(Photo Jason Frakes)

Tonight was homecoming ceremonies at Manual High School in Louisville. Like all Homecoming cerominies it is a big night especially for the young ladies who are up for a queen or sweetheart nomination. Tonight was looking bleak for Manual Freshman Tonysha Curry when she found out that the person who was supposed to escort her during the ceromines didn’t show up.

Kudos to Russ a great basketball player and a great young man!

H/T to @Jason Frakes

Cardinal football fans have had to endure some pretty rough schedules over the years and spent some of that time watching them in old Cardinal Stadium. For those of you old enough to remember that you really feel my pain. And the stint in the AAC this past season was also tough to handle at times. But all that is over and today the loyal Cardinal football fans are finally getting the moment that some of them have waited a lifetime for. Today is their day as the ACC football schedule was released.

The home games like Southern Miss, UAB and Tulane have been replaced by Miami and Florida State. And instead of having to play away games in front of 1500 fans at places like UCONN and USF our Cardinals will get to visit venues like Death Valley and South Bend. Yes folks we are about to embark on a football season like none we’ve ever seen before and the excitement will be at a all-time high from start to finish.

I can’t ever remember a time where I was this excited for the spring to get here and spring practice to begin. And I can’t wait for my bucket list trip to South Bend to watch my Cards take on the Fighting Irish. The Football season can’t get here fast enough. Enjoy this day Cardinal Football fans because it belongs to you. You have been loyal, Faithful and endured for the love of your team and next season you will reap your reward. Go Cards!

I’m very happy to be writing this article knowing that just a few days after Coach Strong’s departure the University of Louisville’s Football Program has found the next head coach to lead the program forward. And I say forward because that’s exactly where the program will go with Bobby Petrino leading the way. This is a very good thing Cardinal fans. There isn’t a fan among us that wanted to go backwards after the success the last coaching staff worked so hard to achieve, we’ve been there done that. This will assure that a Top 15 program in the country will not only remain that way for the near future but also take that next step forward as well.

I know some fans are torn on the decision to take coach Petrino back due to his off the field indiscretions and due to the way he handled himself when he left the Louisville program the first time. A lot of folks like to sit atop their moral high horse and cast stones on the lowly souls who stumble beneath them. But to judge those folks would be just as bad so I won’t. And I don’t think anyone should be forced to forgive/forget but aren’t we as human beings at least required to give those who have done wrong some room for redemption? Coach Petrino had a year off from football, and had a year to reevaluate his life and priorities. “I just made a terrible mistake, something that I have to live with for the rest of my life,” Petrino said. “I’m trying to work hard every day to make things right, to put it behind me and move forward.” Can’t we give him that chance? Who are we to tell someone they can’t change?

And while it may be questionable what kind of person he is there is no doubt what kind of coach he is. With the move to the ACC taking place next season and the level of competition reaching a whole other level it was a no brainer to take a coach with a resume like Bobby Petrino has. He’s never done anything as a coach to even raise an eye brow of the NCAA. As a head coach he has a record of 83-30 a 73% winning percentage. Bobby has a history of building formidable programs. He has the best winning percentage (.82) of any head coach in Louisville football history, took our Cards to the Orange Bowl and had us all but a field goal away from playing for a national title. When he took over a dying Arkansas program many thought he would struggle to rebuild in what most consider the best college football battle ground in the country the SEC West. But not only did he rebuild that program he led them to the Sugar and Cotton bowls and had them on the cusp of competing with Alabama and LSU for the SEC West crown. And last year he took over a Western Kentucky program leading them to a 8 win season and beating in-state Kentucky along the way. He has been called an offensive minded genius in the past and has proven that he is a winner time and time again.

On Thursday Bobby Petrino will officially be announced as the Cardinals football coach and will probably be introduced as such to the folks in attendance at Thursday nights basketball game. Coach Petrino will start his road to redemption, a road that will be paved of much success for the football program. Be happy Cardinal fans and welcome back home Coach Petrino! L1C4!

Below is the article I wrote around this time last year when Coach Strong turned down the Tennessee job. Crazy how much things can change in just a year. Really thought Coach Strong was different, and it would have been nice if this story had played out. Not much loyalty in the world today especially in college sports. I would be lying if I said Charlie didn’t let me down. But I do wish him and his family the best.

a “STRONG” statement

Today something happened at the University of Louisville that you don’t see very much in the world of college sports. Today wasn’t about money, ego, power or greed. Today was about relationships, family, respect and loyalty. Today Charlie Strong made what he called the “Biggest decision in 29 years of coaching” and decided to stay at the University of Louisville for the long haul. Strong was hired in December 2009 and led the Cardinals to a 7-6 season in 2010. But at the beginning of the 2011 season he was struggling with a young team and got off to a 2-4 start. It was during that time that Tom Jurich decided to give Charlie a 7 year contract extension. That extension went a long way toward showing how committed Louisville was to Strong and building a solid football program. Today Strong acknowledged that moment saying “I was 9-10, and Jurich hands me an extension…How do you walk away from someone who trusts and believes in you.” Coach Strong has done a really good job in just 3 years at Louisville. And with his commitment today it could be the start of something big. Louisville has often been referred to and recognized as a stepping stone job for up and coming coaches. But today all of that changed as we went head to head with one of the traditional powers of the SEC and came out on top. Coach Strong says him signing means that UofL “is no longer a stepping stone job.”

When coach Strong arrived at Louisville he brought a much-needed winning pedigree to the program at a crucial time in it’s history. But today we found out that we got much more than that. Today our program took another step on the road to greatness and got a commitment from a guy who is all about greatness. One of the things that coach Strong was famous for saying when he got here was “You never Know.” Well now we know that our program is in good hands and heading in the right direction. Perhaps summed up best in one of Coach Strong’s comments today “My enthusiasm and my heart are with the University of Louisville.”

This is the part of the college football season that I dislike the most. News is dominated with coaches shuffling all over the college landscape and now there seems to be some uncertainty surrounding our head football coach. Here’s my two cents on this speculation.

If Charlie does decide to stick it out then, we (as fans) need to do our part and try to make it out to those spring games, those open practices and all the other events surrounding the football program. We do need to get to the games early and stay late. I think it will get better especially with the level of competition going up with the ACC coming to town. However, Charlie has to be more of a realist and he must understand that it is what it is. Louisville’s football fans are never going to be like those “big- time” football fans (whatever that is). There is just not enough of us. But even if we never see 100,000 butts in the seats on Saturdays the 50 or 60 thousand folks that are there will be cheering their hearts out for the Cardinal Red.

Regardless of who will be coaching next season (still a chance it will be Charlie), the fact remains that we will have a great group of young men returning and those kids are what deserve our support the most. And I would like to thank coach Strong and his staff for helping us reach that next plateau of performance. The dark days are gone and there is only a bright future ahead. #L1C4

If you are a sports fan you dream of that time when you get to witness something special, that moment of greatness. You dream of getting to watch a legend. Have you ever heard your parents, or someone older talking about that great player, that great play and wished you could have been there or that you could have seen it? Well Cardinal fans Teddy Bridgewater gave us our moment.

This past week we seen a Louisville player that came out of a bad environment and bad surroundings that had trouble overcoming that and ultimately be let go by the Louisville program. But there is always the other side of these stories and today we got to see a kid who came from bad beginnings and bad surroundings leave the Louisville program but this time it is the ultimate success story. Teddy Bridgewater looked his adversity dead in the eyes and refused to be another statistic. A kid who realized that education was important early on and graduated high school early, a kid that realized early on that family is more important and was ready to give up football to take care of his ailing mother, a kid that realized what he wanted and sacrificed to move far away from all he knew to get it.

When Teddy arrived in Louisville it was a football program headed in the right direction, but it was a program in search of the leader on the field to take that next step. And boy did we get that in #5. Snap after snap, Play after play, game after game Teddy Bridgewater gave it all he had not only for himself but for the city of Louisville, the University of Louisville and Cardinal fans everywhere. He gave his all for us because that’s what Teddy does for his family. Now he moves on leaving behind many great moments, Back to Back Bowl victories, and a college degree in hand. Someday when my son and I are in Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium and we look up to those numbers that have been retired I will be the one who can say proudly that I got to watch that great player. Thanks to Teddy we now have our legend and we have had our moment.

I got this letter from a Louisville Fan through my Fan Page and I would like to share that with everyone. I hope that this fan doesn’t mind, but it pretty much says it all.

Dear Teddy,
I love you like my own son! I am extremely proud of the young man that had an infectious smile with braces transforming into a man. I want to “thank You”, personally and heartfelt.
Thank you Teddy for being and awesome kid.
Thank you Teddy for “Breathing” life back into our great football tradition.
Thank you Teddy for putting this city first across your chest, then across your shoulders.
Thank you Teddy for being the epitome of a good role model.
Thank you Teddy for all your hard work through a “hard life”.
Thank you Teddy for being one of the “Greatest” athletes the University of Louisville ever produced, certainly in football.
Thank you Teddy, when they disrespected you by at least not even “inviting” you to New York to be amongst the Heisman finalist you shook it off. And then proceeded to destroy the University of Miami in the bowl game.
Thank you Teddy for the Sugar Bowl when you annihilated the Florida Gators. I was there Teddy, and that was one of the greatest moments of my life.
I could go on and on, but Teddy as I watched you play your last game in a Louisville jersey I welled up with emotion, I was proud, happy, exuberant, even after the disappointment of earlier that day, you went out and brought it back. You made the city OK. You went out as a champion and you never did it for you. You did it for us, this city, our university, all the kids, the Monday morning quarterbacks,.. everybody.
So now its your time Teddy. Go get your money. Get it all, because if one kid deserves it,.. its you.
And remember Teddy Bridgewater no matter where you go Louisville will always be home.
Thank you Teddy Bridgewater,.. thank you!

Oh,… and one last thing,.. Thank you Teddy for never,.. ever,.. never,… ever,…losing to the University of Kentucky.. Salute..!

– Louisville fan Mike Beamon

Well by now the news has spread across the college basketball landscape that Chane Behanan has been let go by the Louisville program today. His problems on and off the court have always been very well documented. Chane grew up in the rough inner city of Cincinnati and was able to avoid any kind of real trouble while living there, but still was surrounded by drugs, gangs and other dysfunction. Most thought that when Chane got away from that environment and got with a Coach that would challenge him to be better that he would flourish. Coach Pitino has pushed back and has always challenged Chane to overcome his defense mechanisms learned through that early dysfunction. Today Coach Pitino said that he had violated a “University Policy” and it is unknown at this time what that might be.

I don’t think Chane has lost his way. He is just a kid that doesn’t have any healthy coping skills, problem solving skills or decision making ability. I know that most wouldn’t consider a 21 year old guy a kid but growing up with as much dysfunction that Chane did it slows the developmental stage drastically. I have heard and seen this comment many times over the last few months “you can take the kid out of Cincy, but you can’t take the Cincy out of the kid” and while not the best way to describe this ordeal with Behanan it is a valid point. It is very difficult to erase years of damage created by rough environments. It takes a person to decide that they want to change their past and create a better future for themselves. Chane has said many times that he wants to be the one person in his family that does succeed now he just has to buckle down and make that change. Word is that several schools have already called to acquire the services of Behanan. I would like to see him move up to Minnesota with the younger Pitino. There isn’t much to do to get in trouble there and it snows about 8 months out of the year. Can’t think of a better place for him to go to figure out his life. I will say a extra prayer for Chane tonight and I will always appreciate what he did here.

Where does the Louisville Basketball team go from here? We have seen Coach Pitino work his magic under these circumstances many times in the past and he flourishes in it. He ran a small line-up that took Providence to the Final Four and he has had to work with small line-ups at Louisville. He took Louisville to the Final Four with that 2005 group and didn’t have a huge front-court. He used Kyle Kuric at the Power Forward spot 3 years ago. Looks like small ball will make it’s way to Louisville once again. The Cardinals perimeter pieces give them the ability to go small and use Luke Hancock and Wayne Blackshear as a stretch 4. I can’t wait to see how this all works out and am still very optimistic about how this season could end. We still have the shooters and the players to make this work. Its Gut Check time for our Cardinals… Let’s all make sure we stay behind them and give them the support they will need to overcome this recent shake up. GO CARDS!…

Last night I was given the opportunity to be in Lexington for the premiere of the movie RedVBlue. I was able to bring my brother and his sons to the premiere as well. In our family it truly is Red vs Blue. This movie did a great job at explaining the history of the Kentucky and Louisville rivalry and really evoked the emotions of the crowd in attendance. The movie had drama, comedy, and a touch of suspense.

I really liked the guys from the Louisville Barber Shops and thought they really helped this documentary maintain a lighter side. Those guys were comedic gold. All of the folks chosen to represent both sides of the Rivalry did a great job. If someone watched this film that had no prior knowledge of what this crazy hoops hysteria was all about they would have walked out knowing exactly what basketball means to the state of Kentucky. And the characters chosen are a big reason why.

The makers of this documentary had a very tough job in my opinion. They had to make this film so that it would appeal to both sides and that was a very thin line to walk, especially when one side got off to a slower start in college basketball and considering the Kentucky and Louisville rivalry didn’t really take off until 1983. It is my opinion that these guys nailed it. Instead of creating anymore animosity this film does a great job of creating a great sense of pride just to be a part of such a wonderful rivalry and I walked away feeling like Louisville had just as much to do with that as Kentucky did. In the closing of the film the message was loud and clear… We may choose to cheer for one side or the other but the bottom line is that we are all Kentuckians and we are the College Basketball capital of the world..

I give this film 5 Beaks

No Cardinals or Wildcats were harmed during the filming of this documentary.

We are a little over a week from the yearly battle between the Louisville and Kentucky basketball teams. Very exciting time if you are a fan of either team and it’s one of the greatest rivalries in the country. But for the kids who play for our beloved schools it is pretty much just another basketball game. Unless it’s a player that has grown up around the rivalry it doesn’t mean any more than that. Knowing how crazy things are going to get around these parts over the next week Coach Pitino got his guys out of the state of Kentucky a few days earlier and will keep them out until a few days leading up to the Kentucky game. Coach Pitino said that he didn’t want the guys to get caught up in it all.

Our Cards hit the road this week and won’t play in the Yum Center for 21 days. They are currently in Miami where they will play FIU on Saturday. Last night the guys took in a Miami Heat game. Several pictures made their way onto twitter of some of the players having a good time and heat fans taking the opportunity to get a picture with Kevin Ware. Pretty crazy that at an NBA game our Cardinals are still celebrities.

I’m glad the guys got to get out of town this week and glad that Coach Pitino has chosen to keep them out of town. Things will surely get crazy around here as fans gear up for the Battle of the Bluegrass…