So much for NASCAR and keeping up with Brian Vickers in the UofL national championship-branded car, in fourth place with less than 10 laps to go, tire blowing, scraping into a wall.

Not a bad day overall, though, the car earning $86,320, winding up 31st in the final standings.

Good exposure leading up to the race. Not much after starting the engines. TV coverage was focused on the first two or three cars most of the time. The cars were going so fast that it was next to impossible to spot the UofL car during the race.

*   *   *

Took a UofL basketball and football out to Belknap the other day to get them autographed for a charity auction. Seems Rick Pitino will too busy traveling between now and August to sign any basketballs before then. Charlie Strong’s assistant said it would take a couple of weeks.

*    *   *

Three postal service baskets, in addition to assorted other packages, still line the wall beside the desk of Stephanie Davis, the administrative assistant to Pitino. The gifts intended for Kevin Ware keep coming in from his well-wishers from across the country.

*     *     *

A bunch of athletic young men were standing in the shadow of the Johnny Unitas statue, looking out at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, admiring the sharp looking new turf and design of the football field, hopefully imagining themselves playing there during the 2014 season.

*    *    *

What I hoped they were ignoring was the thousands of fading chair backs around the stadium, an ugly sight even if one is colorblind. Not helpful to recruiting efforts. Something needs to be done soon.

*    *    *

Excavation work has started on the new soccer stadium across Floyd Street from the Trager indoor football practice facility. The area where the parking lot was located is now a sea of jagged concrete, a hellish looking area with temperatures hovering around 90 degrees. A sign on a fence proclaims, “Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Soccer Stadium coming September 2014.”

*    *    *

Meanwhile, over on Third Street, the same crew that did the Papa John’s work is preparing to install new field turf at Jim Patterson Stadium. Two weeks after a College World Series appearance, members of the baseball team are off to the minors or summer leagues.

Share this

By Charlie Springer

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

2 thoughts on “Catching up at Belknap”
  1. What better timing for sparkling new red seats as a backdrop to the new ACC banners, Fall 2014? Go Cards!

  2. I AM red-green color blind and, Charlie, you are right. The faded original PJS seats do look bad, even to me!

    I guess we should have seen this coming. Remember after the opening game in ’98? We laughed at all the white-shorts-wearing UK fans leaving with sweaty red buts! Day One and that pigment was already on the run!

    I suspect we have the money, but don’t want to appear so flush with cash while we’re still raising money for the athletic academic building. Get that done and a softball field expansion, let the fans complaints about the bad looks build a little momentum, and it should happen! Though, maybe TJ’s looking to roll the replacement in with yet another PJ expansion in a few years!?! Let’s see, we completed our expansion 2 years ago? UK will get theirs done in a couple years. I’d say we’d be ready for PJ Phase III to be done no later than 2019-2021.

Comments are closed.