Breaking News: Women's Basketball, Volleyball as seen by Jared Anderson -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper

HOOPS ARE COMING! 

Two months until Christmas! That means women's basketball is that much sooner. For you Facebook-ers, the UofL women's basketball official Facebook site has started creating events for all of their games. Friend them up, there will be a lot of good stuff there in the months to come. 

If you haven't read Tuesday's post here yet, Paulie went into great detail about their annual luncheon from Monday. There are quite a few interviews to listen to, including the always interesting "takes" from Coach Jeff Walz. He has complete confidence in this team's ability and their chances to be successful. How do you define success for them. Tell us in the comments section.

Also listen to Paulie's zany chat with the lovable Sam Purcell. I want to see this proposed "best out of ten" free throw showdown. My money's on Purcell. 

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VOLLEY UP! 


Volleyball's Tess Clark and her magical ways of 1,000 kills take the "serve and block" Cards up to South Bend tonight for a midweek match against Notre Dame. No Touchdown Jesus involved in this contest but perhaps Ace Jesus will be sitting on the Cardinal bench. Anything to help clean up the service errors we saw when Dani Busboom Kelly's wide-netters visited the Sunshine State. 

The Fighting Irish enter the contest at 16-5 while barely clinging onto a conference record above .500 at 6-4. That ACC mark ties them with Duke for sixth place in the standings. Notre Dame has 224 blocks on the year, which could provide the Cards some trouble. In recent years tall teams that block well have been Louisville's Achilles heel, including last year's matchup. 

Each team defended their home turf well and the Cards were led by a stat sheet filled by Morgan Miller. Besides the 224 blocks, the Irish also have recorded 123 aces on the year. The Cards back row of Molly Sauer, Gabby Wiley and a hopefully healthy Alexis Hamilton (how about that tongue twister) that should be off concussion protocol should be able to hold down the fort just fine. 

Louisville has some nice numbers of their own, including Tess's thousand kills. Jasmine Bennett and Maggie DeJong have teamed up in the middle blocker position quite well, recording 40 and 41 blocks apiece. 

This past week the Cards (8-2 in conference) were listed as having the 36th. toughest schedule in DI -- which is something I fully concur with. Those darn Big 10 games from early in the season at least look good for this stat. Also, UofL received some votes in the latest polls, but have not reached a top 25 ranking yet. A win tonight and a win against ACC #1 ranked Pittsburgh on Friday could boost the Cards into the rarefied air of top 25. 

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 20-15 against UofL but tonight is a wonderful opportunity to close the gap an make the win streak against the blue and gold two games. A win would also give the Cards a two game win streak since they foiled the 'Noles in Talhassee on Sunday. 

Both contests will be shown on the ACC Network Extra. You might want to catch the Friday match at Cardinal Arena to cheer on these gals. 

Go Cards! 
Jared Anderson 

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WORDS AND MORE WORDS

(Some thoughts from Paulie on Star Wars XII: The Jurich Strikes Back) 

Put your hands in the air like you just don't care! 

Dr. Greg Postel's letter to Tom Jurich outlining the reasons for his firing and Jurich's response have been released because of the Freedom of Information mandates and neither appear to be happy campers. 

Postel alleges that Jurich promoted zero tolerance for infractions, failed to supervise head coaches, demonstrated ineffective management responsibilities and exhibited a lack of collegiality. 

Jurich, through his legal counsel, claims that Postel and the University's board are smearing his reputation and Jurich unequivocally denies the allegations and implications. 

This donnybrook is far from over. I can't wait to see if Jurich will write a book about his life and times at UofL. Hey, if Colin Kapernick can...why not T.J.???

Can we work Muffet McGraw into
the mix? 

So, the mudslinging, pie-in-the-face proceedings are underway. Grab some popcorn and have a seat Cardinal fans. This one could be a extra-innings affair. Forget that several UofL athletic teams are battling for conference titles and have key games ahead. The public wants blood and it looks like they're gonna get it. Claws out, kittens! 

Maybe we could add a few hookers, some bogus on-line classes, mad NFL stars charging from the sidelines to confront befuddled officials, Abbott and Costello's classic "Who's On First?" and some Led Zeppelin live to make this another nation-wide headline grabbing embarrassment for our dear and beloved alma mater UofL.  Go to your corners, boys and come out swinging when you hear the bell...

 -Paulie






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Breaking News: Women's Basketball, Volleyball as seen by Jared Anderson -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper