SB Nation User Blog: UL is my hot hot sex

Previewing the Class of 2009: Linebackers

UL is my hot hot sex — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:49:15 -0000

Linebackers Coach (and Def Coordinator): Brent Guy

Previous 8 years coaching experience: HC, Utah State ('05-'08); DC, Arizona State ('01-'04)

Its no secret that Defense has been an achilles heel for the Cards over the past few seasons. As Defensive Coordinator, Ron English made noticeable improvements in recruiting and on the field during his one year stint last season before moving on to take the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan. Since then, another DC was hired...and then he transferred before anyone knew his name. The new DC and fourth man to fill the position in 14 months time, Brent Guy, has experience coaching teams with high-powered offenses and so-so defenses, including stops at Boise State and Utah State. If you glaze past his Kragthorpe-esque tenure as HC of Utah State, Guy has had some prior success as DC at Arizona State, where he coached now-Baltimore Ravens DE Terrell Suggs. Hopefully, he's returning to his niche in Defense and we'll see some progress in the development of promising prospects such as MLB Mike Privott, OLB Jacob Geffard and OLB Horace Miller. Guy's biggest win so far was witnessing new Secondary Coach, Larry Slade, successfully woo Miller away from UNLV and convincing Privott to honor his commitment to UL after English bailed. Hey, we'll take wins where we can find 'em; Moral victories--It's happening here.

*** #51 MLB Mike Privott (5' 10", 230) Lake Taylor HS; Norfolk, VA

Favorite Player: Ray Lewis

Why he signed: Ron English, Trager Center (facilities) and opportunity to get some PT his freshman year. Privott was recruited by English and after he left, those close to the program, including Jody Demling, thought Privott was gone. But credit Slade for closing the deal.

The skinny on Privott is that he's a gamer who makes up for lack of size with long arms, quick feet and a nose for the football. Undersized at 5'10", the freshman must prove himself through adaptability, agressiveness & energy in practice to get a shot at playing time this year...but that's not completely out of the question, especially if the injury bug hits the LB corps. He played in a 3-4 scheme in HS but will likely be listed as a Middle or "Mike" LB in UL's 4-3 scheme. Like most recruits, he's going from being the Big Man On Campus to being buried on the depth chart...if he eagerly accepts his role and learns the 4-3 system, he has the potential to be one of UL's top 3 recruits in the 09 class.

Tip of the hat: Shannon at Cardinal Dominance, Jody Demling, Scout.com, Rivals.com, and Google

** #33 OLB Horace Miller (6'1", 207) Dunbar HS, Baltimore, MD

Best Known For: Setting a Maryland state record by recording 29 sacks his Senior year

Hates: Halftime; Miller: "Why do we need a break? I just want to keep playing."

Why He Signed: Larry Slade's connections in Baltimore (Slade started recruiting Miller when he was still the defensive backs coach at Tennessee in '08) and opportunity for early PT

Miller joining UL's 09 recruiting class was a suprise, according to Jody Demling, who announced Miller's decision to sign with Louisville back in late January after Miller originally committed to UNLV a month prior. Miller is accustomed to winning--he led a defense that won 3 consecutive Maryland state champsionships, racking up 46 sacks and 223 tackes over his last 2 years as a starter. He also won the 2008 SPARQ Championship in football, scoring the 2nd highest SPARQ rating ever recorded (162.93). SPARQ which is called the "SAT for athletes", is a sport-specific tool used to measure overall athleticism and tests Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, and Quickness (SPARQ) over a series of drills.

Though only a 2-star recruit, many people are high on Miller's HS success and ability to compete at the college level. Louisville's starting LB corps is fairly cemented this year but with injuries, Miller could find himself fighting for 2nd or 3rd on the depth chart and I wouldn't be surprised to see him starting by the end of his Sophmore year. If Louisville experiences another mediocre season as most have predicted, Miller will need to maintain his focus and attitude after enjoying so much success in high school.

Horace Miller, Dunbar junior highlights (via mloveday5)

Tip of the Hat: Rivals.com, Jody Demling, Google

** #13 OLB Jacob Geffard (6' 3" 186) Northeast HS; Oakland Park, FL

Hates: That his name is misspelled on the uoflsports.com team roster

Nickname: Thing 2 (after the blue-haired "things" from the Dr Seuss classic The Cat in the Hat)

Geffard was recruited/signed by former DC Bill Miller, which is a pretty impressive feat given Miller's brief tenure, especially in lieu of the offers from Minnesota and Iowa State he could've ran back to after Miller left the program. He's tall, lean, runs a 4.5 40 but probably needs to gain some weight to make an impact as a Linebacker on this team (he's 20 lbs lighter than the next lightest Cardinal LB). He mostly played Strong Safety in HS but is rated 60th by scout.com at his projected position at UL, Weakside or "Will" Linebacker. He won something called "The Punisher" award during his last 2 seasons in HS, so fans should expect copious amounts of ass-kicking, explosions and Wild Turkey consumption. He'll be joining his twin brother Isaac--a Safety whose nickname is Thing 1--who was also signed by the Cardinals in this year's class. Judging by the photo above, the kid's in shape and won't be finishing last during suicides at practice.

Tip of the Hat: UofLsports.com, scout.com, Jody Demling, Rivals.com, Google

*** denotes 3-star recruit

** denotes 2-star recruit

Who will have the better NBA career: T-Will or Earl?

UL is my hot hot sex — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:48:32 -0000

Poll

Who will have the better NBA career: T-Will or Earl?

T-Will

426 votes

Earl

103 votes

529 votes | Poll has closed

Game Day Links (or what to read while suing Twitter over fake accounts)

UL is my hot hot sex — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:38:17 -0000

UofLSports.com: Three Louisville freshmen named to Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team (Congrats to OF Ryan Wright and pitchers Derek Self and Tony Zych)

Mike Hughes of Inside The Ville previews the UL/Cal State Fullerton matchup on scout.com

Quotes from a v ery detailed scouting report by Aaron Fitt:

On CS Fullerton:
"You've got to punish their pitching. For me, the way you beat them is you've got to pound their pitching and get into their bullpen."

On Louisville:
"They're not going to be more talented than Fullerton, but they're going to play very hard.
...You look at them, you don't say, 'That's an Omaha team,' but when they're confident like they are now, I could see them pulling off an upset."

Mark Saxon at the Orange County Register details CS Fullerton's swagger

Reminder: If you can't cash in your penny stock shares to buy a last minute plane ticket to SoCal, you can listen in on local WNDA 1570 AM or watch it on ESPN's networks, as Mike already posted below.

[Baseball] Scouting Report: Louisville & CS Fullerton

UL is my hot hot sex — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:08:10 -0000

[Baseball] Scouting Report: Louisville & CS Fullerton

Very detailed scouting report by Aaron Fitt.

On CS Fullerton:
"You've got to punish their pitching. For me, the way you beat them is you've got to pound their pitching and get into their bullpen."

On Louisville:
"They're not going to be more talented than Fullerton, but they're going to play very hard.
...You look at them, you don't say, 'That's an Omaha team,' but when they're confident like they are now, I could see them pulling off an upset."

UL errors lead to 8-4 loss to Vandy

UL is my hot hot sex — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:32:39 -0000

Excerpt from Brian Bennett's recap on espn.com below:

Vandy's offense heated up during the weekend...scoring 24 runs in its past three games. If that nebulous creature known as momentum really exists in baseball, there's little doubt which team in this regional has it.
Louisville, meanwhile, played like a team that knew it had a game to lose. The Cardinals committed three costly errors and made several mental mistakes in the field.

"I thought we got beat in every facet of the game: pitching, defense, hitting and especially coaching," Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said. "The best thing about it is we get a chance to come back tomorrow and play, so we need to get all of the bad stuff out of our system now."

UL will play Vandy again at 7pm Monday night. The winner advances to face Cal State Fullerton in the Super Regional, which starts Friday, 5 June.

Vandy Scores 4 Runs In 8th, Defeats MTSU 6-0

UL is my hot hot sex — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:29:36 -0000

Story on Tennessean.com

Player of the Game - Vandy’s Starting Pitcher, Caleb Cotham, pitches 4-hit, 8 K complete game shutout

Stat of the Game - 4: The # of pitchers MTSU used in 8th inning & number of runs Vandy scored in 8th inning

UL (2-0) will play Vandy (2-1) at 7pm tonight for a ticket to the Super Regional. During their first and only meeting this season, Vandy rallied to win 4-3 over UL in the 10th inning on April 22nd at Patterson Stadium.

If UL wins tonight, it advances to the Super Regional where it could face #2 overall seed and 2004 National Champion Cal State Fullerton. If UL loses tonight, it will play Vandy again tomorrow (Monday) at 7pm to decide who advances.

Go Cards...Beat Vandy!

All-American Cardinals: Dominguez and Marks

UL is my hot hot sex — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:48:47 -0000

Posted Thursday on uoflsports.com:

University of Louisville junior third baseman Chris Dominguez was named a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, while junior left-handed starting pitcher Justin Marks earned Second Team honors on Thursday afternoon on the eve of the Cardinals' first ever NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Including Marks and Dominguez, the Regional will host four players who were selected as All-Americans: MTSU's Bryce Brentz (Designated Hitter) earned 1st Team honors and the pitcher who will face Marks tonight, Indiana's Eric Arnett, earned 2nd Team honors. Arnett is also a finalist for National Pitcher of the Year.

Neither of the All-American pitchers played in the two previous matchups between UL and IU this season but Dominguez led the Cards on a come-from-behind 10-8 win over the Hoosiers on April 21st in Bloomington after sitting out their previous matchup, a 15-1 UL blowout.

The Cardinals and Hoosiers play tonight at 7pm ~~!!!~~

Hi.

UL is my hot hot sex — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:32:51 -0000

I'm Jeremy of the understated "UL is my hot hot sex" moniker. I grew up in Louisville, went to college in/near Lexington, and I now live in Vegas. I'm in the military and am currently deployed so my contributions may be limited until I return @ September.

Mike, it's a great honor to join with you, along w/ CardsFan & Doc, to continue the great work you've done with Card Chronicle. As I said in my email: You make me want to be a better fan.

To my fellow Card 'Chronicloids': Your banter is what makes this site great and as I've previously said in posts here, whether you're defined by your Cardinal fandom exuberance or just a casual follower, its great to be a part of the family, isn't it?

Earl Clark: One of Chad Ford's "Enigmas" of the 2009 NBA Draft

UL is my hot hot sex — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:08:07 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=PreDraftTour-090518

In the article linked above, Chad Ford lists Earl Clark as one of his three "enigmas" heading into the 2009 NBA Draft, which will be held on 25 June at Madison Square Garden.

After reading the excerpt below, I imagined a weary Pitino mentoring a nervous Earl Clark over the phone in the wee hours of the night before his workout: "Listen Earl...here's what you do...when you're done with the workout, go talk to one of the scouts...ask them how you can improve...then look at them in the eyes and say "I just want to get better"...trust me, Earl, it'll blow them away. Heck, Chad Ford might even hear about it and include it in his next ESPN article that questions your heart."

Earl Clark, F, Jr., Louisville (ranked No. 11 in our [ESPN] Top 100)

Clark is also an enigma, but in a different way. He has all the physical tools to be a superstar.

The question about Clark always has been about heart. Does he want to do what it takes to be a great NBA player? And can he maintain that effort throughout an 82-game season?

Here's one anecdote from his workout that suggests he might be able to pass the test. After a workout, Clark sought out an NBA executive who was watching the workout with me that day. Clark introduced himself, then asked the executive, "What did you think of my workout?"

The executive gave the standard "you looked good" answer. Then Clark asked his follow-up.

"No, what I want to know is, what do I need to work on? How do I improve? I'm just trying to get better."

The executive said he couldn't remember, in all his years of scouting, a prospect coming up and asking that question.

Healing Powers of Saint Rick's Church of Defense

UL is my hot hot sex — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:35:15 -0000

Well...there's a lot of talk about UL on this forum as well in other forms of communication...and I've noticed many conversations, posts, and other musings turn hostile quite quickly as one excitable fan rages on about overconfidence and another defends his stance on why UL will dominate it's upcoming opponent.

For some fans, it's just a game. For others like me, we make it more than that--it's an investment of our time, money, and energy. It's like watching your own offspring...you want them to succeed...and sometimes, admittedly, a little too much. For the elite few, it defines you. You name your son after a great player--perhaps "John AlmostDunking Smith" if you will--and friends would describe you best by calling you a Louisville Cardinal fan.

When possible, I try to step back from the game and enjoy the little moments that I'll remember 20 seasons from now (with the help of YouTube, I'm sure). Moments like TWill one-arming a pass 80 feet to Clark for a gliding dunk....PK scrapping up a loose ball and nailing a 24 footer as time expires....a post-game Coach Pitino sanguinely smiling...sitting back...taking it all in as all the basketball literate pundits rush to put their spin on the latest upset scare.

Look, I'm just as nervous, anxiety-ridden, and cuss-happy during games as the next cardiac fan...which is why I feel it's important to have sites like Card Chronicle where we can all come together, for better or worse, and opine our hearts out.

I'm reminded of remarks made in the CC open thread during the Semis of the BET vs. Villanova, I believe: I won’t mention handles, but one CC member, after seeing the momentum slipping yet again near the end of the 1st half, declared that the game was over and posted something to the effect of "Game Over…see you on [Selection] Sunday..."....Of course, Louisville went on yet another 2nd half run and won the game...but it's comments like this that make being a Louisville fan and, more importantly, a regular Card Chronicle subscriber, so enjoyable.

Every Card fan is inherently different...but on this forum, we are all one pulsing voice, united for one purpose--we love our team. If your only fault is that you love UL so much that you get wildly--irresponsibly--upset when they're down 8 pts in the 1st half--amen, brother.

To each his own, I say...I love all of you pieces of work and it's been an honor to join with you this season (and season's past) amongst this electronic congregation of Cardinal Basketball fans. I know personally I've received far more than I've given and I owe Mike and everyone else here a hearty golf clap.

Now... please turn to page 7 in your hymnals, as Brother Jerry leads us in a towel-waving rendition of "Victory in Jesus"...and mind the offering plates, as our deacons of Defense Preston, Andre, Earl & TJ circulate the aisles to collect your tithes of superstition.

If anyone would like to come forward and acknowledge TWill as our savior this season--if he is calling for you...won't you come forward and talk to Brother Mike here at the altar of Cardinal basketball.

May all the faithful souls of Saint Rick's Church of Defense go forth and prosper this March...Amen.