May 11 is National UofL Day: Wear red
May 9th, 2007

In honor of the University of Louisville’s accomplishments, Congressman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) will enter an official statement into the Congressional Record recognizing May 11, 2007, as National UofL Day.

A representative from Yarmuth’s office will be at the Golden Alumni Induction Ceremony Friday to present to UofL President James Ramsey a copy of the statement.

Local bigman and former Louisville center Jonathan Huffman has announced that he will to follow Kevin Willard to Iona. He'll likely get a lot more playing time there than he will here. I feel bad for the guy though. I get the impression that leaving wasn't his idea and that he was really happy as a Card. Listening to Pitino's press conference 6 weeks or so ago, I couldn't tell if Pitino had even talked to Huffman about his need to transfer. I got the impression that the move was more about making better use of his scholarships than doing what's best for the kids.

Warning: this is in no way UofL related... I just figured I could cheat and write about the horses and Louisville. Street Sense won Saturday, proved his dominant victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (at Churchill Downs) was no fluke, returning home six months later to win the Derby on Saturday. I loved that the jockey and trainer are both locals (kind of). It seems like every year some horse from New York or Pensylvania comes down and wins our big race. I say "kind of" about the jockey because Calvin Borel is really another louisianna boy, but he makes his home here now.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino signed a three-year contract extension Thursday that will keep him with the Cardinals through 2013.

The new deal increases Pitino's annual salary from $1.65 million to $2.25 million a year beginning next season and will pay Pitino $2.5 million a year if he stays until the end of the contract. The contract also boosted a loyalty bonus due Pitino on July 1 from $1 million to $1.75 million.

Katz seems like he doesn't really know what he's talking about, but it's fun to feel like we're top 10:

Louisville 2006-07 Record: 24-10, 12-4
The Cards are essentially the same team that nearly knocked off Texas A&M and made a trip to the Sweet 16. Give Rick Pitino another year with this group and the Cards should be the pick of the Big East -- assuming Georgetown's duo doesn't return.

The rest of the story: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2853904

"Maybe it's part of the explosion of the sport. As we have noted several times, attendance (for real games) and television ratings have never been higher. One website unofficially compiled the top spring attendances in the country. Not surprisingly, five of the top 15 were SEC schools. Twelve of the 15 were SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 schools.

Here is the top 10:

1. Alabama, 92,138
2. Ohio State, 75,310
3. Penn State, 71,000
4. Nebraska, 54,288
5. Notre Dame, 51,852
6. Florida, 47,500
7. Texas, 42,500
8. South Carolina, 35,153
9. Auburn, 31,757
10. Louisville, 28,000 "

These players signed free agent contracts:
Nate Harris with Kansas City
Brandon Sharp with Tennessee
Zach Anderson with San Francisco
Renardo Foster and Kurt Quarterman both signed with Atlanta.

Four U of L cardinals were selected in yesterday's NFL draft.
Amobi Okoya was a first round pick to Houston.
Michael Bush 4th round to Oakland
Kolby Smith 5th round to Kansas City
William Gay - 5th round to Pittsburgh.

Former University of Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye was taken in the 2007 NFL draft by the Houston Texans with the 10th overall pick in today's NFL Draft. At 19, he becomes the the youngest draft pick in history. He also becomes only the second UofL player ever taken in the top 10. (Ken Kortas was ninth 1964). Many analysts including myself expected him to go a few spots higher and be our highest ever pick, but 10th ain't too shabby.

According to reports I have read the Louisville Cardinals are looking at QB Coley White. White is 6-foot-1 170 lbs. The reason this is so interesting is that Coley White has a famous bother that all Cardinal Fans know well. That is right Coley is indeed the younger brother of West Virginia star quarterback Pat White.