I'm with a group of CC readers here in St Pete and thought it could be fun to try and set up a Card Chronicle tailgate before tomorrow's game.  I'm hoping to get to Tropicana around 1pm or 2pm tomorrow, but I don't really know anything about the layout of the parking lot or surrounding area.  Anyone interested in tailgating, and if so, where/when do we want to try and meet?  I'll update this fanpost as we establish some details.

ALLBLUCAT brought this topic up in the NCAA 2011 Open Thread post on the main page, but I think it's a delicate issue that deserves some of its some spotlight.  This goes beyond just sports video gaming-- it digs at the NCAA's motives and the definition of "amateur status".

For those unfamiliar with the controversy, Eric Crawford wrote a solid opinion piece in yesterday's CJ in which he raises some very legitimate concerns.  While some players couldn't care less about their likeness being used for "free", others like former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller have taken action against EA Sports.

Personally, I take great joy from playing as my favorite team and winning 5+ consecutive National Championships thanks to my other-worldly recruiting and coaching skills.  I have played at least four NCAA Football and two NCAA Basketball games over the years, and I hadn't really given a fleeting thought to the legality of it all.  For the hugely-popular Madden football series, EA sports pays the NFL Player's Association, which in turn pays out to the players a fair share of money for the use of their likenesses.   For the college basketball and football video game series, however, EA pays the NCAA, and the cash flow stops there.  Seems a bit unfair, doesn't it?  Sure, the players in the games don't have names, but SG #14 definitely bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain wedding crasher Card we all know and love, and he didn't receive a dime for it. 

That being said, I am NOT a proponent off halting all future NCAA games or filling the rosters with completely unrecognizable players.  At the same time, I'm somewhat apprehensive to just start shelling out money to college players.  The precedence this would set would almost certainly lead to the destruction of the sacred amateur status that has made college sports what it is (supposed to be).  I don't have a resolution to the issue, but I definitely feel something needs to be done.

What are the thoughts of the CC nation?

This from Russ' Facebook over the past few hours:

cant wait till i get 100% had no explosiveness n speed to my game today n i still was good, 12pts 6ast n 6rebs, 2TOs, knees is botherin me, tendonitis in one and a sprained right knee that i actually did durin the game. im about only 40% in health right now, its gonna be scary in a month or so!!

i did something to my knee in that first half, cuz now i cant walk...smh crazy

acl, acl sprain, mcl, mcl sprain, sprain, strain or tear in my knee, i dont know which one yet. im praying to god its just a sprain or strain

my health just dropped from 40% to PossiblY 20%

in the ER, hpefully it aint too serious, but if u seen me play today, u wud understand im in no shape or form to play. im out for a month at least.

my knee looks like an watermelon, boy this sht is crazy. it looks like i wont touch a rock until june. 

im bout to fuckin cry. my who knee is pounding.

this lady sed something about an maniscus...ligaments n some torn, but then she sed sprained or strained

0% health, i will not be playing for some time.

Here's to hoping the kid feels better soon.

My roommate and I were sitting dead center in the student section behind the basket, and we don't remember hearing any boos for Sosa.  The only sustained booing I remember hearing was for a series of questionable calls.  If Sosa was booed for his performance, Section 213.  We might groan a little bit and throw a "c'mon!" at the players every now and then, but nothing worse.  The refs, on the other hand, are a different story (consider my already-vulgar vocabulary expanded after 4 years).  We would NEVER boo one of our own, however.

Regarding the crowd being silent, I thought we were louder Wednesday night than the past couple of games.  The other students around me did a good job the entirety of the game with defense chants and eventually making some real noise.  Don't know about te rest of the crowd, though, because I was too busy yelling at the top of my lungs for 50 minutes of basketball.

While I agree our student crowd is by no means the best in the world, it would certainly help if Mr. Jurich actually had a true "Student Section" instead of spreading it out all over the Hall.  You look at the Dukes and UNCs of the world, and their whole damn student body appears to be in the lowest section, half-court.   Instead, UofL put some of us in a section where you practically strain your neck to see around the goalpost and the rest in the 300 sections.  To add insult to injury, student athletic fees and season tickets at UofL are among the priciest in the nation.

I understand the athletic department needs to make its money somehow, and the old geezers like frankpos can afford to pay premium for the best seats, but I think it's a shame one of the premier basketball schools in the country can't assemble a collection of decent seats for a single, consolidated student section.

/rant

This from Jody Demling's blog at CJ:

Miami Northwestern running back Corvin Lamb commits to Louisville. More in a few.

Rivals.com lists Lamb as a 5'9", 191 lbs 3-star running back with offers from "Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Nebraska, and North Carolina, among others".  According to Scout.com, he had 912 yards rushing with 14 TDs in his senior season and five kick returns for TDs as a junior.  He apparently is a speedster having "won the National AAU event in the 100m and 200m." 40 yard time is listed at 4.52.

Videos here and here.

My thoughts:

The kid does looks speedy, but of concern is his lack of playing time his freshman-junior years.  Scout does say that he was stuck behind some future Div-I players, but he seems to me to be a bit of an unknown.  I get the feeling he'll be returning kickoffs perhaps as soon as next year, but I doubt with a healthy Vic and an emerging Darius Ashley that he'll be getting many carries for the next few years.

If you remember a few weeks ago, statprof posted a fanshot regarding South Florida coach, Jim Leavitt, firing up his team at halftime against Louisville by beating himself up.  According to a recent ESPN article, Jim Leavitt might not be the only person Jim Leavitt beat up (I personally like to picture a Fight Club-esque scene, but I digress...)

Citing the player's father, high school coach and five USF players who were not identified, AOL FanHouse reported Monday that Leavitt grabbed Joel Miller by the throat and hit him in the face twice because he was upset about a mistake the sophomore walk-on made on special teams.

Yikes.  Is Jim Leavitt, South Florida's first-ever football coach, the Mark Mangino of the Big East?  They did coach together at Kansas State apparently...

Turns out Miller's father backtracked on the accusations after Joel and Leavitt met, saying that the alleged slap/choke/spinning-backfist-of-despair was nothing more than a friendly pad grab (no homo).

The school still intends on looking into the matter, but given that the player and his father are retracting their statements, I can't see how anything will really come of the investigation.  Nonetheless, an important question must be raised...

Some jumbled, random thoughts below on why I think Strong is the answer.  I posted a very similar version of this in the comments section of another post.  Just thought it could spark some interesting conversation...

Strong has now been at Florida as defensive coordinator for 7 consecutive years (since the Zook era), so he’s seen Florida at its lows and helped build them to the highest of highs. Factor in his southern recruiting connections (a region we used to do well in) along with his rebuilding experience, and we’ve got a damn good head coach candidate (at least on paper).

In addition to his obvious defensive prowess, he also used to coach wide receivers early in his career at Southern Illinois, so he does have some experience with the offense.

I think Strong with a good set of coodinators could get Louisville back to football relevance in just a few years. In addition, his previous national champion success at Florida would immediately infuse enthusiasm back into the fanbase, something that has been sorely lacking of late.

A lot of people (including myself) believe the main reason why Strong doesn’t have a HC job in the SEC is the fact that he’s black and maried a white woman. I would hope we at Louisville are cultured enough to have that be a non-issue and get what could possibly be a bargain deal.

In conclusion, if you don’t think Charlie Strong is the answer by now, you can go fuck yourself.

Just because I'm curious, here's a poll to see who everyone else wants as the next head coach at Louisville.  If you select "Other", enlighten us in the comments section please.