In this Cardinal Fans opinion it should have been “For The Birds” in a literal sense not the idiomatical one.

First let me start by saying that I really enjoy the ESPYs every year for their inspirational stories. It does remind you that there are some pretty incredible folks in the world. And this year I’m glad that our very own coach Pitino was awarded the ESPY for “Coach of the Year.” Talk about inspirational stories. This time four years ago there were a lot of people including myself that had doubts about Coach Pitino ever returning to the pinnacle of coaching he once had enjoyed. But he showed us. Coach Pitino faced his adversity and is now in the midst of maybe one of the best comebacks ever for a college basketball coach.

Earlier this week CBS Sports Gary Parrish wrote about how Coach P was enjoying his summer and how he was in a great place personally and professionally and now he can add an ESPY trophy on the pile. I was disappointed that they didn’t present the trophy live on air during the program because I was looking forward to hearing Russ Smith give his acceptance speech. Coach Pitino wasn’t at the ESPYs last night and was out on the recruiting trail getting ready for the second round of the July evaluation period. And this gesture very much exemplifies the “Louisville First” philosophy that he has helped implement. He not only preaches it to his players he lives it.

Now that “For The Birds” part of the ESPYs. Ever year as far back as I can remember they have always included the Men’s National Championship basketball team into the nominations for “Team of the Year” but for some reason they omitted our Cardinals this year. And I can’t think of a team that has been more deserving of that nomination than that group last year. ESPN did themselves a huge injustice by not including them in the show.
And I think everyone thought that our women’s basketball team was a lock for the “Biggest upset of the Year.” They had one of the biggest upsets in the history of college sports by beating Baylor in the NCAA tournament. Don’t guess the folks who took the time to vote for that category felt the same way and our Cards were denied their ESPY.
These were my biggest issues I had with the show last night and you could also make the argument that Louisville could have been mentioned for other nominations as well. How does an athletic program have one of the most successful seasons in the history of college sports not even get one second of live air time on a show dedicated to honoring the years best?

I could go on and on about this and I know that most of you feel the same way. At least they got it right with the “Coach of the Year” award and the night wasn’t a total wash for Cardinal fans. Regardless of what the ESPN brass thinks we all know who had one of the best years in the history of college sports and I don’t think it’s over. I think this next year is going to be just as special.