Baseball Cards At Mississippi

You do realize the Baseball Cards are 12-0.

Ran into this character at Jim Patterson Stadium the other day while the University of Louisville baseball team was defeating Indiana University, 9-7. They start a three-game series at Mississippi at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Ole Miss is ranked 17th.

U of L, ranked eighth and 10th in different polls, returns home Tuesday for a game against Xavier University.  The opening pitch is at Noon. Admission is free, at least until the bandwagon gets overloaded, as it will in the near future.

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Expectations & Edgar Sosa

A favorite memory of Edgar Sosa will always be the time he played one-on-one basketball with grandson Koby Springer back in 2006. Sosa was a new arrival in Louisville. Koby was 10 years old, participating in a Rick Pitino summer camp.

Quite a thrill for Koby, competing against one of Pitino’s most promising players in the University of Louisville’s 2006 freshman class, one he will never forget: Sosa making him work while sharing some tips, but also allowing him to win.

The memory is relevant in light of what could easily be perceived as overly-zealous criticism of Edgar following his performance in Louisville’s Big East Tournament loss to Cincinnati — despite his leading all scorers with 28 points in that game.

Edgar Sosa is a likable individual and a better-than-average basketball player. Any criticism reflects a personal disappointment in his inability to live up to expectations, which may be a little exorbitant. He has provided more than a few other great memories during four seasons at U of L.

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Another Madison Square Nightmare For Louisville

One More Homecoming Wreck For Edgar Sosa

One could see it coming early.

Edgar Sosa pumping his chest, waving his arms, winking at the camera, the kind of stuff players usually do when a game is in the bag.

Doing it in the first half, acting as if a 10-point lead was 25, and it was only a matter of time before Rick Pitino would clear the bench.

The Louisville basketball team was playing well in the first half, probably one of the better halves this season, sticky quick on defense, challenging every pass, every shot, every defensive rebound.

Feeling good about themselves. Real good. Especially Edgar Sosa.

Danger time. That’s when bad things begin happening for this team.

Second half, different Sosa, over-confident, making circus passes, NBA-distance three-point attempts. Throwing the ball to wrong people — Terrence Jennings and Jared Swopshire — at the worst possible times, neither of them known for hitting shots at clutch time.

Sorry, Sosa, no Kyle Kuric around for much of the second half to bail anybody out this time around. His hot shooting hands relegated to the bench. Pitino’s most predictable decision this day.

Sosa with 20 points in the first half, lucky to get eight in the second.

Still, just another bad night for Sosa in Madison Square Garden. This is the one that will hurt the most.

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Preston Knowles Gets Call Instead (Surprise)

Glad the observer qualified Rick Pitino’s remarks about Peyton Siva starting. The coach is again doing the opposite of what he said Tuesday he would do. Looks like he’s going with Preston Knowles at second guard and staying with Edgar Sosa at the point. At least, RP is consistent.

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Peyton Siva May Run Louisville Offense

Peyton Siva gets the call at point guard against Cincinnati.

Peyton Siva

That’s what Rick Pitino was saying Tuesday anyway. Rick’s been known to change his mind as often as not or do the opposite of what he says he’s going to do.

Something to look forward to, having an actual point guard run the offense for a change. Who was the last natural point guard to run the offense for the University of Louisville basketball team? The only one that comes to mind is DeJuan Wheat but that was during the Denny Crum era. Wheat’s talents were such that could and would carry the team on his shoulders, even with severe ankle problems.

Edgar Sosa has never gotten the hang of the job, and may be more of a contributor at the second guard spot. Wouldn’t that be something.

Siva has shown flashes of filling the void, with some brilliant passing at times. But he’s also made his quota of freshman mistakes and had some surprising mental lapses in a reserve role.

Now that he’s a starter, U of L fans may see a different Siva, one ready to assume responsibility a little earlier than anyone expected.  If so, Edgar Sosa may be able to focus primarily his own game, overcoming the dismal performances in Madison Square Garden thus far in his career.

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