All posts by seedyk

Seedy K’s Game Cap: Texas

Basketball,

Hook that on your home court, ye Horns.

Inside Austin City Limits, the final tally in the Round of 32 read: Louisville 73, Texas  51.

It wasn’t that close.

Top Ten early on, Jeff Walz’s Cards dropped out of the Top 25 early in the campaign.

Now, they stand among the Sweet Sixteen. Familiar territory.

Ole Miss, upset victor over Stanford, awaits surging U of L in the Seattle Regional.

 * * * * *

As is often the case during Walz’s reign, Louisville rushed out to a 7-0 advantage from the tip.

The Longhorns steadied. 16-16 after the 1st.

Then the hammer came down. The game turned. Continue reading Seedy K’s Game Cap: Texas →

First Weekend Musings: Hoopaholic’s Gazette

Basketball,

Now there are three.

Clear contenders, that is, for the biggest college hoops upset ever.

Some remain in the Chaminade over UVa corner. 1982. it was so long ago.

When reporting the score on ESPN, after confirming it was not a mistake, Chris Berman said, “We can’t tell you what happened, but the No. 1 team in college basketball has lost to—we don’t even know who they are.”

Others, more inclined toward recency bias: UMBC, a 16 seed over top line Virginia. Oh that school again. By 20 no less as a twenty point dog.

The new entry in the hopper? Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue.

While huge, this opinionated dude is going to discount that first one by the Silver Swords. Not that it wasn’t monumental, it was. Ralph Sampson was a Wahoo. But it was in Hawai’i, after a long trip. On Chaminade’s court. And in the middle of the night back here on the mainland.

Not on TV. Nor are there videos that I’m aware of. So, did it really happen?

Yes, but you catch my drift.

The Retrievers from the Land o’ The Wire essentially broke UVa, thereby perpetuating the dialog at the time that Tony Bennett’s deliberate style of play could never prevail in the Dance. Which debunked train of thinking again sprang forth after the Cavaliers lost to Furman this weekend.

So UMBC’s W has to be hugely considered.

But, Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue, pour moi, is clearly the most surprising, improbable and dumbfounding. Continue reading First Weekend Musings: Hoopaholic’s Gazette →

Hoopaholics Gazette: The First Window

Basketball,

They sentenced me to eight decades of hoopdom . . .

Respects to Leonard Cohen.

Unlike many fans whose team like mine has an empty dance card, I’m a hoopaholic.

I’m locked in.

Though, in a sign of maturity, or so I would crow, I missed the opening half of Huggy Bear vs. Terrapins, while keeping a lunch engagement made a month ago.

I did not linger.

This is one of my favorite days of the year, every year.

Some random musings follow. Continue reading Hoopaholics Gazette: The First Window →

Time Machine: Cards on 3/11

Basketball,

     Your everlasting summer and you can see it fading fast/ So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last/ Well, you wouldn’t even know a diamond if you held it in your hand/ The things you think are precious I can’t understand/ Are you reelin’ in the years?/ Stowin’ away the time

So we have arrived at Championship Week 2023, Championship Day, Part Uno.

New batteries in the remote.

Plenty of Vernor’s on ice.

21 games of interest, more or less, for those of us hoopaholics.

Before getting started, I thought it would be interesting to check how my Louisville Cardinals have fared on this date, starting with the beginning of the Denny Crum Era.

5-2, thank you very much. Including two memorable tilts, one a Top 5 of All Time, the other, one of the, uh, most disheartening.

Oh what a night it was such a night at Vandy’s Memorial Gymnasium on 3/11/72. Continue reading Time Machine: Cards on 3/11 →

Louisville CardFile: Boston College

Uncategorized

This shall be blissfully brief.

A proverbial quick read.

Tuesday evening at 6:36, this historically horrible season for the University of Louisville Men’s Basketball team ended in an appropriately ignominious manner.

Such that I simply am not going to print out the final score.

Nor offer insight or explanation.

I considered various and sundry ways of expressing how I feel right now. And giving one guy’s take of an overall perspective of what happened over the course of the campaign.

At this time, I demur.

Perhaps I will in the future.

Perhaps not.

It’s time to take a break and just kick back from this.

As a hoops junkie, I’m locked into the rest of the season. I love March Madness.

I understand that many are not. We each make our choices.

Go Cards!

c d k

 

Louisville CardFile: Virginia

Basketball,

As woefully different as this sad season has been than any other in the storied history of Louisville basketball, there’s one thing that just is the same as it ever was.

Tony Bennett turns whoever is sitting first chair on the Cardinal bench into a pupil.

Whether it’s Mike Pegues, or Chris Mack, or David Padgett. Even the HoFer Rick Pitino.

School was in session Saturday in Charlottesville.

The victorious Cavaliers had 25 assists on 29 made FGs.

Obviously, some of these resulted from matadorian lack of D by the hapless Cards, but Bennett’s teams have done this year in and year out to even the more stalwart of U of L outfits.

Sixteen year senior Kihei Clark netted a trey nineteen seconds into the tilt on the Wahoo’s opening possession.

The Cardinals were never close the rest of the way. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Virginia →

Louisville CardFile: Virginia Tech

Basketball,

Señor, señor, do you know where we’re headin’?/ A Road to Hope or Armageddon?/ Seems we’ve never been down this way before/ Is there any truth in that, señor?                                                                                                                              — After Bob Dylan

A Senior Night quite unlike any other.

Oh for the nights we would have stood and clapped forever.

For Wes.

For Grif.

For Russ.

But distant memories now, from long ago, far away.

But a home game too much like most all the others this campaign.

Cards fall behind.

Lulls in the game when the gap could be closed but isn’t. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Virginia Tech →

Louisville CardFile: Georgia Tech

Basketball,

There is little to say.

Nothing really.

Which is why I sat and stared at this page which remained blank for hours.

Louisville 67, Georgia Tech 83.

Unlike most of Cardinals’ many losses this season, points off turnovers was not the significant statistic.

That was only -5.

Points in the paint. 28 Cards, 40 Yellow Jackets. -12.

Points beyond the arc. Cards, 12. (4/17). Yellow Jackets, 36. 12/29. -24.

Fast break. Cards, 6. Yellow Jackets, 16. -10. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Georgia Tech →

Louisville CardFile: Duke

Basketball,

Given that there is an adjustment period at the beginning of every game, how the opening played out in this one is not especially unusual. Or disconcerting. To me anyway.

Louisville started out focused, energetic and hot.

Especially El Ellis who had 11 already at the initial media timeout, on 4/4 (3/3) shooting. He also had a sweet drive and dish on the Cards’ opening possession, his second in consecutive games. JJ Traynor made a sweet move for the delivery and the hoop.

The Cards lead moments later blossomed to 18-9.

The Blue Devils then steadied, running off 13 in a row.

They kept the Cards measured the rest of the way.

Some garbage points at the end, when Kenny Payne emptied the bench, made the final a somewhat deceiving 79-62.

 * * * * *

Louisville’s play of late in microcosm was on display in the 2d at Cameron Indoor from opening possession until the 13:41 mark. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Duke →

Louisville CardFile: Clemson

Basketball,

Might it have been a bit “classier” had El Ellis just dribbled out the clock at the end instead of heading uncontested to the rim for an exclamation point 360 windmill slam, after Brad Brownell had cried “uncle.”

Of course, it would have. Maybe.

But, ya know what, in this dastardly campaign of little return, let ’em vogue.

Louisville Cardinals 83, Clemson Tigers 73.

U of L’s fourth W of the campaign was by double figures as an 11 underdog.

 * * * * *

Clemson was forced to call a timeout with 7:31 left, after a six point Cardinal run gave U of L a 66-52 lead.

Then the Prilosec™ moments. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Clemson →