SBNation.com User Blog: AllHailUofL

I don't know which one is better: Winning the actual National Championship... or...

AllHailUofL — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:22:14 -0000

Honestly, This is the single. greatest. thing. I. have. ever. seen. There was the high of winning the 2013 NCAA Championship....... and then there is this. This MIGHT be better. I have to admit, I watched the entire thing. I think I would have been more heartbroken about letting this one slip away than the actual National Championship game.

If you want more, don't worry, he did a few other tournament games including the Duke game.

Early CC Man of the Year nominee?

THIS.

If you want more, don't worry, he did a few other tournament games including the Duke game.

Early CC Man of the Year nominee?

AAC Conference Tourney

AllHailUofL — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:38:24 -0000

Apparently the Mohegan Sun, a casino in Connecticut is making a play at hosting the AAC tournament. I know we're facing this abysmal possibility for only a year, but I really hope this doesn't happen. I love casinos, and I love good times and you can bet your ass that I was in Harrah's multiple times during Sugar Bowl week... but I've always seen this whole "let's play our conference tournament at a casino" as a gimmick. Nothing against this casino or their bid for the tournament, I'm sure it's a great place, but this is whole trend is the conference admitting that basketball isn't big/important enough to draw its own crowd, which clearly isn't the case for the core group of schools in this new(isn) league.

Also, it's only a 9,500 capacity. I'm not demanding that we host this bastard, step-child of a conference tournament at a the ~~Georgia~~ Gorgui Dome but something with a little more flair please, that isn't half as large as our home arena for an entire conference tourney? Even though they talk about the possibility of it being held in Louisville the first year, that's not going to happen. Mike's not going to cater to a school that's jumping ship almost immediately, but I could see Hartford, Cincinnati or Memphis as viable options, especially the latter two.

I just can't take this conference seriously anymore. Take my advice American, don't fall for a gimmick when you have a solid group of basketball schools, you just don't need it. Sure, you're not going to find another Madison Square Garden and I don't really see it an economically sound decision trying to hold the tournament next door in Brooklyn, at least long term, but with Cincinnati and Memphis you have great entertainment, nightlife and gaming options for your fans if that's what your looking for.

However, I did find this interesting.

The casino, which is owned by the Mohegan tribe, has made pitches in the past to host the Big East women's tournament. But the idea was rejected by presidents of several Catholic schools, who objected to playing at a gambling venue.

So the catholic schools DIDN'T want to host it at a casino because of the gambling. This is the CHURCH we're talking about here. An institution that exists in America solely for raking in money off of 25-cent pull tabs at church picnics, and all that Jesus stuff too I guess... BUT... Drinking and Gambling, it's what Catholics do. Hell the WCC hosts their conference tourney in LAS VEGAS!!! They're ALL Catholic (except for BYU, for which I find it hilarious that it's in Las Vegas). Seriously, someone tell those snobs at Georgetown to quit turning their nose up to everything.

Anyway... Aresco, don't do it. Don't allow your leadership to continue to be the butt of every conference realignment joke. If this reservation had more sense they'd allow UConn to host a preseason invitational tournament there. I just hope we don't have to spend our one year membership at a 9,500 seat arena come conference tourney time.

LINK.

However, I did find this interesting.

The casino, which is owned by the Mohegan tribe, has made pitches in the past to host the Big East women's tournament. But the idea was rejected by presidents of several Catholic schools, who objected to playing at a gambling venue.

LINK.

Nostalgia / Deja Vu

AllHailUofL — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 04:30:59 -0000

Nostalgia / Deja Vu

Somehow in doing a little conference expansion research (not even on louisville, actually), an article popped up. It just seemed like such a short time ago that this was going on. The idea of joining the Big East seemed so amazing. Hell, even by 2006-7, it actually seemed like everything was as good as ever on the football side. Conference USA --> Big East --> ACC... May we not rest until we reach the Big Ten or SEC and Charlie Strong drinks the blood of every man, woman and child in our path.

Hate to add to all this but...

AllHailUofL — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 05:17:05 -0000

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8710353/report-charlie-strong-expected-stay-louisville-cardinals

ESPN is now reporting that Charlie will stay.

Seriously, just goes to show that nobody but Charlie knows what's going on. I guess we'll truly find out when Charlie goes to Tennessee or Tennessee hires Larry Fedora or someone else. Just shows how much BS all of this really is. Hope we can put this behind us whatever happens and focus on the Sugar Bowl. Beat Florida. I need to add seven more words.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8710353/report-charlie-strong-expected-stay-louisville-cardinals

ESPN is now reporting that Charlie will stay.

A closer, semi-objective look at UofL v. UConn.

AllHailUofL — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:01:40 -0000

Pardon any grammatical errors, I'm sure there are some it's when there should be its, or whatever. Trying to finish this quickly before the wife gets home so she doesn't call me a nerd.

Football - Louisville - Louisville's football's success in the early to mid 2000's paired with it's recent revival under Charlie Strong has to give Louisville the edge. Connecticut's only appearance in the BCS was abysmal and has been referred to by many as one of the worst BCS teams ever. Louisville's 2007 Orange Bowl win and success over the past 15 years gives the Cardinals the edge.

Men's Basketball - Tie - Both Connecticut and Louisville are perennial top programs. Connecticut has three national titles since 1999, most recently in 2011. Louisville's 9 final fours and 2 national titles catapult the Cardinals amongst the nation's top programs of all time. Both programs have been among the best in the Big East since the 2005 expansion. Louisville's basketball program was also rated the most valuable in the country by Forbes.

Other NCAA Sports - Connecticut - UConn brings national titles to the table in Women's Basketball, Men's Soccer and Women's Field Hockey. Louisville's overall athletic success is nothing to sneeze at as the Cardinals have found success in several sports including recent NCAA Runner-ups in Women's Basketball and Men's Soccer as well as a College World Series appearance. However, UConn's Women's basketball program is the biggest draw in college athletics outside of Football and Men's Basketball. The Huskies also have 5 College World Series appearances, however, none since 1979. Even though Connecticut has the edge, both athletic departments would be a well-rounded addition to the ACC given the departure of Maryland.

Replacing Maryland - Tie - If one is looking for a geographical comparison, then UConn takes the cake. However, in bringing in an athletic boost, Louisville wins this round. Football is King, and if the ACC is looking for the best all around competition, Louisville has the edge because of football. Connecticut's status in NCAA FBS (or I-A) is still in infancy. UConn didn't reach the pinnacle division of college football until 2000. While Louisville may not match up with the likes of Florida State, Clemson, Miami or Virginia Tech historically, it presents a much more viable option in the ACC remaining relevant on the college football scene. Also, Louisville's position in the Southeast fits in just fine with the ACC.

Television Market - Connecticut - This one is closer than one might think. However, UConn's residence in the densely packed Northeast gives the Huskies the edge. Louisville is not a small market, but it doesn't match up to the fact that UConn is practically a stones throw away from New York, Boston and Philidelphia. Don't forget that ESPN is also based out of Bristol, Connecticut. Certainly helps when looking at the broadcasting side of the argument.

Academics - Connecticut - Louisville has a larger endowment, but Connecticut is the state's flagship -- land, sea and space grant -- university. Louisville has phenomenal Business, Medical and Engineering programs. Connecticut is in the top 100 of several publications' top school lists, while Louisville is on the outside looking in. However, under the guidance of James Ramsey, Louisville has seen much recent academic improvement and success. While trying to look at this objectively, it's hard not to ask: Unless we're talking about an Ivy League school, the Big Ten or a handful of other schools (Stanford, Duke to name a few), is there really a difference? Honestly, both of these schools bring great and diverse academic aspects to the table.

Location - Louisville - Honestly, Louisville is a hidden gem. The home of Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger Museum, a scenic waterfront park and bars that stay open until 4 am is always a big draw. Seriously, I may be losing my objective view of this situation but there is a reason that Louisville draws several national conventions a year to the city and the aforementioned venues and upsides are just a few of the many great sides of Louisville. However, in 2005, Slate named Storrs the "Best place to avoid death due to a natural disaster."

Clout - Tie - Mitch McConnell is not a bad person to have on UofL's side. Many signs point to the Senate Minority Leader as almost singlehandedly engineering the upheaval in West Virginia's Big 12 bid last year. However, ESPN is the Nike to Connecticut's Oregon. It's fair to say that ESPN absolutely loves to see UConn succeed. Kemba Walker was a great player, but his legend was built by ESPN. Politics vs. Television... GO!

In all honesty, Connecticut is the better fit in many aspects of this argument, however, as I said earlier: Football is King. Louisville's football program may be just what the ACC needs at this point. Especially with the possibly departure of other ACC Football "powers" such as FSU and/or Clemson. While UConn may have the upper hand on many aspects, Louisville isn't so far behind that its status in football couldn't put Louisville into the lead position down the stretch.

Don't know if anyone has seen this but it made me lol.

AllHailUofL — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:29:54 -0000

Don't know if anyone has seen this but it made me lol.

I was watching the Todd Marinovich documentary on ESPN and saw his brother Mikhail's awesome mustache... So I googled it... And found this on TNIAAM (they have a whole post of old timely memes)... Pretty funny.

What a wild ride it's been since Bobby Petrino left us cold, naked and alone.

AllHailUofL — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:57:30 -0000

Just a few weeks ago, a UK "friend" of mine posted something on Facebook asking UofL fans why TJ would give a head coach such a solid contract when he has a losing record (at the time, three weeks ago) overall, in the Big East and at home. Today, I think Charlie answered that question for him.

Bobby Petrino left us within an offsides call away from going to the National Championship game, and possibly even winning it given Ohio State's performance. The following season we were considered among the favorites to go all the way. Well, Kragthorpe came in and gave us three seasons of flat football. My dislike for Kragthorpe as a coach wasn't due to his inadequate play calling, his odd recruiting plan nor his lack of discipline... no. I hated Kragthorpe as a coach because week after week, our beloved Cardinals seemed to play without any pride, accountability or heart. They came out onto the field with an expectation of losing. They even seemed to flat out give up at times.

That changed with Charlie. Last season he instilled (and I hate this word) "swagger" in a group of players that had become accustomed to a culture of losing. He turned them into leaders on and off the field and did one of the best coaching jobs I've ever seen at any level of football. Taking that "misfit" group of seniors to any bowl at all, and winning it was simply amazing. Sure a 7-6 record and going to the Beef O'Brady's Bowl is the kind of season that would land coaches at a lot of programs in hot water or even fired. But I was as proud to witness the Beef's win as I was the Orange Bowl win... The 2010 team lost 5 of 6 games by a possession or less.

Last year showed the school and the fans why he was a good hire for the program. I didn't think he could possibly top that and was willing to give him a couple of seasons to get the right personnel and really start to build his program. I stuck by that sentiment as we started out 2-4 and had some kind of Kragthorpe-esque drama within the staff. The losses to FIU and Marshall were pretty embarrassing, can't lie about that. However, here we are again, the first week of November sitting atop a 5-4 record (same as last year). Also like last year, up to this point, all of our losses but one have been by a possession or less. This WVU win seems like it may have been the turning point of our season. This weekend last year, I believe that the Syracuse win was the turning point of our season, despite two straight subsequent losses.

If you were to add a touchdown and PAT onto each game, Charlie Strong's record would only have three losses since taking over as head coach (with a few ties). I know winning is winning, I get it. I also know that I'm bringing way too many "what ifs" into this, but I really feel that this speaks the attitude that Charlie instills in his teams. I don't think I have enough fingers to count the number of double digit losses Kragthorpe dished out, I could be wrong and I'm not going to check, but I'm pretty sure it's close to or more than 10.

All in all, I'm just glad that I get excited to watch Louisville Football again. Coach Strong brings out the best in these guys. It's not always pretty, but at least we're expecting to win again. For a few years, I wasn't even that disappointed when we lost, it just became habitual. This season is comprised of a completely different team than last year, it's the second youngest team in the country and they're one win away from going to a bowl game. To take this team, given all of the distractions regarding coaching changes and conference realignment, and have them in this position is nothing short of amazing.

Are these wins aesthetically pleasing? No. Is this team overachieving? Probably. Are these guys winners? Definitely.

Conference USA and Mountain West officially merging. Many expect Boise State and Air Force to accept Big East invites.

AllHailUofL — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:32:38 -0000

Details on the Merger, here.

I just don't know how something like this is going to sustain itself. These two conference can hardly sustain themselves as it is. Now they're just merging? I don't understand. It's like that creepy thing in Spiderman 2 that just keeps growing, it's like Doc Oc. This is what the C-USA/Mountain West merger is doing. It just doesn't make any damn sense.

Details on the Merger, here.

Pretty good ESPN article on Rick Pitino and Billy Minardi

AllHailUofL — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:41:46 -0000

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/6943059/ten-years-losing-best-friend-9-11-rick-pitino-remembers-college-basketball

I really feel for the guy. I also was not aware that the Minardi's relocated to Louisville. Pretty selfless of Rick Pitino to have dedicated so much time and energy to just trying to make them feel somewhat comfortable again. If you're an avid reader of ESPN's comments like I am, be prepared to read some pretty classless comments by UK fans.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/6943059/ten-years-losing-best-friend-9-11-rick-pitino-remembers-college-basketball