At Media Day before the season I noticed that still rehabbing Kasean Pryor’s hair was its natural color. Brownish. At least, not blonde.

I asked him if he was going to go to the peroxide when he was back to playing?

“Maybe.”

“It might be a biblical thing,” I suggested, “you know, Samson and his strength sort of deal.”

He liked the idea.

Then, when he returned, his hair was not blonde.

His game was iffy at best. A few good moments. Most, not.

The first thing I noticed when the team was warming up before the 26 point taming of the Tigers (99-73) . . .

. . . Kasean Pryor is not a non blonde again.

To significant effect. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Memphis State →

Comeuppance: “a fate deserved.”

That would be the relative No Show in Fayetteville.

The antonym of that: Well, absolution, and/or uh exoneration kinda but don’t exactly work. It’s still early in a long season.

Vindication.

That’s the one.

Louisville 87, Indiana 78.

What follows may be gibberish.

Despite the Cardinals überfast start — 16-0 after six minutes — despite the reality that U of L never relinquished the lead — the closest IU came was 7 late — despite all that your scribe was a nervous wreck, has a major pit (sorry for too much info) and my fingers are still wobbly as I try to decipher my copious often illegible notes, and knock out this homage to a great W.

The Cards have another great moment in NapTown.

 * * * * *

Before I start, here’s what I know is going to happen. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Indiana →

In my pregame prep, I refreshed my memory about some truly important mileposts, battles of note against Arkansas in decades past.

The Good: Scooter or Charles one or the other or both following a shot to beat the Razorbacks in Knoxville in the Dream Game Chaser game.

The Bad: The season ending loss to Arkansas in ’79, a game when Denny Crum was so displeased with Grif’s play, he sat him most of the second half.

The Ugly: US Reed from midcourt to end the ’81 campaign after the defending champs had won 15 in a row and 19 of 20 to offset a truly dismal start to the campaign.

What my research didn’t reveal: That freshman Jimmy Dykes was on the Arkansas bench when Reed launched the heartbreaker. I knew he played there, but didn’t know exactly when.

And there he was doing color for the game Wednesday night.

Which finished a bracing 89-80 Arkansas smack in the face to hand the Cards their first L of the campaign.

Dykes is an obvious SEC fan, an acolyte, and his authoritarian tone is off putting to many. Still he is one of the more perceptive and observant commentators doing college hoops.

At some point early in the 2d, when the Cards were down 15 or so, he said to Karl Ravech, “What Louisville is missing is nastiness.”

Mic Drop. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Arkansas →

Transparency in reportage: I wasn’t in the Yum! to cover the Thanksgiving Eve Cardinals game.

Several reasons. 9:00 Tip off was at my normal bedtime. The game was against a Bottom Ten ranked school. Driving home late at night on one of the biggest bar nights of the year is not optimal for an old fart wearing trifocals.

And, as my Uncle Nate would describe such an ailment, I got the lumbago.

So, I watched on the telly, like apparently a lot of other fans. Listening to the announcers fawn over U of L like Dick Vitale does for the the Blue Devils. Able to watch the entire game on my regular TV because U of L volleyball was swept at Pitt in the prelim, and there was no need to stream.

 * * * * *

Now onto the game, a 104-47 blowout . . .

. . . but first the following bit of folly.

A quiz of sorts. Jeopardy style. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Jersey Tech →

This started like the kind of affair the Cardinals have played many times through the years.

After a big road W, a generally mundane let-down effort against an overmatched foe during the holidays, when a lot of fans stayed home to make some sweet potato pie.

Early on, the team’s focus was less than.

Missed layups were a sign focus was fuzzy.

4-4 tie with a seriously not very good Eastern Michigan team at the first media timeout.

Then the Cardinals visited Treyville.

Khani Rooths.

Followed by Adrian Wooley who bombed one in after getting an offensive rebound.

Isaac McNeely netting his first triple of 5 on the night in 9 attempts.

Then Mikel Brown from downtown. Which he followed with an old fashioned pedestrian two pointer.

Fifteen straight points for a 19-4  lead that would eventually balloon to 41 at the buzzer — 87-46 — and the woman sitting by me in the upper media section turned to her husband and admonished, “I told you we should have gone to Walmart for those toys. We can still get there if we leave now.”

Hubby didn’t budge. She did a lot of texting. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Eastern Michigan →

Hunch feeling.

That this 74-64 grind it out victory in the 101st game against Cincinnati will prove to be more meaningful as the season progresses.

Many of U of L’s gnawing issue were again exposed.

And overcome against a pesky Bearcat squad, though the flaws remain to be worked around.

Important, it says here, was the team’s maturation.

U of L was, can I say it, discombobulated from the start.

Louisville missed the first 10 FGs it attempted.

With 12:27 left in the 1st (7:33 gone), Mikel Brown Jr. hit layup. To pull the Cardinals within 9 at 6-15.

That kickstarted a 13 nil U of L run to counter Cincy’s. That deuce was followed by a Ryan Conwell three, a Brown triple, and a third by Queen City homie Kobe Rodgers.

Then a punch/ counterpunch muckfest unfolded. ending with a 4 point disadvantage at the break.

Flaws were exposed. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Cincy →

Fortunately for the University of Louisville Cardinals, they were not mired in a letdown after their last encounter, a resonant stupendous W over Arch Rival.

Unlike my compatriots, a bleary eyed crew along Media Row.

At least those who had covered the pigskin disappointment Friday night. An anecdotal survey indicated bedtimes ranging from 1:30 at the earliest to 4:00 am.

The Cards were out of the gate early against the feisty Ohio Bobcats, scoring on 6 of their opening 7 possessions. The other resulted in a turnover, the first of many many many strange calls by the Less Than Final Four quality crew of zebras.

Consecutive Isaac McNeely treys. 3 of 4 at the stripe. An ORB by Ryan Conwell, ending with a couple more FTs. Then just one more immaculate pinpoint Ali Khalifa dime to Conwell for deuce.

13-7 begat the first double digit lead at 19-9.

U of L kept the green clad visitors measured the rest of the way.

The final: 106-81.

It is a testament to the potential of this edition of the Cardinals, who playing a C+/B- game still beat a not awful foe by 25. Continue reading U of L CardFile: Ohio University →

My name is Seedy K and I am a hoopaholic.

I’ve had a major relapse this week.

But I am jonesin’ no more for a win, a definitive win, a no questions about it domination over That Team. (Whatever mysterious pregame “distraction” Mark Pope might have been alluding to on Thursday that he may or may not have been using as an excuse.)

I am far from alone.

How do I know the town’s still buzzin’ about the Cards W on Tuesday night?

Other than all the red clad shoppers at my grocery stops, and not the usual number in blue?

The morning after, on really short rest — I couldn’t sleep very well from the emotions — I took my normal pre-dawn walk on Frankort Avenue.

Where a woman in a Cardinal jacket waiting at the bus stop, notices my Cardinal knit cap, and calls out “Go Cards!” Followed a block later by the same greeting from a fellow in Denver Broncos garb.

“Go Cards.”

I’ve been adorned mostly in red since the W over Arch Rival, and the shoutout has repeated itself several times. Often I’m the instigator. It’s been the singular conversation where I work out.

So, yeah, this one does mean more. Continue reading Hoopaholic’s Gazette: One Last Look Back →