Larry Brown Sports

Louisville came to play against Florida in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night, and that was evident from the first play of the game from scrimmage. Cornerback Terrell Floyd intercepted a pass from Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel and returned it for a touchdown to start the game, and the Cardinals never looked back on their way to a stunning 33-23 victory.

Hardly anyone gave Louisville a chance against the No. 3-ranked Gators — including myself. One analyst who was particularly outspoken in bashing the Cardinals was ESPN’s David Pollack, who said before the game that he expected Florida to come away with a 15-point win that actually felt like 30. According to Louisville head coach Charlie Strong, Pollack’s prediction served as a major motivator.

“{ESPN analyst David] Pollack got us fired up earlier today, when he said it was going to be a 15-point game in their favor and it was gonna feel like a 30-point game,” Strong said after the game, via CBSSports.com. “And then he said our defense hasn’t played well all year. So this is for him.”

In his defense, Pollack was quick to admit how wrong he was after the game:

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The Louisville Cardinals don’t play Kentucky for another three months when they open the season hosting the Wildcats on Sept. 1. But already coach Charlie Strong is getting his boys in the mindset that their bitter in-state rivals aren’t people they should respect. How is Strong doing this? By having Kentucky logos placed in the locker room’s urinals, of course. (Either that, or he’s tired his players getting their peepee on the floor and is simply just giving them something to aim at now.)

This evidently isn’t the first time the Louisville’s urinals have been equipped with UK logos, but we’re sure there isn’t a single Cardinals fan who isn’t behind this. Well, other than whoever is tasked with replacing said lavatory decorations.

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Louisville lost at home to Pitt Saturday 21-14, and coach Charlie Strong believes his players were not properly focused on the game because they were too concerned with the new video game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was released last Tuesday and reportedly generated over $400 million in sales in its first 24 hours.

Strong had to pull his players off the field during pregame warmups to help their focus. He also described his players as not very mature after the game.

During his Monday press conference, Strong continued to rant about the video game. The Courier-Journal said Strong believed “his players seemed to be more enthused about playing Call to Duty than preparing for Pittsburgh.”

Before we start going off on the players, put yourself in their position. These are college boys aged 18-22. They like video games, hanging out, and partying. They’re not professionals, and some of them are irresponsible. They’re kids.

When I was in college, I made some irresponsible decisions too. My roommate and I once went on a 36-hour Madden bender freshman year. They may have used poor judgment, but how many of us can say we haven’t done the same thing?

Chest bump to Deadspin

Louisville’s cheerleaders and dance team will not be accompanying the football team on its trip to Morgantown for Saturday’s game against West Virginia. This news became a story when one Louisville cheerleader said her squad was not making the trip because of safety concerns.

“Cheer and Birds can’t go to WVU because it’s not a safe enough environment due to fans. West Virginia should be embarrassed,” cheerleader Lindsey Sitzlar wrote on Twitter.

Sitzlar told a West Virginia fan that the reason was “not random or baseless,” because four fans were sent to hospital, and cheerleaders have had liquor bottles thrown at them on recent trips. She also says the school had the cheer and dance teams leave in the fourth quarter to avoid problems.

A school keeping its cheer and dance teams from traveling to a game because of concerns about the environment is a pretty serious condemnation. We decided to call Louisville to see if the story was true.

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What better way to draw some interest to a meaningless game like the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl than adding a little boxing press conference spice? That’s exactly what happened on Sunday in St. Petersburg at the Beach Bash which was supposed to be a fun event for Louisville and Southern Miss leading up to their bowl game on Tuesday.

Players nearly got into a brawl at the Beach Bash which had to be called early. It actually seems like the Louisville players were more to blame:

“Someone said something disrespectful, did a little jawing after the dance contest… it’s all good,” said Louisville linebacker Dexter Heyman. It’s “just a little too close to game time, ya know?”.
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“They started talking trash about us being in Conference USA, [that] we can’t dance… it was stupid. We’ll do our talking on the field,” uttered one Golden Eagle who refused to be identified. “A friendly dance competition and they take it all serious? It’s ridiculous.”

I can just picture these guys pounding their chests, arguing over whose Dougie was doper, and then a brawl broke out. They do realize they’re Louisville and Southern Miss, right? They do realize nobody takes either of them seriously, right? And they do realize they’re playing in a little something called the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, right? OK, just checking, wouldn’t want them actually taking things seriously because it’s not like their game actually matters.

And if you want to know what things looked like at the Beach Bash, here’s a video:

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