier are all forced to stare directly at a visual reminder that our alleged "mayor for life" is just dying to see our dreams crushed at the hands of the Kansas State Wildcats. We're not sure about you all, but what the Clark Memorial Bridge says to us is that we have a mayor who bleeds purple, a mayor who wants nothing more than to see these BCS dreams go down in flames so that all the attention will be shifted back to him. He just can't stand to share the spotlight and seeing his city all wound up over Cardinal football just eats him up inside.

Of course now mayor turncoat is probably going to hold a PC tomorrow and tell you all that none of this is true, that he's always been a huge supporter of Cardinal athletics and that he's never even heard of The Card Report (please). And you'll all believe him because he will have just used his purple memory eraser (just like the ones in Men in Black except the zapper is purple) to make you forget you ever read this spiel.

Exercise your minds to expose the lies people, this plethora of purple propaganda must cease.

Mr. Abramson, TAKE DOWN THESE LIGHTS.

Until it happens we are amazingly not cool, and you know what, we may vote for the other guy once we learn his name.

What's that?... So it's a chick?.... Dude's name is Kelly?.... We cannot roll with that.

Alright so you're getting our vote but still, this is messed up.

Is this your Louisville? For the sake of the children we pray to God that it is not.

BlogPoll: Week 4

2006-09-19T01:44:00.000-04:00

Shazam:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Auburn	1
3	Southern Cal	1
4	Michigan	5
5	Florida	2
6	Louisville	2
7	West Virginia	1
8	Louisiana State	6
9	Oregon	1
10	Texas	2
11	Georgia	3
12	Iowa	1
13	Virginia Tech	4
14	Tennessee	2
15	Oklahoma	4
16	Notre Dame	11
17	Boston College	5
18	TCU	2
19	Arizona State	7
20	Clemson	6
21	Boise State	2
22	Nebraska	11
23	Cal	2
24	Georgia Tech	--
25	Florida State	10

Dropped Out: Miami (Florida) (#18), Texas Tech (#25).

Half-bakes reasonings:

1. Ohio State: Looking more and more like if Iowa doesn't get 'em, they sleep walk to Michigan.

2. Auburn: If there was a tie option we would have used it here.

3. USC: See above.

4. Michigan: Been saying it for weeks, we love Michigan and they will beat Notre Dame. Guess it's time for a new saying.

5. Florida: We kind of liked intense Utah Urban Meyer, but we want to punch intense Florida Urban Meyer in the face.

6. Louisville: Bobby Petrino is better than your coach.

7. West Virginia: The fact that other teams have played quality opponenets is starting to catch up to the Mountaineers for whom November 2 cannot come soon enough.

8. LSU: We still love the Tigers, but even with the pass interference penalty 10 points would have disappointed us.

9. Oregon: Didn't deserve to win, but were and are the better team.

10. Texas: Probably better than their ranking, but deserve to be here for now.

11. Georgia: Their matchup with Colorado has us strangely intrigued.

12. Iowa: ISU always bring the house against the Hawks, but they weathered the storm for just the third time in the last nine years.

13. Virginia Tech: So impressive that we completely forgot about them in our rough draft.

14. Tennessee: One play away from being in the top five. Football's weird.

15. Oklahoma: Showed more in a loss than they had in the two wins prior.

16. Notre Dame: We knew it, we just knew it.

17. Boston College: Eagle fans can't take much more of this.

18. TCU: Allowing just three points to Texas Tech and forcing thousands of annoying fans to put their guns down and then trade them for toys vaults the Horned Frogs out of the 20-25 range and into foreign territory.

19. Arizona State: We don't like this team, we just don't.

20. Clemson: Unfortunately special teams count.

21. Boise State: I'd say the roof is probably 12 for the Broncos.

22. Nebraska: Yeah, so they're not that good.

23. Cal: Portland State ain't helping.

24. Georgia Tech: Maybe Troy is ok.

25. Florida State: Troy sucks.

As always you can check out all the ballots as well as valuable Wolverine insight (and some pointing and laughing at former Notre Dame Heisman Trophy candidates) over at Mgoblog.

Big East Roundup: Week 3

2006-09-18T15:12:00.000-04:00

And just like that it's all over.

Thought we were friends Uconn, really did. Now you're gonna need to have Jim Calhoun cook us a steak and bring over a DVD copy of the original Planet of the Apes if you want to make up for this. Until it happens we are officially not cool.

West Virginia 45, Maryland 24

West Virginia kicked off a gigantic weekend of college football with a 45-24 rout of regional rival Maryland Thursday night, much to the delight of 60,000 tanked Mountaineer fans. Steve Slaton rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns as the fifth-ranked Mounties improved to 3-0.

WVU caught the eye of the country as they jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to Slaton, who scored on runs of 38 and 37 yards. The defense took advantage a Terrapin offense that turned the ball over five times.

The most disheartening thing about the game was that there were no reports of ignited couches Thursday night in Morgantown.

The whole couch burning deal being run into the ground? Yeah we think so too.

Dubvee hits the road for the first time next Saturday when they play at East Carolina. Yeah, we'd forgotten about East Carolina too. I know, they were kind of good now that you think about it. Yeah it is weird.

TCR Prediction: West Virginia 35, Maryland 10

Michigan State 38, Pittsburgh 23

Drew Stanton threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third as he led the Michigan State Spartans past Pitt 38-23, in a Big Ten/Big East clash battle at Heinz Field.

The Panthers had all the momentum in the first half after recovering an onside kick following a touchdown that had made the score 10-0. But State held, and then took the game over scoring the next 38 points en route to improving to 3-0.

We're sticking to our previous proclamation and saying that if you want to smack Pitt you'd better do so now because when the new and veteran talents really gel around November, the Panthers are going to be tough.

Pitt will beat up a small puppy (The Citadel) next weekend in frustration.

TCR Prediction: Michigan State 27, Pitt 21

Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 13

Uh huh.

So tell me Uconn was it the high octane Demon Deacon offense that put up 14 points in a one-point win over Duke last week that was too much to handle, or was it the backup QB getting just the second start of his career? Whatever it was you've downgraded our powers of prediction status from Nostradamus to John Edward (we'll be cold reading our picks from now on).

And now for a reenactment of the scene when we first saw the score on the bottom line (just substitute "we've replaced your coffee" with "Uconn lost to Wake Forest")....

Yeah it was ugly.

It's your move Calhoun. Until then you're dead to me Uconn.

TCR Prediction: Connecticut 30, Wake Forest 13

Syracuse 31, Illinois 21

TCR wasn't the only one who had a monumental streak broken over the weekend, although we doubt any Syracuse fans spent the three hours following the official end of their streak eating ice cream and watching She Fought Alone on Lifetime while rocking back and forth in a corner.

Indeed much to the delight of Orange fans everywhere, the Cuse pulled one out on Saturday for the first time in 372 days. Portly Perry Patterson passed for 167 yards and two scores to lead the Cuse to victory in the "Worst Punter vs. Best Punter Showdown Classic."

We haven't received video confirmation of anyone who watched the game on ESPNU, so for now the roller blades/purple helmet/knee and elbow pads will remain ours.

TCR Prediction: Syracuse 13, Illinois 6

Ohio State 37, Cincinnati 7

Yeah but it was so cute for a quarter, you should've seen it.

TCR Prediction: Ohio State 42, Cincinnati 3

South Florida 24, Central Florida 17

We feel we owe South Florida an apology for claiming they were out to get us last week when in fact we should've been paying more attention to those sneaky sons of bitches up North.

We're sorry fellas, but you have to admit it does seem like you're always out to get us. 31 points for christ sake.

We've decided that at least until he becomes a sophomore, we're going to refer to Bulls freshman QB Matt Grothe as "Gunner" because "Gunner Grothe" just seems like the type of name a spunky freshman QB who always pulls out late, kind of ugly wins would have.

Gunner capped off USF's second-straight late fourth quarter game winning drive when he threw a 27-yard TD pass to Ean Randolph to put the Bulls ahead for good over their in-state rival. Last week G-squared hit Randolph in the endzone late in the fourth to give South Florida a 21-20 win over Florida International.

USF will hope to avoid being eaten by Mark Mangino when they travel to Lawrence next Saturday for a game with the Jayhawks.

TCR Prediction: South Florida 21, Central Florida 17

Rutgers 24, Ohio 7

Rutgers is 3-0 for the first time since 1981 and unless Greg Schiano goes all Jim Bunning sometime in the next week, the Scarlet Knights should be 4-0 after Howard leaves town on Saturday.

We said that Mike Teel could be awful and it wouldn't matter, words the sophomore apparently took to heart. Teel was 6 of 16 for just 90 yards and was picked three times, causing some to take a long hard look at the options on the depth chart (not us, we have no clue who the kid's backup is).

Ray Rice continued his campaign for most worthy Heisman candidate on the team by rushing for 190 yards and two touchdowns, while Brian Leonard asked everyone to remember how good he is at jumping over people after rumbling for just 19 yards.

TCR Prediction: Rutgers 37, Ohio 9

Louisville also played, but we didn't watch. Decided to check out season 1 of The Torkelsons instead. Good stuff.

This Week: 7-1 (Sons of bitches! BUMPUSES!)

Overall: 21-1

Sunday Items

2006-09-17T19:15:00.000-04:00

First and foremost, Brian Brohm underwent successful surgery at Jewish Hospital this morning to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. There was no fracture in his thumb, but the ligament tore off the bone and had to be surgically re-attached.

Brian will be out anywhere from 3-6 weeks, with three weeks being the earliest he can start to throw.

If you do the math (we don't. too cool.) this means that Brohm should be "ready to go" by Nov. 2. But will he be up to the task and ready for live action against a West Virginia team who should be undefeated and ranked in the top five on that Thursday night, and even if he is should Petrino throw him out there if it's his first game back?

If Brian's rehab goes perfectly then maybe he could get some snaps against Syracuse, or prove that he's ready to go in the week and a half (10/22-11/1) of practice the team will have before the game against the Mountaineers. As is the case with most things, we'll put our undying trust in one Bobby Petrino.

In a related story, Hunter Cantwell is awesome.

Kid could have easily transferred to a number of D1 schools where he would have been able to start in two years, but he chose to stay at Louisville because he said they were the only program that gave him a chance (thanks UK). In an era where sports and loyalty are teetering dangerously close to oxymoronic status, we should all thank our lucky burning balls of gas that we have Hunter.

Cantwell's loyalty is the main reason none of us are freaking out right now, and one of the main reasons we can still carry realistic national title hopes even with two Heisman Trophy candidates on the sidelines.

Loyalty and a cannon for an arm is a combination that will land you on our cool with list any day of the week. Let's hang out man.

On the heels of their surprisingly easy victory over the who, Louisville leapt into the top 10 in both major polls, landing at #8 in the AP and #9 in the Coaches. The win had an equal and opposite reaction for Miami who fell out of both polls for the first time this century.

Week 4 AP Top 25

1. Ohio State (59) 3-0 1,617
2. Auburn (2) 3-0 1,507
3. USC (2) 2-0 1,494
4. West Virginia (2) 3-0 1,419
5. Florida 3-0 1,350
6. Michigan 3-0 1,297
7. Texas 2-1 1,180
8. Louisville 3-0 1,121
9. Georgia 3-0 1,105
10. LSU 2-1 1,085
11. Virginia Tech 3-0 931
12. Notre Dame 2-1 912
13. Oregon 3-0 833
14. Iowa 3-0 831
15. Tennessee 2-1 585
16. TCU 3-0 527
17. Oklahoma 2-1 510
18. Florida State 2-1 466
19. Clemson 2-1 399
20. Arizona State 3-0 384
20. Boston College 3-0 384
22. California 2-1 383
23. Nebraska 2-1 162
24. Penn State 2-1 143
25. Boise State 3-0 110

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Alabama 94, Miami (FL) 78, Rutgers 46, UCLA 40, Michigan State 33, Wisconsin 29, Missouri 22, Georgia Tech 19, Texas Tech 16, Texas A&M 9, Arkansas 2, Purdue 2.

DROPPED FROM RANKINGS
Miami (FL) 17, Texas Tech 24.
Complete Rankings

Week 4 USA Today Poll

1. Ohio State (60) 3-0 1,572
2. USC (2) 2-0 1,493
3. Auburn (1) 3-0 1,432
4. West Virginia 3-0 1,359
5. Florida 3-0 1,282
6. Michigan 3-0 1,181
7. Georgia 3-0 1,178
8. Texas 2-1 1,144
9. Louisville 3-0 1,106
10. Virginia Tech 3-0 964
11. LSU 2-1 911
12. Oregon 3-0 829
13. Notre Dame 2-1 814
14. Iowa 3-0 781
15. TCU 3-0 621
16. Oklahoma 2-1 508
17. Florida State 2-1 459
18. Arizona State 3-0 397
19. Tennessee 2-1 376
20. California 2-1 366
21. Boston College 3-0 348
22. Alabama 3-0 314
23. Clemson 2-1 283
24. Nebraska 2-1 167
25. Boise State 3-0 139

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Penn State 138, Miami (FL) 81, UCLA 60, Rutgers 43, Texas Tech 38, Michigan State 37, Georgia Tech 14, Wisconsin 9, Texas A&M 9, Missouri 7, Purdue 5, Maryland 3, Washington 3, Arkansas 2, UTEP 1, Southern Miss 1.

DROPPED FROM RANKINGS
Miami (FL) 15, Texas Tech 22.

Everyone involved with Louisville football knew that an impressive win over a historical power like Miami would most certainly be advantageous for the Cardinal program in the future, but the positive ramifications proved to come sooner than expected in one case as Male High star Doug Beaumont committed to Louisville immediately following the game on Saturday.

We don't want to say we got in Jon Peattie's head last week, but...we totally did. Face it Peattie, Art Carmody is FDR, you're Alf Landon.

With their pregame shenanigans (you guys talkin about Shenanigans?), Miami became the fifth squad to stomp on the Cardinal logo and leave with their manhood not fully in tact. The list of shame now reads as follows:

Louisville 59, East Carolina 7 (2004)
Louisville 41, South Florida 9 (2004)
Louisville 70, Cincinnati 7 (2004)
Louisville 56, Rutgers 5 (2005)
Louisville 31, Miami 7 (2006)

One of the several hundred comments made by Lee Corso on College Gameday that was laughed at by Jessica Simpson for being ridiculousy retarded this week was that Louisville was made up of a bunch of players who were "Miami rejects." Well one of the many forced to sift through Corso's bullshit until Kirk is allowed to talk was none other than our own 19-year-old senior Amobi Okoye, who told the Courier-Journal:

"I have a message for Lee Corso. I'll take our rejects over their guys any day."

Ways in which Amobi Okoye is cooler than Lee Corso:

Smarter (Obviously. Tested into college when he was 16.)
Better looking (So is that kid in Mask.)
Better at football (Played in a college football game when he was 16.)
Not hated by 97% of every fanbase in America.
Not a ginormous prostitute.
Folks from Louisville aren't embarrassed to have his name associated with our football program.
Didn't make these predictions in 2001:

"Im taking Washington."
Miami 70, Wash 7

"Im taking Syracuse"
Miami 63, Syracuse 14

"Im taking FSU."
Miami 45, FSU 24

"Im taking Nebraska"
Miami 34, nebraska 17 (National Champ Game)

Amobi wins.

Our readership officially hit 7 people the other day and as a result we were contacted by SurfDog Records, who apprently took notice of our growing fanbase, and asked us to make available for download the song “Yeah Yeah (Stomp The Bleachers)” by their group Wylde Bunch which has been featured on Fox Sports College Kickoff Show. We checked it out and agreed that it was quite possibly the worst thing recorded since "Ashlee Simpson Sings Nat King Cole." We hope that maybe the song sounds cooler with football clips over it (couldn't save Big And Rich), but we're not sure because we've never actually seen said program.

Anyhow here is the song for free download, and hey maybe we're wrong and Wylde Bunch will end up as this generation's Hanson.

You've all heard of the "Sports Illustrated Jinx", and more recently the "Madden Curse," well now it's time to acclimate yourself with the Cardinal Ticket Hex. Michael Bush graced the home ticket for the Governor's Cup and went down, Brian Brohm was the poster boy for the Miami game and is out for a month. Up next? Cornerback William Gay who is profiled on the ticked for the Cardinals' home game against Cincinnati on Oct. 14.

We end today with a follow-up of our previous week-long exploration into the saga of it being "on." We now have it on high authority from several reliable sources that after this weekend's events Miami has, in fact, been served. Good day.

Note To All Human Beings

2006-09-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

If you're ever walking along and happen to notice that there's a large University of Louisville Cardinal logo in front of you and you get the sudden urge to stomp on it, think twice, because you're liable to get your ass kicked.

"They disrespected us, they disrespected football. They showed no class, and they threw Nate to the Wolves all week. They got what they deserved."---Bobby "My penis is larger than yours" Petrino

I believe we've entered the realm where the term "cause for celebration" applies. We'll see you out on the town boys and girls. We'll be the blasted guy buying everybody drinks.

CARDS!!!

Gameday: Louisville vs. Miami

2006-09-16T02:26:00.000-04:00

This is it. This is what we've waited two years for.

Time/TV: 3:30/ABC

Site: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

Favorite: Louisville by 4

Series: Miami leads 9-0-1

Last Meeting: Miami won 41-38 in 2004

Game will be a success if: We win. Simple as that. No more moral victories, no more "I'm really proud of our guys," no. Win this game.

Game will be a horrible, horrible failure if: We lose. Brohm's Heisman chances are ruined. Urrutia, Stripling or Brohm go down.

Game Attire: Tough call, we've had two big wins but in both games there have been some injury issues. We're bringing back "Cardinals Rule" of week one fame, but in an effort to halt the injury issue/spice things up at the same time, we're breaking out our red "Got Pitino" as an undershirt. You may shake your head at this decision, but we've rocked GP on Saturdays before and had a pretty solid amount of success. This game will be crucial in setting the tone for our choice of clothing the rest of the season.

Current Computer Background: Aerial shot of PJCS (subject to last second change).

Pregame Meal: TBD

Anxiety Level: 9.73. About as big as it gets. Easily the most excited/nervous we've been for a U of L sporting event since March of 2005.

Must Win Level: 9.9. Got to have this one for dozens of reasons that have been discussed at length all week.

Poll Results: This week we asked, "In regards to this weekend's game, how confident are you?"

Here's what you said:

1. "Of course I'm nervous, but I think we'll win": 65% (70)
2. "Think it's a complete toss up": 15% (16)
3. "Close game, but in the end it's '04 all over again": 12% (13)
4. "Already thinking about K-State": 6% (6)
5. "Miami wins, it's not close, my life sucks": 3% (3)

Annoying phrase you'll hear all day if you're watching the game on tv: "Running back by committee."

Star of the game: Bobby Petrino. His offensive scheme has to be what wins us this game.

Pregame Quote to Make You Hope We Spurrier it Up: Several to choose from this week, but we're going to go with...

"We're not going to let some kid from Louisville who couldn't get into Miami determine how we're going to go out and play." ---Miami QB Kyle Wright

Any time a college football player refers to another college football player (especially one older than he is) as "kid," then you know it's on.

TCR Prediction: Alright we've been dreading this moment all week.

In our initial season predictions we took Miami 35-34. For some reason since before the season even started we've been haunted by this horrible feeling that this game is going to end in unbearable heartbreak.

The only thing keeping us from completely flipping our lid at this point is the peace of mind we get in knowing that our coach is an undeniable football mastermind.

We're going to be hyped, they're going to be hyped, and this is going to be about as intense a football game as you're going to see all year. So here it is...

Louisville 33, Miami 28

GO CARDS!!!!!!

Louisville/Miami By The Numbers

2006-09-16T00:41:00.000-04:00

Though we're not big supporters of numbers (or any form of mathematics for that matter), we've grown extremely weary of the endless amount of game previews over the last week which have included dozens of names of people to look out for, the units who will decide the game and other variables that are impossible to predict. With this in mind we've decided to flip the script a bit and offer up a list of the most important numbers relevant to this game that no one can dispute. Enjoy:

1: The national ranking of Louisville's offense after averaging 60.5 points and 651 yards in its first two games.

13: The number of consecutive games the Cardinals have won at home, a strak that is 2nd in the nation behind only USC.

17-1: Louisville's record at home under Bobby Petrino.

7-2: Miami's record on the road under Larry Coker.

5: Consecutive games The U has won as underdogs.

4: The number of those games that were on the road.

0-5: Louisville's all-time record on ABC.

0-9-1: The Cardinals all-time record against the Hurricanes.

314-130: The combined score of those 10 games.

1: The number of sacks, interceptions and forced fumbles Miami has thus far. Also the number of rushing yards the defense held Florida State to.

2:Nate Harris' rank on Sportsline's list of top 10 weekend storylines.

4: The number of years it's been since Louisville has played a ranked opponent at home.

9: Miami's rank in rushing defense.

1.7: The amount of yards per carry the Hurricane defense is allowing.

3: Louisville's rank in rushing offense.

1: Number of wins Louisville has against ranked teams from BCS conferences in the last 12 years.

21: Number of Florida natives on Louisville's roster.

6: At least the number of times you will hear the phrase "running back by committee" tomorrow afternoon.

41-38: The score two years ago that resulted in us being arrested for drunken naked crying in public (actual offense).

Kyle Wright Is Pissed

2006-09-15T03:15:00.000-04:00

Just when you thought it couldn't be any more on, it just got exponentially onner.

An obviously agitated Kyle Wright was interviewed on the Dan Le Batard Show (radio) last night and unleashed some fierce comments when prompted on Louisville and Nate Harris.

Here's a rough transcription of the convo:

Le Batard: Your guys are, I was reading in the paper, bent out of shape by something a Louisville player said. He said 'Miami's not what they used to be.' That Louisville player is now not being allowed by Bobby Petrino to speak to the media at all anymore before this game.

I thought he just told the truth, Kyle, I mean this program isn't where it has been in recent years. Did you get bent out of shape by his comments?

Wright: Anytime somebody comes out in the media and basically tries your whole program, of course you're going to be bent out of shape.

We've been challenged. And to me it's easy to do you're talking through the newspaper. And I don't think you've seen a lot of response....umm...you know, we'll be there Saturday and they just need to make sure they show up.

We're going to go out and play Miami football. We didn't come out and have a great game the first game, but to me what's going to define our team is how we're going to respond from that. And we're not going to let some kid from Louisville who couldn't get into Miami determine how we're going to go out and play.

Of course it gets you fired up, but it has no effect on me. We want to go out and kick their ass anyway.

Le Batard: You sound pissed.

Wright: Well I'm just tired of people writing us off, and part of that is our fault. But when someone disrespects your program and your players and your coaches, of course you're going to take offense to it.

So it's easy to do your talking through a newspaper, but going on the radio and fuming is taking the high road?

"It has no effect on me." Sounds like it.

Maybe your problem isn't your youth, or the offensive scheme, or your coaches, maybe it's just that you're kind of a whack-job.

To check out the complete interview of Wright (who sounds like he wants to kick a puppy the whole time) click here.

Art Carmody, we'll be glad to hear your response in the comments section.

Big East: Week 3 Preview

2006-09-15T00:20:00.000-04:00

Brace yourself for this week's slate of games presents undoubtedly the most serious threat to the streak thus far.

Still, much like The Terminator, we now lower ourselves into the flesh-melting lava that is week three in the Big East. Oh and we're typing this while someone holds a gun to our head because, also like The Terminator, we are incapable of self-destruction, thus we must pick.

9/16: Michigan State (2-0) at Pittsburgh (2-0)

Time/TV: Noon/Select ABC Affiliates or ESPN2 Regional

Favorite: Pittsburgh by 3

A huge game for the Big East that is largely being overlooked in part because of the Louisville/Miami game.

Pitt (the preferred nomenclature once again) looked like the team they were supposed to be last year in their 38-13 week one victory over Virginia, and then exercised some demons by winning on the road for the first time since 2004 when they topped Cincinnati 33-15 last week. They take on a Michigan State team that is also 2-0, but has looked unimpressive in their program building money games against Idaho and Eastern Michigan.

The meeting is the first between the two programs in 46 years.

"Animated" Panther quarterback Tyler Palko has reverted to 2004 form so far this season, throwing six touchdown passes in two games with four of 55 yards or longer. He is second in the nation in passing efficiency and receiver Derek Kinder, who has become Palko's go-to-guy with Greg Lee gone, is sixth in the country averaging 124.5 receiving yards a game.

Top running back LaRod Stephens-Howling (ankle) was held out of last week's Cincinnati game and is questionable for Saturday. Freshman Shane Brooks got the start against the Bearcats and rushed for just 67 yards on 22 carries.

Spartan wide receiver Matt Trannon broke the school's single-game receptions record of 13 last week (which had been held by Plaxico Burress), but catches won't be as easy to come by this week when he goes head-to-head with Pitt star cornerback Darrelle Revis. The 6-foot Revis gives up six inches to Trannon, but is talented, fast and very physical. He'll look to control Trannon at the line of scrimmage and make it difficult for him to get open downfield.

The guy getting the ball to Trannon is the much heralded Drew Stanton who is 40-of-57 for 479 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception this season. Stanton is protected by an offensive line that averages nearly 310 pounds, and that doesn't include 6-8, 263-pound tight end Kellen Davis. Running back Javon Ringer, who also plays on special teams, has 200 yards and one score in two games.

We hate John L. Fuckrag (yep the creative juices are flowin') as much as the next guy, but there's too much talent here for him to completely screw this up. Not to say that Sparty won't underachieve, because they will, we're just nervous about a Pitt team that will have a lot of younger guys on the field going up against a team with the talent to put up some big numbers.

After watching Brooks against Cincy, there's no real reason for State to respect the run so expect to see a lot of pressure on Palko who has an affinity for Favring the ball downfield when he sees a linebacker charging at him.

If the streak ends because we picked against a Big East team, rest assured there will be some self-inflected punishment.

TCR Prediction: Michigan State 27, Pitt 21

9/16: Wake Forest (2-0) at Connecticut (1-0)

Time/TV: Noon/ESPN360

Favorite: Connecticut by 6 and 1/2

Yet another clash between BCS programs that will go largely overlooked by non-gamblers on "Separation Saturday."

The Deacs hit the road for the first time this year after enduring a scary 14-13 victory over a basketball school that also plays football because they have to.

Filling in for the injured Ben Mauk (who is out for the season after going down in Wake's opening 20-10 win over Syracuse), QB Riley Skinner looked up to the task going 22-of-29 for 235 yards and a touchdown.

Tailback Micah Andrews proved more effective as a pass catcher than a rusher, hauling in six passes for 58 yards, while rushing for just 41 yards on 17 carries. He still probably got laid because his two-yard score in the final minutes proved to be the difference in the game.

As a team, Wake rushed for just 57 yards, one week after posting 245 yards on the ground against the Orange. The Deacs also turned the ball over twice for the second game in a row.

Uconn is back in action for the first time since their 52-7 pasting of Rhode Island on Aug. 31, where they amassed 418 yards on the ground. The Huskies scored five of their seven touchdowns on the ground with freshman Donald Brown and his 118 yards and two six-pointers leading the way. Sophomore QB DJ Hernandez tossed for 149 yards and two touchdowns on just 8-of-13 passing.

The Uconn defense has the potential to be one of the top three in the conference. Their emphasis on run stopping doesn't bode well for a Wake Forest team that struggles to move the ball on the ground and has a kid calling signals for just the second time in his career.

The fans at Rentschler Field are always great and we can't foresee them witnessing anything other than a victory.

TCR Prediction: Connecticut 30, Wake Forest 13

9/12: Syracuse (0-2) at Illinois (1-1)

Time/TV: Noon/ESPNU

Favorite: Illinois by 3

We have a feeling that everyone had the exact same reaction when they first saw this game was going to be played.

How many of you can honestly say that when you first saw "Illinois vs. Syracuse" you didn't instantly start thinking about the best matchup between awful BCS schools?

Ok, so here's our top three:

3) Mississippi State/Syracuse: Fast forwarding on three bar mode in Tivo while watching the score stay at 0-0 would be a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

2) Indiana/Baylor: We're not making this up, everytime we look at these two names next to each other we chuckle. We've done it twice since we started typing this. There's no real reason, I mean sure they're both not good at football, but that isn't what makes it so funny. There's just something about seeing "Indiana vs. Baylor" that just makes you laugh. It's an involuntary act, like blinking.

1) Kentucky/Duke: Kentucky still wouldn't be able to put a man on the guy throwing the ball.

As far as this game, Syracuse has lost 11 straight and Illinois has lost 10 straight to major-college opponents. Illinois got embarrassed by Rutgers last week, and The Orange failed to score in 8 chances from inside the two.

We have a theory that this whole streak stems from the school dropping "men" from the end of the Cuse's nickname.

Anyway, if you watch this game and send us some kind of video confirmation, then we're going to hook you up with a sick prize. Maybe some roller blades complete with a purple helmet and matching knee/elbow guards, for you obviously know no shame.

TCR Prediction: Syracuse 13, Illinois 6

9/16: Cincinnati (1-1) at 1) Ohio State (2-0)

Time/TV: 12:30/ESPN Regional

Favorite: Ohio State by 30

Another reason the Big East has been hyping the Louisville/Miami game so much is because they don't want anyone to know that this game ever took place.

Quarterback Dustin Grutza's performance against Pitt won him the starting spot outright over Nick Davila, whom he had been splitting time with. That's cool and all, but you might have wanted to wait a week, Davila knew what was up. A stand-up, "give-it-your-all" performance that is rewarded with inescapable humiliation on national television is never worth it kids, remember that.

TCR Prediction: Ohio State 42, Cincinnati 3

9/16: South Florida (2-0) at Central Florida (1-1)

Time/TV: 2:30/CSTV

Favorite: South Florida by 1 and 1/2

The sole reason that this game exists is because it has the potential to make us look bad. That's it. Conspiracy, against us, no other reason.

Keep in mind that it was week three a year ago in which "the game we do not speak of" took place, and now these assholes are coming back and trying to ruin the streak. Well we ain't havin' it, Matt Grothe is going to play better and you're going to win.

God we hate you South Florida, you ruin everything.

TCR Prediction: South Florida 21, Central Florida 17

9/16: Ohio (2-0) at Rutgers (2-0)

Time/TV: 3:30/Local (MSG)

Favorite: Rutgers by 16

Kentucky, Pitt...Rutgers?

The Bobcats look to spring their annual upset over a BCS school, while Rutgers looks to go 3-0 for the first time in 25 years.

Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe rushed for 196 yards against Ohio last week, and now the talented backfield duo of Ray Rice and Brian Leonard look to abuse the Bobcat front four similarly. Rice enters the game with a streak of four consecutive 100-yard performances.

Only a sophomore, Rice already has two 200-yard rushing games (the school record is three) and has gone for 100 or more seven times. Leonard has recorded six 100-yard rushing games during his career, topped by a 184-yard effort against Connecticut in 2003.

Quarterback Mike Teel needs to be more efficient, but he can be as awful as he wants Saturday and it won't matter.

TCR Prediction: Rutgers 37, Ohio 9

Last Week: 6-0

To date: 15-0

Maryland/West Virginia Preview

2006-09-14T17:07:00.000-04:00

Note: This was supposed to be the Big East Week 3 preview, but due to circumstances outside of our control (fell asleep and now want to watch the game) we are being forced to hold off on the complete preview until after tonight's Maryland/West Virginia contest. Here's a brief rundown of what will hopefully be a big showing for WVU and consequently the Big East.

9/14: Maryland (2-0) at 5) West Virginia (2-0)

Time/TV: 7:30/ESPN

Favorite: West Virginia by 16

Sadly this may be the best look we get at how good West Virginia is for another month and a half. Couple that with the fact that this is a fairly heated rivalry and you have all the makings of a Thursday night must watch.

The game is also personal for WVU star running back Steve Slaton who was set to become a Terp before Maryland pulled their offer at the last second, claiming they had too many running backs. Slaton has averaged 7 1/2 yards a carry, 153 yards a game, and scored four touchdowns in Mountaineers' beatdowns of Marshall and Eastern Washington.

"I committed: I was already there," Slaton recalled. "It was an upcoming program, they were pretty close to home. I liked my family coming to games, and that was a pretty big reason to go there."

When asked how he planned to stop West Virginia's three-headed rushing attack of Slaton, QB Pat White and FB Owen Schmitt, Maryland Head Whale Ralph Friedgen said, "Pray a lot. Bring out the rosary."

In addition to using the unoriginal prayer joke, Friedgen likely will play speedy players over more experienced ones, especially at linebacker, a position that is particularly crucial against the Mountaineers' spread offense. Dave Philistin is scheduled to start at linebacker this week over David Holloway. Look for Rick Costa and Moses Fokou to also get plenty of time. Though both are undersized, both bring the ability to cover wide spaces, a must against the Mountaineers' offense.

On offense the Terrapins boast a solid running attack in Keon Lattimore, Lance Ball and Josh Allen. The offensive line is perhaps the best of the Friedgen era, and quarterback Sam Hollenbach is showing signs of maturity. They will head go up against a much smaller West Virginia front which should allow Maryland to open up their offense a little bit (something they say they will) after playing very conservatively in their first two games.

Friedgen is 4-2 against Rich Rodriguez since taking over as head coach of the Terps, including the 2003 Gator Bowl where Maryland crushed West Virginia 41-7. The all-time series is tied at 21-21-2.

Whenever we watch Maryland we wonder how pissed these guys must be when they have a guy like Friedgen in their ear talking about hard work and staying in shape.

West Virginia knows that if this game is close at halftime, they'll take a hit in the eye of the public and will likely drop in the polls. This is their chance to play against a BCS name in front of a national television audience, and if they get a chance to pour it on, they'll pour it on. Everyone is calling Maryland a mystery, but we here say that if you struggle against William & Mary and MTSU then it's no mystery; you suck.

TCR Prediction: West Virginia 35, Maryland 10

Kicker Feud Watch: Day 4

2006-09-14T00:25:00.000-04:00

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." --The Shawshank Redemption.

Still not a peep out of either the Carmody or Peattie camps, but until Saturday at 3:30 hope will spring eternal here at Card Report Headquarters. Anything guys, seriously.

Here's what's going on:

Bobby Petrino has put the muzzle on Nate Harris which likely signifies the end of the Cardinal verbal attack. And sadly no major (confirmed) smack from the folks down south, although we think Kyle Wright might have tried.

South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell has been suspended indefinitely from the team after allegedly sucker punching a bouncer at a bar.

Apparently Mitchell initiated a verbal exchange with Kylan Ertzberger, 19, asking if Ertzberger liked Mitchell. Ertzberger said he had no problem with Mitchell but didn’t like the fact he was trying to bring underage women into the bar. When Ertzberger turned to walk away, Mitchell punched him in the left eye.

For the record, this is Blake Mitchell:

And this is the dude he punched:

Keep in mind that this guy goes to South Carolina too.

Mitchell needs to do something else so that he's not only kicked out of school but banned from the entire state.

Orson over at EDSBS has dubbed this weekend's loaded slate of games as "Footballpocalypse." He sticks with this theme in his Louisville/Miami preview which includes sections focusing on Plague (Miami's running game), The Return of the Anti-Christ (Bobby P), and a Cracked Apocalyptic Prophesy (he takes Louisville 45-24).

Ohio State received 48 of 61 first-place votes in the week three installment of the BlogPoll. Louisville stayed put at 11th.

Do yourself a favor and check out OSU's resident punk band and their easy to pick-up title track.

UofLsports.com has a list of all the special gameday events taking place on Saturday, as well as a reminder not to get drunk and beat people up. They also have a link to audio of The Bobby Petrino Show.

Despite the return of senior Tyrone Moss from suspension last week, Miami head coach Larry Coker said he expects junior Charlie Jones to remain the starter at running back against Louisville. Unless Jones turns into a different human being over the next couple of days, we'll be shocked if Moss doesn't get more carries.

51% of the country will have the chance to watch the glory that will be Louisville/Miami on ABC Saturday, while the other 49% (God we hate them) will get Oregon/Oklahoma. The 49% do get the privilege of seeing Oregon's blindly crafted uniforms in spectacular high definition, while Hurricane and Cardinal fans will be shafted out of the chance of seeing the mantastic face of Bob Griese in elevated quality.

It's only so often that God himself (we don't know all the details of this whole "creation" deal, only that whoever did this loves football) takes time out of his busy schedule to carefully craft a weekend of college football so magnificent that it can only be percieved by all who stand before it as a gift from a higher being.

We're sure most of you have pretty hectic schedules and that Monday-Thursday likely isn't the most stress-free period of the week, so we recommend that everyone just sit back, relax, behold this lineup in all its glory and let it take the wheel for a minute or two:

No. 3 Auburn vs. No. 6 LSU

No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Michigan

No. 7 Florida vs. No. 13 Tennessee

No. 4 USC vs. No. 19 Nebraska

No. 12 Louisville vs. No. 17 Miami

No. 15 Oklahoma vs. No.18 Oregon

No. 20 TCU vs. No. 24 Texas Tech

Seriously, this may be as close to a playoff as we ever get. All of these games have national championship implications at this point, and the loser of each is likely done. We can't recall seeing another lineup that actually glows when you stare directly at it.

Anyone who doesn't watch college football Saturday is a blasphemer, we said it, blasphemer. And if you die or go into a coma or something, you're a coward.

Oh and don't think we've forgotten....

Nate Harris is Stan Marsh, and it's on. If only we could get Carmody to work "F'd in the A" into a pregame quote...

Peace, love, Cards.

The Miami Response

2006-09-12T23:17:00.000-04:00

Just in case you weren't a true believer in the known fact that it is, indeed, "on," Miami players Anthony Wollschlager and Darnell Jenkins responded to Nate Harris' comments today and proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that it's more on than you even know.

“I don’t know what to say about that, that we lost everything” Wollschlager said. “It’s funny to come from someone who committed here, he did his stuff and then ended up not coming here. Then to turn around and do a total 180, that we lost everything. I don’t know.”

“Yes, we take it personally,” Jenkins said. “That makes everyone on offense think, ‘Who is this guy, talking about us like that? We haven’t even played the game yet. That puts a bullseye on him. And I mean everyone is after him. Even me.“He criticized us real bad. We take that personally.”

Ok so it's not exactly Crossfire material (RIP Tucker Carlson), but what do you expect when two guys try to verbally tangle with a guy representing the city that's home to the greatest trash talker of all-time?

It's only Tuesday which means there's still plenty of time for better material from the Hurricanes, and of course still ample opportunity for our dream of a very public Carmody/Peattie feud to come to fruition (Hey Art, I heard Jon said you couldn't kick a 25-yard field goal from the right hash...IN A DOME). We'd also settle for Flannery/Monroe, we're not picky.

With all the talk, and this apparent sense of desperation Miami is feeling, a big key to us winning the game may be not getting rattled if they come out like a house of fire in the first six or seven minutes. Everyone knows when we win the toss Petrino takes the ball, so if we can score on our first drive then that should take the intensity level on the visiting sideline down a knotch, and with Kyle Wright's vulnerability to the three-and-out we may able to kill Miami's will early.

Or we could go three-and-out and Wright could come in with some confidence and look like Willie Beamen. And then there's always the possibility that we could lose the toss in which case we'd be forced to forefit (we're still not completely familiar with the rules of the sport).

Either way it's definitely a game that could be won or lost in the first 10 minutes.

Or someone could overcome a 17-point second-half deficit (say 24-7 or 31-14) to win. Just sayin'.

Have we mentioned that it's on?

Louisville/Miami Related News Items

2006-09-12T15:57:00.000-04:00

We had a dream last night that Kentucky beat Louisville 49-45 in football and as a response we punched a hole through a wall. Not sure which is less believable, that the Cats could beat the Cards or that we could actually do damage to anything stronger than a straw.

Either way the dream has us even more antsy about this weekend's game than we had been before, for now we have experienced the horrible reality of a Louisville football team with one loss and the madness to which it could drive us.

Just thought we'd share.

Here are what folks around the country are saying about the Cards and Canes:

Jack Carey of USA Today has an excellent preview article which focuses on U of L's running backs not named Michael Bush. USA Today also has an inside look at the matchup.

But when Bush, billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate and part of the "Derby Duo" with quarterback Brian Brohm, went down against the Wildcats, the roles for the remaining running backs changed. There will now be more carries and bigger expectations, especially Saturday when the No. 12 Cardinals host No. 15 Miami (Fla.) in one of the biggest games in the eight-year history of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

"I know I can't take a play off," says Smith. "There's no room to take one off and make a mistake here or there with (Bush) missing."

Louisville has the #1 offense in the country, which means absolutely nothing if we lose on Saturday.

The Miami Herald joins the trend at writes about Nate Harris. Nothing new here just Nate's quotes and the facts everyone already knows.

Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel reminds us that Larry Coker is 7-2 against ranked teams on the road and 5-0 when the 'Canes are the underdog. Louisville's a 4 1/2 to 5 point favorite right now, depending on who you ask.

The CEO is 7-2 against ranked teams on the road since taking over the program, and he's even more impressive (5-0) when his team's the underdog, like UM will be when they take the field against Louisville, with a line that keeps growing. Why does this team respond so well to hate? Because true Hurricanes naturally have a chip on their shoulder, and I've learned they actually like it.

With that said, this is my attempt to call the U out before Saturday's game against the Cardinals, who have a national title run on the line. Last year I was very confident Miami would beat Virginia Tech after seeing the look in their eyes all week in practice, and listening to them talk. (READ HERE FOR PROOF) I'm wondering if this team will give off that same vibe?

The AP's Tim Reynolds writes that Miami enters this weekend with the feeling that their season is on the line. As far as national title aspirations this is most definitely an elimination game, whoever loses has absolutely zero shot to hoist the crystal football on Jan. 8.

The Orlando Sentinel also writes about Louisville's potent running attack sans Michael Bush. Looks like it took folks less time than we had anticipated to take notice of Stripling and Smith.

An older, wiser, non-injured Brian Brohm is ready for his first start against a ranked oppponent.

Brian Brohm remembers it all: the crowd, the emotion and the win that got away.

The Louisville quarterback was a wide-eyed true freshman when the then 17th-ranked Cardinals headed into Miami and nearly upset the third-ranked Hurricanes two years ago.

"I was just competing out there, playing on emotion, playing on adrenaline," Brohm said.

Saturday. Come. Now.

Peace, love, Cards.

Nate Harris Calls Out Miami

2006-09-11T23:04:00.000-04:00

It was actually English dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe (of Dr. Faustus fame) who in 1587's Tamburlaine the Great first wrote: "Oh it is on."

Five years later in Edward II he added a new touch to the phrase that had swept an unprepared London by storm when he scribed: "like donkey kong bitch."

We're not sure whether or not Nate Harris has made a deal with the devil but what we are sure of is that his comments today assuredly added some spice to a Louisville/Miami game that already had all the makings of a classic dog fight.

Observe:

"Everybody knows they're not the same Miami team like they used to be. They still have their swagger but it's not the same Miami team. They're just not. ... Compared to the game I used to see, they used to dominate everybody. It's just not the same."

And

"What really gets at me is they had the same situation with another player (Willie Williams). They gave him a chance but they didn't give me a chance. That's what's really burning me up."

"Once I got in trouble, they didn't call my mom, my family members or my (high school) coach. When I got my situation, I feel like they left me alone, took my scholarship."

Harris of course signed with Miami out of high school, but was sent packing after some off the field issues and transferred to Louisville after a stint at a Community College in Kansas. He has not been in any trouble since arriving at U of L and now has realistic NFL dreams.

Harris' bulletin board fodder has done more than just catch the eye of the Hurricanes, it has made the Miami/Louisville game stand out from amongst the bevy of top-knotch contests that will be played in five days on college football's most loaded weekend.

For instance, check out the opening of Dennis Dodd's latest column:

Call it whatever you will ...

Super Saturday.

Shakeout Saturday.

The 230th day of the Year of the Dog.

Whatever, Saturday's 10 life-changing matchups have a poster boy. Louisville linebacker Nate Harris is bringing an edge to this huge week, which otherwise will be diffused by a mound of coachspeak

Harris' comments mean several things:

1) Someone from Miami will likely respond (yay!).

2) We need to win this game even more now, if that's possible.

And 3) Nate has a pair of balls at least three times as big as ours. Have you seen those guys? They wear visors....VISORS.

The only thing that could make this week more awesomer?

Two words: kicker feud.

We got your back Art.

Peace, love, Cards.

BlogPoll Week 3

2006-09-11T16:50:00.000-04:00

Some are saying week 2 others are saying week 3, either way here's the way the teams came out of the hat today. Everything changes after this weekend:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Louisiana State	4
3	Auburn	--
4	Southern Cal	--
5	Notre Dame	3
6	West Virginia	1
7	Florida	--
8	Louisville	1
9	Michigan	3
10	Oregon	4
11	Nebraska	4
12	Texas	10
13	Iowa	3
14	Georgia	2
15	Florida State	4
16	Tennessee	3
17	Virginia Tech	--
18	Miami (Florida)	2
19	Oklahoma	4
20	TCU	5
21	Cal	3
22	Boston College	4
23	Boise State	3
24	Georgia Tech	3
25	Texas Tech	3

Dropped Out: Clemson (#18), Penn State (#19).

Half-baked reasonings:

1. Ohio State: Duh. We said 35-20 which looking back is a slap in the face to the Buckeye defense.

2. LSU: We're starting to think the Bayou Bengals will end up playing the role everyone thought Auburn would.

3. Auburn: Can prove previous statement untrue in five days.

4. USC: They have a quarterback whose last name is Booty. They may have to lose 10 straight for us to drop them out of the top five.

5. Notre Dame: The Dame was getting otuplayed for the first 10 minutes against Penn State, but a few fortuitous bounces got the momentum rolling and it carried over into the second half. We're still not ready to drink the Green Kool Aid mixed with Bailey's, but if they're impressive this weekend then we're on board.

6. West Virginia: Sadly Thursday's game against Marlyland is going to be the best chance any of us will have to see how good these guys really are for about a month and a half.

7. Florida: Alright Chris just beathe in and out, in and out.

8. Louisville: I guess we'll find out Saturday.

9. Michigan: Once again, we'll know Saturday.

10. Oregon: Big win against a quality opponent in a hostile environment. We'd like to go on record once more and say that we love this Oregon team.

11. Nebraska: Are they as good as it looks like they are? Because it looks like they're pretty good.

12. Texas: You have a true freshman quarterback, you will lose at least two regular season games.

13. Iowa: Play impressively with Tate back and you'll get your old spot back.

14. Georgia: So it looks like Stafford's the guy. See Texas.

15. Florida State: Yeah, so, what was that?

16. Tennessee: Stop messing with our heads.

17. Virginia Tech: We still have absolutely no idea where to put these guys so we keep leaving them at 17.

18. Miami (Fl): Miami fans if they beat Louisville: "Ok." Miami fans if they lose to Lousiville: "What an absolute fucking embarrassment. I'm sorry, I know he did a lot with someone elses guys, but he has to go. He won a national championship and then stopped caring, he just doesn't care. If you're the head coach at Miami you can not lose games to teams like Louisville, you just can't. The season's over and you know what it's not going to get any better next year. Absolutely ridiculous."

19. Oklahoma: You have a good running back.

20. TCU: It's 20-25, gotta have 'em.

21. Cal: Are you good or not good? What's the deal here?

22. Boston College: I would have predicted that Ryan would have had to have thrown for at least 360 for them to have beaten Clemson.

23. Boise State: Good at home for the 10th consecutive year, but could they actually beat someone good on the road? We'll never know.

24. Georgia Tech: The Irish spanking Penn State makes them look even better.

25. Texas Tech: They beat UTEP and we love UTEP, so they're here.

Games we watched all of: Temple/Louisville, Texas/Ohio State, Boise State/Oregon State

Games we watched a solid chunk of: Rutgers/Illinois, Syracuse/Iowa, Notre Dame/Penn State, Fresno State/Oregon

Games we watched a bit of: Eastern Michigan/Michigan State, Georgia/South Carolina, Cal/Minnesota, Va Tech/UNC, LSU/Arizona

This weekend's orgasmic slate of games means that next week's edition should be the first poll that actually carries some merit, so we should all look forward to that. Feel free to give your own top 25 so we can ignore it.

Branch Traded To Seattle

2006-09-11T14:42:00.000-04:00

The New England Patriots ended the holdout of former Louisville receiver and Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch on Monday by trading him to the Seattle Seahawks for a draft pick.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James confirmed the trade but did not disclose the round. Coach Bill Belichick reportedly will hold an afternoon press conference.

Branch was entering the last season of the five-year contract he signed as a rookie. He held out of the mandatory minicamp in June and all of training camp. He has been subject to a $14,000 fine for each day he holds out from July 28, the start of training camp.

Deion should get a chance to shine on a team whose leading receiver, Darrell Jackson, missed the entire preseason. Jackson had not practiced until last week following his second knee surgery in four months, in February, and played far more than expected in Sunday's win over the Lions.

Poll Results

2006-09-11T02:09:00.000-04:00

Though we probably didn't have the optimal sampling audience, the results of our poll question are in and the overwhelming majority of you believe that Louisville will win the Big East without Michael Bush.

Here are the final tallies to the question, "Without Michael Bush will Louisville win the Big East?":

Yes: 120 (81%)
No: 22 (15%)
Wouldn't have won it with him: 7 (5%)

Again, thanks to everyone who voted and we ask all of you to take at least 10-15 hours to think over your choice before voting in this week's poll.

Big East: Week 2 Roundup

2006-09-11T01:04:00.000-04:00

Syracuse and Florida International did their best to stifle what will from here on out simply be referred to as "The Streak" (Cal who?), but when all was said and done the scoreboard we have above the television in our living room read: The Card Report-14, Imperfection-0.

Here's what happened in the games that had everyone in America fooled except for us:

Pittsburgh 33, Cincinnati 15 (Friday)

Derek Kinder caught three passes for a career-high 172 yards and two touchdowns as Pittsburgh won on the road for the first time since 2004, beating Cincinnati 33-15.

The score was just 7-0 in favor of the Panther at halftime, but the Bearcats began to unravel once Tyler Palko started hooking up with Kinder (gross). The senior quarterback went 11-of-21 for 267 yards, throwing three touchdown passes for the second straight game. He also had three during an opening 38-13 win over Virginia.

The Panthers were 0-5 on the road last year, a slide that began with a shocking visit to the other corner of Ohio. The Panthers lost to Ohio 16-10 in overtime, when Palko's pass was returned for a touchdown.

On the plus side for Cincinnati, they're quarterback controversy might have come to an end as sophomore Dustin Grutza was far more affective than senior Nick Davila who didn't play at all in the first half and committed an intentional grounding penalty in the endzone which resulted in a safety on his second series in the third quarter.

Pittsburgh hosts John L. Fuckrag's (Changed his name. True story.) Spartans at noon this Saturday, while the Bearcats will be involed in yet another streak tester when they travel to Columbus to take on the #1 Buckeyes of Ohio State.

It just never gets any easier for us.

Our prediction: Pitt-27, Cincy-10

Rutgers 33, Illinois 0

We knew Illinois was bad, but we didn't know that there wasn't one player on their team capable of kicking a football in the air. Just throwing it out there, but our two-year-old nephew is available. Still struggles with talking so someone might have to call out the cadence, but he's probably your best option at this point Ron.

In spite of the fact that they were playing a team whose special teams players lack basic motor skills, Rutgers looked good.

Ray Rice followed up his impressive performance against North Carolina by rumbling for 108 yards and a score while Mike Teel got the job done going 14-of-24 for 147 yds and a touchdown.

The shutout was the first for RU since 2002.

The Scarlet Knights get those giant killers from Ohio this weekend.

Our prediction: Rutgers 34, Illinois 13

West Virginia 52, Eastern Washington 3

Steve Slaton ultimately did not get to go all Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl on Eastern Washington's ass, because he was pulled after rushing just 8 times for 105 yds and two touchdowns. Still, our score was pretty close.

Slaton sat in part because the Mountaineers have a short week to prepare for Maryland Thursday night.

Our prediction: WVU 49, Eastern Washington 3

Iowa 20, Syracuse 13 (2 OT)

There are very few ways to make your fans feel disappointed when you're a team whose lost 11 straight and just took the #14 team in the country to two overtimes.

Not scoring in 8 tries from inside the three-yard-line is one of them. Shooting them in the leg is another.

Syracuse travels to Champaign on Saturday to take part in the "Best vs. Worst Punting Challenge Classic." We love Brendan Carney.

Our prediction: Iowa 41, Syracuse 10 (Wanna fight about it?)

South Florida 21, Florida International 20

Is there a third string quarterback at USF that we can bitch about not playing?

New starting signal caller Matt Grothe chucked a 29-yard touchdown pass to Taurus Johnson with 2:33 remaining to help the Bulls avoid the upset. Grothe finished 15-of-28 for 174 yards and also led the team in rushing with 82 yards on 16 carries.

Sure they're life and death to beat FIU and McNeese State but they'll come out like the God damn '79 Steelers against us.

USF gets Central Florida this week.

Our prediction: South Florida 34, Florida Int'l 7 (Yeah, so?)

Other Cardinal Opponents:

Miami 51, Florida A&M 10
Kansas State 45, Florida Atlantic 0
Maryland 24, Middle Tennessee State 10
Kentucky 41, The Fictional School From Necessary Roughness 7

That Was Cute, But It's Miami Time

2006-09-10T00:18:00.000-04:00

We'd like to say that we'll have a more in-depth review of the Temple game within the next few days, but we won't because it's not going to happen.

When you enter a game where the best possible outcome is that coaches, fans and players will be "satisfied," then the game isn't worth reflecting on too much on. Sure it was fun for a little while but once we hit 253 our minds started shifting towards Sept. 16. Rod Council going down and Kolby Smith scaring the holy hell out of us didn't help matters much.

We would, however, like to address the Owl fans currently bitching about Petrino running up the score.

First of all, we play Miami next week, and it's kind of a big deal for us. Petrino would be doing his team a great disservice if he played his starters LESS THAN A HALF the week before such a big game. It's only the second game of the year and our offensive unit, especially now without Michael Bush, is still trying to gel. Brian Brohm was playing in just his second game since suffering a severe knee injury and is still trying to get back in the flow of actual game play. Just like every other team in America, we're simply trying to get better.

Second, there was no reason for us to run up the score. Do you really think beating Temple 62-0 made a statement to the rest of the country? We could have won by 90 and no one would have given a shit. And we could have won by 90.

Put it this way, we shut out our opponent, won by 62 points, ammassed almost 700 yards of total offense, and our highlights weren't even on Sportscenter.

Finally, we scored just seven points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth and nearly all of our plays in the second half were runs in which the ball carrier was our third, fourth, or fifth string running back. We're deep at running back. Not our fault. Not gonna apologize. Won't do it.

We'd like to point out that these claims of "classlessness" are being made by Temple fans, and not anyone actually associated with the program. In fact, head coach Al Golden had this to say after the game:

“We were just out-matched and out-manned. That’s a deep ball club – that’s a good ball club. I give Coach Petrino and his staff – his program, right now – a lot of credit. That’s a big league ball club right there."

"Could we have beaten this team, no. I'm looking at it right now, saying there's no way we could have beaten them."

For the record we love coach Golden and think that he's going to start to turn things around up there once Temple gets settled in the MAC. The Owls remind us a little bit of Louisville circa 1985.

Anywho we can now finally turn our attention to the game that Cardinal fans have been looking forward to since about 11:47 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2004. It's Louisville/Miami, and it's finally a second chance to make folks take notice.

It's gonna be a long week, but it should be fun.

Peace, love, Cards.

It's A Saturday Night, We're Staying Home And We Feel Fine

2006-09-09T19:53:00.000-04:00

There's a moment in every man's life where it becomes apparent that he's reached a sort of maturation check point. Maybe it's the first time your friend rips ass and you don't giggle like a stoned Bengal, or the first time you take the time to read an insightful political article in the midget porn magazine you subscribe to.

Well our moment of maturation happened on this weekend one year ago. It was Saturday night and Ohio State and Texas were about to play in a game we were quite keen on watching. Around 7:00 a friend of ours called to see what time we were all going to roll out to the party of the night. The night had all the makings of a solid Saturday, lots of people we knew were going to be there, dozens of cute girls for us to gawk at but not talk to, the works.

"I'm not gonna go."

The words escaped from our mouths like Andy Dufrane emerging from the sewers of Shawshank. "Not gonna go?" What the hell was this?

"I wanna watch the game."

What kind of sick joke are you playing on yourself man? There will be GIRLS TO LOOK AT BUT NOT TALK TO!

"I won't be able to really focus on the game there, I'll feel like I need to be talking to someone and making eye contact and stuff."

Well that makes sense. Still.

"Alright, later."

And then we did just what we said we were going to do, we sat on our asses and watched a phenomenal game on a Saturday night. No alcohol, no girls, no loud noise. A fate punishable by castration three years earlier.

That night we realized that we would remember watching that game far longer than we would have remembered anything that happened that night (about 2 a.m.), and we had enjoyed the night off from the hustle and bustle of stalkerish staring.

In the years prior to that fateful night, staying home to watch a football game on a Saturday was completely and utterly inexcusable. Now, with the wall of our young adulthood officially torn down, we find it to be be one of, if not the, highlight of our weekend.

And now we're here now to admit to the world that we're about to do it all over again.

So tonight as we enjoy #1 vs. #2 in the comfort of our home we urge you now, be not ashamed of your anti-social love for Saturday night college football. Wear comfortable clothes, eat late, free yourself of the stress of spending your next three days fretting over whether or not one of your boys escaped, or holding your breath every time you take a leak.

Tell that wife of yours that that anniversary dinner she's been planning for months is just gonna have to be put on the back burner. Tell her The Card Report told you it was ok, she'll understand.

Louisville vs. Temple Rundown

2006-09-09T02:14:00.000-04:00

Time/TV: Noon/WHAS or ESPN Gameplan

Site: Lincoln Financial Field- Philadelphia, PA

Favorite: Louisville by 40 1/2

Series: Temple leads 3-1

Previous Meetings:

1980: Temple 17, U of L 12

1982: Temple 55, U of L 14

1983: Temple 24, U of L 3

2003: U of L 21, Temple 12

Brief Rundown: The Michael Bush-less season (and possibly era) begins at noon when Louisville takes on a team many believe is the worst in Division 1. The Cardinals lost 2005's scoring leader, a Heisman Trophy candidate, and possibly the key to a conference championship, and are still a 40 1/2 point favorite over a Temple team coming off a 9-3 overtime loss to Buffalo.

Louisville leads the nation in total offense after exploding for 631 yards of fun against their arch-rivals in week one. Temple mustered just 183 yards against arguably the worst team in the MAC, but they do currently sit in third place in the category of most true freshmen played.

The brightest spot for the Owls in week one was senior running back Tim Brown who led Temple in both rushing and receiving carrying 20 times for 82 yards and catching six passes for 23 yards.

Game will be a success if: The team somehow manages to come out with a solid amount of intensity and maintain it at least until the second quarter. Stripling and Smith both look solid and ready to shoulder the load from here on out. Brohm doesn't miss any easy throws and hits a receiver running a deep route in stride. The secondary doesn't give up any big plays. Peanut gets a tackle for a loss. Brohm, Stripling and Urrutia don't get hurt. Art keeps pimping. Louisville wins by at least 35

Game will be a horrible, horrible failure if: The game is still within reach at any point in the second half. (This didn't work out well last week but we'll give it a second go) Brohm, Stripling and Urrutia stay out of harms way. The secondary looks shaky. Stripling, Smith and Allen underperform. Louisville scores less than 42 points.

Game Attire: "Cardinals Rule" got the job done on the scoreboard, but we can't let Bush going down go unpunished. If there was ever a week to take chances it's this one so we're going to go with long-sleeve red shirt with "Louisville Cardinals" written in white on the chest and left sleeve. This is a shirt more known for its prowess in Freedom Hall than Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, but we're going to give it a shot due to the relatively stress-free environment this week presents.

Pregame Meal: Chip Sandwich (turkey and cheese)

Anxiety Level (1-10): 2. About as relaxed as you're ever going to find things at Card Report Headquarters.

Must Win Level (1-10): 9.9. We said a couple weeks ago that if we lose this game we will link to and discuss every Greg Doyel story for a year. Even though this is a fate worse than death by mountain lion, we're not backing out.

Prediction: Never in doubt. Louisville-56, Temple-7

Star of the Game: Kolby Smith. Kolby makes a statement that he wants to be the guy by rushing for over 120 and scoring twice on the ground and once through the air.

Pregame quote to make you hope we Spurrier it up: Not really a quote, but this should serve as a reminder that there was once a time when Temple beat the absolute shit out of us.

As always feel free to post any thoughts before, during or after the game in the comments section.

GO CARDS!!!!!

Pitt Finally Wins a Road Game

2006-09-09T01:39:00.000-04:00

Derek Kinder caught three passes for a career-high 172 yards and two touchdowns as Pittsburgh won on the road for the first time since 2004, beating Cincinnati 33-15.

The score was just 7-0 in favor of the Panther at halftime, but the Bearcats began to unravel once Tyler Palko started hooking up with Kinder (gross). The senior quarterback went 11-of-21 for 267 yards, throwing three touchdown passes for the second straight game. He also had three during an opening 38-13 win over Virginia.

The Panthers were 0-5 on the road last year, a slide that began with a shocking visit to the other corner of Ohio. The Panthers lost to Ohio 16-10 in overtime, when Palko's pass was returned for a touchdown.

On the plus side for Cincinnati, they're quarterback controversy might have come to an end as sophomore Dustin Grutza was far more affective than senior Nick Davila who didn't play at all in the first half and then committed an intentional grounding penalty in the endzone which resulted in a safety on his second series in the third quarter.

The win means that Pitt is officially the top dawg in the conference for a week.

Matt Simms Gives A, Uh, Colorful Performance

2006-09-09T00:46:00.000-04:00

So we tuned in to ESPNU for Friday night's broadcast of Don Bosco vs. St. Joseph to take in some high-level high school football, but more importantly to catch a glimpse of Louisville's alleged quarterback of the future Matt Simms.

Bosco trailed 6-0 at the break and Simms was having a little trouble moving the offense, but he had a sore shoulder and it was his first game of the year so we gave him the benefit of the doubt. A couple minutes into the third quarter we were ready to assess that the kid had kind of a funky motion, but enough of an arm that the Petrinos could work with him and turn him into another solid field general.

Then, after yet another three and out, the visiting St. Joseph crowd began chanting something apparently directed toward Simms.

He responded.

We were desperately hoping that Simms had not just done what we thought we had seen, but thanks to the wonders of Tivo we confirmed that he had in fact just done this:

This is disappointing for several reasons, the largest and most obvious being that it shows a complete lack of class. There is never an excuse for this type of reaction at any level of competition. Unless someone has just stabbed you, in which case go crazy.

Second, it shows that the kid gets rattled fairly easily. If you let opposing fans at a high school game, being played AT HOME, affect you so much that you feel the need to drop the f bomb via sign language, then how in the hell are you going to level-headedly lead a team into Morgantown?

Finally, you know the game's being broadcast on national television, come on man. You're the main focus in this deal, how can you not realize that any motion you make or words you mouth could be caught on camera?

We understand that this is an 18-year-old kid, but he's a Simms for God sake. We're sure Papa does not approve.

Whether or not this is an accurate reflection of Simms' character, rest assured that this business ceases once he arrives in the Derby City and goes under the tutelage of one Bobby Petrino. He could be the son of Lincoln (medical miracle) and Petrino wouldn't play him if he didn't have his head on straight.

By the way Don Bosco won the game 31-28.

Matt Simms on ESPNU Tonight

2006-09-08T18:39:00.000-04:00

Cardinal fans will get their first chance to see Louisville signee Matt Simms in action tonight when his Don Bosco Prep football team takes on perennial national power St. Joseph's Prep of Philadelphia at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

The game is the first for the Ironmen, who spent much of last season in the USA Today top 25 before falling to St. Peters Prep 22-15 in the NJSIAA Parochial Group IV state championship. St. Joseph opened their season with a 16-6 win last Friday.

Don Bosco is 72-9 since 1999.

Week 2 Big East Preview

2006-09-08T16:30:00.001-04:00

Wow what a week one. While the rest of the world was clamoring about the McNeese State offense, we predicted that South Florida would somehow bring them down. While Lee Corso donned Rhode Island Ram headgear, we stuck our necks out there and went with Connecticut.

When the smoke cleared The Card Report was 8-0 and the rest of the world was looking on in stunned disbelief.

Ok so maybe one of Kansas' ticket-paying babies could have correctly picked last week's slate of games, but we'll be damned if we're clotheslined off our extremely tall horse by specifics.

Here's to the continuation of the most improbable streak of correct predictions in week two:

9/8: Pittsburgh at Cincinnati

8:00- ESPN2

Favorite: Pitt by 8 1/2

Conference play offically begins tonight as Pittsburgh heads South to play the Bearcats in Cincinnati for the first time since 1922.

Cincy head coach Mark Dantonio says both of his quarterbacks, sophomore Dustin Grutza and senior Nick Davila, will play after the two combined to go 19-of-34 for 282 yards with 2 TDs vs. Eastern Ky. Dantonio has built this game up all week, saying that it will be a good indicator of how good his team is, and has been begging fans to show up.

"It sets the tone for the season," Dantonio said. "We'll see what we've got come Friday."

Meanwhile a refocused Pitt team showed up last week and trounced Virginia 38-13. Quarterback Tyler Palko began his quest to prove his poor junior season was a fluke by throwing for 283 yards and three touchdowns. Linebacker Clint Sessions earned Big East defensive player of the week with 9 tackles (2 for loss) and a 78-yard interception return for TD.

Pitt comes into Nippert Stadium looking to exercise some serious road demons. The Panthers were 0-5 away from home last season, and failed to score an offensive touchdown in their first 10 quarters on the road. They lost their last two road games of the season (at Louisville/at West Virginia) by a combined score of 87-33.

Pitt also ended the 2004 season with a 35-7 shellacking by Utah in the Fiesta Bowl. It doesn't get any better when you look at Wannstedt's boys history on Friday nights. Last year, the Panthers played two Friday night games and lost them both, including a 16-10 overtime loss at the hands of MAC lightweight Ohio University.

And to complete the sad tale, the Panthers are 0-2 in their past two trips into Ohio.

Pitt's starting tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling is listed as questionable for tonight, and if he can't go then it's likely that talented freshman Shane Brooks will get the call.

There's a lot going against Pitt, which only means that when they win it's going to be ugly. Cincinnati's better, but they're still not very good and aren't going to be able to put up enough points in the second half to hang with the Panthers. Look for Davila to be named the official starter early next week.

TCR Prediction: Pitt-27, Cincinnati-10

9/9: Illinois at Rutgers

Noon-ESPN2

Favorite: Rutgers by 10 1/2

The Scarlet Knights look to open 2-0 for only the fifth time in the last 25 years and avenge last year's heartbreaking loss to Illinois. The Illini haven't won on the road since Nov. 23, 2002. That's 14 consecutive road losses, plus one against Missouri on a neutral field in 2003, since the Illini defeated Northwestern 31-24 at Evanston in the final game of the '02 season.

Much has been made of Rutgers' running game, but it was tailback Ray Rice, and not star fullback Brian Leonard, who stole the show last week rushing for 201 yards and a trio of scores in the Scarlet Knights' 21-16 victory over North Carolina. Rice will look for similar success in week two going up against an Illinois defense that went largely untested in a 42-17 victory over 1-AA Eastern Illinois in their opener.

The Illini are another team that boasts a two-quarterback system. After neither QB stood out in week one, offensive coordinator Mike Locksley has said that he will continue use both senior starter Tim Brasic and talented freshaman Isiah "Juice" Williams this weekend.

Rutgers needs to take a page out of the Louisville motivational handbook and adopt the motto "finish." They blew a 27-7 lead in this game a year ago, and nearly let an 11-point fourth quarter advantage slip away last week.

Illinois will need a major collapse to have a chance

TCR Prediction: Rutgers-34, Illinois- 13

9/9: Eastern Washington at West Virginia

1:00- No TV

Favorite: No Line

If it were on TV you'd be able to watch Steve Slaton go all Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl on Eastern Washington's ass, but since it's not we guess you'll just have to read about it.

Could you imagine reading a write-up of one of those Tecmo games?

"In a truly astonishing play, Jackson ran around the field for three minutes and fifty-five seconds as defenders tried in vain to track down the speedy back. When all was said and done Bo had rumbled 97 yards for his 12th score of the game and seventh run of 80 yards or more."

So, yeah, West Virginia's gonna win.

TCR Prediction: West Virginia-49, Eastern Washington-3

9/9: Iowa at Syracuse

3:30-ABC

Favorite: Iowa by 19 1/2

ABC, seriously?

The folks at Orange 44 have some advice for the unfortunate 37% of the country that get this game, they're also not too fond of starting quarterback Perry Patterson who was not sharp in the Cuse's opening loss to Wake Forest.

Syracuse has lost a school-record 10 straight games coming into Saturday's home opener against Iowa, a team they haven't faced in 30 years.

The Hawkeyes breezed past Montana last week and will likely sleep walk past the Orange on Saturday even if they get caught looking ahead to their matchup with Iowa State next week. Drew Tate and Albert Young are better than anyone on Syracuse's roster (sorry Brendan Carney), and sadly it looks like they're better than anyone the Cuse is going to have for quite sometime.

Syracuse managed just 136 yards of total offense in their 20-10 loss to the Demon Deacons a week ago, and only 45 came through the air in an attack that is supposed to feature the pass.

Kirk Ferentz has played the "they're due for a win and are tough at home" card all week, but we ain't buyin' it.

TCR Prediction: Iowa-41, Syracuse-10

9/9: Florida International at South Florida

7:00-ESPN360

Favorite: No Line

Matt Grothe is in, Pat Julmiste is out, it doesn't really matter because the dorky kid from Step by Step could quarterback the Bulls to victory this week.

TCR Prediction: South Florida-34, Florida International-7

Louisville/Temple stuff later.

Peace, love, Cards.

2006-2007 Cardinal Basketball Schedule Released

2006-09-07T17:20:00.000-04:00

Here it is boys and girls, hot off the presses, your '06-'07 Louisville basketball schedule.

November

Wed. 1 BELLARMINE (exhibition) (WHAS) FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 18 NORTHWESTERN STATE (WHAS) FREEDOM HALL Noon
Sun. 19 KENTUCKY WESLEYAN (exhibition) (WHAS) FREEDOM HALL 5:00 p.m.
Fri. 24 Dayton (CSTV) Cincinnati, Ohio 5:00 p.m.

December

Sat. 2 SACRAMENTO STATE FREEDOM HALL 1:00 p.m.
Tues. 5 at Jimmy V Classic (ESPN) New York, N.Y. 9:30 p.m.
Louisville vs. Arizona (also Syracuse vs. Oklahoma State at 7 p.m.)
Fri. 8 NABC CLASSIC FREEDOM HALL TBA
(St. Joseph's, Ohio University and a team to be named;
pairings TBA; doubleheader each day)
Sat. 9 NABC CLASSIC FREEDOM HALL TBA
Sun. 10 NABC CLASSIC FREEDOM HALL TBA
Wed. 13 BILLY MINARDI CLASSIC FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Louisville vs. Massachusetts
Sat. 16 KENTUCKY (CBS) FREEDOM HALL 1:30 p.m.
Wed. 20 SAVANNAH STATE FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 23 MIAMI (FLA.) (ESPN) FREEDOM HALL 2:00 p.m.
Wed. 27 NORTHEASTERN FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Thur. 28 SAN FRANCISCO FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 30 UNC ASHEVILLE FREEDOM HALL 1:00 p.m.

January

Wed. 3 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. 7:30 p.m.
Wed. 10 at USF Tampa, Fla. TBA
Sat. 13 PROVIDENCE FREEDOM HALL Noon
Mon. 15 MARQUETTE (ESPN) FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 20 at DePaul (ESPN) Chicago, Ill. Noon
Mon. 22 CONNECTICUT (ESPN) FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 27 SYRACUSE (ESPN) FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Wed. 31 at Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio TBA

February

Sat. 3 at Villanova (ESPN) Philadelphia, Pa. Noon
Wed. 7 GEORGETOWN (ESPN) FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 10 USF FREEDOM HALL 3:00 p.m.
Mon. 12 at Pittsburgh (ESPN) Pittsburgh, Pa. 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 17 at Marquette (ESPNU) Milwaukee, Wisc. 9:00 p.m.
Wed. 21 ST. JOHN'S (ESPN2) FREEDOM HALL 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 25 at Connecticut (CBS) Hartford, Conn. Noon

March

Sun. 4 SETON HALL FREEDOM HALL Noon
Wed.- 7- Sat. 10 at BIG EAST Conference Tournament New York, N.Y. TBA
Note: Tipoff times and television arrangements are incomplete.

As of right now that's 14 games on national television.

At least sixteen of the Cardinals' games will be played against teams that reached postseason competition last season, including 12 NCAA Tournament and four NIT participants (NCAA: Arizona, Connecticut twice, Georgetown, Kentucky, Marquette twice, Northwestern State, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Syracuse, and Villanova; NIT: Cincinnati, Miami, Notre Dame and St. Joseph's).

U of L opens the new year and its second season in the Big East Conference at Notre Dame on Jan. 3. The Cards' league schedule includes two games each against Connecticut, Marquette and USF while U of L will not face league members Rutgers or West Virginia (refuckingdiculous) this season.

The Cardinals will play Marquette on Jan. 15 in the first of four straight games on ESPN, a stretch which also includes Jan. 20 at DePaul, Jan. 22 vs. Connecticut, and Jan. 27 vs. Syracuse.

Six of the Cardinals' seven games during the month of February will also be national telecasts: Feb. 3 at Villanova (ESPN), Feb. 7 vs. Georgetown (ESPN), Feb. 12 at Pittsburgh (ESPN), Feb. 17 at Marquette (ESPNU), Feb. 21 vs. St. John's (ESPN2), and Feb. 25 at Connecticut (CBS).

In all, ten of the Louisville's last 13 regular season games will appear on national television.

The Big East Conference Tournament will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 7-10.

What to read while letting your shoulder lean

2006-09-07T16:50:00.000-04:00

AOL Sports (yep) weighs in on the three, possibly four-headed monster that will replace Michael Bush at running back, the Big East's impressive first week, Steve Slaton, and the disappointment we all feel that just one couch was ignited in Morgantown last Saturday.

As expected, the NFL players union's grievance against the Patriots on behalf of Deion Branch has been dismissed, according to an ESPN report. Branch can either report now, or sit out half the season and report just in time to be credited with a year of service and earn free agency after the year.

In a release this morning, USA Today proved that Jim Tressel claiming he voted Texas number one in his Top 25 ballot was the biggest lie since "it happens to all guys." Tressel then backtracked, claiming the whole thing was a miscommunication between he and Ohio State Director of Player Development (quite possibly the most evil job on the planet) Stan Jefferson.

The M Zone has more if you can stomach it.

Joel at Rocky Top Talk has an animated BCS race that takes a look at how things stand after week one (Louisville is not featured).

Apparently Kansas has a "babies-pay policy" that requires parents to pay $35 for a ticket if they want to bring their infant to a game.

"Everybody needs a ticket regardless of age," Marchiony said. "The very small children come with backpacks and bottles and toys. ... We've received numerous complaints over the years from people who are sitting next to those people -- enough for us to know that even those sized children need the space."

Funny thing is, children under three always get in free at Kansas City Chiefs games. So basically what KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony is saying is that Kansas Jayhawk football games are more jam packed than Kansas City Chiefs football games. If you want to make more money then just say you want to make more money.

You're a tool.

UofLSports.com has audio of Bobby Petrino and wide receiver Harry Douglass reviewing the Kentucky game.

And just in case you hadn't heard, former Rose Hill Christian star OJ Mayo has changed schools yet again. This time he's headed back to his home state of West Virginia to play with UK recruit Patrick Patterson at Huntington High. Apparently this caused a slew of prep teams to try and schedule the new circus act.

Peace, love, Cards.

Georgia Tech Gonna Whoop 'Em Boy Tonight Yeah

2006-09-06T23:55:00.000-04:00

Often times when we're conversing with people from up North and they refer to Louisville as the South we instinctively, and somewhat defensively, blurt out this spiel about how Louisville isn't really North or the South it's just Louisville. We used to wonder why we felt somewhat offended when the Yanks tried to lump us in with the rest of the confederacy.

There is definitely such a thing as Southern hospitality and we miss it whenever we go away, we love grits and biscuits and gravy, Don Williams' "Good Ole' Boys Like Me" is one of our all-time favorite songs.

So why are we sometimes reluctant to associate ourselves with the bottom half of the conterminous states? It may have a little something to do with this guy.

Week 2 BlogPoll Out

2006-09-06T16:29:00.000-04:00

With 63 ballots cast, here is what your week 2 BlogPoll looks like:

1 Ohio State (25)
2 Texas (14)
3 Southern Cal (8)
4 Auburn (8)
5 Louisiana State (1)
6 Notre Dame (5)
7 West Virginia
8 Florida
9 Florida State
10 Iowa
11 Louisville
12 Tennessee (2)
13 Georgia
14 Michigan
15 Miami (Florida)
16 Virginia Tech
17 Clemson
18 Oklahoma
19 Oregon
20 Penn State
21 Nebraska
22 Texas Tech
23 Cal
24 Alabama
25 TCU

Unlike we'd predicted, Louisville stays put at #11. The Cards were pretty much all over the board ranked as high as fourth and as low as unranked by the much maligned Frank McGrath, who was so right in his bold prediction of UT/Cal that his opinion of Louisville was starting to make us nervous.

Then we realized there's only one rational explanation for all of this: He's a witch, a Tulane football-loving witch.

We love Shaun King, now don't let Temple beat us.

Ray Ray McElrathbey is a Hero, and more

2006-09-06T11:14:00.000-04:00

If you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and hear the story of 19-year-old Clemson football player Ray Ray McElrathbey. McElrathbey has temporary custody of his 11-year-old brother because of his mother's continuing drug problems and his father's gambling addiction. The two brothers have lived together in foster homes and now share an apartment by the campus.

There's nothing to say about the situation that hasn't been covered by CNN or various media outlets in South Carolina, except that the NCAA AND the ACC ought to be embarrassed.

"Sad but not unique???" Not only does the kid deserve a little help, he deserves a God damn medal.

Lost in all of the talk about Michael Bush was the fact that Louisville starting tackle Adrian Grady also went down with an injury. Grady broke his right fibula in Sunday's game, and Petrino said the sophomore will miss 2-4 weeks, which is less time than most had initially predicted.

Expect either Earl Heyman to slide over from defensive ened, or JUCO transfer Willie Williams to get his first start.

Starting cornerback Tarell Brown and reserve safety Tyrell Gatewood have been suspended by Texas coach Mack Brown for this Saturday's Ohio State game after both were arrested early Monday morning. The folks at BON are none too pleased.

This may be our favorite song of all-time. Louisville fans (and players) come out with corny rap songs, West Virginia fans, well, they do this.

John Clay points out that Sunday's performance was the fifth worst since 1990 by UK's defense. It was also the 7th worst as far as rushing yards allowed.

Lastly, check out this ultra saweet highlight video of this year's annual thrashing. Especially ultra saweet is the string of highlights featuring Smith, Stripling and Anthony "Baby Bush" Allen with the "I will not die" song blasting in the background.

Week 2 Polls Released

2006-09-05T22:42:00.000-04:00

Fully expected the Cards to slip a spot or two in both polls because of MB, but we stayed put in the AP and actually moved up a spot in the Coaches. Louisville was jumped by Georgia, Tennessee and Michigan in the AP poll, and just the Dawgs in the USA Today poll.

Get comfortable in the 11-14 area because sodomizing Temple isn't going to catch the eye of many voters.

Complete rankings:

Week 2 AP Top 25

1. Ohio State (39) 1-0 1,568
2. Texas (7) 1-0 1,453
3. USC (3) 1-0 1,410
4. Notre Dame (8) 1-0 1,408
4. Auburn (3) 1-0 1,408
6. West Virginia (5) 1-0 1,356
7. Florida 1-0 1,191
8. LSU 1-0 1,185
9. Florida State 1-0 1,130
10. Michigan 1-0 841
11. Tennessee 1-0 839
12. Georgia 1-0 836
13. Louisville 1-0 820
14. Iowa 1-0 800
15. Oklahoma 1-0 725
16. Virginia Tech 1-0 673
17. Miami (FL) 0-1 624
18. Clemson 1-0 564
19. Penn State 1-0 467
20. Oregon 1-0 436
21. Nebraska 1-0 358
22. California 0-1 212
23. TCU 1-0 198
24. Texas Tech 1-0 196
25. Arizona State 1-0 134
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Alabama 96, Wisconsin 35, UCLA 29, Georgia Tech 27, Boise State 25, South Carolina 13, Texas A&M 11, Boston College 11, Pittsburgh 9, Purdue 9, Rutgers 7, Tulsa 7, Arizona 6, Fresno State 3, Missouri 3, UTEP 2.

Week 2 USA Today Poll

1. Ohio State (41) 1-0 1,534
2. Texas (14) 1-0 1,475
3. USC (4) 1-0 1,436
4. Auburn (2) 1-0 1,272
5. Notre Dame (2) 1-0 1,248
5. West Virginia 1-0 1,248
7. Florida 1-0 1,112
8. LSU 1-0 1,096
9. Florida State 1-0 1,074
10. Oklahoma 1-0 1,019
11. Georgia 1-0 899
12. Louisville 1-0 820
13. Michigan 1-0 786
14. Virginia Tech 1-0 700
15. Iowa 1-0 647
16. Miami (FL) 0-1 605
17. Tennessee 1-0 579
18. Clemson 1-0 570
19. Penn State 1-0 459
20. Oregon 1-0 458
21. Nebraska 1-0 313
22. TCU 1-0 265
23. California 0-1 194
24. Texas Tech 1-0 178
25. Alabama 1-0 156
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Arizona State 92, Boise State 31, Boston College 31, South Carolina 21, Fresno State 19, Wisconsin 15, Maryland 9, Pittsburgh 9, Texas A&M 7, Tulsa 6, Rutgers 6, Utah 5, Purdue 5, Georgia Tech 5, Iowa State 4, Minnesota 4, Oregon State 2, Northwestern 1.

BlogPoll: Week 2

2006-09-05T15:20:00.000-04:00

Our second installment of the weekly BlogPoll is here. Still a lot of ambiguity out there, but here's what we came up with:

1. Ohio State

Looked tough when it was a game. Strange to see Troy Smith spend so much time in the pocket, will be interesting to see if he reverts to '05 Troy on Saturday.

2. Texas

McCoy looked good, against North Texas. If Saturday's game wasn't at home then we'd give the Longhorns no shot.

3. Auburn

Kenny Irons is the real deal. Even though they're the better team we still think they'll lose in two weeks to LSU.

4. USC

We'll never second guess a new USC QB replacing a Heisman Trophy winner again.

5. West Virginia

Steve Slaton is good, real good. The pressure heats up now as even more people have handed WVU the Big East.

6. LSU

The least talked about top 10 team in the country.

7. Florida

Didn't see one second of the UF/USM game, but the highlights were impressive.

8. Notre Dame

Not the first one to say it, but if the name on the jersey wasn't Notre Dame, they wouldn't be in the top five.

9. Louisville

We fully expect them to drop at least two spots because folks aren't acclimated with how good Stripling and Smith are.

10. Iowa

Sleep walked past Montana, will sleep walk past Syracuse.

11. Michigan

Did what they had to against Vanderbilt, expect to see more variety in two weeks against the Domers.

12. Florida State

Very average offensive team, defense looked great against another very average offense.

13. Tennessee

Anyone who says they weren't the biggest surprise of the weekend is a dirty, dirty liar.

14. Oregon

Oregon could beat Fresno State by 70 and they still wouldn't move into the top 12 in either major poll.

15. Nebraska

Can we just hand them the North?

16. Georgia

Not sold on Joe T, but he can start to convince us against SC.

17. Virginia Tech

By default.

18. Clemson

Everyone loves Clemson. We like them, but for now we're just hanging out.

19. Penn State

Akron's a good team and PSU looked very good handling them. Morelli looked solid and will get better as the year goes on which is why its unfortunate that they have to play Notre Dame so early.

20. Miami (Fl)

Kyle Wright has all the tools to be an All-American and we've always wondered why he hasn't produced more. We're starting to thant that it might in fact be the coaches. For God's sake let the boy throw the ball down the field.

21. Georgia Tech

Calvin Johnson is a better pro prospect than we are.

22. Texas Tech

We guess.

23. Oklahoma

Trouble, major trouble.

24. Cal

Here strictly because of their talent. Every pundit who's ever argued there's an East Coast bias now hates the Bears.

25. TCU

You still can't have a 20-25 section in any poll without the Horned Frogs.

To see our ballot in its full glory, click here. You can also check out our preseason rankings if the mood strikes you.

On Mike Bush

2006-09-04T16:18:00.000-04:00

Regardless of where you grew up in this country, if you spent at least part of your adolescence playing sports then you without a doubt heard numerous accounts of the the next Michael Jordan, Ken Griffey Jr. or Barry Sanders who was your age. Most of these can be dismissed as your basic big fish tales, but when you hear the same stories about the same kid so many times, you start to pay attention.

The first time I heard the name Mike Bush I was 13. A friend of mine had taken on a Bush-led AAU basketball team the night before and to hear him tell it, the heir to Darrel Griffith's throne had finally surfaced.

I saw him for the first time a few weeks later. Sure enough at an age when most of us were trying to look cool and slap the bottom of the backboard on lay-ups, Bush was having ally-oops thrown to him on fast breaks.

The months piled on, and so did the stories.

Mike Bush's fastball was clocked at 93 mph when he was 12. Mike Bush can throw a football 73 yards, I saw it. Who's Jonas Salk? Mike Bush cured polio.

The summer after we graduated 8th grade we all worried about whether or not we were going to be able to lock up a starting spot on the freshman football team. That same summer Mike Bush was offered full scholarships to Kentucky and Illinois and was featured in a Courier-Journal column by Rick Bozich.

I watched him two years later playing wide receiver at Male High School in the 4A state championship game, amazed at how much it looked like a college All-American had been dropped into the middle of this game played by high school kids. I watched three months later as the sophomore, who had earned MVP honors in that football game, led the Male basketball team to the state finals.

I watched as he made the transition to quarterback his senior year and listened to people who said he would play the position in the NFL some day. I began to believe when I watched him throw for 468 yards and six touchdowns against Trinity in the 2002 state title game.

I watched with joy in February of 2003 as he broke the hearts of Ohio State and Auburn fans and donned a Louisville hat at a press conference.

I watched as Bush the college freshman threw, ran and caught the football for a coach who wasn't quite sure what to do with him. How do you get the most out of a guy that can do everything?

When Bobby Petrino decided that Michael Bush would be a running back, I watched as he learned how to play the position he had been the least accustomed to during his storied amateur career. Students of the position must have winced as they watched Bush during his trial stage at the position, yet despite his unconventional style he was big and fast and effective.

I watched as he took over as the man on offense. As he made 3rd and three feel like 3rd and inches.

I watched NFL scouts marvel over the combination of size and grace and make comparisons to Jerome Bettis. I watched the talking heads on the television call him a Heisman hopeful and sure-fire first round NFL draft selection.

I watched him last night.

See Mike Bush start his senior season by breaking off a dazzling 48-yard touchdown run the first time he touches the ball, see him stylishly spin free of an arm tackle and plow forward for five extra yards, see him make a six-yard run feel like three, listen as experts all over the country bump him up in their Heisman rankings at halftime when he had accumulated 124 yards and a trio of touchdowns.

And then I watched him on the ground. The legend, the tall tale, immobilized.

Mike Bush, his whole life seemingly a path of arrows leading directly to this time when the rest of the world would finally begin to look at him the way I had since I was 13.

I watched the path shift as a cart carrying the waving #19 drove off the field.

We all watch now to see what Bush will do. How he reacts to adversity, how the injury heels and whether or not he returns to Louisville are all questions that will be answered over the next several months.

Whatever happens, rest assured I'll be watching.

The Game: Brief Initial Thoughts

2006-09-04T13:18:00.000-04:00

Alright we've had a night to clear our heads, and while we're going to reserve in-depth grades on individual performances until we get a chance to re-watch the game, here are some brief initial thoughts:

First off it sucks, it really sucks, but it can't ruin the season. There's still too much talent out there for us to lose any more than two games and not be a BCS contender. Stripling and Smith ran for over 1100 yards last season and they're good enough to combine for over 1500 this year.

Secondly, Stripling is our guy. We love Kolby, but he's looked tentative since coming back from his own injury, and still seems to struggle with recognizing where the hole is. Both will get almost an equal number of carries, but Stripling needs to start and be the guy late in games.

The offensive line was the most pleasant surprise last night. On several occasions our viewing crew and us noted that they weren't just knocking people back, they were knocking people down. Quarterman got out and delivered a key block on Stripling's 38-yard scamper, and Wood (we think) took his guy completely out of the play on Bush's opening TD. The O-line had to be good because of all the attention Brian was going to get coming back from knee surgery, and they were great.

Brohm was solid but not outstanding, and from here on out he needs to be outstanding. Threw a couple great passes most notably the crossing strike to Harry Douglass, but also had a couple passes batted down and underthrew Mario on a deep ball where he had a step. The Temple game should be a great chance for him to work on getting his timing and rhythm back before Miami.

To put it nicely, our secondary needs work. Blitzing and leaving your corners out on the proverbial island is fine if your guys are good enough; ours aren't. Not sure what Mike Cassidy saw last year or in practice that made him think otherwise, but Council and Gay just can't hang by themselves with average to above average receivers. On a more positive note, the front and the linebackers looked great. Malik Jackson delivered an especially inspired performance, and our 19-year-old senior did a great job of setting the tone when he got to Woodson on the first defensive series.

We're very angry with Art right now.

Both Petrinos get an A Plus. The reverse was a great not-so-subtle fuck you to all the folks saying he was too conservative against UK. It was also brilliant in that it allowed Brohm to get his first contact while on the move, as opposed to it coming in the pocket where he could get hit harder and maybe have his psyche affected more. The fake reverse was also a nice call, only UK is so bad that they had fallen for it again and if Bush had actually pitched the ball to Douglass it would have gone for a huge gain.

Another reason to loathe John L: Didn't recruit Keenan Burton.

There's much more to be critiqued and more to say about Bush, but we're trying hard not to forget that we just pasted our rivals by 31 points.

We're going to bed

2006-09-04T00:39:00.000-04:00

And we are sad.

Sure doesn't feel like a 31 point win.

Louisville vs. Kentucky

2006-09-03T15:47:00.000-04:00

LOUISVILLE VS. KENTUCKY (Governor's Cup)

Time/TV: 8:00/ESPN

Site: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

Favorite: Louisville by 22 1/2

Series (All-Time): Kentucky leads 10-8

Series (Modern): Louisville leads 8-4

Last Seven Meetings:

2005: U of L 31, UK 24, in Lexington
2004: U of L 28, UK 0, in Louisville
2003: U of L 40, UK 24, in Lexington
2002: UK 22, U of L 17, in Louisville
2001: U of L 36, UK 10, in Lexington
2000: U of L 40, UK 34, in Louisville
1999: U of L 56, UK 28, in Lexington

Game will be a success if: Louisville wins by at least 17 points, Brohm's knee holds up, Bush looks sharp and the offensive line plays well. Little is held to under 100 yards rushing and under 150 all-purpose yards. Defense forces at least two turnovers and our ends get pressure on Woodson. We don't break anything or make anyone around us feel really uncomfortable.

Game will be a horrible, horrible failure if: We lose, or win by less than six points. If Brohm looks tentative and unsure of himself, if the offensive line pulls an '02 or if Woodson throws for more than 275 yards (unless it's because the game is a rout).

Game Attire: Our "Cardinals Rule" white and red t shirt that was given to us last Christmas as part of an annual gift exchange between us and a friend where we both try to find the gayest U of L clothing item possible. He won easily this year, but the shirt fits well and quite frankly it looks sharp on us.

Pregame Meal: Baby Back Ribs.

Anxiety Level (1-10): 8.4. We're kind of skiddish before every Cards game (it's because we care guys, it's because we care), but here it's justified. First game of the year, Kentucky, Brohm coming off a bad injury. We might need to change underwear before kickoff.

Must Win Level (1-10): 9.9. Not a 10 only because it's a non-conference game and we could still go to the BCS if we lost. Unfortunately I'd have to go to the BCS without any testicles because I would have chopped them off.

Prediction: Louisville 38, Kentucky 20. Cats hang around early, but U of L explodes in the third quarter to take a four possession lead. UK adds a late TD to make it look more respectable.

Poll Results: With a whopping 302 votes tallied here's how you all think the game will turn out:

Louisville wins by 1-10: 15 (5%)
Louisville wins by 11-20: 65 (22%)
Louisville wins by 21-30: 133 (44%)
Louisville wins by 31-40: 43 (14%)
Louisville wins by more than 40: 38 (13%)
Kentucky wins: 8 (3%)

Star of the game: Michael Bush. Bush goes for over 160 and scores three touchdowns.

Pregame quote to make you hope we Spurrier it up:

"We need to kick some Cardinals. We almost did last year. I'm getting tired of listening to them. ... Some places overmarket and underperform, and others undermarket and overperform. You can pick which you want to apply with."--UK President (and dick) Lee Todd.

Feel free to post any thoughts before, during or after the game in the comments section.

GO CARDS!!!!!

Big Day For Us

2006-09-03T13:30:00.000-04:00

Hey guys what's going on? Not too much here just really bored. Really not sure what we're going to do all day.

Thinking about reading Moby Dick. Can you believe we've never read Moby Dick?

We know the first line is "Call me Ishmael," and that there's a whale involved, but outisde of that we're pretty clueless. Isn't that pathetic?

Hopefully we'll be able to finish it tomorrow since we've got a three day weekend.

So that's what we're up to, hope you all have an equally exciting day.

Oh yeah, and...

GO CARDS BEAT KENTUCKY!!!!!

It's finally here people, let's celebrate the start of what could be a special season.

More later.

Big East Week 1 Roundup

2006-09-03T03:06:00.000-04:00

After three days of play, the Big East is 6-1 and TCR is 7-0.

Here's what happened while you were watching the third season of All in the Family on DVD yesterday:

Rutgers 21, North Carolina 16

Raymell Rice rushed for 201 yards and a career-high three touchdowns to lead the Scarlet Knights past the Tar Heels at Chapel Hill, N.C.Rice had 128 yards by halftime, finished with touchdown runs covering 2, 7 and 10 yards and became the first Rutgers rusher with three consecutive 100-yard games since Jacki Crooks in 1998.

Sophomore QB Mike Teel was 14-of-20 passing for 145 yards for the Scarlet Knights which began its season with a win for the fourth time in coach Greg Schiano's six seasons.

"Heisman Trophy Candidate" Brian Leonard rushed six times for just 25 yards, and caught four passes for 20 yards.

Rutgers hosts Illinois next Saturday at noon. The Illini broke the hearts of the Scarlet Knight faithful last year when they won the season opener over RU 33-30 in overtime.

Story (MSNBC)

5) West Virginia 42, Marshall 10

Sophomore sensation Steve Slaton (don't you just love alliteration...and rhyming) ran for 203 yards and scored two touchdowns as WVU trounced their in-state rivals in the "Friends of Coal Bowl" 42-10.

West Virginia is 6-0 all-time against Marshall, and accumulated 312 rushing yards in the first game between the two schools since 1997.

The Mountaineers will rest until they host Maryland on Thursday Sept. 14 at 7:30 on ESPN.

Story (AP)

Pittsburgh 38, Virginia 13

Tyler Palko threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers rolled to a 38-13 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers in a non-conference showdown at Heinz Field.

Palko showed off a deep passing game that Pitt lacked last season while going 5-6. The Panthers started the season in the Top 25, only to be embarrassed at home by Notre Dame 42-21 in their opener en route to an 0-3 start.

Pitt opens Big East play with a win next Friday at Cincinnati.

Story (MSNBC)

Wake Forest 20, Syracuse 10

Syracuse continued to build on it's reputation of being the football playing red-headed stepchild of the new Big East on Saturday by dropping a 20-10 decision to Wake Forest. The Orange were the only BE school to score less points than their opponent in week one.

Demon Deacon quarterback Ben Mauk broke his right arm during the game and will likely miss the rest of the season.

Syracuse will lose their 11th consecutive game next Saturday when they host Iowa.

Story (Charlotte Observer)

Cincinnati 31, Eastern Kentucky 0

Cincinnati recorded its first shutout since 1995 by blanking Eastern Kentucky 31-0 at Nippert Stadium on Saturday.

The Bearcat offense got a 161-yard passing effort from starter Dustin Grutza, who completed 9-of-15 passes, including one for a 15-yard TD. Nick Davila, playing the second and fourth quarters, was 10-of-19 for 121 yards and a six-yard touchdown.

Cincinnati hosts Pitt on Friday.

Story (Richmond Register)

South Florida 41, McNeese State 10

It might have taken 687 examples, but it appears that USF head coach Jim Leavitt may have finally realized that Pat Julmiste isn't good at playing football.

After a quarter and a half of complete ineffectiveness, Julmiste left the game with an injury making way for freshman backup Matt Gothe who entered and promptly threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third as the Bulls pulled away late 41-10.

USF hosts Florida International next Saturday.

Story (Sun-Sentinel)

Other U of L Opponents:

Kansas State 24, Illinois State 23
Middle Tennessee State 7, Florida International 6 (Thursday)
Buffalo 9, Temple 3 (OT) (Thursday, but we're going to act like it never happened)

Cards Open Canada Trip With Last Second Win

2006-09-03T01:20:00.000-04:00

Tello Palacios' follow up of an Andre McGee miss with 1.2 seconds remaining gave the Louisville basketball team a 67-66 victory over Carleton University in an exhibition game Saturday night at the "Raven's Nest".

Terrence Williams led the Cardinals with 15 points, despite playing just 24 minutes because of foul trouble. Osvaldo Jeanty and Aaron Doornekamp -- two of three Carleton players who are members of the Canadian national team -- paced the Ravens with 20 and 19 points, respectively.

The Ravens (who have won the last four Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships) had taken a 66-65 lead with 1:10 remaining on a pair of free throws by Ryan Bell, another member of the Canadian national team. Perrin Johnson blocked a Jeanty driving attempt and Doornekamp missed a hurried shot with 22 seconds remaining before the Cardinals worked the clock down on their final possession.

"We were much better than I had anticipated," said U of L Coach Rick Pitino in his always upbeat postgame comments. "When I saw a sellout crowd, a four-time national championship team, and a veteran team facing our young group, I was just hoping to come close and help our confidence. I wasn't expecting a victory, but I was hoping for one."

The Cardinals held a 28-2 bench scoring advantage led by freshmen Edgar Sosa (9 points) and Jerry Smith (8 points), senior Johnson (6 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots) and Cornell transfer Will Scott (5 points).

Alcoholic tailgaters will get a chance to pregame with the Cards tomorrow as Louisville plays its second game of this Canadian venture at the University of Ottawa at 1 p.m. in a game that will air live on 84WHAS radio (840 AM). The Ottawa (I shit you not) Gee-Gees posted an 18-4 record last season.

Mini Box Score:

## Player Name FG FT PTS MIN
01 Williams, Terrence.. * 7-10 0-3 15 24
03 Palacios, Juan...... * 2-10 2-4 7 35
30 Huffman, Jonathan... *1-2 0-0 2 17
33 McGee, Andre........ * 5-9 0-0 13 24
43 Farley, Terrance.... * 1-2 0-0 2 17
05 Clark, Earl......... 0-3 0-0 0 12
10 Sosa, Edgar......... 3-4 3-3 9 16
15 Johnson, Perrin..... 3-3 0-0 6 16
20 Scott, Will......... 2-4 0-0 5 11
21 Current, Chris...... 0-1 0-0 0 4
34 Smith, Jerry........ 3-8 0-0 8 24

And now for our Isaac Maserati-loving Cardinal fans, it's the moment you've been waiting for, shots of the new uniforms!!! Also check out the new Andre.

We're having some serious issues deciding whether or not we like these new digs, so for now we're reserving judgment until a later date.

As far as the game itself, it's great that we won but to be honest the only reason we really care is so annoying fans of annoying other teams can't bring up an exhibition loss in an annoying argument (which we'll win).

The whole reason the guys are in America Jr. is the experience, and as long as they come back to the Derby City feeling more like a team and the freshmen come back feeling more confident in their ability to compete in college, then this trip will have been a success.

Not only are we playing without three of our best players, but Pitino isn't going to coach or substitute against Carleton the same way he would against Uconn. Sure Palacios played 35, but that's more to get him back in the flow of playing big time minutes while healthy after being hobbled with that foot injury all last year. Tello's going to have to play 35 plus in a lot of games if we're going to be successful this year and Pitino knows that, that's why I'm sure if T-Will stays out of foul trouble tomorrow then he'll play over 30 as well.

But when you look at guys like Will Scott playing 11 minutes, Perrin Johnson 16, and Current playing at all, it's evidence that you shouldn't read too much into the score. The guys are competing, learning and gelling and just like at Summer Bible Camp, that's really what this is all about.

UPDATE: Pitino's post-game thoughts are up on his website (we think he's becoming addicted to these write-ups). He says, among other things, that Brad Gianiny will start tomorrow, Will Scott and Perrin Johnson played wonderfully, and he delivers this classic Pitino-ism in regards to Jonathan Huffman's play:

"We've got to get Jonathan Huffman playing better. It was very difficult for him to defend a 6-1 or 6-2 player at times, but it was good for him to learn to move his feet. I told him at halftime that Abraham Lincoln was doing more statistically than he was in the first half and we know how long Lincoln's been in the grave."

What Gallagher is to prop comedy, Rick Pitino is to hilariously belittling his own players.

Happy first Saturday in September

2006-09-02T12:10:00.000-04:00

Yay.

Here's what's on the tube for today, with our top five picks to click in bold:

Vanderbilt at Michigan ESPN Noon
Montana at Iowa ESPNU Noon
North Texas at Texas FSN Noon
Northern Illinois at Ohio State ABC 3:30 p.m.
Rutgers at North Carolina ABC 3:30 p.m.
Stanford at Oregon ABC 3:30 p.m.
Akron at Penn State ESPN2 3:30 p.m.
LA Tech at Nebraska FSN 3:30 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at Clemson ESPNU 3:30 p.m.
California at Tennessee ESPN 5:30 p.m.
East Carolina at Navy CSTV 5:30 p.m.
Virginia at Pittsburgh ESPNU 7 p.m.
Utah at UCLA FSN 7 p.m.
Washington State at Auburn ESPN2 7:45 p.m.
Notre Dame at Georgia Tech ABC 8 p.m.
USC at Arkansas ESPN 8:45 p.m.
Houston at Rice CSTV 9 p.m.
BYU at Arizona TBS 10:15 p.m.

Updates on all of our Big East brethren will come as they happen.

Enjoy the day boys and girls.

Union files grievance on behalf of Branch

2006-09-02T12:07:00.000-04:00

In the immortal words of Teddy KGB: Pay zat man his money.

Bangor Daily News:

The NFL Players Association filed a grievance Friday on behalf of holdout wide receiver Deion Branch after the New England Patriots did not trade him before the team-imposed deadline for him to seek a deal.

Richard Berthelsen, lawyer for the union, said the grievance alleges that the Patriots "reneged" on an agreement to trade their best receiver, who is entering the last season of a five-year contract he signed as a rookie.

On Aug. 25, the Patriots gave Branch, who is scheduled to make $1.045 million this year, permission to negotiate a contract with other teams and seek a trade until 4 p.m. on Sept. 1.

At 4:02 p.m. Friday, the Patriots issued a statement saying, "No trade has been consummated. Deion Branch remains under contract to the New England Patriots."

The grievance alleges that in allowing Branch to work out a contract with another team, the Patriots agreed they would trade him if Branch was comfortable with that contract and the draft choice compensation for him "was commensurate with what has been the value of similar players," Berthelsen said in a telephone interview.

He said the New York Jets offered a second-round draft pick for Branch, which Berthelsen said was of commensurate value.

He noted that Branch was the 65th player drafted in 2002, one of the last in the second round, and that Miami sent a second-round pick to Minnesota before this season for quarterback Daunte Culpepper.

In a conference call, Patriots coach Bill Belichick refused several times to expand on the team's statement.

"I'll let that speak for itself," he said. Belichick had similar responses when asked to comment on the grievance, if the team deadline was final and whether the team was still trying to trade Branch.

The coach didn't respond when asked whether he miscalculated Branch's value on the open market.

Caracter will not go to Canada

2006-09-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

Update: A source has told Fox Sports that Caracter's situation likely stems from his relationship with Eddie Lau. The source also says that Caracter will be cleared to play by the regular season.

Lau is a former high school player who was befriended by ex-NBA All-Star Jayson Williams (manslaughter, not motorcycle injury or white), and is a major presence on the AAU scene in New York -- especially with the Long Island Panthers. He has been connected with agent Dan Fegan, and was reportedly a close personal "adviser" to Caracter during his high school years.

More as it happens.

Original U of L release:

University of Louisville freshman forward Derrick Caracter will not accompany the men's basketball team on its trip to Canada this weekend since the unversity is reviewing an issue that arose during his time in high school.

"Despite losing a valuable on-court experience of three games and the cultural experience of a foreign trip to Canada, it is in Derrick's best interest that he not travel with us," said U of L men's basketball coach Rick Pitino. "We just need more time to review the information and expect this issue to be resolved soon."

At this time, the available information does not indicate any intentional wrongdoing on the part of Caracter, his family or the university. Caracter has continued to practice with the team.

Uconn Wins Big

2006-09-01T01:11:00.000-04:00

The Big East picked up its first victory of the season Thursday night as Connecticut pasted Rhode Island 52-7 in front of 36,227 fans at Rentschler Field.

Freshman Donald Brown rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns in a sterling career debut to help Uconn amass the second-highest total of rushing yards (418) in school history. Senior Terry Caulley looked solid in his return, carrying the ball 12 times for 95 yards and moving into second place on the school's all-time rushing list with 2,608 career yards.

Sophomore quarterback D.J. Hernandez completed 8 of 13 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score.

Uconn returns to action on Sept. 16 when they play host to Wake Forest at noon.

What to Watch on Opening Day

2006-08-31T16:35:00.000-04:00

Note: The watchability scale ranges from 1 (What are you doing? Reba is on!) to 10 (Piss in your pants even if Jessica Alba is sitting next to you).

Ratings will be fairly generous since it's been about eight months since any of us had our fix.

6:00 Boston College at Central Michigan ESPN 2

This is the first game of the college football season which means you have to at least watch the kickoff. We're not using "have to" lightly either, if you don't watch the opening kickoff then you're not allowed to watch any other games for the rest of the season. New rule.

Other reasons to watch are that the next time an ACC school travels to play a MAC school in the opener for both teams, Bush won't be the president, and you'll be dead. This also means that the possibility exists that we will have our first completely unwarranted rushing of the field after just one game. We're hoping for like a 5:3 ratio this year. It's possible.

Watchability: 6

7:30 Rhode Island at Connecticut ESPN Plus/YES

If you have the YES network then you should probably at least glance over every now and then and make sure that the Huskies are pummeling the Rams. The game is also a chance to see Uconn running back Terry Caulley in his first game back since a brutal knee injury that he suffered in 2003 when he was leading the nation in rushing.

Watchability: 5 for Big East fans, 1.5 for everyone else.

7:30 Northwestern at Miami (OH) ESPNU

College football fans will want to check out what will undoubtedly be an emotional night as Pat Fitzgerald coaches his first game and Northwestern attempts to start life without Randy Walker. If it's not the best, then it's at least the most important game of the night which is why it's a shame it's on ESPNU. Damn $EC.

Watchability: 7.5

7:30 Minnesota at Kent State ESPN 360

Again a major conference team hitting the road to take on a MAC school in their opener. We would BS a few reasons to watch, but nobody in the world has ESPN 360 so fuck it.

Watchability: 1.5

8:00 South Carolina at Mississippi State ESPN

I always think it's weird when teams, especially from major conferences, play a conference game as their opener. It just seems like you'd want to chop your balls off if the reason you didn't go to the BCS was because you dropped a game in August. Neither one of these teams will be playing in January, but Spurrier vs. Croom is a funny matchup and could be entertaining. Plus it's football damnit.

Watchability: 7

10:30 UTEP at San Diego State CSTV

If you're up this late then you might want to at least briefly check out UTEP QB Jordan Palmer (Carson's little brother) who has a monster arm. Also the Miners are being tossed around as possible BCS spoilers so they might be worth watching for a quarter and a half or so before you hit the hay.

Watchability: 6

The only ranked team playing tonight is Arizona State (24) who is hosting Northern Arizona in a game that will not be televised. It's a shame to because we were excited to see the Dirk Koetter coaching aid put to use.

We love The M Zone.

Don Nehlen takes a shot at U of L

2006-08-31T14:57:00.000-04:00

Former West Virginia head coach and recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee Don Nehlen spoke at the WVU School of Law on Tuesday and had some "interesting" takes on several topics including Louisville football.

When talking about the new Big East, Nehlen had this to say:

"Say what you want, but it killed us to lose those teams," Nehlen said in reference to Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, each of which defected to the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2004.

"We'll be playing a lot more Wednesday games unless something changes. South Florida doesn't have their own stadium, and at Cincinnati games, the fans would rather talk about the start of basketball season."

"Louisville made their program go by taking Prop 48 guys. Now they can't do that, and it won't be long until they're average again. That's why we need Pittsburgh and Syracuse to rebound. They're the only two (Big East) schools with national name recognition. I never thought I'd root for Pitt to get better, but we need them to give our league some prestige."

Kind of ironic that a West Virginia guy would take a shot at Louisville for its use of Prop 48 when his school is so vehemently opposed to the Big East's new ban on schools accepting non-qualifiers.

Keep in mind that Nehlen is really old and he's from West Virginia which is the equvalent of being a shriveling tomato.

Nehlen continued his wife-beater wearing "turn down that music" rant as the subject shifted to money and the current state of college football.

"The (current) drive to win at all costs scares me. Coaches making one or two million dollars a year scares me. That’s too much for a doggone coach.”

“It’s a game, and we’ve made it like a religion. If you look at the Southeastern Conference, I’m not sure it isn’t a religion.”

“TV tells schools what to do and when to do it. We used to not play on Friday nights out of respect for high school football. Now we play on Fridays. It’s like biting the hand that feeds you. If you play on a Wednesday, the athletes miss class from traveling on Tuesday and on gameday, and we all know they’re not going on Thursday. But the NCAA says it’s all about academics. It’s not. It’s about money.”

For the record none of Nehlen's players during his twenty-one years at West Virginia ever missed a class. Once, in a now legendary incident, Nehlen locked himself and Major Harris in his office for a 32 hour study session after the coach had received word that Harris had scored just an 81 on his last Foundations of Mass Communication test.

Also Nehlen always went out of his way to make sure that his annual salary was never higher than that of the lowest paid professor at the university.

Someone needs to set up a Don Nehlen/Earl Cox blind date.

The Post Where We Predict the Future

2006-08-31T00:41:00.000-04:00

At last the perilous voyage through the rough seas of the offseason has come to a merciful end and we, college football fanatics, are now free to blissfully frolic on the soothing shores of the game's opening weekend.

It's Thursday, Aug. 31, and football is here. Even Jesus is excited.

With this in mind we feel this is the proper time for us to flash some testicles (beads accepted) and go on record with our official 2006 University of Louisville football predictions.

But before we do, we'd like to offer up our 2005 predictions as evidence of why you shouldn't rush over to Bruno's (that's your bookie) and bet that Vermeer you have hanging in your living room (you're so cultured).

Enjoy:

1. Louisville-48 Kentucky-14

2. Louisville- 37 Oregon State-21

3. Louisville- 41 South Florida- 17

4. Louisville- 61 Florida Atlantic- 3

5. North Carolina- 34 Louisville- 31

6. Louisville- 35 West Virginia- 17

7. Louisville- 42 Cincinnati- 15

8. Louisville- 31 Pittsburgh- 24

9. Louisville- 48 Rutgers- 28

10. Louisville- 28 Syracuse- 14

11. Uconn- 28 Louisville 20

Final Record: 9-2

At least we got the record right.

For 2006 we've permitted ourselves one, and only one, sentence to justify each prophecy.

Brace yourselves:

1. Lousville- 38 Kentucky- 20. Kentucky adds points late to make the game look more respectable than it actually was.

2. Louisville- 56 Temple- 7. We vow right here right now that if Louisville loses this game we will link to, and discuss, every Greg Doyel story for the next 12 months.

3. Miami- 35 Louisville- 34. Hopefully this is just us trying to set ourselves up to be pleasantly surprised, but for some reason this game is just screaming heartbreak at us.

4. Louisville- 34 Kansas State- 21. Good chance we'll look sluggish here regardless of how Sept. 16 turns out.

5. Louisville- 48 Middle Tennessee State- 18. This will be Brohm's best statistical game of the season.

6. Louisville- 49 Cincinnati- 10. We are a lot better at football than Cincinnati.

7. Louisville- 33 Syracuse- 17. Maybe it's the Carrier Dome, or bad memories from last year's game, but something makes us think this will be more of a struggle than it should be.

8. Louisville- 41 West Virginia- 28. With what should be a ridiculous atmosphere coupled with the fact the U of L players have been constantly reminded about this game for a year, I just can't see the Cardinals dropping this one.

9. Louisville- 49 Rutgers- 38. U of L defense starts to get a little complacent in the second half and Ryan Teel and the Scarlet Knights put up some points and elicit some jitters from the Cardinal faithful.

10. Louisville- 45 South Florida- 13. Remember what happened the last time the Bulls came to PJCS after beating Louisville?

11. Pittsburgh- 24 Louisville- 21. Something about good veteran players mixed with good younger players late in the season at home against a big time opponent terrifies us.

12. Louisville- 34 Connecticut- 16. Cards get the job done on the first weekend in December and lock up a BCS spot.

Final Record: 10-2.

Our guess is that this outcome would be a disappointment to most you, in fact we're kind of depressed just thinking about it.

Still, we think that Louisville earns its first trip to the BCS by way of winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with WVU who is the only other 6-1 team in the conference.

This means that the season could still be a success if the Cardinals could pick up an exciting win over a prestigous program like say Michigan or Notre Dame. However, the season would still kind of blow if Louisville were to lose (regardless of the score) or beat a TCU-type team who only got in because of this new fifth game deal.

If all this has you feeling a bit down and you're on the verge of blaming us for ruining opening day for you, we ask you to please keep in mind that our little sister (who refuses to watch anything that doesn't feature a red carpet or a flamboyant guy with a microphone talking to celebrities) has topped us in our annual "Bowl Challenge" contest five of the last six years.

Plus we're blacked out drunk.

New Scoreboard Pics

2006-08-30T20:29:00.000-04:00

Special thanks to ITV's HappyMonk for posting these:

Supposedly the "The Ville" sign will light up which should look cool, especially at night games. Also the intro song for this year will be "For My Cards" by local group Code Red. You can hear the song here.

Afternoon quick hitters

2006-08-30T15:50:00.000-04:00

Art Carmody is finally getting some love (although is finding a picture that doesn't make him look like he's 13 too much to ask?). The junior kicker was the focus of this Brian Bennett piece in which he gives his views on life, love and the niceties of existentialism, oh and also how he kicks a ball through two posts really well.

Carmody, who rooms with Brian Brohm, is the most accurate kicker in school history, having made 26 of his 31 career field-goal attempts, and has never missed a kick beyond 40 yards. To put it bluntly, we heart Art.

For the second year in a row Brian Brohm has been named to the Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award watch list. The winner of said award will be honored on Feb. 19, at the 30th annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas. In a Chris Redman winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award-esque move, Vince Young took home the hardware last year.

Ohio State is quickly becoming the John Mark Karr of college football, that is to say they fucking creep us out. First they have a guy who spends all his time in a hypoxic altitude simulation training system, then they come out with "Buckeye Heroes" the Ohio State cereal, and now this, an action figure of running back Chris Wells. What's weird about this you ask? Wells is a freshman who doesn't even start, meaning it's highly unlikely that you'll see that many buckeyes on his helmet in real life. And people in Columbus wonder what happened with Maurice Clarett

The folks at The M Zone have a hilarious take on this, and are responsible for the model of the 2009 Chris Wells action figure seen on the left.

Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Leader has officially gone on record and predicted a perfect season for Louisville. Hmm a LHL writer predicting a 12-0 season for Louisville, we don't trust this Mark Story character. Come clean Mark, tell us what you're really up to before we start digging.

UofLsports.com has audio of Rick Pitino, Juan Palacios, and Terrence Williams talking to the media about their first week of practice. The Cards head north in two days.

The Louisville soccer team battles Kentucky at 7 p.m. tonight at Cardinal Park. First 200 fans will receive a t shirt at the gate. No details as to what's on the t shirt, so we can only assume that it's Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

Peace, love, Cards.

If you see yourself on this list, be afraid

2006-08-30T15:29:00.000-04:00

Because you're on notice:

Feel lucky Syracuse guy who injured Brohm's knee, feel very lucky.

Big East Week 1 Football Preview (minus UL/UK)

2006-08-29T21:18:00.000-04:00

Ahh just being able to type this makes us feel all tingly, like the time we saw Eric Montross at a bar and heard him drop the F bomb. Magical.

Here's your rundown of Big East clashes on the opening weekend for the only sport that is constantly associated with the word pageantry.

8/31: Rhode Island at Connecticut

7:30- ESPN Regional/YES Network

Favorite: No Line

After going 8-4 and winning the Motor City bowl in 2004, Connecticut's 5-6 record in 2005 earned a sixth place finish in the Big East, and disappointment in Storrs. The Huskies are looking for a return to the postseason in '06, and it all begins Thursday night at Rentschler Field when they host Rhode Island.

Uconn spent the majority of the offseason without a clearcut quarterback, but now scrambling sophomore D.J. Hernandez has officially won the starting job over last season's starter, Matt Bonislawaski. Hernandez played in seven games last year, throwing for 515 yards and running for another 286.

Alleviating some of Hernandez' jitters should be the fact that fifth-year senior Terry Caulley is finally back after suffering a devastating knee injury in 2003 when he was leading the nation in rushing. The 5-foot-7 tailback has 2,513 career rushing yards and needs just 112 more to break the school's rushing record.

To prepare for Rhode Island's triple option offense, the Uconn defense (which returns seven starters) has been practicing against the scout team without a football. The Rams' offense is centered around fullback Joe Casey who rushed for 1,245 yards a year ago.

Led by junior end Rhema Fuller and junior linebacker Danny Lansanah,Uconn led the conference in defense a year ago, and were especially dominant when it came to stopping the run. None of this bodes well for a Rhode Island team that went just 4-7 last year.

But you know the Rams are going to be pumped up and filled with the belief that they can win this football game. I mean how can you not when head coach Tim Stivers is delivering inspirational comments like: "Unfortunately for us, our strength is running the football and their strength is stopping people running the football. Our strengths don't match up very well right now, but we're still working on that."

Yeah. Come get some Uconn. The Rams are comin to town. Bitch.

TCR Prediction: Uconn-34 Rhode Island-7

9/2: Rutgers at North Carolina

3:30- ABC (East Coast, 34% of country)

Favorite: UNC by 5 1/2

Coming off the best season in school histroy, Rutgers' 2006 campaign got off to a scary start on Tuesday when three players were involved in a car accident in which their vehicle skidded on a wet road and then slammed into a pole. All three avoided major injury and only junior offensive lineman Corey Hyman is in jeopardy of missing Saturday's game.

Big armed sophomore QB Mike Teel (who started against Louisville and is a graduate of Don Bosco High were Cardinal signee Matt Simms is currently the starting QB) has the offense all to himself now that Ryan Hart has graduated, and is supported by the school's self-appointed "Heisman Trophy Candidate" fullback Brian Leonard. Teel will take on a defense Saturday that allowed 211 yards/game through the air last season, and returns three players in the secondary who saw significant playing time in '05.

Unlike Rutgers who knew who their starting QB was immediately following the final whistle of their Insight Bowl loss to Arizona State, UNC just found out who their signal caller would be when head coach John Bunting announced that Nebraska transfer Joe Dailey was his man on Tuesday. Bunting added that freshman Cam Sexton would also see time, and cited Louisville's 2004 squad as an example of how the two quarterback system can work. He was then bombarded with 896 examples of times when it hasn't worked.

Whoever is taking the snaps will likely spend most of his time handing the ball off to senior running back Ronnie McGill who is back at full strength after missing four games last season with a torn pectoral muscle. The Tarheel offensive line is very young which could make things easier for a Scarlet Knight defensive line that lost standouts Ryan Neill and Val Barnaby to graduation.

Both teams are likely to be in "bowl-eligible" jeopardy come late November, so a win against an evenly matched BCS conference team is key. On paper this is a toss up.

TCR Prediction: Rutgers-34 North Carolina-28

9/2: Marshall at West Virginia

3:30- Local TV

Favorite: West Virginia by 22 1/2

Whoever at Marshall is responsible for not being able to schedule WVU while the program was dominating the MAC from 19998-2002, but added the Mountaineers to this year's list of opponents needs to be fired. And then caned.

The meeting between these two in-state rivals is the first since 1997, and it comes at a time when the Thundering Herd are in the midst of their worst days since moving to division one, and West Virginia has experts all over the country predicting a national championship.

The Mountaineers' theme for 2006 is "Stay Hungry, Stay Humble." It might as well read: "Don't lose to shitty teams like Marshall."

A loss to the Thundering Herd would be devastating for Rich Rodriguez's boys, not just because the whole country would be laughing at them, but because it's Marshall and Marshall fans aren't exactly what you'd call "humble in victory."

No way Rodriguez lets his squad focus on anything beside the task at hand this week.

The energy keeps it close early, but eventually Slaton and White run wild and then a visibly shaken Mark Snyder delivers a post game "Chad Pennington isn't walking through that door, Randy Moss isn't walking throught that door" tirade.

TCR Prediction: West Virginia-35 Marshall-14

9/2: Syracuse at Wake Forest

6:30- ESPN360

Favorite: Wake Forest by 14 1/2

1-10. If you didn't know, that was Syracuse's record last year. It's not good.

The Orange will begin the quest for two Saturday when they take on a Wake Forest team also coming off a disappointing season that saw the Demon Decons go 4-7.

The good news for Wake is that they return 19 of 22 starters, and that number does not include quarterback Ben Mauk who started the first four games last year before being benched because he wasn't any good. The Decons also return junior tailback Micah Andrews who should see some gaping holes running behind a talented and experienced (just like Heather Locklear) offensive line.

Something tells us Syracuse is going to be better. The defense should be ok. Linebacker Kelvin Smith and corner Tanard Jackson are All-Conference caliber performers. Who knows maybe Perry Patterson will finally grasp the offense and become a star. Yeah, you know, things are looking up for the Orange.

Still, they're going to get their asses handed to them on Saturday

For the record Wake gets our preseason "Vanderbilt Award" for the team most likely to start 5-0 and not go to a bowl game.

TCR Prediction: Wake Forest- 24 Syracuse- 9

9/2 Virginia at Pittsburgh

7:00- ESPNU

Favorite: Pitt by 4

Pitt has become the trendy sleeper pick in the Big East, and although it's getting kind of annyoing, it's quite justifiable. Just because he didn't have a great last year doesn't mean Tyler Palko isn't still good, H.B. Blades was good and still is good, and Dave Wannstedt has a mustache.

There are a lot of young players on the team, but they're good young players which is why U of L traveling there late in the season scares me, but we can see them dropping a game they should win in the early part of the year (Could it be this one? Oooo, you'll have to wait and find out).

As always, UVA is a bit of an enigma. They're a young team with one senior on the projected defensive two-deep and only one on the offensive line. They have some talented young wide receivers that are buried in the depth chart behind some upperclassmen, but if the season goes awry early then the development process will shift into overdrive.

If senior QB Christian Olsen can grasp the Cavaliers' pro-style offense, then the potential is there for UVA to do some nice things in the second half of the season.

As for game one, inexperienced QB plus inexperienced offensive line equals negative win.

TCR Prediction: Pittsburgh- 28 Virginia-13

9/2 McNeese State at South Florida

7:00- Local TV

Favorite: No Line

With shaky Pat Julmiste behind center, Andre Hall gone and three starters suspended, it's a good thing the Bulls have an off week.

TCR Prediction: South Florida- 21 McNeese State- 0

9/2 Eastern Kentucky at Cincinnati

7:30- No TV

Favorite: No Line

If you watch this game and you're not related by blood to a starter on one of these teams, then we're going to find you and break both your ring fingers.

TCR Prediction: Cincinnati- 27 Eastern Kentucky- 7

6-1 plus a little game to be decided on Sunday. Sounds like an ok weekend.

New TV Deal Details

2006-08-29T14:54:00.000-04:00

Didn't get a chance to watch the news conference live, but here are the main details from the official press release.

Basketball:

Every single intra-conference men's basketball contest will be televised. As a result, the BIG EAST Conference and its 16 members will reach more households than any other conference in the country. Specifically, ESPN will produce 139 of the 144 available regular season BIG EAST intra-conference men's basketball games - all except those five games belonging to CBS -- and will televise those contests on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPN Regional (ERT), ESPNU or ESPN360.

ESPN or ESPN2 will broadcast a minimum of 64 BIG EAST games each year: 49 regular season games (41 conference and eight home non-conference) and all 11 BIG EAST Championship games. Consequently, the BIG EAST will have four to five games broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 each week during the conference season.

The BIG EAST will continue to be the only conference in the country to have each and every one of its men's basketball tournament games televised by ESPN. There were record audiences for the 2006 BIG EAST Championship, including the final game, which was the highest-rated cable tournament final of the year (2.58).

In addition, ESPN Regional will carry a minimum of 80 games (66 conference and 14 home non-conference) and continue its weekend Game of the Week package, which reaches approximately 30 percent of the nation's homes and has a total household reach of more than 30 million. Most games offered by ERT are also available nationally as part of ESPN Full Court, the pay subscription college basketball outer-market service.

If you can't read words in italics then the basics of this are that there will be at least 60 Big East games on ESPN or ESPN2, and there will be 110 additional games on the other ESPN channels like Classic, ESPNU, etc. There will also be a minimum of 10 conference or non-conference games on CBS.

Football:

A minimum of 17 home games involving BIG EAST Conference teams will be televised on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, including four Thursday night games and two Sunday night games on ESPN or ESPN2. In fact, this commitment represents the largest number of guaranteed appearances on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 in the history of BIG EAST Conference football.

At least one conference game will be a part of ESPN's Saturday Prime Time package and two games - one on ABC or ESPN, the other on ESPN2 - will be on Championship Saturday in December.

In addition, ESPN Regional, the nation's largest football regional network reaching more than 30 million homes, will broadcast nine games and will continue its Game of the Week package, which is syndicated throughout BIG EAST markets and beyond. Most games produced by ERT are also offered as part of the ESPN GamePlan pay subscription service.

Finally, the conference will also have a minimum of five home contests televised by ESPNU. The minimum number of football games involving BIG EAST teams on television increases further when taking into account appearances in non-conference away contests.

Overall the deal should be great in the short term, especially in regards to the conference's continuing effort to vindicate its spot in the BCS.

Like Chas over at Pitt Blather, we are a bit concerned that this recent trend of conferences (most notably the Big Ten) adopting their own channels will take off and the Big East will be left behind, but we also think that it's just as likely that ESPN will maintain its lofty perch on the college sports food chain and the deal will prove to be massively beneficial.

Either way get ready to see a lot of Big East on the world wide leader for the next seven years.

Big East to Announce Major Agreement With ESPN

2006-08-28T22:18:00.000-04:00

Per BigEast.org

The BIG EAST Conference and ESPN will announce a new major media agreement from ESPN Zone in New York at noon on Tuesday, August 29. The press conference announcing the agreement will be streamed live on ESPN360, ESPN's customized broadband service. In addition, fans can listen to the media teleconference at 1 p.m. by visiting www.bigeast.org.

Michael Tranghese, BIG EAST Conference Commissioner, and John Wildhack, ESPN Senior Vice President, Programming Acquisitions and Strategy will participate in the press conference. Bill Raftery, college sports personality and winner of the 2006 Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, will serve as host.

Fans can get expanded coverage that outlines all the details of the announcement by visiting the BIG EAST Web site starting at noon Eastern on Tuesday.

ESPN has granted those people on the campuses of each BIG EAST school free access to ESPN360's coverage of the press conference. Fans can watch the press conference by visiting www.espn360.com and opening the video player.

We've been hearing rumblings on the internet about this for the last few months, and though we're not 100% positive, we've got it from several highly reliable sources that the big announcement is that the world wide leader will now limit its broadcast teams to no more than 28 ACC references during telecasts of Big East basketball games.

It's true. Cost Tranghese like 15 mil.

We really have no idea what the deal consists of, but we're willing to bet that it has something to do with tv and that we will be slightly to moderately disappointed.

Either way tune in tomorrow afternoon as ESPN makes August 29th feel like December 25th.

Should we be worried about Kentucky?

2006-08-28T15:03:00.000-04:00

It's officially game week which means that we finally have the liberty to discuss all the intricacies of the annual showdown that is the Battle for the Governor's Cup.

Louisville has owned the rivalry in recent years, taking six of the last seven meetings with Kentucky including three straight. The 2006 Cards are led by a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates and are ranked in the top 20 of just about any poll you can find. Kentucky isn't and aren't.

So is there any reason why we as Louisville fans should be remotely concerned about the game on Sept 3, or is the over/under the only thing to fret about?

The Card Report takes a look at both sides of the issue, presenting first the top five reasons to be afraid (very afraid) of the Cayuts.

1) Kentucky is largely a mystery. The Wildcats were two yards away from tying the game at 31 late in the fourth quarter last year, and had it not been for some early turnovers and the heroics of Elvis Dumervil, it was a game they could have easily won.

So was this a fluke, or was Kentucky a team that could have been competitive before injuries to McClinton, Burton and company sent the season into a death spiral? Maybe the first game of last season is a more accurate representation of what to expect from the 2006 Cats than the final 10.

2) It's the first game of the year. Unlike every UK fan on the planet, I refuse to draw parallels between this game and the 2002 debacle. That said, in the first game of the year- especially against a rival- things get crazy sometimes.

Iowa State has beaten Iowa six of the last eight years despite the fact that in the majority of those years the Hawkeyes have been the superior team. Similar disparities exist in the Colorado State/Colorado and Miami/Florida State rivalries.

A coach could hold practice every day for five years and still have no idea how good his team is until they step foot on a field to smack pads with another squad. Having superior talent is an advantage, but all it takes is one guy who doesn't fully understand the offensive scheme to screw everything up.

3) Louisville's offensive line. Sure Kurt Quarterman and Eric Wood are great, and Renardo Foster is back, that's the good news. The bad news is that still leaves two spots destined to be filled with inexperience.

We all learned in those second grade trust exercises that a group is only as strong as its weakest link, well the same is true for offensive lines. If one guy can't block his man then the whole unit looks bad, not to mention the quarterback ends up looking like he just went twelve rounds with Ivan Drago.

Barlowe, Bussey, Benson and Giacomini could all turn out to be stellar pancakers, but at this point the O-line is still a cause for concern.

4) Rafael Little. I'm not afraid to be a man and admit it: Little is somewhat kind of good, I guess. He's quick and talented enough to make linebackers honor play fakes and then can burn you as a receiver (46 catches in '05) if Woodson ever gets the ball to him.

If Woodson (who will start) plays as poorly on Sunday as he has up to this point in his career, Joker Phillips could bring in backup QB Curtis Pulley and he and Little could be utilized in a sprint offense that might spell trouble for Louisville. Pulley and Little aren't exactly White and Slaton, but they're of the same mold and present some of the same challenges.

5) Brohm's knee. Brohm says it's ok, Petrino says it's ok, it looks like it's ok, but there's still absolutely no way to know until he plays on it. Louisville is one direct hit, or one awkward step from being in a dog fight.

And now five reasons to start thinking about Temple.

1) They're Kentucky.

2) The game is at home. Louisville has averaged more than 50 points a game at home in the last two years, and their average margin of victory over that span is 40. Brohm's efficiency rating last year was 56 points higher at home and the defense gave up 102 fewer rushing yards a game at the pizza place.

The Cardinals enter 2006 with a 12 game home winning streak, which is the third longest in the NCAA behind only USC (27) and Texas (15). Bobby Petrino is 16-1 at home over three seasons at U of L.

3) Brian Brohm, Michael Bush and Mario Urrutia. A single standout player at a specialty position can dominate a game. Three standout players at three specialty positions can leave a defensive coordinator feeling like Renton during the withdrawal scene in Trainspotting.

Wesley Woodyard is nice, Micah Johnson will be good, but there is nobody on the Wildcat defense that matches up with any of these three guys in the talent department.

It's good to be Paul Petrino.

4) Andre Woodson. Woodson threw just six touchdowns last year, and tossed just as many passes to the opposing team. He threw for 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Louisville, but the lasting image of the game was him fumbling on the two-yard-line late in the fourth quarter. The fumble was his third of the game.

Thoughts of last years game as well as knowing an anxious Curtis Pulley is eagerly waiting on the sidelines could easily wreak havoc on Woodson's head. Or he could exercise some demons, establish himself as the man to lead the Wildcats and spark a monumental upset.

We think everyone will be seeing a heavy dose of our favorite happy footed backup in the second half.

5) Louisville is hungry. The Cardinals have experienced the preseason hype, the national championship predictions and the assumption of a conference championship. Everyone on the team now knows that just because someone says it on tv or writes it in the newspaper doesn't mean it will come to fruition.

Louisville went 9-3 and played in the Gator Bowl last season. Everyone called them a disappointment.

The South Florida game was and still is a national embarrassment, and anyone who was a part of that can't possibly be taking a team like Kentucky lightly. The Cardinals are now playing second fiddle to West Virginia in the preseason hype band, but whispering about national championships can still be heard if you listen close enough. You have to assume that after last year, Louisville is ready to stop listening and start talking.

Insert Awful Headline With Pun Here

2006-08-27T15:10:00.000-04:00

George Goode, a 6'8 205-pound small forward from Raytown, MO, who is rated 73rd in the class of 2007 by Scout, has committed to Louisville. Goode chose the Cards over Oklahoma State, Marquette (suck it Crean) and Missouri.

In addition to making local headline writers salivate, Goode brings to Louisville a solid frame to go along with his height as well as a steady outside shot. He is the first commit in Rick Pitino's 2007 recruiting class.

Admittedly we don't know a whole lot about this guy, but 6'8 and athletic with a good shot at least sounds good. Pitino said he was going after shooters and it looks like he wasn't lying.

Happy Last Non-College Football Saturday Day

2006-08-26T18:16:00.000-04:00

We've come a long way baby.

One more week and this whole "offseason" thing will be a distant memory. As a reward for your God-given gift of patience, we bring to you the USC Song Girls:

What to read while updating that coat hanger solar system you made in second grade

2006-08-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

Continuing their quest to land at least one player on every preseason watch list, U of L announced yesterday that senior linebacker Nate Harris has been named to the Butkus Award watch list. Sixty-five players have been nominated for the award, a number that will be trimmed to 10 once the semi-finalists are announced on Oct. 19.

You'd think fans of a lowly 1AA football team would be joyously counting down the days until its team gets the chance to take on a squad from the best conference in college football. Well apparently not when that team's Kentucky.

The Texas State athletics website asked its fans the following question: "If you had to make just one road football game this fall, which would it be? "

And here are the results:

Northwestern State- 77.7% (761 votes)

Kentucky- 12.3% (120 votes)

Sam Houston State- 7.2% (70 votes)

McNeese State- 2.9% (28 votes)

Thanks to Flubby for the tip.

ESPN's 12 college football experts have released their predictions as to who they think will be playing in the national championship game, as well as who will take home the conference championship in each league. The good news is that eight of the 12 picked U of L to take the Big East, the even better news is that Bill Curry wasn't one of those eight.

In addition Mark Schlabach continues to work 22 hour days and has predicted the matchups in all 32 bowl games. Schlabach foresees the Cards winning the Big East and taking on Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

CBSsportsline writer Dennis Dodd offers this look at the economical way to go around the country for this season's best games. The list of games includes Miami at Louisville (which Dodd refers to as the Kerry Rhodes Memorial Game) and of course the West Virginia game on Nov. 2 which Dodd says may determine a BCS championship game participant.

Louisville will travel to Manhattan on Sept. 23 this year to take on Kansas State. Since we want the Wildcat faithful to treat us well, we won't go into any details about this song made by some K-State fans.

Rick Pitino is back with day two of his practice updates. Today he talks about the team's style of play, his experience at Michael Jordan's fantasy camp, and freshman walk-on Stuart Miller.

The New England Patriots have now given former U of L receiver Deion Branch permission to seek a trade. In a two-sentence release delivered to the media and to Branch and agent Jason Chayut, the Patriots essentially confirmed that contract negotiations with the four-year veteran are at an impasse and that the two sides might have to seek an alternative resolution to their differences.

Peace, love, Cards.

Super Fun College Football Contests

2006-08-25T04:37:00.000-04:00

This post is directed at all of you who sleep with your ESPN College Football Encyclopedias and dressed up as Phil Steele last Halloween. Your chance to prove that your girdiron guru status topples that of Lee Corso (read: that you're not retarded) is finally here.

The fine Notre Dame blog The Blue-Gray Sky has put together a pick six contest that will arouse (pervert) your inner Jimmy the Greek-ness. The rules are really easy to follow, but since I know how lazy all of you bastards are I'm not going to tell you what they are and force you to look at the site. Anyway, it takes about 25 seconds to register and anywhere from five seconds to eleven days (we're not decision makers) to set your picks. Registration is free, and there is a super-cool secret prize that will be awarded to the winner.

Play the game or risk us tapping into our Card Report reader files and exposing you as a coward.

If pick six isn't your bag, then the awe inspiring Alabama blog Roll 'Bama Roll has a weekly pick 'em contest that might be right up your ally. Even if you're a moron you'll be able to correctly pick more than half of the games over the first few weeks, so that should boost your self-confidence, moron.

If nothing else check out the site for what is quite possibly the sweetest logo in the history of sweet logos. Come for the logo, stay for the heterosexual Kenneth Darby man crush.

Finally there is the Main Event to this World Series of online college football prediction contests; we're speaking of course about the Heisman Pundit Fantasy Challenge brought to you by Heisman Pundit. We would brief you on the rules, but it's kind of confusing and we got like an 11 on the reading comprehension portion of those CAT-5 test everyone has to take in 5th grade.

What we do know is that you pick a team of 13 players, and then each week of the season you pick one candidate from your team to play. His stats will produce your points for that week. However, he can't be used again for the rest of the season.

There is a $7.50 fee to play the game, but considering that the winner takes home two tickets to the Rose Bowl, it's not that bad of a deal.

It's all part of the fun and festivities that fuel fall, and it's almost that time.

Old Cardinal Stadium to be Torn Down

2006-08-24T21:53:00.000-04:00

The old home of the University of Louisville football team has a date with the wrecking ball.

Members of the Kentucky State Fair Board said Old Cardinal Stadium will be torn down and likely replaced by a 12,000 seat amphitheater.

The 50-year-old stadium, which opened along with Freedom Hall in 1956, was the long-time football home of the Cardinals before Papa John’s Stadium opened in 1997. The field has 37,000 permanent seats and artificial turf.

The stadium also hosted Louisville Redbird and U of L baseball games, and was the scene of a Farm Aid concert and performances by the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead.

The shotty condition of the stadium had forced planners to stop hosting sporting events there for the past few years. The stadium has been used almost exclusively for the Kentucky State Fair and some free concerts recently.

It's estimated that it could cost $1 million to tear the stadium down.

While Old Cardinal Stadium was never a thing of beauty, she still was the setting for some special moments like the Favre hail mary, the 2002 Trinity/Male state championship game, and the place where a number of great Triple A players took their hacks before being called up to the show.

That said, it's the right time for her to go and make way for what will hopefully be a sweet ampitheater.

Though she will perish, the memories of bench ass and turf-related knee injuries will last forever.

Pitino's Practice Update: Day 1

2006-08-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

As we told you yesterday, Rick Pitino will be writing a review of each day's practice from now until the team departs for Canada on Sept. 1. You can check out each review at rickpitino.com (which features a bangin' soundtrack) under the "latest news" icon.

Pitino's first update from Wednesday's practice includes an overview of all the team injuries as well as an in depth assessment of each player's development.

The latest Cards to catch the injury/illness bug are Andre McGee, Will Scott and Derrick Caracter, thankfully none of their issues are too serious. According to Pitino, McGee passed out on the court ten minutes into an individual workout on Tuesday before he had even broken a sweat. Apparently Andre has a dehydration problem that will need to be treated throughout the season. He's back with the team today.

the immensely talented Caracter didn't practice on Wednesday because of a shoulder sprain he suffered while blocking a Perrin Johnson shot (oh Perrin). He was expected to be back at practice today. Scott, a transfer from Cornell, has not missed any practice, but has been sluggish because he's suffering from hay fever and a strong head cold.

While he had complimentary things to say about each player, it appears the standouts so far in Pitino's eyes have been Palacios, Farley and freshman Jerry Smith (Taquan Dean Jr.).

Here's a little peek at some of Rick's thoughts on Smith and fellow freshman Edgar Sosa:

A pleasant surprise has been Jerry Smith at the two guard position. Most high school basketball players can’t check their hat on the defensive end, but he’s one of our better defensive players. He’s physically very tough, gets after people and makes it very difficult for anyone to be effective. That’s a shock to me. I haven’t seen very many high school kids come in and understand how to play defense. He’s a good scorer, but just needs to work on his balance on his jump shot. He’s a good passer and a tough, hard-nosed guy. The silver lining in Brandon’s injury is that we have to develop Jerry right away to be more of an impact freshman and I am confident he will do that.

Another young man that really understands how to play the game is Edgar Sosa at point guard. Edgar is probably the most ready as a freshman. He and Andre are really going to compete, although they are different players. Edgar is the consummate point guard and understands how to get in the lane and make other people better. Andre is more of a scoring point guard. They will complement each other very well.

The entire update is impressive and definitely worth checking out, many thanks to Pitino (or whoever writes this up) for keeping us all in the loop.

ESPN.com Previews Big East

2006-08-24T02:19:00.000-04:00

The world wide leader's world wide website is suddenly buzzing with Big East football talk.

The centerpiece of the site's Big East preview is a Brian Brohm recovery story by the continually impressive Pat Forde. Forde was very good at the Courier, but he has been great since joining ESPN and here he's most definitely written the best Brohm recovery story to date.

As good as the piece is, the picture (which originally ran in the Courier) to the right of the text that shows Brohm just moments after the injury says more than any combination of words ever could. Since he first gained notoriety in high school, Brohm has been the picture of poise and to see the look on his face as he stares up at his brother following the first really serious injury in his life is very disturbing.

The overall feel of Forde's story is positive, but he doesn't leave out the details of Brian's struggles with having to re-learn basic mechanics during the first few days of practice, the reluctance of his brother Jeff to declare him 100% recovered, and the notion that there's no real way to tell how anyone who's suffered this type of injury will react after taking a few licks in their first game back.

Still the piece highlights Brian's unteachable work ethic, his meeting of a "ridiculous" goal, and the sense that he wants to be the guy who gets Louisville over the hump and into that next echelon of the college football hierarchy. While nothing's guranteed when someone is coming back from an injury like this, Forde makes it clear why Brohm doubters are few and far between.

As he has done for every other conference, the always busy Mark Schlabach offers up five predictions for the 2006 season in the Big East.

The first three of Schlabach's predictions pertain to the Cardinals:

1. Miami will beat Louisville on Sept. 16. The Cardinals will beat West Virginia on Nov. 2 (ESPN, 7:30 p.m ET). Neither Big East team will lose another regular-season game and each will play in BCS bowl games in January. Louisville will win the Big East and receive the league's automatic berth; West Virginia will receive an at-large berth.

2. Louisville's Brohm will outshine West Virginia's White and be named Big East Player of the Year. White is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league because of his ability to scramble and run for yards. But Brohm is a more polished passer, although White has improved his throwing. Both players will be invited to New York as Heisman Trophy finalists. Neither will win, but Brohm will be the No. 1 pick by the Oakland Raiders in next year's NFL draft.

3. Fresh off his team's Big East championship and BCS berth, Petrino's name will pop up in searches at more than a half-dozen big-time schools and at least one NFL franchise. This time, however, Petrino will adamantly tell those schools, "No, thank you," and really mean it. Louisville gave its coach a 10-year, $25.5 million contract extension during the offseason. Petrino will honor it, at least the first two seasons.

It's necessary to keep in mind that Schlabach has exactly the same ability to predict the future as you or I, and thus this is totally meaningless. Still, anointing Brohm as the top pick in the '07 draft is a definite head turner.

Schlabach also writes two additional pieces featuring the Cards; one, a generic "Louisville/West Virginia are the teams to beat" Big East preview, and another that focuses on the top five BE freshman to watch. The man/beast that is Peanut Whitehead is Schlabach's top rated newcomer:

1. DE Deantwan "Peanut" Whitehead, Louisville
Whitehead is possibly the best defensive line recruit Louisville has had during Bob Petrino's tenure. With the loss of the fabulous Elvis Dumervil, the Cardinals return just one starter on the defensive line, and Whitehead is already in the two-deep rotation.

Louisville edged out Auburn for Whitehead's services, and the long-armed, 255-pound rush end from Birmingham, Ala. will have an opportunity to show just how disruptive he can be off the edge.

Whitehead is big, strong and explosive and is expected to live up to his billing despite being a true freshman.

In case you haven't had your fill by this point, or if you just like polls with multi-colored bars, the ESPN Sportsnation poll question on the page asks you which player will have the biggest impact on the 2006 Big East race. Remarkably Michael Bush, Brian Brohm and WVU's Pat White are all tied with 26% of the vote. The Mountaineer's Steve Slaton is pulling in 18% while apparently Brian Leonard's Heisman campaign hasn't quite fired yet as the Rutgers fullback has garnered a mere 4% of the 9,242 votes.

One final note, Bobby Petrino will be appaearing on Jim Rome's radio show this afternoon. No idea what time exactly the coach will be interviewed, but the show starts at noon and is available on AM here in town, or you can listen to the online stream here.

Peace, love, Cards.

Rick Pitino wants to keep you in the loop

2006-08-23T21:10:00.000-04:00

Your University of Louisville basketball team began practice today in preparation for its three-game visit to Ottawa, Canada with an afternoon and evening session.

During the 10 days leading up to U of L's departure on Sept. 1, Rick Pitino will provide a daily update of the Cardinals' practice sessions on his web site at http://www.rickpitino.com/. Look for the new headline each day at the bottom left side of the page under "Latest News." The first report will be on the site on tomorrow, and will review what transpired at practice today.

Pitino will also offer up a special section entitled "who didn't get hurt today." Should be good stuff.

Speaking (very) Briefly

2006-08-23T11:37:00.000-04:00

We got a little less than three hours of sleep last night (we wish it were because of something cool, but it's not) and as a result you're going to see less words so we can hit a monster nap. We feel bad about this complete and utter cop out but if we don't get the right amount of sleep then we stop looking pretty, and quite frankly we'll be damned if blogging gets in the way of us being pretty.

The news is good from the NFL where Elvis Dumervil continues to garner to attention from the Denver media, and Jason Spitz has been named a starter on the Packer offensive line.

It appears the much maligned Willie Williams has finally found a home at West Los Angeles College. We think West Los Angeles may not be the best place for Willie, but we wish him all the best.

U of L and the "Arena Authority" approved a 30 year lease on the new arena yesterday. Admittedly we have absolutely no idea what's going on in the arena saga, just tell us where to go when it's done.

19-year-old senior captain Amobi Okoye is the focus of a Brian Bennett piece in the C-J. And that was officially the lamest sentence ever to appear on this site.

Although his dad says he has contacted a number of schools including Louisville, it looks more and more like former Arizona State QB Sam Keller will indeed be transferring to Nebraska. Sam Keller's dad is also defending his son against claims that he was a little too involved in the night life at ASU.

Nothing says my son is as clean-cut as they come like the line: "Sure, he enjoys the party scene, but what kid doesn't?"

We end mercifully with the news that the U of L baseball team under first year head coach Dan McDonnell will be holding open tryouts at Jim Patterson Stadium on Tuesday, September 5 at 5 p.m. The notoriously mimicky (word?) softball team will be holding open tryouts as well.

Bozich Screws Up

2006-08-22T16:23:00.000-04:00

In a column today about the enmity many college football web sites display towards their respective head coaches, the C-J's Rick Bozich wrote the following:

Silly me.

Or silly Longhorns fans. You decide. My search took me to a site named www.burntorangenation.com, where a fan delivered this rant:

"Even though he was behind the national title last year, I find myself not fully believing in Mack Brown … With Number 10 (quarterback Vince Young) gone, I find it difficult to believe that Texas will slip back into its very good, but not championship-level, rate of 10 wins a season."

Throw the bum out. Immediately. Maybe Fred Akers or John Mackovic is available to return to Austin.

Slight problem.

The statement in question is actually a quote from the Notre Dame blog Rakes of Mallow that Burnt Orange Nation author Peter Bean pulled and used in a post in which he was DEFENDING Mack Brown.

After Bean exposed the innocent mistake/intentional dishonesty/laziness, Bozich made some slight edits to the online version of the story(which make the piece sound awkward and confusing but I suppose that's better than being untruthful), and Bean says that he apologized to him via email and the situation is settled.

If you read the post it is unclear as to how Bozich could have possibly misinterpreted that Bean was ranting against his team's head coach. You'd hate to believe that Rick deliberately misconstrued the author's words in order for them to fit his column with the belief that he'd never be called it out, but it's not hard to see how one might come to that conclusion.

Bozich's faux pas symbolizes more than just the apparent decline of one of Louisville's veteran sports writers, it symbolizes the bridge between old and new media.

Burnt Orange Nation is one of the most respected sports blogs on the web, and Bozich didn't know (nor did he take the time to research) anything about it. Just like the ignorant folk stuck in the 18th century that hate science because they don't want to take the time to understand it, these people who have been involved in print journalism for decades simply dismiss blogs and other forms of online media as useless because of the new age they represent.

We here don't take ourselves too seriously, but there are dozens of sites out there that provide a seemingly endless supply of whit, knowledge and insight into a bevy of topics. Sadly for Bozich, Burnt Orange Nation is one of those sites and it wasn't going to lie down and let him tarnish their good name.

We're still fans, but you embarrassed yourself with this one Rick.

Though this be madness, yet there is method in't

2006-08-21T23:43:00.000-04:00

In a bizarre story out west, Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter named sophomore Rudy Carpenter as starting quarterback on Monday after having declared that senior Sam Keller would be the signal caller three days prior.

The decision was made after Koetter met with 19 members of the team who convinced him that Carpenter was the better man for the job.

The uber talented and equally unlikeable Keller (if you watched him play one game last year you probably hate him) started the first seven games of 2005, throwing for 2,165 yards and 20 touchdowns, with nine interceptions before going down with a hand injury. Carpenter then took the reigns and completed 68 percent (156-for-228) of his passes for 2,273 yards and 17 touchdowns, with just two interceptions. He finished the year as the only quarterback in the country with a higher passing efficiency rating than Brian Brohm.

TCR believes coach Hamlet made the right decision for the sole reason that - like the rest of the ASU football team apparently - we think Sam Keller is kind of a dick. And if you're QB's a dick, you must-a stick him behind Rudy Carpenter of the depth chart.

Sunday Morning Quarterback has a more comprehensive and intelligent write-up on the situation.

The Georgia Bulldogs also settled their QB controversy Monday when Mark Richt announced that the job was going to Joe Tereshinki III.

You might remember Tereshinki as the guy who started the game against Florida last year when D.J. Shockley got hurt. JT3, as UGA fans call him, looked hapless throughout the contest as the offense failed to accomplish much and the Dawgs took their first loss of the season 14-10.

Tereshinki's got a great story, but he may not have the game to go with it. Watch how long it takes for the folks outside the hedges to start campaigning for Matt Stafford.

The Sporting News' Tom Dienhart reels off a list of games he believes have upset potential. And what upset list would be complete without a Mac team over UK prediction? Not this one.

Rutgers has offically launched a Heisman Trophy campaign for fullback Brian Leonard. You may remember Leonard as the guy who had that really cool leap in the game his team lost 56-5. The school has even put together a Leonard for Heisman video that will air in Times Square (gurantee the only reason anyone will click these links is to find out whether or not we're joking).

Fullback? Rutgers? Jesus why don't we just mail this guy the fucking trophy.

The lovely ladies of the Cardinal field hockey team have earned a preseason ranking of 14. Unfortunately we have been banned from any and all field hockey games in the city for our continuous cheer of "whack it" that apparently made those around us uncomfortable.

And finally your glorious grand finale, a cornucopia of Kantucky message board smack compiled by ITV's BirdsTheWord.

Enjoy:

-We'll see soon enough. You're in for some alka-seltzer after dinner drinks this year. ...You got the wrong sermon with Little being a "first day" pick. He is far more versatile than Bush and faster and has hands that make him an all-purpose back
-I just think it's funny that a mid major team in a mid major conference with about 5 fans think they are going places....especially the national championship.
-cant wait to shock jefferson county!
-listen the cards will struggle to SCORE 20 THIS YEAR.
-I can't see lil bro scoring 3 tds on oue D
-I say UofL and Tennessee will be the surprise wins
-I hope they go out and, professionally and in a businesslike way, beat the crap out of UofL
-there will be some serious stomping on the logo AFTER the CATS win the governor's cup
-Little is twice the RB that Bush is. The only reason you hear so much about Bush is because he has run all over Mid Major teams. Little would almost double Bush's yards if Bush was in the SEC. Burton, despite health, has been huge over Urratia. He has accomplished much when he is healthy. Staying healthy, he could be a solid Heisman candidate.
-UK 38 UL 28
-I for one am not buying into the Louisville hype machine in the words of the great KANTUCKE the death spiral is about to fire up.
-Elvis Dumber-ville single handedly put UK behind the 8-ball last season but the Cats came back and almost tied the game and if not for a Missed "fumble out of bounds" call its hard telling how the game would have turned out. Elvis has left the building. You just don't "plug in" another Dumb-erville unless you are a Miami, Texas or an Alabama. Louisville is not a college power only in thier own psychotic little minds are theY a national power.
-The Cats will not need a comeback this year because the UK defense will stop the UL run game from the start of the game and when UL can't run the DE's and LB's will start to tee off on Brohm and he will resemble the human bobblehead Dave Ragone 3 years ago.
-The Card fans always talk about "taking knees" this season they better worry about the knee that is the only hope they have. Personally I hope a Wildcat drills that knee and maybe the other one too and then when Brohm is pulling his crumpled body off of the Toxic Waste Dump fake grass they can't start talking about taking knees again. The hits will keep coming from White, from Woodyard, from Peters, from Abrens, from Schuler, from Mills, from Johnson, from Bloodbath Mcgrath, from a Kentucky defense that will be one of the SEC's best.
-Yes the Cats will win this game this year and we might win big because Louisville is greater in thier own mind than in their trousers.
-I am very excited for 9-3 to get here as the "Paper Lion" program begins its mightY decline. They talk about West Virginia and Miami as if they are the only teams that stand between them and a BCS birth or a "cough" National title. By hell they better start worrying about the Kentucky Wildcats!!!!So Bring it on Boys, BRING IT ON!!!
-Get ready for some ASS-WHOOPING you all deserve it.
-YOU ARE OWNED BY THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS!!!!!

Just give it a month boys, just give it a month.

Dodd Previews Big East

2006-08-21T03:17:00.000-04:00

CBSsportsline college football senior writer Dennis Dodd is the latest to throw his hat into the mix of Big East previews, and is also the latest to hop on the West Virginia hay ride (we're trying to eliminate "bandwagon" from our vernacular).

Dodd devotes the entire piece to the Mountaineers and their quest for both a Big East and national championship (who's their toughest game, and when is it going to be played?). He makes little mention of the Cardinals, but it's well-written and worth a read if you can stomach any more at this point.

Also like a number of prediction pieces, Louisville is well represented in the individual awards portion. Brian Brohm is Dodd's offensive player of the year, and more surprisingly Nate Harris earns the honor for those on the other side of the ball. Of course it's not so surprising when you take into account that Dennis has a little-known bias against defensive players that try to pass off initials as first names.

Offensive MVP

Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville, Jr. -- The latest in a long line of great Cardinals quarterbacks. Combined with Michael Bush, these two guys are this year's Bush and Leinart. Brohm has a shot at becoming the most efficient quarterback in NCAA history (pass efficiency rating).

Defensive MVP

Nate Harris, LB, Louisville, Sr. -- OK, so Louisville had the defensive player of the year (Elvis Dumervil) and still had a hard time stopping teams. We are not deterred. Harris has rehabilitated himself and his game. From troubled Miami recruit to Louisville captain who should lead the Cards in tackles for the second straight year.

Following WVU and U of L, Dodd believes the final Big East standings will see Pitt in third followed by Rutgers (if they finish fourth Greg Schiano won't win coach of the year), USF, Uconn, Cincy and Syracuse.

It is strange to see Louisville consistently cleaning house in the individual awards, but West Virginia just as consistently ahead of them in the overall rankings. Brohm, Bush and now Harris have received their accolades, Mario Urrutia was named one of the ten best players in the conference by SI, Pat Carter has been tabbed as newcomer of the year in multiple publications, Eric Wood was nominated to the Rimington Award watch list, and both Petrino's have been acknowledged for their superior coaching abilities throughout the last four months.

Outside of our coaches and five or six best players, how bad do these guys think the rest of our team is?

Look, we're as sick of talking about these things as you are reading them, but ESPNU (welcome to the not cool with list) has inexplicably decided to start showing World Cup Soccer instead of old football games and quite frankly we're not sure where else to turn.

Prepare yourself ladies and gents, these may very well be the longest 13 days of the calendar year.