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On tonight's threads, I've seen several people mention meeting the team at the airport.  I don't know when their flight gets in - and for obvious geographical reasons, I can't be there myself.  But I really do hope that a collection of hardcore fans will go out and represent for all of us.  

This team had more heart and gave us more joy than any in recent memory, and I'd love for them to know how much they're loved.  

So if anyone knows how to make this happen, please post below.  And thanks in advance for doing it.  My wife and I will be there in spirit.

Does anybody want to breach the virtual /  real-world divide and meet up for a CC pre-game drink?

My wife and I are gonna head over early to watch warm-ups at Madison Square Garden, but we'd love to connect with some good folks and good spirits beforehand.  

I don't know enough about Manhattan to suggest a bar, but I'm open to suggestions... Or I could just do a quick Google search and pick some place randomly

There's a good article in the Sacramento Bee about Francisco Garcia becoming the leader of the Kings.  Granted, the Kings still suck, but at least 'Cisco is doing what he can to help a young team improve.  Here are a couple of tasty quotes...

"...though he stands only 6-foot-7 and weighs 195 pounds, the oldest (30) and longest-tenured King isn't afraid of anyone. He stretches up onto his toes, gets up onto the soapbox, and goes face to face with beefy, 6-11 rookie DeMarcus Cousins.

'Cisco has done everything to me,' Cousins said with a grin. 'He yells at me, tells me to calm down, doesn't want me throwing my headband. He can motivate me, get me mad as well. But he knows what it's like, too, because he used to have a real temper, and he's been there for good and bad times. We listen to him.'"

"...Remember when a swaggering young Cisco would yank his jersey out of his shorts and smirk when the refs weren't looking? How many times did Geoff Petrie lecture about macho behavior, only to see the stunt repeated during the following game?

'I was pretty bad,' García admitted with a grin. 'I was just young. That's what I try to tell these guys. Keep listening, and keep working.'"

With E5 riding the pine and T-Will still screwin' around a bit, it's good to see at least one Cardinal making things happen in the pros.  The whole article is worth a read... check it out at: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/04/3297328/ailene-voisin-garcias-leadership.html#ixzz1A81blQ8B

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/sports/ncaabasketball/18caracter.html?emc=eta1 

I'm pulling for the kid.  And he certainly has looked damn good in the first half against Butler.  Here's hoping for the upset... Go Miners!

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Hey everyone.  I'm a Louisville native who's been out of town since high school, and my wife and I are coming in from Boston to catch the Syracuse game.  I can't miss the last game at Freedom Hall!  

I have a question, though, and I need some up-to-date local knowledge.  

I might buy tickets (through an online scalper) in Section 122 - one of the student sections.  Will the ushers hassle me for not having a U of L student ID?  

If I'm gonna pay the money and drive 15 hours (each way), I want to make sure that I can at least use my tickets!  Thanks to anyone who can provide some guidance here. 

(PS: If I were a student, I'd sure as hell be going, not scalping.  But my wife and I are pretty rowdy - so if we end up in the student section, you'd better believe we'll take care of business!) 

Check out this ESPN.com article about Earl Clark.  It's huge!  And I was really impressed by the depth of their analysis:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-119/What-We-Think-We-Know-About-Earl-Clark.html

Even though I've watched Earl intensely for the past three years, this article still pointed out details that I hadn't thought about before.  And even though I frequently found myself frustrated by E5 in college, this article left me with much warmer feelings toward him.  Here are some quotes:

"Is it possible that indictment #1 (Earl Clark doesn't look like he's trying) is directly related to indictment #2 (Earl Clark doesn't know what kind of player he is)? Is it a coincidence that guys who are classified as "versatile big men” are often regarded as flighty?..."

"Watching Clark at moments like these evokes memories of Lamar Odom's early days with the Los Angeles Clippers. Odom came to the pro game with a vast array of skills, almost none of which were wholly NBA-ready... It took Odom a couple of seasons to summon a level of effort he'd never before had to apply on the basketball court."

Here's hoping that he keeps developing into a Lamar Odom-type forward in the NBA.  And great job by the guys at TrueHoop.

I was really glad to see this quote from Pitino in the ESPN.com recap:

"We know that we're not going to play like this again because of the type of defense that we're going to run into now," Pitino said. "I'll find something to be very upset about tonight at snack. I think a lack of humility is the greatest killer of potential. So we're not going to fall in love with ourselves because we had a good game tonight."

I'm so glad that this guy is our coach.  Keep it hungry, Cards!