U of L CardFile: Virginia

Basketball,

Listening to her say it over and over again through the decades was fingernails across a blackboard. A car with a bad differential.

It drove me crazy, her got to phrase, an admonition really, an astute but bracing bit of advice to accept life’s exigencies.

“It is what it is.”

In the years that I’ve come to accept the wisdom of the perception, it still is hard to accept the reality of certain situations.

Like at times like this for Louisville Cardinals.

Mama said there’d be days like this, mama said, mama said.

Louisville 70 , Virginia  79.

Here’s the reality, Cardinal fans.

Without Mikel Brown, U of L will be nip and tuck to make the NCAA tournament. They are 3-4 since he went down.

It is what it is.

Louisville’s modus operandi was to have a world class PG run the show.

Without him, the Cardinals are Fred without Ginger.

Tuesday night, U of L was also without Khani Rooths because of the flu.

It was a perfect storm.

For tall, shot blocking, three point making, offensive rebounding UVa.

 * * * * *

After missing its first two shots, the victorious visitors went 3, 2, 3, 3, 3 on their next five trips.

Zero 14 is some pretty mucky quicksand to climb out of.

Louisville never did.

Which became a fair accompli early on, when the Cavaliers missed thirteen shots in a row, but U of L couldn’t pull closer than 6.

U of L, ever dogged if decimated, pulled within 5 at intermission. Fell behind by as many as 15 in the 2d, and came as close as 4.

The Cardinals never stopped coming. Virginia never stopped answering.

A Ryan Conwell triple made it 64-71. A Cardinals stop, but Conwell had a layup blocked, leading to a Wahoo 3.

U of L missed a couple of treys after winning the out of bounds challenge at 1:16.

Then failed to net three or four more until the buzzer.

 * * * * *

For the night, U of L outscored UVa by five after falling behind 14.

They just didn’t have enough shovels, enough dirt and enough elbow grease to fill that deep early hole.

I loved Louisville’s fight. As much as I rue how this campaign is likely to play out.

Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be.

 * * * * *

Isaac McKneely had his best game as a Cardinal.

Ryan Conwell was a trooper after sitting out a tilt with a bum knee.

J’Vonne Hadley was all that and a bag of chips in a soldiering second half.

Hell, every Cardinal on the court busted his hump. Out-dueled taller Virginia in the paint, 26-12. Only committed 8 turnovers.

Just couldn’t overcome that flat start against a well coached, higher ranked foe.

I am disappointed. Of course.

But, all things considered, not sure if it’s fair to ask for anything more than the team gave.

There are going to be more nights like this ahead.

As Ms. Aretha says,

Got to call this song exactly exactly what it is/ What it is What it is What it is 

–c d kaplan

27 thoughts on “U of L CardFile: Virginia”

  1. It’s like losing a gifted quarterback and having to replace him with a tight end
    Brown makes this team go and sets up the three point shooters without him they will likely beat nobody who is good

  3. A couple weeks ago, I saw several headlines suggesting that Mikel Brown would be the first one and done Cardinal player. Is that still possible?

  4. https://youtu.be/rFeVfwDvTyM?si=YoSOqpC-foZjXFIo

    14-0 ..

    I feel like I’m living in some alternate universe – I really feel for you Seedy and all the wonderful folks and loyal readers – but this hasn’t happened overnight – this escalated quickly for some of us –

    maybe tonight reality set in – metrics be damned – perhaps the tide will turn – it started with the buzz of over promised Nil talent metric – bolsterd by Kelsey’s wizardry in year one with a soft ACC schedule and the promise of quick fixes – then it was our lack of an answer for big men – then the in and out trickle of injuries – Mikel we barely knew ya as great as you are –

    Again I’ll finish with Bobby Weir .. “lately it occurs to me .. what a long strange trip it’s been” … and it’s only Mid-January ,,

    1. Well, I guess some of us simply aren’t as astute observers as you. Or, we were simply willing to see if adjustments to the situation might help. And there were some last night. And they don’t.

      Plus I’ve been writing about the teams flaws all season.

      Just wondering how your beloved Grateful Dead would have sounded, had they attempted to carry on with same lineup, minus Garcia after he OD’ed? My guess, nothing close. Bobby Weir — a good guy by all accounts, may he rest in peace — was the equivalent of J’Vonne Hadley.

      1. “We absolutely do not have elite level talent across the board. If we are not hitting our 3’s we are screwed against top level competition. We simply cannot match up physically. That doesn’t mean we will not have some great wins, but Sweet 16 is probably the ceiling unless we get hot at exactly the right moment. The physical talent is what it is, and it ain’t great, obviously.” – scorpiocard October 24, 2025

        1. I heard the Allmans thirty times or so through the years. Four sets when Duane was still alive. I’m more than a bit familiar with the various incarnations. That gig in July ’72, they were ordinary. I never personally heard them “worse” than ordinary.

          1. I saw them at Freedom Hall in about 75 or 76. Greg was wasted. Slurring his words. Couldn’t remember the lyrics. The rest of the band mailed it in. They were pretty terrible. I saw them again at a later date and they had their shit together and were fabulous.

        2. With all due respect, and I am not going to get into an argument, I had several conversations actually with Garcia’s doc, who was medical director at my stepson’s rehab place. He craved talking about Jerry. And his version differs from yours. My end of this portion of the dialog is over.

          1. LOL!!! I wasn’t arguing anything. I was giving you the extensively well documented facts about Garcia’s health. You can easily find all of this information yourself. It is widely discriminated information. His cause of death is public information on his death certificate.

            I didn’t give a “version” of anything. I gave you the facts as stated by the Marin County coroner’s office.

            “Garcia Autopsy Results: Grateful Dead front man Jerry Garcia’s heart simply gave out, the coroner has concluded. The Grateful Dead leader had used heroin within days of his death at a rehab center Aug. 9, but that didn’t contribute directly to his heart attack, Marin County coroner’s investigator Gary Erickson said Tuesday. “He was a 53-year-old man with hardening of the arteries; this was a mechanical process,” Erickson said, adding that two of three arteries leading from Garcia’s heart had been reduced to “a pinpoint” with 85% blockage. The third artery had 30% blockage.”

            https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-31-ca-40693-story.html

            But I wouldn’t dare question your flawless memory of the accuracy of what a doctor who violated California law (CMIA), and if after 1996 federal law (HIPAA) as well, by discussing the medical details of one of his famous patients because he craved breaking the law by bragging about having treated a celebrity. Someone that unprofessional was surely trustworthy. 😏

      2. Wow – as Scorpiocard pulls out his 10/24/25 comment about our talent level I do have to agree that some of us clearly saw this earlier and in some reality based way – but comparing Bobby Weir to J’vonne Hadley is just odd – pretty sure I was never a Deadhead but I truly honor and respect those who carried on their legacy – and of course we have clear evidence of how the Dead would have sounded – Dead & Co brought the music to millions in a joyous celebratory way – Bobby Weir was his own bridge of light spiritually and musically and you’re right for sure about Garcia o’ding – I’m sure Cards will find their own level – they play hard –

        1. Again, nothing against Weir. Comparing him to Hadley was a compliment not a diss. A Dead lineup with just Weir, Lesh, Kreutzman, Hart and even Mydland would have simply been an ordinary outfit. That was my point. Another musical analogy to what’s happening to U of L without Brown. The Allmans after Duane’s death before adding Chuck Leavell. Saw them in summer of ’72 with just Betts, Oakley, Jaimoe, Trucks and Gregg. They were lost. Ordinary. Out of sync. Like the Cards now.

          Which is not to say that the Cards would be or can be title contenders with Brown. But they’d be a lot better.

          1. Got it Seedy plus you’re the Cuture Maven – and musically my go to expert – all good there 👍 As you well know our pal Paul Winston & Bobby Weir were extremely close & his death has hit millions of fans hard enough – but for Paul it goes deeper –

          2. The Allmans could at times be lost, WORSE than ordinary, out of sync for reasons of “substance” other than what the personell lineup of the band was lol

      3. Thought Jerry died of heart failure, kidney issues in a drug rehab facility, not a direct overdose Sir?

        1. When my step son was in rehab in Marin County, I actually met and had a long conversation with the doc who was treating Garcia at the time of his death. Perhaps I was too loose when saying OD’ed. But, make no mistake, it was the affect of drugs. He’d checked himself out of rehab a few days before, if memory serves. He simply couldn’t stop. It happens, I’ve been blessed with being drug free and sobriety for decades now, and see it every week. Some simply can’t escape the demons. Garcia died four days before Mickey Mantle. Who had in fact gotten sober from his lifelong alcoholism. I wrote a piece in LEO at the time, about the juxtaposition of the experiences.

          1. Garcia died in his room at the clinic. He had not checked himself out.

            In addition to his drug addiction, he also ate a poor diet, was overweight, had diabetes, had sleep apnea, and was a heavy tobacco smoker. I will speculate that he also probably never exercised.

            Drugs probably did contribute to his death. Perhaps due to both withdrawal, and taking an additional prior toll on his body. To what degree is impossible to say because he had a heart attack, and had a whole laundry list of high risk behaviors and conditions that cause heart attacks.

  5. Wouldn’t it be better wonderful if Fru had a hook shot and could avoid body contact with defending bigs under the basket.

    1. I agree, but there is more. He just looks different when going up against a skilled big that can match his size. He seems slower, whether that’s due to a lack of quickness or indecisiveness from a lack of confidence.

  6. I’m not sure how to reply here to both Seedy & Scorpio – but something needs to be said about Bobby’s pure genius and the depth of his own unique abilities – Seedy – Bobby was never a sideman – he was ALWAYS “ The Other One “ – the first song he wrote and the title of the great documentary from 2014 –

    All I ask you do & im sure Scorpio will agree -is distance the clinical Garcia & addiction conversation and listen to Bobby’s own words about his craft – I consider John Coltrane & McCoy Tyner the most perfect example of how Bobby approached his role – and I just watched his own explanation – as well as Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads –

    This 3 minutes from the documentary is the distillation of Weir’s greatness ‼️I’m honored that I was alive to appreciate his presence – just know that he was special –

    https://youtu.be/4hqYEa18kr8?si=1azp87pvf0MRPSIO

    1. I’m not a big Grateful Dead fan myself, although I do very much like their music (Scarlett Bigonias hell yes). I happen to know the public details about Jerry’s death because at the time he passed I owned Gerstle’s and some of my staff were legit big time former traveling Dead Heads. The Merry Pranksters were also doing their Sunday show there at the time, so Dead Heads were all around me. They were CRUSHED. I just knew that Jerry died of a heart attack in his room at the rehab center, and that his entire lifestyle and resulting extremely poor health, including the extensive drug use, all contributed to his death. There were general assumptions that drugs killed him, but the facts are he had a ton of known health issues any one or several of which could and would contribute to a heart attack. (See the Marin County coroner’s public statement posted above)

      As far as Bob Weir goes, I’ve always considered him integral to the Dead and their sound. For some reason he gets some hate and disrespect (not saying from you, Seedy) from some. People can be petty about stuff. The Dead wouldn’t have been the same without either one of them.

    2. Pretty heady praise in that video. Cannot claim enough listening and in depth knowledge of Weir’s playing. Of the ten or so times I heard the Dead, two or three were transcendent, the interaction of all of them. Layered. Textured. Fascinating. Most enjoyable. I also heard them at RFK stadium once, when they gigged with Allmans. It was when Dead was doing two 2 1/2 hour sets. 5 hours. To quote my man Scorp, they were worse than ordinary. B O R I N G. I will repeat what I said about my meant to praise comparison to J’Vonne Hadley. Weir was there to do what a rhythm guitarist needs to do, to make the whole band sound better. An admirable task.

Comments are closed.