The 2014 recruiting class for men’s basketball at Louisville is in my opinion one of the best in a while. So it is important for Coach Pitino to keep up the momentum going into the 2015 class. On Thursday that momentum will continue. 2015 Guard Antonio Blakeney from Orlando comes in for his official visit. He is 6-4 and 170 pounds. His game is reminiscent of Jeremy Lamb’s, formerly of UCONN. Florida is the other team in this to watch in this recruiting battle according to CSZ’s recruiting analyst Steve Rummage. You can follow him on twitter at @blakeney96. He also looks at home with the word Cardinal on his jersey. Here are some videos to familiarize you with Mr Blakeney.

This week…..on 55…..

We talk 2014 Football signing class, emoticons and emoji, The valiant effort of the Women’s Basketball team (Not Lady Cards, been trying to spread the word coach) to a surprise for the loyal readers of 55, and so much more. Here’s a little backstory on this week’s 55 pic. The above picture is a speed limit sign from the frigid snow engulfed areas of Northern Wisconsin. Their motto is drive under 55 and you may stay alive. I wish I was kidding, I am not at all. We are doing our next #CardFam Lunch this Sunday at noon at BW3’s on Dixie, all are welcome, just DM me and let me know for head count purposes. Well here we go. Once again, I share with you the 55 most ridiculous things I have heard, had to debate, or just thought about this past week. This …..is….55

1) I am starting a promotion for my loyal and wonderful supporters of the #55movement (Just made that up). Starting next Monday I will let you guys write a portion of 55. Just tweet me #First15 and I will let you write the first 15 lines of 55. It’s that simple. Shoutout to @TurtleBITW for getting my brain turning and coming up with this idea. Everyone will get to do it. I will randomize the order. That easy.

2)

3) I did NOT get the idea from this book

4) Speaking of

5) I posed a question on Twitter last night about whether or not dudes should send other dudes smiley faces or tongue sticking out faces or emojis or emoticons in general. I said RT for Yes and Fav for No. I had a few speak on it instead of following Twitter survey etiquette but here is the question and results.

6)

7) No RT and all favorites…

8)

9) Haha indeed

10) I had a friend tell me I needed emoji for dummies….But “he” uses them and knew the name of the book….

11) >__<

12) Moving forward

13) Today Greg Brown, an NFL coaching veteran and former collegiate defensive coordinator, has joined the University of Louisville football’s coaching staff as the safeties coach and recruiting coordinator. Brown spent 15 years in the NFL before going to Alabama in 2013 as secondary coach under Nick Saban.

14) Kelsi Jones was named the inaugural AAC Player of the Week as UofL Softball started the season with a tough 3-2 record on the weekend. It doesn’t get any easier this weekend heading to Jacksonville with games against #17 Mizzou, #36 Notre Dame & #39 North Carolina. Good Luck girls!

15) On Sunday the Women’s Tennis team annihilated Conference foe Cincy 7-0 at home. The Cards are on a 3 match winning streak and will head to Wisconsin Friday.

16) Lorenzo Mauldin should try out for American Idol…If you follow him ask him to tweet the proof. He can do more than just sack your QB

17) The new top 25 polls come out today with Louisville checking in at 13 (AP) and 8 (Coaches). Also joining the Cards from the crappy AAC (sarcasm) are #10 Cincy, #20 Memphis, #23 SMU & #24 UConn

18) Not too shabby…..

19) “You don’t play nobody, Your conference sucks” -random guy who called into The Afternoon drive with Perrin Johnson one day when I was on. That day I wrote the following story.

20) http://cardinalsportszone.com/2013/08/22/louisville-basketball-schedule-piece-of-cake/

21) That’s the only anti-uk thing I have ever written. Seems like I knew we still weren’t in as bad of a conference as they wanted us to believe

22) The Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams had a monster weekend by grabbing 8 top-five finishes between two meets. Ben Williams recorded the second-best performance in school history in the triple jump. Congrats!

23) Guys don’t forget to check out Louisville’s best up and coming radio show @TalkinNoiz hosted by the incomparable Lloyd Spence on M-F at 12:06 on 1080 AM radio, or on your IHeart app. CSZ’s Steve Rummage joins Lloyd on Mondays and Thursday’s and every once in awhile the rest of CSZ stops in. They serve it up live from the Wendy’s studio and have a great time. #I’mNotWatham

24) #ProductPlacement

25) #CheapPop

26)

27) Should have known

28) Moving forward

29) Yesterday the then #4 UL Women’s Basketball team lost a tough game to the #1 UConn Lady Huskies 81-64. Asia Taylor led Louisville with 18 points. Coach Walz will have these young women bouncing back before you know it and ready to extract revenge when the Huskies come to the YUM! on March the third.

30) The new Women’s AP poll released today and UL stayed put at #4. More surprising is that Stanford jumped them and #3 Duke won this past week and fell two spots. The culture of UofL Women’s Basketball is changing. I love it.

31) After what seemed like a longggggg stretch between games, Russ Smith scored 17 points and #14 Louisville beat Houston 77-62 on Wednesday night. Luke Hancock added 15 points and Montrezl Harrell had 15 points. The Cards are now 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the AAC.

32) Reader @rzry suggested in honor of 32 on this list that I put on here to suggest that the #32 be put into the rafters in honor of Cisco and Wheat. I am not opposed to this. Get to work powers that be…

33) On Wednesday we had an event that most recruiting junkies love….National Signing Day. CSZ’s Justin Renck made the following write-ups on each of the pickups the Cards made on Wednesday.

34) OT Lukayus McNeil

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/lukayus-mcneil-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

35) QB Tyler Ferguson

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/qb-tyler-ferguson-transfers-to-louisville-from-penn-state/

36) WR Cornelius Sturgill

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/3-star-wrcb-cornelius-sturghill-flips-from-wisconsin-to-louisville/

37) OG Jimmie Terry

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/jimmie-terry-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

38) TE Charles Standberry

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/charles-standberry-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

39) DE Terry Ramsey

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/terry-ramsey-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

40) LB Isaac Stewart

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/isaac-stewart-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

41) LB Henry Famurewa

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/henry-famurewa-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

42) OT Kelby Johnson

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/kelby-johnson-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

43) S Zykiesis Cannon

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/zykiesis-cannon-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

44) QB Reggie Bonnafon

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/reggie-bonnafon-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

45) CB Trumaine Washington

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/trumaine-washington-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

46) Sharieff Rhaheed

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/sharieff-rhaheed-chooses-the-cards/

48) OT Danny Burns

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/danny-burns-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

49) S Michael Johnson

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/michael-johnson-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

50) CB De’Eric Culver

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/deeric-culver-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

51) TE Mickey Crum

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/micky-crum-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

52) WR Javonte Bagley

http://cardinalsportszone.com/2014/02/05/javonte-bagley-signs-nli-with-the-cards/

53) WR Cam Polk, RB LJ Scott and DE Trevon Young were announced earlier in the year. Fine class after all the uncertainty with the coaching change.

54) Stephen Garr…..just for no reason

#LikeABoss

55) Last but not least the University of Louisville athletics department has released details of the 2014 baseball promotional schedule, which includes an array of fan-friendly special events and season-long promotions at Jim Patterson Stadium including FREE ADMISSION once again.

This is an awesome way to treat the fans and fans go repay the favor by catching some games. 2014 Baseball Promotions Webpage

GO Cards!

You can find the previous 12 Episodes of 55 by typing 55 in the CardinalSportszone.com search bar and clicking search

P.S.- Congrats out to our own Justin Renck for his accomplishments in coaching (Holy Cross boys’ basketball) this past week going 3-0 in three days against the likes of Central and PRP. Great Job! Also congrats to future UofL Card Quentin Snider on becoming Ballards all time leading scorer.

P.S.S.- Hey @KevinWatson73! lol

P.S.S.S.- #DownWithFlappyBird worked too! Im 2-2 with hashtags working! Sorry @Beast502Mode, I know how much you love it. lol

Here’s what Bobby thought of the 2014 class!

*some info taken from press releases, most from CSZ and my brain

What’s going on CardNation? I know what you are thinking. Mannnnnnnnn it’s been a long time since we got an edition of 55. Well in a few weeks the 2015 season of 55 will be up and rolling. Every year I choose to work a seasonal job for some extra Xmas cash. I liked the place I worked last year so much I decided to grace them with my presence (not presents) once again. I have worked an astonishing 25 straight days without a day off and all of those but one were 10 hour shifts. It will be a nice Xmas in the Wahman house this year to say the least. I will get my shoutouts to the crew at Fanatics and then into some business in this edition of 55…kinda. Shout-outs to my crew at Fanatics (AKA NFL/NBAshop.com): Jess, Leah, Tyler, Renaaaado. White James (his nickname he gave himself), Lucky Charms, Cody, R Kelly, Alonzo, Momma J, Misty, Debbie, Elaine, Penny, Nathan, Aaron, Rhonda and Mustachio. I think that’s all. If I forgot you then please remind me tomorrow at work and I will pretend to care. Without further adieu, here are the most ridiculous, outlandish, interesting or just downright obnoxious things I have heard this week. THIS is 55…..kinda. This video is for my buddy E Sosa…….

ahhh, now we can begin,

-I wanna wish CSZ an early Happy Birthday as we prepare to turn 3 on Thursday. I may not get another chance to do this so I will now. We grew a lot more this year and hope to do the same in 2015. Personal goals we hope to attain in 2015? CSZ Radio. Stay Tuned. Congrats to my colleagues Justin and Steve for putting up with me for 3 years. lol. Here’s to many more.

-Sorry to hear Akoy Agau will be transferring from Louisville but I wish the young man the very best. Read morte about that here.

-Most of the Fall Sports have wrapped up. When 55 returns on January 12th we will get you ready for the Spring sports that will be kicking off. Every Sport we have at your fingertips.

-The Basketball team has been rolling as the Cards knocked off WKU on Saturday to bring their record to 10-0 and a #4 national ranking. Terry Rozier was named ACC player of the week after his 32 point performance on Saturday. He scored 19 against UNCW earlier in the week. The Cards are preparing for games this week vs Cal State tomorrow night & uk on Saturday. As always, Go Cards!

-In the WKU game Monrezl Harrell was kicked out of the game for a Flagrant foul. Last night the ACC decided it warranted a suspension that will be served tomorrow night. Harrell had been played very physical throughout the WKU game and threw an elbow in the game that got him ejected. No excuses, you can’t play like that and be a leader. Harrell immediately apologized to his teammates, the university and fans after the game. Read more about that here.

-The Cards signed some players for 2015 Football earlier last week. Alongside these guys (2015), The Cards also grabbed Kenny Thomas from Alabama and Cole Hikutini, The Nations #1 JUCO TE.

-As you know, Holliman went pro. Blah

-The Team Autograph signing last Wednesday was a success as everyone but T Floyd and Mike Dyer made the event. As you may expect, Devante Parker had his own line for signing. The Cards will face the Georgia Bulldogs in the Belk Bowl on Tuesday December 30th. Brandon Radcliff told me Coach P has them ready to compete and bring home a Belk Bowl win.

-Finally, I hope that each and every one of you have the best of Christmases and a happy new years….unless your not a member of CardNation and then I hope you get some coal in your stocking. Until next time…Go Cards!

You can find all previous episodes of 55 by typing 55 in the CardinalSportszone.com search bar and clicking search

P.S.-I better get my Galaxy Gear Watch for Christmas if you are listening Santa…………

Oh yeah and this…

and of course again………..

*some info taken from press releases, most from CSZ and my brain

**none taken from other people’s thoughts, NONE

Well it finally happened! Cardinal Sports Zone hit the airwaves this past Saturday morning on 93.9 The Ville. Myself and Steve Rummage got the show rolling and it was definitely an adventurous debut. For the first 30-40 seconds of this show, Steve is hard to hear because we didn’t realize his microphone wasn’t working.

When he slid over and started to use mine, that meant we only had one to use, and moving it back and forth caused a squeek, so we tried to not move it too much. After a while, we got two mics working and the back-and-forth was way better and the flow was smoother. There had to be some kind of story or drama happen, and that was it. It could have been worse.

Steve and I were joined in studio by Peyton Siva, which was awesome. We talk about the 2013 National Championship team, how important team chemistry is, and more with Peyton. We also dive into a little bit of football, and I close the show by talking about a real life situation that is easily the most important post that has ever been published on this website.

Click the play button below, enjoy, and listen in on Saturday mornings from 10-11 a.m. on 93.9 The Ville!

This week on 55………..

We talk the downs and downs of Louisville Football so far. We talk LiveWith55 and the Cardinal Sports Zone with your host Steve Rummage (He makes me say that). We talk Black out game this week in what may be a must win? We will see. We go over all of the sports UofL has to offer in TWICA. Does Mike Rutherford make a photo appearance this week? Probably or I wouldn’t have teased it.

Without further adieu, here are the most ridiculous, outlandish, interesting or just downright obnoxious things I have heard this week. THIS is 55…..

-I am still in love with the new logo. Got shirts made with them on it too! Shout out to Ray Calhoun for the connect!

-As you guys know I plan to end this series at some point this season. How? When? You will see. How often will I post a 55 this year? I have a plan to send it off right, Don’t worry. I really enjoy bringing you LiveWith55 so I will continue to do that until the end of time or CSZ, whichever comes first. lol. I appreciate all of your support. Let me know your ideas on what I should do. As always I will be listening!

-FYI, Turtle did not save 55 and Bourbon came up with 62-31 all by himself

-It is time for my favorite segment of 55…..THIS WEEK IN CARDINAL ATHLETICS! or TWICA as  I like to call it.

-again, waiting for the theme song….sorry..(LiveWith55 joke)

#23 Men’s Soccer (3-1-1)

-W Stony Brook 3-1, W #15 uk 2-0, T Syracuse 1-1

UP NEXT: #16 St Louis on 9/15, Virginia Tech 9/18

Women’s Soccer (3-3-1)

-W UAB 1-0, L Ole Miss 2-1

UP NEXT: 9/20 @ Boston College

 #11 Field Hockey (5-1)

-L #6 Virginia 4-3  W #17 Liberty 2-1

UP NEXT: @ #2 UNC 9/17  hosts JMU 9/20

Women’s Volleyball (5-3)

– 3-0 this week! Beat Utah (3-0) Seaton Hall (3-0) and  #30 Ohio (3-2)

UP NEXT: @ Cincy 9/17 @ #21 uk 9/20

Football (0-2)

This is how most of us have felt after the first 2 games of the season. We lost to Houston on Saturday 34-31. The secondary couldn’t tackle a toddler and Lamar played like a freshman in his first start. Oh wait. This team is extremely young and this season is not going to turn out like the over-enthusiast would have liked it to have. Conference season starts this week and of course here come the #9 Clemson Tigers. Although I still do not think 0-3 is the end of the world, I would like to see us pull off the 28-27 victory in the black out game. I once thought this would be a housing for Clemson but they are better and so far we aren’t as good yet as I thought we would be. But at least we get to wear these on Thursday………..

-Love them……….This is the kind of Black out that I will enjoy! I have friends who enjoy the other kind…

-Shout out to Turtle, Bourbs and BeastMode on a totally unrelated subject

-I’m out…..

-Speaking of track………

Track & Field

Men & Women finish 1st at the Evansville Early Bird! Claire Noser won 1st place overall for Women and Japhet Kipkoech 2nd overall for the Men.

UP NEXT: Vandy Invitational on 9/19

Women’s Golf

Katie Mitchell wins the individual title! The 2 UofL teams finished 2nd & 4th.

UP NEXT: 9/18-9/20 Mason-Rudolph Challenge in Franklin, Tennessee.

Men’s Golf

(courtesy of GoCards.com)

Led by four players finishing in the top 30, the University of Louisville men’s golf team got its 2015-16 season off to an encouraging start by placing sixth at the highly competitive Northern Intercollegiate held at Rich Harvest Farms on Sunday.

Louisville totaled a 54-hole score of 37-over par 901 (308-288-305) to finish competitive in a very strong field. The Cardinals were five shots behind ACC foe Virginia, who finished fifth. Illinois won the tournament with a 7-under par 857, while Purdue was second and UCLA was third. Houston was fourth at 29-over par 893.

Louisville was led by J.D. Lehman’s T-16th finish at 7-over par 223 (74-73-76), while Robin Sciot-Siegrist ended the tournament tied for 22nd with a 9-over par (77-70-78). He fired a 70 in the second round to make up some ground from his first-round score of 77.

UP NEXT: 9/25-9/27 ACC/SEC Challenge in Franklin, Tennessee

This has been This Week In Cardinal Athletics

-Don’t forget that every Wednesday I go LiveWIth55 at 7:30 pm. Here is the link to last weeks show. This week Steve Rummage from the Cardinal Sports Zone show on 93.9 fm will join me to break down Clemson since it is on a weekday night. Also Jalen Boyd will join us and tell us what the Cards need to do to fix their defensive woes. Should be a great show! Call in at 914-338-0180. Shawn does all the time and so should you!

-Speaking of 93.9 and Steve…………..

-I hope you checked out this weeks edition of the CardinalSportsZone with your host Steve Rummage on ESPN 93.9 The Ville! This week we talked Auburn fallout and prediction for Houston. Remember Steve, Justin & myself join you every Saturday from 10-11 and you can call in at 502-815-0939 or text us at the Flooring Solutions by Rainwater text line at 502-653-9939. As always I will fulfill your social media needs so tweet at us at @CardSportsZone and lets talk Cards!

-We announced last week that Doug Budd from HomesForSaleInLouisville.net is the new presenting sponsor of the CardinalSportsZone! This week we add Saints Pizza & Pub. Bruce & Cliff from Saints Pizza & pub will be a commercial sponsor of the show. We are on a roll and thank all of you making this possible. We look forward to announcing more sponsors as the weeks go by…..

-Great pic of team 93.9 and The Red Rage Tailgate squad! You can follow them at @The_Red_Rage on Twitter

-Moving forward

-The guys at @WeAreBirdGang have released a ton of great stuff lately, click here to view it!

-Well, That about wraps up the second episode of 55 for the season. I appreciate your support and look forward to bringing you 55 every Monday on CardinalSportsZone.com.

P.S.-As always, don’t forget to follow the great people of CSZ on Twitter. @justinrenck, @Stiz_CSZ, @Darylfoust4 & myself @Jeremy_CSZ. Until next time CardNation…This was 55….

You can find all previous episodes of 55 by typing 55 in the CardinalSportszone.com search bar and clicking search

P.S.S.-Videos! (Fans send your vids to me and I will include them next week)

Latest UL commit Lamarques Thomas…that boys good…..(No Pun Intended)

http://www.hudl.com/v/Fc09A

Various UL related vids, enjoy!

*some info taken from press releases, most from CSZ and my brain

**none taken from other people’s thoughts, NONE

On today’s episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone, we talked Wake Forest/Louisville for 38 minutes without a break! We also went over tomorrow’s season opener for the Men’s Basketball team vs Bellarmine and Steve may or may not have called out an individual player. (he did) Justin talked Halloween costumes from his past and Jeremy laid the smacketh down on Social Media. Check it out!

Thank you guys for your support!

We started CardinalSportsZone.com in December of 2011. My grandma had just passed in August and it was something that me and Steve Rummage had passively talked about doing a number of times. When my grandma passed I gained a whole new perspective in life. Stop dreaming and start doing. Lost 180 pounds, started the website and changed my attitude for the better.

What does this have to do with James Burgess you ask? He was the first recruit I had followed on Twitter in my quest to become an official “blogger”. He instantly followed back, started up conversations with me and a friendship formed. His off the field character was great. Reminded me a lot of myself. Reserved but just a little cocky. Who could forget his commit video?

http://www.scout.com/player/148843-james-burgess/videos/1019873?year=2015

On the field though he excelled. You could tell how hard of a worker he was during practice because it translated to the playing field. I would like to think that him rooming with the other #55 Keith Kelsey helped too. I also got to know Keith and his dad Keith Kelsey Senior. Great people. Great people tend to draw to each other.

Well now that we have established the type of person he is and the type of player he is, let’s talk about his NFL draft stock. I truly believe that he will end up on a NFL team. He was not invited to the combine (Bullcrap) but neither was former teammate Eli Rogers. Eli worked his butt off to the point he was running drills with the first team on my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. I would love to see JB become a Steeler too. Let me calm down for a minute. We got Eli & G-rod last year and I loved it. I ran across a highlight reel today that I want to share with you. I reached out to James for permission and he kindly let me use it. I appreciate that. So here you go as I present to you a series of highlight reels of James Burgess doing work!

***Warning: Some Foul Language In The Song. The reel was too good to leave out***

We had a blast this morning at Cardinal Towne on the CardinalSportsZone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville! Your host Steve Rummage asked you to call or tweet us and tell us how you will feel after the game is over tonight. Relieved? Thankful? Mad? Dissapointed? We talked Pitino and much more with our special guest Marques Maybin! Tons of calls and interaction on social media were received and we couldn’t thank you enough for the support! Tune in to the Cardinal Sports Zone show every Saturday at 10 am on ESPN 93.9 FM The Ville! The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Doug Budd and Red Edge Realty at HomesforsaleinLouisville.net!

Today we were blessed with 2 hours of team third person when Marques texted Steve and asked him to come on his show today. Marques made Steve cry, asked him a MESSED up question and jammed until he was ready to start talking coming back from breaks. They also had an awesome conversation with Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Daventport! As you know I have known Mayday since College and am very proud of what he has done in such a short time. Here is today’s episode which was produced by “the great one” Brian Hall. Enjoy!

(click below for the podcast)

Photo: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Multiple platforms have speculated that Garrick McGee has taken the same position at Illnois. It seems this can be confirmed now.

We wish the very best of luck to Coach McGee. What are CSZ’s Steve Rummage’s thoughts?

Those were better times for the University of Louisville, no doubt. Myself, Steve Rummage and Jon Hancock were doing an episode of the critically acclaimed (Let’s roll with it) Cardinal Pulse. It was a video podcast and it was glorious. We did our show from Cluckers on campus at Cardinal Towne. The bracket was revealed, we all picked Louisville to win per usual and it was a great day and a great month. Fast forward to today. No I didn’t insert the picture to bring anyone down but to raise everyone’s spirits. We won the National Championship! Of course with that being said, here we are at Selection Sunday with no shot to be selected. Like the kid in your class that has convinced himself he didn’t want to go to the prom anyway. Breath in and breath out.

If you have listened to the Cardinal Sports Zone show on Saturdays at 10am on ESPN 93.9 The Ville with your host Steve Rummage,(Cheap Pop) (He makes me say that) then you have heard how everyone is coping. I bought NCAA Basketball 2010 because I will have a postseason after all. We were all starting to heal and figure ways around March Sadness. Then we heard The Devil and John Barr or maybe Katina and The Devil, whichever way you prefer were going to be on ESPN this morning with huge new developments. At least that’s how ESPN promoted it until local journalists and bloggers united to quickly dispel that rumor. I did not watch the show nor will I. It is my job however to provide a place for you to find all things UofL, good or bad. I have been told by multiple friends that there was nothing new. The title of this story was making fun of ESPN. The same fine people who brought you NCAA 2016 featuring Ben Simmons.

So here is the clip of the huge new development where they ambush Andre, hold him hostage and he spills the beans. At least that is what ESPN would have liked you to believe.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14951214

We had a blast this morning at Cardinal Towne on the CardinalSportsZone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville! Your host Steve Rummage asked if you would rather be banned or lose in the first round. We welcome in once again our special guest Marques Maybin!

Tons of interaction on social media were received and we couldn’t thank you enough for the support! Tune in to the Cardinal Sports Zone show every Saturday at 10 am on ESPN 93.9 FM The Ville! The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Doug Budd and Red Edge Realty at HomesforsaleinLouisville.net!

We had a blast this morning at Cardinal Towne on the CardinalSportsZone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville! Your host Steve Rummage asked what we’re your favorite final four moments and what were your expectations for football this year? We welcomed in resident host Marques Maybin and they threw down on the social media controversy with the picture of the gun and threats towards uk.

Tons of interaction on social media were received and we couldn’t thank you enough for the support! Tune in to the Cardinal Sports Zone show every Saturday at 10 am on ESPN 93.9 FM The Ville! The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Doug Budd and Red Edge Realty at HomesforsaleinLouisville.net!

Photo: Jeffrey M. Nunn

I heard the news as announced on the 93.9 ESPN radio show, Mid-day with Marques Maybin by guest host Steve Rummage on Thursday, April 14th, that Bobby Petrino received a contract extension running through the 2023 season. To me, the duration of the contract didn’t matter because Bobby said that this was his ” destination job” so he is not going anywhere.

I know, I know. He left us in the middle of the night, he bailed on the Atlanta Falcons after 13 games and left Western Kentucky University after only 13 months even though he said at his WKU introductory press conference that hoped his tenure there “can be as long as possible.”  I hear all of your concerns and based on his previous history, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of my mind just a little bit. I also remember that just before he left Louisville, he pledged a large sum of money to Kosair Childrens Hospital. Most people don’t know that he fulfilled that pledge even though he had moved to Atlanta. He has always had a love for this city and especially Kosair hospital.

However, The WKU job was all part of a plan to replace Charlie Strong when he left by Athletic Director, Tom Jurich (or so I believe). Bobby and Tom worked out their differences and became friends again. Tom put in a good word to WKU athletic director and vouched for Bobby that he was a changed man. WKU offered him a deal that basically had no risk on their side of the contract. After Bobby was hired by WKU, I heard the rumors that Bobby would replace Charlie Strong when Charlie left Louisville. I also heard that Charlie was going to leave whenever Teddy Bridgewater left. Most believed that Teddy would stay for his senior year and that Teddy and Charlie would bring us into our inaugural year of ACC play. But after a great junior season, it appeared Teddy would be a top 5 draft pick and Texas came throwing cash at Charlie. I can’t blame either of them for leaving and I am thankful for everything they have done for our program. Even though it was a year earlier than planned, it was time to bring Bobby back home.

I don’t know what all of you believe but I truly believe people can change. I believe Bobby has changed and I had a small encounter with him that helped confirm my belief that he had changed. In, January of 2014 my son who was 10 weeks old had to be hospitalized at Kosairs Children’s hospital. I didn’t spend much time away from his bedside but I did run downstairs to get a bite to eat. On my way back up, I shared an elevator with Bobby Petrino and Rocco Gasparro (assistant sports information director). I had a nice conversation with them and Bobby was nothing like what I heard he was like. I had heard he was rude and didn’t want to be bothered. He was just the opposite. Very friendly and engaging. Although this conversation lasted only a few minutes, it was a sign to me that he had indeed changed for the better. I also knew people who worked in the athletic office during the ’03 -’06 seasons who said that he talked down to them and it was not fun to be around him at work. Those same people say now in his second tenure with Louisville that he is very friendly, he has taken the time to get to know the people in the office and that he is always pleasant.

Some of you will bring up the morality issues that occurred during his time as the Arkansas head football coach as an indication of what type of man he is. While I agree that those issues are something that bother me as a married man, I am not the ultimate judge. If his wife can forgive him then who am I to hold those transgressions against him. He didn’t hurt or betray me. That type of forgiveness can only be given by his wife and God. Those issues are between those three and do not involve me at all.

Because I am a season ticket holder and a Cardinal Athletic Fund donor, my concerns are only the job Bobby Petrino does as a head coach at Louisville. Don’t confuse that statement by saying I only care about wins and losses. I do care about those but as a coach he also has responsibilities in the community, in the classroom and to be held to the same moral contract as everyone at the University of Louisville. If Bobby does have morality issues again, I would have no problem saying he must go. I feel the same way if he doesn’t get it done on the field or in the classroom. U of L even put a “Termination for Just Cause”  in section 7 of his contract…. “Just Cause termination” would include “disparaging media publicity in material nature that damages the good name and reputation of Employer or University,” the contracts states, “if such publicity is caused by Employee’s willful misconduct that could objectively be anticipated to bring (Petrino and U of L) into public disrepute or scandal, or which tends greatly to offend the public.” In the classroom his team is meeting the APR and the football team graduation rate is acceptable. I could write a very long piece on The Petrino Family Foundation and how it has impacted this community. He is fulfilling all of his obligations as a head coach at a very elite level.

Now here we are going into year 3 of Bobby 2.0 and he gets a two-year contract extension along with a raise. We have had no off the field problems and nothing but success on the field. The future of this program is very very bright. So is now the time to reward Bobby? In this chart below from USA Today, Petrino had the 32nd best salary. I believe if you have a top 25 program your coach should be paid in the top 25. All coaches are overpaid but it’s what the market dictates. Comparatively, Stoops at UK (27th), Kliff Kingsbury (31st) at Texas Tech and James Franklin (8th) at Penn State all won 5 games last season and all made more than Petrino. Stoops received $652,700 per win. Kingsbury received $647,769 per win. Franklin received $880,000 per victory. Petrino was paid $ 375,438 per victory (8).

With this raise and extension, Petrino will make $3.875 million in 2016 and that would move him up to 20th on this list. Petrino will also receive a $50,000 increases every year, starting July 1, 2017 and going through June 30, 2023. Petrino will continue to earn an additional $500,000 each year if the Cardinals achieve a score of at least 935 on the Academic Progress Rating (APR). If they reach that APR,  he could earn as much as $4.375, moving him to 10th on the list. I know Dabo Swinney at Clemson just inked a more lucrative deal that moved him way up the list and other coaches are sure to follow (probably Butch Jones, Gary Patterson, Jim McElwain and Mark Dantonio). So when this season starts, Petrino will probably rank about 15th or 16th on the list. That seems about right to me.

The contract pays Petrino through the 2023 season. In that final season Petrino will make $4.175 million in base pay and potentially $4.675 million with the APR bonus. What will that rank in 7 years? Is this early extension really what Jurich said, “What I wanted to do is basically show everybody the confidence I have not only in the job that (Petrino) has done but the job that he’s doing and that our future is extremely bright,” or is it an attempt to lock the great offensive minded coach up for years to come a price that will be reasonable in the future? Bobby said he wasn’t leaving and his buyout is $10 million for the first four years. It decreases every year after through the life of the contract. Basically Jurich has total control over Petrino, financially speaking.

Tom Jurich is a very smart man and always seems to be planning ahead. I have not heard any rumors but I am going to throw this scenario out there. Maybe Tom Jurich will be retiring after the stadium expansion is completed and he feels that its very likely his son, Mark Jurich (currently Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development), will take over as Athletic Director. To help out his son, he has locked up one of the best coaches in the country at a very reasonable price. So again I ask, Is Bobby Petrino underpaid?

That scenario may seem far-fetched to some but I just can’t help but wonder. The reason I don’t think Jurich only gave Petrino a small boost in pay to lock him up for the future is because Tom Jurich is the Athletic Director of the University with the highest revenue and Tom Jurich has never been one to shy away from writing the big check. The more likely scenario is that with more success, Petrino will have his contract extended and renegotiated again in a few years to ensure his financial place among the best coaches in the country.

As Always, GO CARDS!

WLKY.com

We hope you didn’t miss TODAY’S episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville. Your host Steven Rummage & the social media guru Jeremy were there to talk all things Cards! Today we welcomed back our guy Marques Maybin. We were proud to also bring to you the one and only Damion Lee. Draft talk, one and dones, next year’s team & a very special story about the first time he spoke to Rick Pitino.

The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Douglas Budd at Red Edge Realty and homesforsaleinlouisville.net.

Don’t forget, If you can’t listen on the radio get on your iHeart or TuneIn apps. Also you can listen to ESPN 93.9 The Ville audio now on any phone! Just dial 605-477-9680.

Also a shout out to our commercial sponsors Shaun Larlee, Mortgage Broker from United Financial Group, Michael Puckett at Western & Southern Life,Jill Dodson from Jill’s Place and our newest commercial sponsor: John Fogle from Code 3 Entertainment for their help in putting on the #1 Sports show on the weekend in the Ville!

Go Cards!

We hope you didn’t miss TODAY’S episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville. Your host Steven Rummage & the social media guru Jeremy were there to talk all things Cards! Today we welcomed in Red Rage Dave (His new government name) and were all over a bunch of topics? How do we use the last scholarship for UofL Basketball? With Nanu announcing he got a draft combine invite, will there be 2 schollys? Can Lamar amass 1000 total yards in a game and why does Charlie keep getting Bobby’s credit on draft night? We went over all of this and more as we walked through the doors at 9:59 & 1/2 this morning.

The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Douglas Budd at Red Edge Realty and homesforsaleinlouisville.net.

Don’t forget, If you can’t listen on the radio get on your iHeart or TuneIn apps. Also you can listen to ESPN 93.9 The Ville audio now on any phone! Just dial 605-477-9680.

Also a shout out to our commercial sponsors Shaun Larlee, Mortgage Broker from United Financial Group, Michael Puckett at Western & Southern Life,Jill Dodson from Jill’s Place and our newest commercial sponsor: John Fogle from Code 3 Entertainment for their help in putting on the #1 Sports show on the weekend in the Ville!

We hope you didn’t miss TODAY’S episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville. Your host Steven Rummage & the social media guru Jeremy were there to talk all things Cards! Today we talked at length about Nanu and his upcoming decision. Did he change overnight? We talk about that. Also A ton of love for the UofL Baseball team as the guys talk about the trip to Omaha! We went over all of this and also talked about Marcus Lee’s soul and UL-uk Football opening line: Is it right? Click below for today’s podcast!

The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Douglas Budd at Red Edge Realty and homesforsaleinlouisville.net.

Don’t forget, If you can’t listen on the radio get on your iHeart or TuneIn apps. Also you can listen to ESPN 93.9 The Ville audio now on any phone! Just dial 605-477-9680.

Also a shout out to our commercial sponsors Shaun Larlee, Mortgage Broker from United Financial Group, Michael Puckett at Western & Southern Life,Jill Dodson from Jill’s Place and our newest commercial sponsor: John Fogle from Code 3 Entertainment for their help in putting on the #1 Sports show on the weekend in the Ville!

Photo: Tim Haag/CardinalSportsZone.com

Here is an update on Chinanu Onuaku: (From Mike Hughes Twitter)

We will update you more if we hear anything. Tune in to Midday with Marques Maybin to hear MM & Steve talk about this on 93.9 FM The Ville from 10-noon!

***UPDATE #1***

***UPDATE #2***

We hope you didn’t miss TODAY’S episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville. Your host Steven Rummage, the social media guru Jeremy & Top 3 All time Dunker Marques Maybin were there to talk all things Cards! Biggest sports beefs, Drake,Lebron,Trez, incoming Basketball & Football recruits arriving & UofL Baseball were just a few topics. Click below for today’s podcast!

The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Douglas Budd at Red Edge Realty andhomesforsaleinlouisville.net.

Don’t forget, If you can’t listen on the radio get on your iHeart or TuneIn apps. Also you can listen to ESPN 93.9 The Ville audio now on any phone! Just dial 605-477-9680.

Also a shout out to our commercial sponsors Shaun Larlee, Mortgage Broker from United Financial Group, Michael Puckett at Western & Southern Life,Jill Dodson from Jill’s Place and our newest commercial sponsor: John Fogle from Code 3 Entertainment for their help in putting on the #1 Sports show on the weekend in the Ville!

We hope you didn’t miss TODAY’S episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone show on ESPN 93.9 The Ville. Your host Steven Rummage, the social media guy Jeremy & Marques Maybin were there to celebrate the life of Cardinal Forever Muhammad Ali. We had Peyton Siva on to talk about Cardinal Week next week and to give us some Ali stories. We also had Lavell Boyd who had some cool projects he is working on. Big announcement about the July 2nd show as well. You have to listen! Damion Lee also shared some stuff with us that we passed along. Click below for today’s podcast!

Hour 1 with Peyton Siva

Hour 2 with Lavell Boyd & Lloyd Gardner

The Cardinal Sports Zone show is brought to you by Douglas Budd at Red Edge Realty andhomesforsaleinlouisville.net.

Don’t forget, If you can’t listen on the radio get on your iHeart or TuneIn apps. Also you can listen to ESPN 93.9 The Ville audio now on any phone! Just dial 605-477-9680.

Also a shout out to our commercial sponsors Shaun Larlee, Mortgage Broker from United Financial Group, Michael Puckett at Western & Southern Life,Jill Dodson from Jill’s Place and our newest commercial sponsor: John Fogle from Code 3 Entertainment for their help in putting on the #1 Sports show on the weekend in the Ville!