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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.

The Kentucky Derby is in our rear view mirror, and once again the racing community looks forward to the second jewel of the sport's triple crown, the Preakness Stakes. I hope some of you took my advice and played I'll Have Another in the Derby...and maybe didn't take my advice on some of the other horses. All in all, I felt good with my picks. The Derby is unlike any other race, there are traffic issues and obstacles that these horses will never face again during the entirety of their careers. My top pick, Union Rags, got unlucky once again and was fenced in early, only able to get up for seventh. Gemologist, my other pick along with I'll Have Another, finished a distant 16th but was found to have suffered a foot bruise that most likely hindered his ability to run. Bodemeister truly shocked me. As the pace scenario unfolded, I was certain the race was setting up the way I had predicted. Bodemeister, Hansen, and Trinniberg were running blistering fractions (21.5 opening quarter...scary), and the rest of the field was stalking. Trinniberg and Hansen fell off, but Bodemeister held on to grab place. Dullahan also surprised me a bit. Not that he was running at the end, but that he was able to get up for show. Overall a fantastic Derby and an intriguing setup for tomorrow's Preakness.

First off, who won't be there. Dale Romans has decided to rest Dullahan and point towards the Belmont, in hopes that the longer distance will suit his late runner better than the Preakness. Union Rags will also be pointed towards the Belmont, where a clean trip is easier to come by, and the mile and a half can cure most starting gate ills. Hansen will also miss the Preakness (as well as the Belmont), as his connections have finally come to the realization that he is miler, not a route runner. The field for the Preakness remains strong, with eleven horses entered, including six Derby starters. Those are Went the Day Well (impressive 4th place finish), Creative Cause (5th), Bodemeister (2nd), Daddy Nose Best (10th), Optimizer (11th), and of course Derby winner I'll Have Another. They join newcomers Tiger Walk (4th in the Wood Memorial), Teeth of the Dog (3rd Wood Memorial), Pretension (1st Canonero II), Zhttp://www.kentuckysports.co/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=dashboard&layout=write&Itemid=2etterholm (1st NY-bred Stakes), and Romans-trained Cozzetti (4th in the Arkansas Derby).

I'll go ahead and start off by saying that I believe the best horses in this field are the entries who also ran in the Derby. Prevailing logic will tell you that the best three year olds in the country were all in that race, and very seldom does a horse win the Preakness that did not start in the Derby. That being said, its not unheard of, but in recent years it has taken a special horse with a legitimate reason to not have run the Derby to pull it off (see: Rachel Alexandra). I'll narrow my analysis to whom I consider the contenders.

Bodemeister: I am still incredibly impressed that this horse was able to stay up for place after such a fast start at Churchill. The main difference between that race and the Preakness will be the lack of fellow early speed to push Bodemeister's pace. This would seem like a pretty big advantage on the surface, and there is a very real possibility that if the field allows Bodemeister to set and keep his own pace, he'll run away it. The word is that he has trained very well for Bob Baffert since the Derby. It would appear there is nothing not to like about this horse going into Pimlico, but I have this feeling that that effort in the 1 1/4 mile KY Derby had to take a lot out of him, and when Mike Smith comes asking down the stretch, there won't be enough in the tank do take the Black Eyed Susans.

It was an odd day at Citi Field. The Reds' jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but were unable to seal the deal. The Reds' bullpen, very uncharacteristically, allowed six runs (five were earned) in a loss Thursday to the Mets, 9-4. The Mets torched the Reds' bullpen today and did the Reds in for good when Ronnie Cedeno blasted a three-run home run to give the Mets' a nice five run cushion going into the ninth. 

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.

        Anton Gill continues to have an impressive spring in AAU basketball. Scout.com took notice and moved the 2013 Louisville commit from the 37th best player in the class to the number 32. Gill has recently made plans to transfer to Hargrove Military School for his final year. He is currently the 7th-ranked shooting guard in his class.

Anton Gill (Ravenscroft School) Raleigh, NC

6-4/180

Committed to Louisville

Other Louisville 2013 recruits rankings from Scout.com : Enitre List

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

   LUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get more and more excited about Mr. Luke Hancock as the basketball season gets closer. Hancock is continuing to do rehab on his shoulder after he had to have surgery when he hurt it in a pick-up game.

     Yahoo! Sports listed Hancock as one of the Top 8 newcomers to the Big East. The list includes the players who need to make an immediate impact for their team. For the complete list go HERE.

 8. Louisville SF Luke Hancock
Particulars: 6-6/200, Jr.; transfer from George Mason, preceded by Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy
Buzz: Hancock should be a solid veteran addition to a loaded Louisville roster. Hancock is a heady player who doesn't necessarily do anything great but does everything well, especially pass. He has 3-point range but probably is most effective in a sort of point forward role. He can be an effective perimeter defender but can be overpowered by bigger forwards in the paint.

If there were two people on this Reds team that needed to have a big night, it would definitely be Todd Frazier and Mike Leake. Both of whom played very well tonight and both of whom played a role in the Reds' 6-3 win over the Mets of New York. 

Race is Saturday at 4:30pm on NBC

PP	Silk	Horse	Owner	Trainer	Jockey	Breeder	Morning Line
1		Tiger Walk	Sagamore Farm	Ignacio Correas IV	Kent Desormeaux	River Bend Farm	30-1
2		Teeth of the Dog	J. W. Singer	Michael Matz	Joe Bravo	Royal Pegasus	15-1
3		Pretension	Kidwells Petite Stable	Christopher Grove	Javier Santiago	Sequel Thoroughbreds and A. Lakin & Sons	30-1
4		Zetterholm	Winter Park Partners	Richard Dutrow Jr.	Junior Alvarado	Anthony Grey	20-1
5		Went the Day Well	Team Valor International and Mark Ford	H. Graham Motion	John R. Velazquez	James Patrick Delaney	6-1
6		Creative Cause	Heinz Steinmann	Mike Harrington	Joel Rosario	James C. Weigel	6-1
7		Bodemeister	Zayat Stables and Southern Equine Stable	Bob Baffert	Mike Smith	Audley Farm, Inc.	8-5
8		Daddy Nose Best	Bob and Cathy Zollars	Steven Asmussen	Julien Leparoux	Patricia Ann Elia Trust	12-1
9		I'll Have Another	J. Paul Reddam	Doug F. O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez	Harvey Clarke	5-2
10		Optimizer	Bluegrass Hall	D. Wayne Lukas	Corey Nakatani	Bluegrass Hall	30-1
11		Cozzetti	Albaugh Family Stables	Dale Romans	Jose Lezcano	Soc. Agr. Santa Elena     30-1     De    Chimbarongo

News coming out of Israel earlier today is that former Kentucky guard Joe Crawford injured his knee.

He is said to have torn a tendon and will be sidelined for 4-6 months. This is sad news for Joe as he has had a great year. He is averaging just over 19 points a game with 3 rebounds and assists for his Macabi-Rishon team. We hope for a speedy and full recovery to one of my favorite Cats so we can all continue to see him have continual success over seas.

      SportingNews.com has been releasing analysis of the 2013 football recruiting class. Kyle Bolin was mentioned as one of the best pro-style quarterbacks in the class. Bolin has been getting a lot of recognition since he committed to Louisville as a junior. The Lexington Catholic QB has also become a great recruiter for other top players in the class. For the complete article go here.

Excerpt:

Kyle Bolin

Lexington Catholic (Lexington, Ky.)

• - Peyton Siva was named one of the Top 25 players in college basketball for the 2012-2013 season. Link to complete list here. 
• Excerpt:
  

Notable 2011-12 Stats: 9 PPG (fifth for team), 6 APG (led team)

Returning for his senior season, big-shot point guard Peyton Siva made his name known around the country following his top-notch play in both the Big East Conference and NCAA Tournament. Taking over the leadership role for the Cardinals next year, head coach Rick Pitino has to be excited about the prospect of Siva taking Louisville to new heights.

A disappointing Final Four loss to in-state rival Kentucky will be the driving force behind this Cardinal program as it heads in to the 2012-13 season.

- Peyton Siva was on CSN with Jeff Goodman and Robbie Hummel, LINK

Several months ago, John Calipari made the comment that Kentucky basketball is "the Commonwealth's team."  At the time, the comment seemed to ruffle the feathers of Louisville Cardinal fans.  Today, I want to take a look at Kentucky basketball's record against the other various teams from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  I am including official games and exhibition games that have been played.  The exhibition games will be clear to recognize.  It is worth noting that current Division II and III schools along with certain mid-major Division I schools have not always been in the position that they are in today.  Many of today's "lower" schools were once a bigger player on the national scene.

Ashland YMCA  2-0

Mike Huguenin of Yahoo! Sports has helped put together a few pre-season lists for the 2012-13 basketball season and he seems to like a pair of incoming guys for Kentucky. Nerlens Noel finds his name as one of the five starters with his counterpart Alex Poythress coming off the bench.

Now you're probably wondering what kind of All-Freshman team this is with starters and bench guys, but the guys decided to go a different route and put together what they thought would be a 12-man team that could compete. I like this idea as it is not necessary the choose 12 best freshman out there but more of who would be a good fit here or there. Here is a look at what was said of Noel and Poythress and to read the article in full, go HERE!

C Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Background: 6-10/200; five-star recruit from Tilton (N.H.) The Tilton School
Buzz: The NCAA is investigating Noel's background, specifically his ties with two men from the Boston area, where he grew up. Regardless of the inquiry, Noel is a defensive difference-maker. While he lacks bulk, he is athletic and already has advanced shot-blocking techniques. His offense remains somewhat raw, but his defense and rebounding make up for that. Noel reclassified as a senior during the school year.

PF Alex Pothyress, Kentucky
Background: 6-8/215; five-star prospect from Clarksville (Tenn.) Northeast
Buzz: UK famously lost its top six players from its national title team, meaning Pothyress should slide right into the starting power forward role left vacant by Terrence Jones. He is athletic and runs the floor extremely well for a big man. He handles the ball well, and possesses a solid all-around offensive game; he can hit the 15-footer and also can put the ball on the floor and slash to the rim. He puts his athleticism to good use on the defensive end as well.

I know this comes a little late but I was live on 1450am for the morning show as this broke so I'm just getting to the news, but former Kentucky guard Michael Porter was arrested early this morning.

Porter is being held in a Lexington jail, charged with sexual abuse against minors who are said to be 14 and 15 years of age. The acts were said to be a few years back when he met one of the girls as a church counselor as he is being faced with six cases of sodomy and two charges of 1st degree sexual abuse. We will update as more is released.

         Yahoo! Sports has released preseason best players by classes for the 2012-2013 season. Gorgui Dieng was named a starter in the All-Junior Team and Chane Behanan was placed on the bench for the All-Sophomore Team. For the complete list of teams go here.

C Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
Key 2011-12 stats: 32.8 mpg, 9.1 ppg, 52.5 FG%, 9.1 rpg, 3.2 bpg, 1.2 spg
Buzz: He has a chance to be the biggest defensive difference-maker in the nation next season. Dieng never is going to be a smooth offensive player and his offensive ceiling is limited, but he more than makes up for it on the boards and on defense. He is athletic and runs the floor well, too.

F Chane Behanan, Louisville
Key 2011-12 stats: 26.0 mpg, 9.5 ppg, 51.0 FG%, 7.5 rpg
Buzz: Behanan is a burly guy (6-6/245) who came on strong down the stretch this past season. He has the strength to get off a shot against almost anyone in the lane, which makes it puzzling that he attempted 36 3-pointers (hitting just six). He and Gorgui Dieng should make for a tough frontcourt duo next season. Behanan does a nice job getting to the line, but needs to work on his free throws (just 56.0 percent this past season).

      Rick Pitino announced in his new blog that Michael Baffour has joined the Louisville Cardinal's basketball team as a walk-on. Baffour is a 6'2 160 lbs. guard from Bryan Station High School. His brother Tony Baffour is on the track and field team for UofL. Read about Tony HERE.

       Apparently Russ Smith has given the new walk-on the nickname of "Dark Slime." Not sure why, but I am sure it will stick as all of Russ's nicknames do. Rick Pitino said he wasn't sure what position Baffour would be playing yet.

          Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

  Rick Pitino the blogger has returned and he's better then ever. Pitino released his first masterpiece of the off-season today, mostly reviewing last season's final four run. He did announce a new walk-on to replace Elisha Justice, Michael Baffour from Lexington. For Pitino's complete blog go HERE.