It was on this day many years ago that I was brought into this crazy, unpredictable yet wonderful world. I didn’t know it for a while but I was born a Cardinal. My parents didn’t force it on me it was something that came naturally. I loved watching Louisville basketball and NFL football. I never realized till I was older that Louisville had more than just a basketball team. The first book I wrote was a Young Authors book entitled “This Is It.” It was the story of the 1980 NCAA basketball National Championship team. To this day I still do not understand how a book about a championship can only win an Honorable Mention ribbon. I mean seriously, it was about the greatest thing that had ever happened in my life. How could it not be the best book in the competition? I was crushed but my loyalty to the Cards never wavered.
In high school I was too busy playing my own sports to pay too much attention to the Cards, however I tried to watch almost every basketball game in March. It wasn’t until I actually attended the University of Louisville that I became a full out fanatic. During my college years it was nearly impossible to get a ticket to a basketball game and nobody really cared about going to a football game. We tailgated for every game but rarely entered Old Cardinal Stadium even though people would stand near the gate and hand out free tickets. There were tryout signs for baseball and soccer hanging on the concrete kiosks around campus. I knew the women had a basketball team but that was their only sport besides cheer-leading and the Ladybirds as far as I knew. The campus was dirty and everything was old and run down. It was a different time.
Now, as I am a year older and wiser, I like to look back on everything in my life and give thanks for how far I have come through hard work and the grace of God. Today, I will also look back on how far Louisville has come and give you the current state of athletics,
- Swimming and Diving – Men are ranked 10th, Women are ranked 8th
- Soccer – Men are ranked 8th
- Field Hockey – ranked 9th
- Football – ranked 6th and has the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy
- Basketball– Preseason rankings- Men 13th/14th, Women 5th/8th (AP/USAToday)
And don’t forget to vote in the USATODAY best fan ever contest. Here is the link to vote for Gary The Redbird
Thank you all for reading my posts and thank you to all my CSZ and Cardinal family. I am truly blessed. Now I am going to enjoy my birthday with my family and eat some cake.
As Always, GO CARDS!
