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Louisville Cardinals: Card Nation Deserves Better

By Terry Brown

Mar 5, 2016; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Damion Lee (0) hugs Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino after being removed against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half in his last game as a Cardinal at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 68-46. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2016; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Damion Lee (0) hugs Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino after being removed against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half in his last game as a Cardinal at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 68-46. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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On Sunday, the NCAA Selection Committee will announce the field for the 2016 Men’s Basketball Tournament. There will be teams ecstatic hearing their names called. There will be fans excited about where their team will play. And the casual fans will look over the bracket, in hopes of winning their office pot. For one group of fans, one city, one team, there will be no joy on Sunday. The University of Louisville, under investigation by the NCAA, will not allow the Cardinals to compete in the post-season.

Not to rehash Katina Powell and her allegations in her book Breaking the Cardinal Rules, the sports world has an idea of what happened or what has alleged to happen with the Louisville men’s basketball team. The issue is, with the NCAA, it’s rarely ever the guilty that get caught and have to pay the price. The innocent are left to bear the brunt of the bad decisions of a few. Whatever the NCAA releases in its final report, the 2015-16 Cardinals basketball team had nothing to do with the transgressions and neither did the fans.

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It should be common knowledge that I grew up a UofL fan. Some of the best memories growing up are of my dad and my brothers going to Freedom Hall to watch the Cards take on Memphis, Cincinnati and other teams in the old Metro Conference. And even though I now bleed Blue, those memories will always have a special place in my heart. Which is why, and I know I’ve made my share of jokes, this situation in Louisville is sad. It’s heartbreaking.

I will admit that I believe the Big Blue Nation is the best fan base in college basketball. But, it should be acknowledged that Card Nation is not that far behind. Yes, our brothers and sisters in Red aren’t as numerous or as loud as the folks in Blue, but they care just as much about their team. Kentucky is usually #1 or #2 in attendance, but you know who’s consistently in the top 5? The University of Louisville. And there’s a reason that the city of Louisville has the highest ratings for college basketball in the country and it’s not just Kentucky fans.

Think about the infamous Sports Illustrated cover: Kentucky’s Shame. Did the actions of a few taint the University of Kentucky? Yes. Did a couple of people making poor decisions bring the Kentucky program to the brink of disaster? Yes. Now, did you stop being a fan? No. The fans of any sports team are the biggest losers when scandal hits. And as I’ve said, every major college athletic program is just a few bad choices away from being on ESPN’s breaking news crawl.

I enjoy the fact that John Calipari is 8-1 vs. Louisville while at Kentucky. I really enjoy the feeling of ending UL’s season twice in the NCAA Tournament during that span. This year the NCAA Tournament will be less because the Louisville Cardinals aren’t competing. I hurt for my family and friends that are Louisville fans and alums that have to deal with this shadow of scandal and unknown hanging over them. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to the fans and it’s not fair to this year’s Cardinal team that performed well enough to earn a shot at a deep tournament run.

The Louisville players and fans deserve better. And so does college basketball.

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