At halftime, after an 18-2 Blue Demons surge, the Cards discovered themselves  down an incomprehensible 16 points, I pulled out my media guide.

I’ve long had a go to defeat when it’s come to what’s the worst Cardinal out of the blue L in the modern era. Wanted to check the score and season.

January 30, ’95.

U of L 69, Towson State 81.

It has been supplanted.

It does not get any worse than Saturday. Against a truly not very/ any good 1-7 team. Which lost six of those tilts at home.

Louisville 68, DePaul 75

The nightmare grows more gruesome.

 * * * * *

After the game, a pal who has been a diehard as long as I have emailed, asking if I had any defense for Kenny Payne, other than he’s a nice guy?

As for his coaching, the sad answer — sad for me anyway — is no.

It’s obviously not working. It’s not going to work.

I’ve written before, and repeat. I am glad I’m not Josh Heird.

Moves need to be made.

Now or Soon.

Whatever strategy the AD takes, it’s going to piss off some segments of the faithful.

 * * * * *

I just looked through my game notes, to see if there were any noteworthy moments worth considering.

There really aren’t.

This is not about if the Cardinals had gotten a stop and scored, say,  when the lead was cut to 6.

Given the totality of the situation that is of no consequence.

This is about fundamentals. Technique. Strategy. Fight. Finishing.

This is about coaching.

 * * * * *

The kicker is there were several reminders just Saturday aftenoon of when it was good.

The Cardinal volleyball team was in the Elite Eight, fighting for a spot in its third straight Final Four.

Once upon a time, that was men’s hoops.

In the MLS Cup, there was a fellow named Palacios on one of the teams.

Once upon a time a baller with that name played for the Cards in a Final Four.

(If you’re wondering why I might be watching futbol instead of the U of L/ Pitt game, the answer is simple and personal. For whatever reasons, I get way more nervous watching volleyball than any other sport. May be the nature of the game. May be that I’m not really familiar with the technical and strategic nuance.

I dunno. So I peeked in every few minutes to check the score, then went surfing. Back and forth. )

 * * * * *

For those who didn’t intuit to go to the Fox Sports app to watch while Butler and future ACC rival California went double OT,  and were still on FS1 you didn’t miss anything.

 * * * * *

Not looking for sympathy here, all God’s children got stuff, but this I can assure you is true.

Experiencing the situation befalling my favorite team is depressing. Squared.

Having to write about it magnifies the despondency. Many times over.

In my ears I’m now hearing the lyrics of Bard Dylan:

Take the rag away from your face/ Now is the time for your tears.

— c d kaplan