Louisville fans might as well cancel Christmas

A terrible football season. A bad basketball season. Louisville fans did not have much to cheer for this year. The Cardinal faithful had to endure a total crushing by the California Golden Bears 77-62 that ousted the Birds from the first round of the NCAA tournament. It wasn't pretty from the start. The Cards were down 22-4 with about 14 minutes left to go in the first half. They fought back at points in the game but every time they cut the lead, Cal would go drain a three, Louisville would turn it over, Cal would score and the Cards would be back down by double digits again.

Only two players showed up to play in this game: Samardo Samuels and Rakeem Buckles. Buckles hustled and put up 20 points and Samuels produced whenever Sosa or Siva decided to give him the ball and put up 16. The "Senior Leaders" Uncle Jerry Smith and Edgar "So-So" Sosa combined for a whopping 13 points. Wow. I don't know if there is a more innocuous guard tandem in the NCAA.

California moved at a lightning fast paced the entire game. Louisville looked confused and out hustled. They could not keep up with the run and gun style that the Golden Bears executed. The grind-it-out Big East didn't prepare the Cards for this type of speed. The players admitted to be tired and worn out.

The most glaring fact about this game is how terrible Edgar Sosa actually was. One of the most reviled players (by both Cats and Cards fans alike) went out in a puff of smoke. He turned the ball over, made terrible passes, jacked up abysmal shots and had 3 fouls in the first half. 2 of those coming by way of out of control charges. He wasn't winking at the camera or doing his eyebrows last night.

An image that sticks out to me: The Cards were climbing back into the game. Kuric hits a three. Cal goes down the court, misses a shot and the Cards recover. The Cards come back down, pass the ball around and then Swopshire makes a three. California goes back down, misses another shot and the Cards get the rebound. Sosa dribbles down the court, doesn't look to pass, doesn't look to drive, he throws up a three with a hand in his grill and misses it terribly. Momentum gone. But that's Sosa. Others were hitting and he wanted to get his. Me first, I'm the guy, the rest of you take a seat. And the team suffered from it all year long.

So where is the silver lining? Sosa and Smith are gone, that's great. I don't care what Favre says about Uncle Jerry's defense, the guy sucked this year. His lack of offensive productivity negated his defense and made him a liability whenever the Cards were down or in a shoot-out.

Other than that I really can't find any. There is speculation that SamSam may take his ball and go to the NBA. That would absolutely devastate them. They would be left with Terrence "Electric Slide" Jennings, a player that is good at two things: fouling and getting tased. Swopshire needs to gain about 100 pounds to play his position effectively. Rakeem Buckles is promising and athletic. Look for him to make strides.

The Cards actually get upgraded at the point and the two guard with Siva and Knowels making the start next year. I have believed (along with many Louisville fans) that Siva should have been the starter long ago. With experience this kid is going to be good.

There isn't anything going on as far as recruiting is concerned for the Cards next season. Buckles(4 stars) and Siva (4 stars) were on the lower end of the top 40 recruits but Pitino got them to come to Da Ville. Mike Marra was not listed in the top 150. This year Pitino only has one guy in the top 50 ready to commit. #45 Justin Coleman. I guess he is putting all of his eggs in the 2011 basket with the assumption that Maruis Teague and Quincy Miller will commit to the Cards. The only thing is that Teague and Miller have been spotted around Lexington and have expressed their interest in going to school in that particular city.

Next season doesn't look bright for the Cards. I have been wrong before but with the personnel coming back and the lack of big time recruits coming in I don't see much there. Yes they are opening a beautiful new arena but that arena isn't going to win games for them. The Cards fans will empty out of that thing faster than they did at the Pizza Box during the Kragthorpe era. I couldn't blame them. High priced tickets for a mediocre product led by a coach that jumped the shark in 1996.