Some people will casually celebrate Mardi Gras this Fat Tuesday. Some will dress in extravagant costumes while staying up till all hours of the night while drinking adult beverages with their friends… Not this guy who sent in this photo of a new tattoo he got while on Bourbon Street this year. Congratulations YOU are the FAT TUESDAY CARDS FAN OF 2012! I’d say it is definitely worth it.

Just be careful the next time you accuse someone of being a "fare weather" Cards fan as you just might be talking to this guy.

Go Cards!

Cards narrowly avoid a close game at Depaul

Louisville came back from a 17 point deficit and ended up winning in overtime with the final score being 90-82. Louisville fans continued the recent trend of traveling well to the windy city as approximately 6,000 Cards fans packed the Allstate Arena to cheer on their Cards.

After the game I have somewhat of a bittersweet feeling while reflecting on the victory. On one hand the Cards shouldn’t have allowed the Blue Demons to stay in the game with the #19 team in the country according to the Associated Press.

On the other hand the Cards made 12 of 21 three pointers led by Kyle Kuric (5-10) and Russ Smith (3-6). Eight of those three pointers came in the second half and for the game the Cards shot .667% (18-27) from the ft line compared to .571% (12-21) against Syracuse last game.

My personal choice for Cards MVP on Saturday is Russ Smith. Russ finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 assists. A case could also be made that Kyle Kuric deserved the honor after finishing with 25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block in 42 minutes. The only reason I choose Russ over Kyle in this case is that Russ managed to shoot only 11 times compared to Kyle’s 17 FGA. I think if Russ can contribute through assists, steals and timely scoring this team can make a run in the tourney. If we get to where Russ is leading the team in FGA every game I fear the up side of the Cards is minimal.

Cards next game

The Cards will tip off at Cincinnati on Thursday 2/22/2012 at 9PM at Fifth Third Arena and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN. The Bearcats have won two games in a row (Providence and Seton Hall) and 4 of their last 5 games and currently sit with an identical record in BIG EAST conference play as the Cards (9-5).

The regular season of division 1 NCAA Baseball is underway and the Cards are currently 2-1.

Offensively, the Cards lost 2B/SS Ryan Wright to the MLB Draft (5^th round to the Cincinnati Reds organization) the Cards are relying offensively on their top returning hitter in Senior Stewart Ijames. Ijames is an OF from Owensboro, KY (Owensboro Catholic)who can bat either left or right handed, finished the 2011 regular season with 11 HRs (right behind Ryan Wright who had 12) and Ijames also was #2 on the team in RBIs, finishing with 45.

As for the pitching staff, the Cards also lost their top producer to the MLB draft/Cincinnati Reds organization as Justin Amlung was drafted in the 39^th round by the Reds. Amlung finished 2011 with the most starts (15) and the best record by far (10-2). Mike Nastold (3-7 with a 4.81 ERA in 2011) was also drafted in the2011 MLB draft, he went in the 37^th round to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The top returning pitcher for the Cardinals is Matt Koch (6-3, 204 lb RHP Junior out of Cherokee, Iowa) who registered 11 starts last season and finished with a 5-5 record and a 3.48 ERA.

The Cardinals will host Eastern Kentucky University Wednesday at 3:00 PM at Jim Patterson Stadium so if you aren’t busy at 3:00PM on a Wednesday you should definitely go out and support the Cards as they begin their journey toward (hopefully) another College World Series appearance.

The Cards were ranked (on December 19^th, 2011) as the #15 overall team by Collegiate Baseball. You can see the rankings here.