GOODNESS. GRACIOUS. PEOPLE.
How many times does Rick Pitino have to say he is NOT leaving Louisville and that this is where he will retire from???

For the last month it has been Calipari, Calipari in the bluegrass. Now Rick Pitino, one of the only coaches in America with a profile/ego to rival that of the new Big Blue coach has found himself at the center of local, and national headlines.

The extortion side of this at the least is a serious issue. Whether or not Pitino was nailing Sypher, I personally could careless. That is both persons personal lives and I am not concerned with what they do on their own time. It isn’t a crime to have an affair, it is to attempt and blackmail someone.

The last time these two programs met, Denny Crum was pacing the sidelines and Mateen Cleaves, Mo Peterson and Charlie Bell led Tom Izzo’s Spartans to a 69-57 win in East Lansing. Michigan State went on to lose to Duke in the National Semifinals that year (1999) and win it all the following year (2000).

Ten years later, Louisville (31-5) is now the team sporting multiple future NBA draft picks and will face Michigan State (29-6) Sunday in the Elite Eight. The Spartans will be playing for a chance to go to the Final Four in their home state after coming back from 13 points down to beat Kansas 67-62 in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

It is doubtful ....

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/pinkie-previews-ncaa-elite-eight-michigan-state-louisville-breakdown/

The Louisville Cardinals (30-5) have reached their 17th NCAA Sweet 16 via hard fought victories over Morehead State and Siena. The 17 appearances rank fourth all-time since the NCAA began Sweet 16 records in 1975 (North Carolina 23, Kentucky 20, Duke 20, Louisville, UCLA and Kansas 17)

Louisville coach Rick Pitino is now ....

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/pinkie-preview-ncaa-sweet-sixteen-arizona-louisville-breakdown/

Louisville fans can take comfort that this group of Cardinals will not go down without a fight. The Cards displayed real basketball toughness en route to Sunday evening’s 79-72 victory over Siena in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at University of Dayton Arena.

The win propelled the Cards to the Midwest Regional Semifinals against Arizona (the lowest seeded team remaining in the entire tournament) next Friday at 7:05 p.m at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Terrence Williams played one of his best games in a UofL uniform, scoring a team high 24 points, while pulling down a game high 15 rebounds to ...

RECAP OF SIENA: http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/toughness-prevails-cards-79-saints-72-tomarkens-tabulation/

Louisville and Morehead State played each other for the second time this season on Friday, and pretty much played the exact same game. Morehead hung with the Cards for the entire first half, trailing by just two at the break, 35-33. The second half was all Louisville, and number one seeds moved to 100-0 all-time against 16-seeds, as the Cardinals dominated the Eagles 39-21 in the half for the final 74-54 margin.

Samardo Samuels led Louisville (29-5) with ...

Coming off a double overtime thriller that ended early Saturday morning, Siena is going to need to dig deep to find the stamina that will enable them to keep up with the Cardinals. Louisville’s relentess defensive pressure wears teams down as evidenced by their last three games in which they either trailed at the half (final two BIG EAST tournament games) or led by just two (Morehead State), but went on to win big as their opponents succombed to the pressure and folded in the second half....

COMPLETE MOREHEAD RECAP, SIENA PREVIEW UP AND READY!!!

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/preview-ncaa-second-round-siena-louisville-breakdown-recap-morehead/

The Cardinals (28-5, 16-2 BIG EAST) opened their 2008-2009 season in the Billy Minardi Classic against the Morehead State Eagles. That regular season ended with a BIG EAST conference and tournament championship. They will be opening their 35th NCAA Tournament appearance, tied for fifth most all-time, against those same Eagles with the hopes to end this run with a National Championship.

Preview the First Round matchup at:

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/preview-ncaa-first-round-morehead-louisville-breakdown/

As you can see, our Conference Tourney picks didn’t go too well….

Bobby E (5-6)
Guy Smiley (5-6)
Rolf (5-6)
P. Tomarken (4-6)
Foxy (4-7)
Wink (3-8)
Chucky Wool (2-9)
Dirk (2-9)

So head on over to Yahoo and join our bracket group. If you take us down and win the pool, you will receive a free Strait Pinkie t-shirt as well as four (4) tickets to the Louisville Bats Opening Day at Louisville Slugger Field on April 9th. So sign up, make your picks and see if you have what it takes to match wits with the Pinkie squad!!!

AGAIN HERE IS THE LINK TO JOIN:

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/tl/group/98391

Syracuse has made another unbelievable run for their 14th appearace in the BIG EAST championship final, which is a conference record. Louisville is seeking its first ever BIG EAST championship (albeit in only their fourth year in the league). Tonight at 9:00pm EST on ESPN these two teams will duke it out on the court for the title of BIG EAST Champions. The Cardinals of course have already won the regular season outright, and look to take both trophies home to Louisville. ....

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/the-pinkie-previews-syracuse-louisville-breakdown/

The 5th ranked Louisville Cardinals overcame an eight point halftime deficit to bounce the Villanova Wildcats from the Big East tournament 69-55. For some reason, the Cardinals decided to play one on one offense during the first half. All that did was produce a 34-26 lead for Villanova after the first twenty minutes of play. During his halftime interview with Doris Burke, Slick Rick specifically mentioned his veteran players when talking about his disappointment with his team’s play.

However, from the get go in the second half, it was evident ...

http://www.straitpinkie.com/sports/cards/cards-bring-the-pain-in-2nd-half-defeat-nova-69-55-rolfs-recapsulation/