I was so impressed by Louisville's emotional strength to overcome Ware's injury. They were shook up for a while but managed to find the inner fortitude to focus and play through their emotions. That bodes very well for their handling the Final Four pressure.

If you're a UK fan and you're pulling for UL then the rivalry isn't what you claim it to be.

 

They can't be UK's biggest rival AND have UK fans pulling for them.

 

Strictly a matter of opinion. Some people get past petty things. I'm a UL fan, and pulled for UK in the title game last year. I'll always vote for in state schools, unless they play UL.

Strictly a matter of opinion. Some people get past petty things. I'm a UL fan, and pulled for UK in the title game last year. I'll always vote for in state schools, unless they play UL.

 

That's fine. But, again, it's not the huge rival that many claim. That's not a bad thing. I'm just saying you can't claim it's a hated rival and then pull for them.

 

Strictly a matter of opinion. Some people get past petty things. I'm a UL fan, and pulled for UK in the title game last year. I'll always vote for in state schools, unless they play UL.

 

Exactly. Pretty sure I've seen Cov Catholic fans show support and cheer for Highlands during their state championship games.

Exactly. Pretty sure I've seen Cov Catholic fans show support and cheer for Highlands during their state championship games.

 

You have. (Not me - I don't pull FOR or AGAINST them). Doesn't change my point.

 

By DEFINITION you cannot have a heated/hated rival that you also occasionally pull for. Impossible.

 

You have. (Not me - I don't pull FOR or AGAINST them). Doesn't change my point.

 

By DEFINITION you cannot have a heated/hated rival that you also occasionally pull for. Impossible.

 

I guess the Dodgers are the only sports team I've ever felt that way about.

John Calipari ‏@UKCoachCalipari 9m

I went to mass this morning and said a blessing for Kevin Ware. I hope the Big Blue Nation joins me in praying for the kid.

You have. (Not me - I don't pull FOR or AGAINST them). Doesn't change my point.

 

By DEFINITION you cannot have a heated/hated rival that you also occasionally pull for. Impossible.

 

 

Rivalries do not have be measured by how heated or how hated.

I'm a UofL fan and love beating UK in any sport and that makes it a rivalry for me. However, I love sports, the competition, and especially basketball. As disappointed as I was last year when we lost to UK in the final four, I just could not find myself pulling for Kansas to beat a Kentucky team. I loved watching that group play together so unselfishly. I guess some of us can get past the "my teams this and your team is that."

A few thoughts on this one...

 

-First and foremost, prayers and well wishes for Kevin Ware. His play the second half of the season has really been a bonus, and you can see the obvious effect he has on the team. Get well soon, Kev.

- Louisville is and was the better team last night. The few Duke fans I interacted with this weekend all shared the same sentiment; that Dieng wouldn't have made a differnce in November. I think they were clearly proven wrong, and then some.

- Duke absolutely does not like physical play. They aren't coached for it, they aren't conditioned for it, physically or mentally. It showed last night.

- I noticed Coach K on several occasions "acting out" on the sidelines towards the officials. Not really sure what he was so upset about... Unless it was because his team wasn't getting as many calls as he's used to. And by my count, they got several they shouldn't have. Pretty much every "And 1" Duke got was bogus, IMO. But, Louisville dealt with it.

- Ryan Kelly = Over rated. Not sure what all the hype is around that guy. Maybe Louisville just did THAT good of a job on him, but he got NOTHING except for the few times he was left wide open.

- Plumlee got more calls/no calls than anybody I've ever seen. Curry got several as well. Maybe that's the norm when playing Duke, as I don't watch them play that often. But some of them were ridiculous.

- Chane finally had a decent game in the tourney. He was a big part of the Cards interior success.

- Louisville only made two 3-pointers the entire game, one being Tim Henderson late, and won by 22. This doesn't bode well for any opponents left for the Cards.

- I'm going to be looking for a Duke message board to read after last nights game.

Still searching for the words to describe last night. Just unbelievable.

 

Louisville is ROLLING in the 2012-2013 academic year: invite to the ACC, Sugar Bowl Champions, Men's Final Four, women still with a chance to make it after one of the biggest upsets in women's tournament history.

 

Great time to be a Louisville fan.

Broke my leg in similar fashion a few years back playing basketball. The pain was unreal for about 30 seconds and then shock took over and I was talking and even joking some. I'm sure that is what Ware was going through when he was encouraging the other players. The pain is still there but adrenaline takes over for a short time. After the shock wore off, the pain was astronomical and I'm sure it was for him last night also when they got him back in the training room and into the ambulance. After all these years, I've kind of forgotten the amount of pain. What I've never gotten out of my head was the sound. It was like a shotgun going off. I will never , ever forget that sound.

 

Best of luck to the young man in his recovery and best of luck to the Cards. Not a Pitino fan but keep it in state.

Just saw that with today's game, Louisville's field goal percentage through the regional round is the highest for any Louisville team in the 3 point era on a four game stretch. Incredible how much this team has improved in their offensive efficiency.

 

This here. I stuck with Louisville since preseason because of pride, but I was leery due to Siva and their offensive production. Any rational fan or pundit is kidding themselves if they saw their recent offensive execution being this lethal. Sometimes in sports you just can't explain things or why they happen. UL bringing the wrath on offense on what I believe to be a collection of ho-hum offensive players on this team is nothing short of remarkable. We all knew they could defend, and that alone I thought would be enough against this field. But with this offensive execution it puts them in another class against this field.

You have. (Not me - I don't pull FOR or AGAINST them). Doesn't change my point.

 

By DEFINITION you cannot have a heated/hated rival that you also occasionally pull for. Impossible.

 

Per my Facebook friends, it seems that the injury to Ware is what made them look at things with a different perspective. That is what made them decide to support the Cards.

Siva's play has been key during this run. Russ and Dieng played well during the year, but Siva lagged behind. He's finally clicked and has the machine running perfectly. He's actually getting to the hole and making good decisions! Good luck to the Cards.

 

On a side note, everything TheDeuce said I agree with. Duke is soft, very soft. My dad said some unmentionable things yesterday and K and the rest of the Duke team; pretty comical. However, he's a UL law grad, that definitely amplified his emotions in yesterday's game.