Good news for University of Louisville football fans.
There will be a spring scrimmage for UofL football after all. Having attended every spring game over the last 50 years, the prospect of a spring without once again enjoying this fun tradition was not encouraging.
Louisville football coach Scott Satterfield has clarified a confusing report in the local newspaper about what would be occurring on March 7, the last day of spring practice. The surprising thing in the report was there would not be a spring game, provoking somewhat of a mini-crisis among UofL football fans.
Satterfield told ESPN 680 on Wednesday that UofL football fans will be invited to the final practice, which will include a scrimmage (and not a game). The difference is that the Louisville coaches and football players will get one more actual practice session.
The distinction is important because spring games tend to be one-sided affairs, with first teams competing against second teams, purely for the entertainment purposes. Nobody really learns anything and the players don’t get any better.
Teams are limited to 15 practices during spring camp, and each practice is important, especially so for UofL, a team that finished 2-10 last season. The only loss to the community is that the spring game won’t be on the Kentucky Derby Festival calendar, as in the past.
Don’t be surprised, however, if that final practice session also includes the familiar carnival atmosphere outside Cardinal Stadium, complete with all the tailgating and socializing that accompanied the old spring games.
The only thing missing may be the warmer weather, because spring begins this year on March 21.