News & Commentary
Big birthday for Louisville basketball
The Century Mark for University of Louisville basketball this weekend.
Nice chronology in the Courier-Journal sports section Friday morning. However, somebody at the CJ missed out on a a golden opportunity. A special section would have attracted many advertisers and subscribers wanting souvenir copies, enriching Gannett’s coffers.
Were U of L to somehow have a happy ending this season, the anniversary would be a great excuse for another book. William F. Reed, no doubt, would exploit still another opportunity, dusting off his typewriter one more time.
The real awakening for the observer Friday, however, was that he had experienced more than half of all U of L’s basketball games since the program was spawned. Focused like a laser on each one. Listening on the radio, watching on TV, or attending in person. Between 1,550 and 1,600 games over 56 years.
A younger observer hooks up with Denny Crum after a second national championship.
Charlie Tyra, Phil Rollins, Westley Unseld, Butch Beard, Junior Bridgeman, Allen Murphy, Philip Bond, Darrell Griffith, Rodney and Scooter McCray, Pervis Ellison, Billy Thompson, Terrence Williams, dozens of other faces. An NIT championship, two NCAA championships. numerous conference championships, cliffhanger wins, heartbreaking losses. The coaching styles of Peck Hickman, John Dromo, Denny Crum, and Rick Pitino.
Going from the Armory to Freedom Hall to the KFC Yum! Center, from the Ohio Valley Conference, to the Missouri Valley Conference, the Metro Conference, to Conference USA, and finally to the Big East, with the possibility of the Big 12. Quite a trip.
He remembers a younger observer getting misty-eyed as time runs out on the Louisville-Iowa semifinal game at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis in 1980, exhilarating in the realization that U of L would be in the championship game against UCLA. The bus ride back to Naptown the following Monday, waiting in line for a pay phone after the game to call home to share the joy of a national championship.
The observer was working at the Chamber of Commerce at the time, and the officers wanted to do something for the team. Since he was the staunch fan on staff, they looked to him for ideas. He would suggest a good stereo system for the locker room might be appropriate. They liked the idea, the stereo system was acquired, and he was the one to present it to the team, complete with tape recording of “This Is It.” Denny Crum would tell the wide-eyed fan that if he ever needed anything to let him know.
He would go to Dallas in 1986 with his wife (a UK grad and former UK fan) and 10-year-old son (who would later become the Biggest Fan of the Big East), making the trip without any tickets in hand. Picking them up at the front door of the arena for $20 each for the first game, then acquiring tickets for the championship game from LSU fans in an arena restroom after their loss to U of L in the semifinal. The seats weren’t together, but the family would be together, at least in the same place, for an historic game.
After watching the Cards claim a second championship, the family would begin the trek home the same night, losing a pair of binoculars off the top of the car, and looking for a gas station in Arkansas to replace a failing tire in the wee hours of the morning. It was Easter weekend, and Junior would throw up into his Easter basket as they crossed a bridge into Memphis.
Tons of memories we savor from all those years and games, U of L basketball (and football) being such an integral part of the observer’s being.
Catching up with Bilal Powell
Bilal Powell
Remember Bilal Powell, the face of the University of Louisville football program during the 2010 season? How did he fare during his first season in the National Football League?
Powell spent most of his time with the New York Jets absorbing the action on the field. He played in only two games, had 13 carries for 21 yards, and a fumble on Denver’s one-yard line. He also caught a pass for seven yards.
With LaDainian Tomlinson expected to retire, Powell hopes to compete for the backup running back position to Shonn Greene next season.
The Jets finished second in the AFC’s East Division with an 8-8 won-lost record.
Louisville refuses to wilt against Villanova
Just so you know, every game from here on out is going to be an adventure.
This University of Louisville basketball team could quite possibly be getting its act together, refusing to lose against a Villanova unit that is also putting the pieces back together, looking far better than a 10-11 team.
A week and a half ago, U of L could well have been on the other side of an 84-74 score, especially with Chane Behanan and Russ Smith both fouling with more than five minutes remaining. Gorgui Dieng, well, he would have been on the bench even earlier with the way this game was called.
Jay Wright appeared to spend more time working on the officials than he did with his team, the officiating so inconsistent and unpredictable. He may have had a point. It isn’t often that an officiating crew is so soundly chastised by the crowd at the KFC Yum! Center. Big East games are not conducive to on-the-job training.
Getting back to the point, however, there were encouraging signs for U of L:
- Peyton Siva is getting his legs back, along with his shooting touch, if the Villanova game is any indication. Four of nine from the field is a good start, the mid-range shots a welcome sight. The confident look returning to his eyes, evoking greater confidence and scoring opportunities for his teammates. What’s missing lately is his ability to drive the land with any ease, wondering where to go next when he gets caught short.
- Russ Smith is striving to get with the team concept, passing up shots he wouldn’t have given a second thought in the recent past. Looking for his teammates, finding some open men, winding up with a total of five assists in 16 minutes. He says he’s working on it, and we believe him.
- Gorgui Dieng, with still another double-double, 13 rebounds and 12 points. Called for four fouls, a couple of them questionable, he’s learning to lean into people, realizing that some moves draw whistles whether they are fouls or not.
- Chane Behanan playing closer to the basket, making it easier for him to back into defenders, making all that muscle and weight work for him instead of wasting those natural advantages.
- Chris Smith becoming a fearless shooter, bam, bam, on two three pointers early. Missing his next six shots before his third three-pointer at the 15:42 mark in the second half. Four of 10 from the field, when they’re good, they’re impressive. No so otherwise.
- Kyle Kuric gets plenty of attention from Villanova defenders but not enough. Making three of four free throws, but not getting to the line often enough.
- Jared Swopshire with the dagger, the three-pointer from the corner. Breaking out of his trance, piercing the net, mixing it up for tha that one rebound. A little hero worship for a couple of days may do him good.
Big 12 talking expansion again, Louisville being mentioned
Navy’s announcement Tuesday that it would join the Big East Conference for football starting in 2015 may have been the first shot in the next round of conference realignment.
An unlikely source is optimistic that the University of Louisville may be next to call the movers:
The Chonicle on Higher Education:
Expansion talk is on the table again in the Big 12 Conference, with the addition of at least one new member “very possible,” two high-ranking officials told The Chronicle.
The University of Louisville, which the league considered adding last year when it brought on Texas Christian and West Virginia Universities, is the likeliest choice, according to people with knowledge of the talks. Brigham Young, another university the conference has considered, continues [to be included in the discussions as well].
Brett McMurphy, of CBS Sports, who has been more accurate than anyone else on expansion issues, also tweeted that the Big 12 is discussing expansion again deciding whether it wants 10, 11 or 12 teams, and that Louisville is considered a “slam dunk” if the league goes to 11 teams.
From another source, the barber, relating that coaches were told a couple of weeks ago to “get their packages ready.”
In other news, McMurphy revealed that Brigham Young and East Carolina (a natural candidate for the Big East) will have a home-and-home series in football in 2017 and 2018. Wonder how the theorists will spin that one?
Sheldon Rankins to Louisville
The best recruiting class ever for University of Louisville football is all but signed and sealed.
The latest commitment came Tuesday during a visit at the home of Sheldon Rankins, one of the top defensive prospects in Georgia, standing in at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds.
Sheldon Rankins
Rankins plans to study pre-med in college, and hopes to be an orthopedic surgeon, according to a recent report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has a 3.5 GPA, crediting his mother’s influence. “She’s a sixth-grade math teacher, so education always, always, always comes first,” Rankins said.
He’s had scholarship offers from all over, including North Carolina, South Florida, Mississippi State, Boston college, NC State, Stanford, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Indiana, Ole Miss, Duke, Arkansas State, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Kentucky, and Cincinnati.
