Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Feb 10, 2023 - 7:05 PM

—Highlights from the Louisville women’s basketball team’s Thursday win over Virginia are here.

—The Louisville baseball team has released its promotional schedule for the 2023 season. The Cards open their season a week from today.

—The U of L softball team opened its 2023 season in Clearwater, Fla. with a 4-2 extra inning win over South Alabama. The Cards will face nationally ranked Kentucky later today.

—These videos have all been a welcome distraction this week.

—The Big 12 and its TV partners have reached an early exit agreement with Texas and Oklahoma, which means they’ll begin play in the SEC in 2024-25. With the league almost certain to expand to a 9-game conference schedule and Kentucky being unwilling to guarantee that they’ll keep playing Louisville if that happens, there’s a chance that this November could be the last Battle for the Governor’s Cup for a long time.

—Your non-sports reading recommendation of the day is this feature on a stage electrician who has watched The Phantom of the Opera every night for 35 years and what he’s learned while doing the same thing 13,000 times.

—247 Sports has Louisville’s Jamari Thrash at No. 22 in its list of the 25 best returning wide receivers in college football for 2023.

22. Jamari Thrash, Louisville

Thrash, who eclipsed 1,100 yards last season at Georgia State, is the perfect fit for Jeff Brohm’s offense at Louisville in a pass-happy scheme.

—Four-star class of 2024 small forward Jalen Shelley has received a Louisville offer.

—Sports Illustrated goes inside the complete turnaround that has happened within the Pittsburgh athletic department.

—It pays to renew your football season tickets early this year.

—The new U of L football roster seems to be meshing well early.

—Former Louisville basketball player Robbie Valentine was arrested and charged with strangulation Thursday night.

—The Big Four Bridge is turning 10-years-old.

—Streaking the Lawn looks closer at Virginia’s 10-point loss to Louisville from last night.

—Gonna miss Brett. He was very good at his job and a good guy in general.

—Matt McGavic is picking Miami to handle Louisville by 23 tomorrow night.

—It has not taken Jeff Brohm long to make some recruiting noise in the Bluegrass State.

“We’re going to kind of use the same strategy that coach (Howard) Schnellenberger used and what I believe in,” Brohm said. “Definitely in-state and the surrounding three-to-four-hour radius we are going to leave no stone unturned and we are going to give everybody that can make a difference the opportunity to come here and compete and help us win football games.

“I think we have a good plan to get that done and a plan to help young players come in and make a difference right away and a plan that we used at Purdue. When you look at Rondale Moore (former Trinity star) and David Bell (Indianapolis native) and George Karlaftis (Indianapolis) all came in and could have gone anywhere in the country and they were stars in year one. Not the second year, not the redshirt year, year one.”

—Four-star athlete Kylan Fox is “feeling warm” towards Louisville.

—Cardinal Authority looks back at the 12 highest-ranked in-state football recruits since 2000.

—Todd Packer from The Office is hosting a trivia competition (in character) in Louisville next weekend.

—Friday Irrelevance, double helping:

—The Crunch Zone compares the statistical profiles of Louisville and Miami.

—Former U of L golfer Adam Hadwin was tied for first after day one of the Waste Management Open in Phoenix.

—State of Louisville looks at the Cardinal football position groups that are getting the biggest boost going into 2023.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show wraps up the week from 3-6 this afternoon on 1450AM/96.1FM. Happy Super Bowl weekend.