– Media Day

Today was media day for the University of Louisville football program. The 3 coaches to take the podium were Head Coach Charlie Strong, Defensive Coordinator Vance Bedford, and Offensive Coordinator/QBs Shawn Watson. All coaches had great things to say about how the team was progressing but each remain cautiously optimistic about how their young group will perform when the lights come on.

Coach Strong’s opening:
“Each day it’s all about getting better. The team, what we need to do is establish an identity, and we know only nine seniors. But enough guys have played that we can have some guys step up. The guys have responded well so far.”

Coach Bedford’s opening:
“Right now, we are really excited about our defensive line. We have a lot of depth there.”

Coach Watson’s opening:
“We look like a Division I football team should be,”

QUARTERBACKS:
Coach Strong – “Teddy continues to get better every game. He has become a student of the game.”

Coach Watson – “The thing I want to see out of Teddy is him manage the game. The different aspects of the game, he has to manage those things.”, “He’s taken to heart increasing his strength and durability. He’s a totally different looking player.”

RUNNING BACKS:
Coach Strong – “Each one of the five have a different quality. We have enough guys there. We have five guys there.”

Coach Watson –  “We’re going to have to go through training camp. Get into scrimmage situations” before a decision made on the starting running back. “They are all not letting up. They all want to be the starter. Competition is a great thing.”

RECEIVERS:
Coach Strong –  “Moving Gaines to wide receiver has added to the group. Each day he’s talking to his own guys and just adds enthusiasm to the group. All the guys are stepping up and a really good group.”

Coach Watson – “We have a lot of speed, we have a lot of speed.”

OFFENSIVE LINE:
Coach Strong – “we know we have five solid.”

Coach Watson – said Mario & Kupper “are the thump and the voice,” of offense. “If something needs to be fixed, those two guys will fix it.”

DEFENSIVE LINE:
Coach Strong – “I told Vance this may be the group that we go rush four and hope we can get some pressure on the quarterback.”

Coach Bedford – “Right now, we are really excited about our defensive line. We have a lot of depth there.”, “We just don’t know. On paper we like what we see… but when the lights come on? I don’t know what we’re going to do. They might start crying. I might need pampers.”

LINEBACKERS:
Coach Bedford – “Compared to our first two years, athletically we’re a lot better.”, Mount & Mauldin: “They are going to play up, down, all around. We’re going to play them all over the place.”

DEFENSIVE BACKS:
Coach Bedford – “Hakeem Smith is by far one of my favorite players. Not big enough, not fast enough but makes plays.”, 

Kicking: 
Coach Strong – “is a major concern”

Other things of importance:

Coach Strong on:

-Zeke Pike – “We talked about this program and our focus and he’s accepted how this program is ran.”  Coach Strong also mentions how the goal is to help change lives.

Fan Support –  “The fan support here has just been tremendous. When you have the fan support, then the players start believing in themselves.”

Team Balance – “You like to have balance and like to have it in all three phases of the game. Offensively, a year ago didn’t know what QB situation was going to be and offensive line we were so young. Even on defense just so young. You do feel like you have a balance there because enough guys that have played.”

Education – “I want to see every young man in our program to graduate. I told them if you don’t get a degree then you don’t need to be in this program.” Strong said that it “carries over onto the field.”

Playing home games – “The games at home, we have to win. So tough to win on the road. We pack it in here and fans come to watch us play. Tell the guys, they are here for a reason, so lets go give them a show. We have to do a better job of defending out home stadium.”

This really could be a big year for our Louisville Football team on many different levels. First, the football program has the potential to take a big step forward. Strong is making that happen. More importantly, the current unsettled climate of conference membership could well have U of L moving to a new home in the coming years. No matter where that is, Strong is taking measures to make sure the football team will fit into any new environment quite well.

– Cardinal Paradise – Battle 4 Atlantis Bracket revealed

We learned today that our Louisville Cardinals will be the #1 seed of the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis. Our Cards will face Northern Iowa in the first round of the tournament. The rest of Battle 4 Atlantis Draw: Missouri-Stanford, Duke-Minnesota, Memphis-VCU,. This is considered by most to be the best preseason tournament of the year. And it is the best field of talented teams that the tourney has had since it began in 2011. Last year Harvard defeated UCF 59 – 49 for the title.

The Battle 4 Atlantis is a Kerzner International owned and operated preseason college basketball tournament that takes place in late November of each year, at Atlantis Resorts on Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas usually the week before Thanksgiving. The tournament is known for being the richest Division I Men’s pre-season college basketball tournament. Teams are awarded 2 million to participate in the event.

No doubt this will be a great preseason tournament to start the college basketball season and will be a great gauge to see just how good our Louisville Cardinals will be to start the season. I can’t wait!

– 2 Louisville offers make it into first group of Elite 24

The Under Armour Elite 24 is a celebration of streetball’s past, present and future. This event has existed for 6 years and has become the premiere event of the summer. The first four were at Rucker Park, and the last two years at Venice Beach. This years event will also be held at Venice beach.

The first 12 players were picked for this event on Tuesday afternoon, and the second dozen players, roster of teams and dunk contest participants will be announced in early August. Among the first 12 guys picked were Louisville offers Isaac Hamilton and Jermaine Lawrence. Both players are in the class of 2013.

The 2012 Under Armour Elite 24 will be held at the Venice Beach Courts in Los Angeles Aug. 24-25. The game airs live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. ET Aug. 25, while the slam dunk contest will air Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

– Sweet 16 a Sweet debate

Something came up in the news around Kentucky today that sparked my interest. The (KHSAA) which stands for Kentucky High School Athletic Association announced today that they would change the format of the Sweet 16 for the first time in 95 years due to potential scheduling conflicts with Rupp Arena.

The semifinals, a doubleheader that has been played on Saturday morning for more than fifty years, will move to Saturday night while the championship will be played at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday format of the Tournament will remain the same. The thing that really got me thinking about this is the statement below made by the KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett.

“It is important that the two largest and most tradition rich clients sharing the arena work together on a solution when there comes that time that we both need the facility”

After I read this statement this morning, I got to thinking to myself and asked these questions: Is it ok for the head of the KHSAA to have such a high opinion for one university in the state? Shouldn’t the person in this position be neutral when talking about the universities of this state? In addition, why is such an important traditional basketball event held exclusively in Lexington?

Although there have been stretches where this event has been held in Louisville the majority of the time it has been held in Lexington. Shouldn’t this event be shared between the two equally? Shouldn’t this event be rotated back and forth each season?

The possibility of a small rural Kentucky school defeating a large consolidated school or schools from Lexington or Louisville for the state championship are a large part of the statewide appeal for the tournament. With that said the Sweet 16 should be held in both Lexington and Louisville to give the folks of Kentucky the chance to see and experience the culture of both of these cities. And what about the local kids getting a chance to play in front of the local crowd every other year in the Yum Center?

Another thing to consider is crowds for the boys’ tournament usually total around 120,000 fans during the week and the finals typically draw 15-20,000 spectators. I hear all of the time how more events need to be drawn to the Yum Center and the downtown area. Wouldn’t this be a great boost for the Louisville downtown district every other year?

Unlike the Commissioner of the KHSAA, I believe that there are two very important tradition rich Universities and two very important cities in this state. Both deserve the spotlight and attention that this event brings with it every year.

Hey Mayor Fischer I’m pretty sure that the current contract with Rupp Arena and the Sweet 16 will be coming to an end in 2014. Instead of chasing your pipe dream of getting an NBA team why don’t you take on a more realistic challenge. Get to work and help bring back the Sweet 16 to the city of Louisville and the Yum Center.