SportsThat's favorite Cards of All-Time

Ok, so Boogie broke some hearts yesterday by professing his detest for all things Cardinal. But it was Louisville Hate Day - don't hate Boogie, blame the president of the Kentucky fan club, no not Barack (despite his loving of the Cats and presidency), Matt Jones and the KSR staff. If you missed out, go checkout their Louisville Hate Day material - classic.


But to counter Boogie's awesome article, I decided to let you all know that SportsThat does love some things Louisville and I've put together our list of our favorite things Cardinal. I mean, it can't all be horrible. In fact, there is beauty among the ugliest rose... ok ,seriously, here it is.

1) Bozack Smith - As a 6th grader in Catholic elementary school, Bozack was a staple of lunch room jokes and the 1994 Cardinal Basketball team. His oversized nose and goofy smile just warmed your insides, like a night at Porcini's with The Boys. He seemed to almost have a cartoonish flow about him. You couldn't help but cheer for the humble but loveable character.

2) Steve Kragthorpe - What Kentucky fan doesn't love Steve Kragthorpe? He took Louisville's most awesome, NFL caliber, high flying Cards and clipped their wings. He ran them into the ground faster than a Delta pilot into the Hudson River. He brought the Petrino era back to reality. I could not be happier with his performance.

3) Michael Bush's Leg - Bush's leg was a partial candidate for the Heisman, was a member of the Cardinal Orange Bowl Team, and possibly kept the Cardinals for competing for the National Title when it broke against the Wildcats. If that leg hadn't snapped, Petrino could still be coaching, Kragthorpe would have never happened, Louisville's football team could have been NCAA Champions. Thanks Leg.

4) Ellis Myles - Who? On December 18th, 2004, Ellis Myles wrote his name in Kentucky fans' hearts. Let Big Blue History set the scene.

Trailing by one point with just a shade under five seconds remaining, Sparks inbounded the ball to Kelenna Azubuike, who was immediately trapped by two Cardinals. Azubuike spun from the left corner back out towards the wing, with both defenders following. As Azubuike rose up for what looked like it would be the game's deciding shot, he changed course and dropped a pass off to Sparks in the corner. Sparks, who already had scored 15 second half points, saw Louisville frontcourt behemoths Ellis Myles and Otis George flying at him at breakneck speed. Sensing he would not be able to get a clean shot, Sparks pump-faked Myles into the air, leaned into the burly power forward and drew a foul as the buzzer sounded. As Freedom Hall buzzed, the officiating crew reviewed the play on replay and ruled that Sparks was fouled with six tenths of a second on the game clock.

Myles' foul sent two nails flying: Sparks to the line where he nailed his free throws and was the nail in the coffin on the Cardinal loss.

5) Francisco Garcia - Sure his Spanglish at 22 was touching and his childish voice was appropriate for a 12 year old boy and not a man of his age. But my favorite thing about this Cardinal player is his 2003 English paper. In the paper, Garcia described his native Dominican Republic citizens and their hatred towards Mexicans (for being lazy), Puerto Ricans (for being dumb), and other Hispanic nations for other various (racist) reasons. I spent way more time than anticipated searching for this paper, but after 7 years, it has been dropped from the Louisville servers - but it can never drop from my memory.

Honorable Mention) Bobby Petrino - See Steve Kragthorpe.

Honorable Mention) Luke Whitehead - Whitehead provided one of the worst falls in basketball history. Whitehead jumped for an ally-oop and when he was in mid-air, an opponent took his legs out. Due to this he fell on his head first and crashed down on the court on his head and neck. Providing pictures crazier than Karen Sypher.

Am I forgetting anyone?