Sometimes one gets the impression that a couple of freshmen marketing majors are in charge of pumping up the atmosphere at University of Louisville football games.

A few years ago somebody decided U of L needed a tunnel for players to enter the stadium before games. So they rushed out and ordered an inflatable tunnel, an orange one at that.

For good measure, they also added a couple of large inflatable Cardinal logos. Not a good image for Louisville football, never worked from the beginning.

Cheap, contrived, makeshift, not consistent with the overall quality of the stadium.

Worse, the plasticized tunnel insults the memory of Johnny Unitas, all but concealing the statue, insulting the image, belittling the contributions and the memory of one of the best guys to ever play the game. If the tunnel is so necessary, move the statue closer to the field. It should never be obscured.

What really needs to happen, however, is for a good, strong wind to come along. The inflatables just might be transformed into flying derigibles, soaring up and far away, hopefully never to be seen again at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Share this

By Charlie Springer

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

8 thoughts on “Drive a stake through the inflatables”
  1. Ditto on the tackiness of all the inflatables. It just looks cheap, and doesn’t enhance the “intimidation factor” for the visiting team at all. Also, the intro video….Michael Buble? Really?!? Hooorrrrrrrrrible.

  2. Preach on! Get rid of all that stuff left over from the last “coach”‘s tenure. Looks like junk.

    “Derigibles”? “Plasticized”? Boy, when you get on your soapbox the hyperbole and superlatives are coming out on fire!!!

  3. No doubt, it is a cheap entrance that should be improved. It would be great if they would improve the music someday as well. Tom needs more complaints coming his way obviously. I truly think he is too worried about building something else. As much as it is appreciated, it is a good idea to take care and improve what you have. CARDS

    1. I would love to see some flying derigibles. But my big complaint is with the sound. They either have it too loud like they did at the beginning of last season or too low like last week. The solution is to add more speakers at the closed end of the stadium. No communication when a game is on the line.

  4. I thought they were kind of cute at first. We had our very own tunnel. But the novelty faded pretty quickly. I’ve noticed this season there are walking Cardinal Bird inflatables. Maybe one the big donors has a major investment in inflatables. Inflatables aren’t compatible with big time college football. Maybe they would be nice for a children’s playground during tailgating or something. They’ve outlived their usefulness in the stadium, they’ve got to go.

Comments are closed.