Card Chronicle

Russ Says Happy Memorial Day Sunday

2012-05-27T16:58:18Z

This is my new go-to happy image.

Enjoy the always-special Sunday that feels like Saturday, folks.

Marquis Haynes Commits To Louisville

2012-05-25T22:19:07Z

Here's a solid start to the long weekend.

University Christian (Jacksonville) defensive end Marquis Haynes has committed to Louisville.

The 6-4, 200-pound rising senior had offers from West Virginia, Kentucky, Minnesota, South Florida and Iowa State, among others.

Here's your newest Cardinal commit in action:

Cardinal Nine Upset By Connecticut

2012-05-25T19:30:04Z

The Louisville baseball team managed just four hits against Connecticut starter Anthony Marzi as the Huskies pulled the upset of the top-seeded Cardinals in Big East Tournament play Friday. The game was originally supposed to be played Thursday night, but rain pushed the start back to 11 a.m. this morning.

The fifth-seeded Huskies managed to get 10 hits off of Big East Pitcher of the Year Justin Amlung, and plated two runs in both the third and fifth innings.

The support was much-appreciated by Marzi, whose sparkling 2.80 ERA does not match up with his 2-8 record. That's because his offense failed to score a single run in six of his starts this season.

"He's been shut out five or six times. I've never seen anything like it, the lack of run support," UConn coach Jim Penders said. "We haven't given him any runs. I was real happy to see we finally got him some runs."

Louisville now turns its attention to fourth-seeded South Florida, which it will face tonight at 6 p.m. in an elimination game. If the Cards win they will have to beat UConn twice tomorrow in order to earn a spot in Sunday's championship game.

Dan McDonnell will hand the ball to Big East Rookie of the Year Jordan Ruxer against the Bulls.

Friday Irrelevance

2012-05-25T18:14:07Z

Have yet to watch this without at least smiling.

Friday Afternoon Cardinal News And Notes

2012-05-25T17:08:49Z

Isaac Wiles has stolen Kentucky's national championship trophy and is holding it captive for...one million dollars.

Is that from Star Wars?

After being rained out last night, Louisville and Connecticut are finally underway in the second round of the Big East Tournament in Clearwater. The winner advances to tomorrow's semifinal round, while the loser will have to play in an elimination game later today.

You can watch the game (and all others from the tournament) right here.

Congratulations to Mario Benavides on being named to the Rimington Award watch list (best center) for a second straight season.

The best sports GIFs of the week is becoming one of my favorite Friday traditions.

Andrew Jones couldn't help making a quick pit stop on his way to see the Cubs play the White Sox at Wrigley last weekend.

DePaul Day in May is the equivalent of Christmas in July. Celebrate appropriately this weekend.

Congratulations to softball coach Sandy Pearsall on her induction into the Miami University Cradle of Coaches Association.

Kentucky fans: still insane.

And again.

That was from Wes Vance, who was taking Wednesday's proclamation of "the most Big Blue Nation thing you'll see all day" as a challenge.

It's a tough call.

SI talks about the race for Montrezl Harrell.

But the sudden availability of such a touted player has sparked a feeding frenzy of attention. Kentucky, Alabama, LSU and Florida are among the plethora of schools now courting the 6-foot-7 power forward.

After spending his senior season at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Academy, however, only one school has been able to lock down an official visit: Louisville. Rick Pitino's Cardinals look like the definite team to beat.

There are several factors working in the Cardinals' favor. First, assistant Kevin Keatts was the head coach at Hargrave before he accepted a job at Louisville last summer. Second, the Cardinals play a style that fits Harrell perfectly -- and the player and his family hope to make a decision quickly.

Time is also on Pitino's side. Harrell will visit Louisville on May 31 and will head to Colorado Springs, Colo., to try out for USA Basketball's U18 team shortly thereafter. There's not much time to squeeze additional visits in between.

There's also a section on the rise of U of L recruit Jarell Martin.

Best books of the Goosebumps series:

1. The Horror at Camp Jellyjam

2. Night of the Living Dummy

3. A Night in Terror Tower

R.L. Stine jumped the shark around book 867, but I kept buying the new ones at every book sale because they looked so great on my shelf. Goosebumps books in 1994 were what baseball cards were in 1964.

Teddy and Chane:

An informative response from the U of L compliance office on the scholarship situation as it pertains to basketball.

Speaking as a general rule and not about any individual student-athlete or hypothetical situation the following rules would apply.

-If a student-athlete has a one year renewable scholarship, he/she can be non-renewed for the following year and become a walk-on if they choose to.

-Once a student-athlete signs a renewal of their scholarship for the following year, the scholarship cannot be non-renewed at that point, and also the student-athlete cannot voluntarily give-up the scholarship and become a walk-on for the following year. The only exception would be if a student-athlete were to be awarded non-athletics institutional aid (i.e. academic scholarship) that is greater than or equal to the athletic scholarship. In that case they can voluntarily give up their athletic aid. This is put in place so that student-athletes do not feel pressured to "voluntarily" give up their scholarship.

If a student-athlete was initially recruited and then is not renewed in a subsequent year and also is not receiving any other type of "institutional aid", they can remain and participate as "walk-on" for that year without any restrictions.

While there are more restrictions for "recruited" student-athletes receiving non-athletic aid, there are also academic honor award exceptions that allow certain types of aid to be awarded. Every student-athlete situation is different and looked at individually.

I feel like Memorial Day is the holiday that everyone looks forward to and enjoys, but never comes out of with any great, specific memories. I know I always enjoy the weekend, but I don't think of it and immediately draw the same specific memories the way I do with Christmas or Halloween or even the Fourth of July.

No idea why I felt the need to address this, but my delete button is broken again so there's no going back, literally (ba-zing). Anyway, I'm excited about the weekend and will buy a drink for anyone and everyone I see doing the Preston Dance in public over the next three days. Dead serious.

And finally, a good reminder over in the FanPosts that the Neutral Zone is holding a 50% off sale through Sunday. Now is the time to pull the trigger on that infra-red poncho you've been eyeing since March.

We Are 100 Days Away

2012-05-25T14:32:56Z

Come on out and get your whoopin'.

Tim Higgins Is Retiring

2012-05-25T00:30:12Z

Grab a drink, throw some confetti and start an impromptu parade wherever you are. Tim Higgins is calling it a career.

He has been to 10 Final Fours, which is more than Jim Calhoun or Jim Boeheim, and left each of them undefeated. Which is not to say Tim Higgins was perfect. He is a game official, so we know it's unlikely he got every call right.

Higgins will retire from officiating this summer, sources in the Big East Conference told Syracuse Post-Standard basketball writer Mike Waters. He was a member of the Big East's first officiating team; the league opened for business in 1979.

You were...well, you were not a good official, Tim.

Jim Burr? Karl Hess? TV Teddy Valentine? Everyone's doing it, fellas.

Taking Over The Rap Game: Day One

2012-05-24T22:45:11Z

Unbeknownst to most of you, I've been attempting to parlay this gig into a hip-hop career for some time now. I've got the skills (obviously), but the only holding me back has been the reluctance of any established artist/producer in the game to take a chance on me.

Until now.

@CardChronicle It's no secret you are the #1hiphop head in the city hands down. You can deny it all you want but we all know the truth ;)
— Audio Stepchild (@audiostepchild) May 23, 2012

S/O to @CardChronicle for the support... look for Mike Rutherford to spit hot fire on the next album, mark it!
— Audio Stepchild (@audiostepchild) May 23, 2012

I've spent the past 12 hours locked in a room with nothing but a pen and a pad. Have yet to come up with any puns for the name "Russ." Am I deterred? Absolutely not.

Do you know that Nas originally went with "Santa Cruz State of Mind" on Illmatic instead of "New York State of Mind?" Did you know that I just made that up? I did. Doesn't change the fact that "Santa Cruz State of Mind" would have ruined the entire album.

Inspired.