Don’t look now but basketball is breathing down our necks already. The Cards tip off the season on Monday in a exhibition game against Carleton University at Freedom Hall. Hope nobody is expecting U of L to just roll over the visitors. Carleton is a basketball powerhouse in Canada, having won five straight national championships. Anything less than a romp could ignite another round of Pitino bashings.

Slow starts in opening exhibition games in recent years against Georgetown College and Bellarmine University have done just that, setting a negative tone before the season officially got under way.

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Football is tops, basketball a close second in my book. The affinity for all things U of L actually began with basketball, however. I was a 13-year-old during the 1955-56 season, following Louisville games on radio even though I lived in Big Blue territory, only 11 miles from Lexington.

The Cards started off that season winning nine games in a row before losing a heart breaker to Ed Diddle’s Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, a perennial power in those days. I could have used Diddle’s trademark red towel to dry my tears after the loss.. The Cards recovered quickly, however, achieving a 26-3 record, including the National Invitation Tournament trophy, then the most prestigious prize in college basketball.

They defeated Dayton in the NIT championship, their third win over that top 10-ranked team that year. The game was, in fact, one of U of L’s first televised games. I missed the telecast but heard it on the radio. My headache was gone after the game.

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Fellow fan and blogger Tom Heiser, who continues to impress me with his exceptional mastery of the English language (I learn at least one new word almost every time I visit his CJ fan blog) got me pumped up for the upcoming season with this summation:

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if U of L is exerting high pressure on the national barometer. Their midseason transformation from an error-prone youth corps to an unselfish, role-oriented upstart didn’t go unnoticed — from their tourney ranking to early pre-season rankings in the top 10.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.