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Everyone knows about Charlie Strong and how great he is so early in his head coaching career.  I thought for the sake of this post I would give a little credit to the overly energetic Defensive Coordinator for the Cards' Vance Bedford.  We all know the offense is what sells tickets but at the end of the day I feel the defensive unit of this Cardinals team will be what could (and hopefully will) make 2012  a very special season for your Louisville Cardinals.

Here is the story by Andrea Adelson on the BIG EAST post-spring power rankings.

Here is the description of the Cards by Adelson:

1. Louisville: Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater looked better than ever this spring, giving me renewed confidence the Cardinals are going to be the preseason favorite in the league. The secondary should be exceptionally strong, and the offensive line should be better. Questions remain at running back and with depth in the front seven. But of all the teams in the league, I think the Cardinals have the most stability headed into the season. Plus, it hugely helps to have Charlie Strong entering Year 3.

Elvis Dumervil named #68 overall player by www.nfl.com for the 2012 season. Here is the list that has been released so far.

Here is Elvis's player profile from nfl.com. Dumervil recorded 42 tackles and 9.5 sacks in 2011 during an impressive comeback season after missing the entire 2010 season due to a torn pectoral muscle during a Broncos practice.

In case you haven't seen it before here is a 2 minute compilation of Dumervil when he registered 4 sacks against Tyler Bloyd's favorite NFL team, the Cleveland Browns.

Kenneth Faried finished his rookie season in an impressive fashion, averaging 10 rebounds per game and just over 10 points per game during the playoffs. During the regular season he averaged 10.2 PPG and 7.7 RPG.

Faried exceeded expectations after being selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 22nd pick in the first round of this past seasons NBA draft. Faried will always be remembered as one of the greatest athletes to ever come out of Morehead State and very well may have a long NBA career ahead of him.

Faried finished 3rd in the NBA in the rookie of the year voting behind Kyrie Irving and Ricky Rubio as you can see here.

Faried finished his career at Morehead State as the #1 rebounder not only in the history of his college but in the modern era (since 1973) of D1 college basketball.  Faried had 1,570 rebounds during his career at Morehead St.  Tim Duncan previously held the all-time career rebounding record.

Here is an article from the Denver Post discussing the great success Faried enjoyed during his first season as a Nugget.

Here is another Denver Post article from last month where the author refers to Faried with the amazing nickname of "Manimal" and describes him as being possibly the only player in the league who can contest Blake Griffin at the rim.

Former Louisville Cardinal commit Ryan Taylor who was originally from Lawrence North in Indianapolis, IN went to Western High School in Louisville as part of his plan to play for the Louisville Cardinals as part of a Freshman class alongside Zach Price, Wayne Blackshear, Chane Behanan and Michael Chandler. This was before Taylor had some academic issues which resulted in him transferring to Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia for a year of prep school. 

Over the past couple years, Taylor had hinted that he still wanted to play for the Louisville Cardinals but eventually landed at Marshall. Cardinal nation wishes Taylor the best while with the Thundering Herd in conference USA.

Here is the article from www.herdzone.com

Mark Sheldon wrote a great piece here about how Joey Votto and Jay Bruce have taken an interest in learning to speak Spanish in an attempt to better communicate with their teammates who primarily speak Spanish.

A few interesting things from the article are:

-Dusty Baker speaks fluent Spanish and has ever since he was in high school.

Baker grew up in Southern California and his mother strongly encouraged him to learn the second language from a very young age. "It took three years of high school with my mother's hand around my throat," Baker said. "I didn't appreciate it until I went to winter ball. I was thanking my mom, especially when I was the only [American] guy on the team that could talk to the pretty little girls. I was 19 years-old at that point. I didn't have any clue how beneficial it would be until later on in my life.

-Sheldon points out the Reds roster breakdown falls right along with the league average, having six players on the 25 man roster being foreign-born Latinos. Including Aroldis Chapman (Cuba), Johnny Cueto (D.R.), Wilson Valdez (D.R), Miguel Cairo (Venezuela), Alfredo Simon (D.R.) and Devin Mesoraco (Panama).

Shamar Johnson is a 6-6 295 lb Offensive Tackle from Pensacola, FLA. Johnson had been recruited by FSU, Alabama, FIU and Louisville.

Johnson played Tight End recently and is viewed as a very athletic prospect at the tackle position. He actually has seriously considered trying to play basketball and football wherever he ends up going to college.

Here is the www.scout.com’s Mike Bakas’ analysis of Shamar:

Terrence Ross, a 6-2 190 lb Safety from Wekiva HS in Apopka, FL (about 25 minutes Northwest from Orlando, FL) has committed to play for Head Coach Charlie Strong and the Louisville Cardinals.

Last month Ross spoke briefly about Louisville "I like Louisville's coaches and how they are with their players. It seems like they can connect.”

Mayweather vs Cotto

In honor of local legend Earl Heyman who is an Orange Bowl Champion, Super Bowl Champion and Gold Gloves Heavyweight Boxing Champion in the state of Indiana, I will be gathering together with a few buddies Saturday night after a long day of Derby festivities to watch what will quite possibly be the biggest fight of 2012.

Rumor has it Kareem Richardson is the likely candidate as he was scheduled to interview with Rick last week and he attended the EYBL in Hampton, VA which is the same tournament Pitino watched this weekend.

Here is Kareem’s most recent bio from Xavier’s official web site.

On a side note, I am wondering if the vacancy left by Mark Lieberman (Director of Basketball Operations) will also be filled tomorrow as Lieberman is joining Richard Pitino at Florida International University.  Could we see someone like Andre Mcgee or David Padgett fill this position?

These odds are as of today 4/29/2012

2012 Kentucky Derby Odds to Win

According to multiple sources Louisville LB Dexter Heyman has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent. Heyman will join former Cardinals teammate Josh Bellamy on the Chiefs. Heyman can also look forward to being coached by Romeo Crennel (played football and basketball for Fort Knox, HS in KY) who is a very respected and accomplished defensive coach in the NFL, Crennel is not only the Chiefs Head Coach but also serves as the Defensive Coordinator.

Best of luck to Dexter as the entire state of Kentucky will be supporting you in your quest for a long and healthy NFL career!

Here is a post regarding Dexter's signing from www.bleacherreport.com

So this is my weekly review/preview of the Louisville Bats.  The Bats are 9-15 and still in last place (4th) in the International League West.  Why is a Colorado Rockies version of Jeff Francis on the cover of my post?  Because its an SI cover photo and because Francis has looked very sharp lately.  Being that the Reds don't currently have a left handed starting pitcher on the roster I am predicting that at some time this season we see Francis at the major league level.  Francis threw 9 strikeouts on Friday and has now recorded 9 Ks in 3 of his last 4 games.  Francis is ranked 3rd in the International League in strikeouts with 33 on the season.  Francis has a 2-2 record with a 3.30 ERA.

Here is Montrezl Harrell’s scout.com profile.

Due to Cardinals Assistant Coach Kevin Keatts history with Harrell’s High School Hargrave Military Academy in VA, Louisville appears to be recruiting the 6-7 235 lb PF from Tarboro, NC? If so what does this mean about the scholarship situation at Louisville?

Here are a few possible reasons Rick Pitino (and staff) may be recruiting Montrezl despite not appearing to have any open roster spots:

This Louisville Bats week in review comes to you courtesy of the Louisville Bats version of Aroldis Chapman. Why? Because I attended a game at Louisville Slugger field where the radar gun said Chapman threw a pitch at 106 MPH. That is reason enough for me.

The Bats have went 3-4 since my last Bats update post and below I have provided you with just a brief summary of the relevant parts of each game.  The Bats' record is currently 6-12 and they are behind the Indianapolis Indians (Pitt. Pirates) sitting in fourth place in the International League West.

Sunday 4/15

This past Thursday 4/19, former Louisville Cardinal and former Super Bowl Champion (with the New Orleans Saints) Earl Heyman defeated Chris Bascler to become the 2012 Heavyweight Golden Gloves Boxing Champion in the state of Indiana.

Earl participates in the Indiana Golden Gloves program because the state of Kentucky doesn’t participate in the Golden Gloves amateur boxing development program.

Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion appears to be the final step for Earl as he is expected to join the professional ranks later in 2012.

Red’s veteran infielder Miguel Cairo was placed on the 15 day disabled list Tuesday for a strained left hamstring which prompted the Reds to call up the logical replacement in 26 year old Todd Frazier. Frazier is projected as a possible long term replacement for Scott Rolen at third base.

Frazier played in college for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights before being drafted #34 overall by the Reds in the 2007 MLB Draft.

Frazier is expected to be in uniform for the game tonight in St. Louis. The first pitch for tonight’s game is set for 8:15PM as Johnny Cueto faces off against the Cardinals current “Ace” Kyle Lohse.

First off I realize everyone is wondering where I found these amazing models for the first weekly "Bats" review post.  They are my kids they just happen to look like models because they have great genes.

The content of my weekly "Bats" post will probably fluctuate on a week by week basis.  I may discuss the Reds some or I may choose to do a run-down style summary of the past weeks games. 

This week I have reviewed the action from the last week and I give a brief preview of the week ahead.  The bottom line is the Bats are 3-7 currently and the Reds are 3-6.  Both teams need to turn things around but fortunately there is plenty of time to do so.

Sunday 4/8

The bats lost to the Columbus Clippers 7-4 despite SP Chad Reineke lasting 6.0 IP, allowing only 3 ER and striking out 4 batters. Nick Christiani blew the save and recorded the loss while allowing 3ER.

You know you can't get enough of the Corky Miller pictures.  They are exactly what is great about baseball and should remind us all exactly what is so great about being an American...having mustaches and watching baseball.

The Louisville Bats are currently 1-1 and tonight they will take on the Columbus Clippers (in Columbus) in the third of a four game series. Ryan Gallagher will take the mound for the Bats as Corey Kluber will pitch for the Clippers. The Clippers are the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The Clippers most well known current players are Matt La Porta, Ryan Spilborghs and Andy Laroche based on my personal knowledge (I didn’t recognize many of the other players).

Even though opening day was Thursday I am still forcing myself to get into the baseball frame of mind. While preparing for the 2012 Reds season I did a couple things:  I spent a lot of time looking through the internet at all the great pictures of Corky Miller's mustache and I watched "4192 The Crowning of the Hit King" Starring Pete Rose. It is available on NETFLIX Instant and I highly recommend you watch it if you haven't already seen it.

It covers basically everything great about Pete Rose and he tells many of the stories himself. You can expect a whole lot of Marty Brennaman, some Paul O'neil, Anthony Munoz, Mike Schmidt and a lot of Tony Perez (my favorite person to listen to talking ever). The documentary was directed by Terry Lukemire.

If for no other reason you should watch the documentary to try and figure out what Tony Perez is saying when he gets excited. It's really entertaining.

Here is a trailer for the documentary.

Since the Louisville Bats are our city’s obvious connection to the Reds I am going to do a two part post where I break down what you have to look forward to if you do decide to attend a Louisville Bats game this year.

I’m not doing a bio on every player or necessarily even the players who are projected to do the best this season for the Bats. I am instead looking into which players have something interesting to their personal story and which players have a strong likelihood of playing for the Reds at some time this season.

According to this report from ESPN the Reds have surprised many and have ponied up the big bucks for MVP Joey Votto. Locking him in with a ten year $225 million deal.

 With Jay Bruce signed for about 5 more seasons and Brandon Phillips being a free agent after the season it appears this may signal the end of the Brandon Phillips era after the 2012 season based on nothing more than my own personal speculation.

As a life-long Reds fan I must admit this news makes me VERY HAPPY! I love Votto and he seems to be a great first baseman both offensively and his defense continues to improve.