Victor Anderson

The Good:
- Vic Anderson rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns and will no doubt be a beast for the rest of the season. Bilal Powell also ran the ball 15 times for 76 yards and a score.

Justin Burke

- Louisville’s defense held the Sycamores to just 101 yards of total offense and forced four turnovers. Jon Dempsey led the Cards in tackles with seven solo and three assists for a total of 10 tackles on the game. William Savoy also made six tackles (four solo) and had two sacks, including Louisville’s first in five games.

The Bad:
- The Sycamores led 7-3, five minutes into the second quarter. Indiana State. A team on their way to their 28th consecutive loss…..

- Steve Kragthorpe as offensive coordinator. Krags supporters, already few and far between, are going to have to completely close their eyes and turn their backs on the facts if they plan on supporting him after this fiasco. Louisville was just 1-for-9 on third down conversions.

Coach Kragthorpe

The Ugly:
- Steve Kragthorpe as head coach. FOURTEEN penalties for 128 yards. At times it appeared as though this team had never been on the same field together before. Yeah it was the first game of the year and there will always be kinks in the chain, but FOURTEEN penalties?? Sheez…get control of your team Krags.

Krags on the penalties: “I’ll just tell you that we didn’t play well and we were sloppy.”

Krags on whether they can correct the mistakes from game one prior to headin’ to Lexington: “I think so. It’s like Lou Holtz said today at halftime of one of those games – ‘you usually make your biggest improvements between week one and week two,’ and we’re going to have to do that pretty quickly. It’s a bit of a different schedule now because I’ve been in a situation where you play your first game and then have a week off. We’ll utilize the off week by practicing Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then, we’ll come back with our normal game week practice schedule.”

“I don’t think anybody is pumped up right now. You want to win every time you take the field and we won tonight, but I’m disappointed with the way we played and I think our players are too. I think there are a lot of things we have to continue to work on to become the team we want to be.”

You had better work on those things feverishly if you expect to not get embarrassed in two weeks. Kentucky’s Whomp squad is going to be chompin’ at the bit to shutout the Cards for the second strait year (Louisville’s points last year came courtesy of the Cardinals’ defense and a safety).

The Final Word from Indiana State Head Coach Trent Miles: “My hat’s off to Louisville. They’re a very well-coached team, a very physical team. They outplayed us and did a good job. They’ve got some excellent football coaches on that staff. Larry Slade, Brent Guy, Coach Myers, Coach Delgado and obviously Coach Kragthorpe. I think they’re a wonderful, wonderful football staff. They do an excellent job with their football team. I know in the past, he’s had a little heat from people around here, but he’s doing the right things and he’s doing it the right way. They beat us. They were the better football team tonight.”

Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo has never been one to not speak his mind. And the whole steroids era issue is no exception. Bob Nightengale of the USA Today recently wrote a great piece on Arroyo and his stance on PEDs.

HERE is the entire article. A great read and while many may not agree with Arroyo on this, you have to respect his position:

“I have a lot of guys in (the locker room) who think I’m out of (my) mind because I’m taking a lot of things not on the (MLB-approved) list,” Arroyo says. “I take 10 to 12 different things a day, and on the days I pitch, there’s four more things. There’s a caffeine drink I take from a company that (former teammate) Curt Schilling introduced me to in ’05. I take some Korean ginseng and a few other proteins out there that are not certified. But I haven’t failed any tests, so I figured I’m good.”

“People can think what they want of me,” he says. “I don’t give a f—-.”

“You think this country really cares about what ballplayers put in their bodies?” Arroyo asks. “If we really care, why are we pumping Coca-Cola in every kid’s mouth, and McDonald’s, and Burger King and KFC? That (stuff) is killing people.”

On Amphetamines: “That stuff’s like bubblegum compared to steroids,” he says. “You’re playing (night games) in L.A., you fly across the country, and you’re pitching a day game at Wrigley (Field in Chicago). You telling me you don’t want something to wake you up? You have half this country, maybe more, that can’t function without a cup of coffee.”

“It might be dangerous,” he says, “but so is drinking and driving. And how many of us do it at least once a year? Pretty much everybody.”

“I don’t regret a thing,” Arroyo says. “Neither should anyone else.”

Besides, with all the J.T.M. the man has probably eaten over the years, that poison likely eats up all the illegal stuff anyhow…

And here’s a hilarious commercial featuring the Reds star.

Mike Rutherford over at Card Chronicle posted this hilarious Top Ten list of quotes from the Cardinals’ senior leader:

The Courier posted some gems on the side of its “Cards now driven by T-Willpower” feature this morning, so I figured now is as good a time as any to count down the top ten moments in T-Will talk.

We’ll begin with something prescient at No. 10.

10. On Louisville’s midseason winning streak: “I’ve realized that if we just keep winning games, eventually we’ll win the national championship”

9. Explaining how he followed an 0-for-4 first half with an 8-for-16 second half against Massachusetts as a freshman: “Before, I was thinking about the scouting report and how they are a great shot-blocking team, and I was just trying to get the ball up there. But then I was like, ‘Terrence,’ — I call myself Terrence; I don’t call myself T-Will — I was like, ‘Terrence, you jump too high to be nervous about somebody else.’ “

8. On the importance of then-senior David Padgett: “David Padgett is the t-shirt of this team. You wouldn’t go outside without your t-shirt on, and we don’t go out on the court without David Padgett.”

7. Celebrating the return of Juan Palacios and David Padgett from injuries last season: “You go out into a game in which you know you’ve got Tello and David playing, your swagger’s a lot different. You walk different, you talk different, you talk to a girl different. … You know they’re going to back you up. They’re going to say, ‘Yeah, he’s a great guy.’ “

6. Explaining why he didn’t declare for the NBA draft after his junior season: “There are too many sharks in the water in this year’s draft. Next year there’s a lot of fish and seaweed. Hopefully, I can be one of those sharks next year.”

5. Finding the silver lining in a groin strain: “It’s a good thing, because I really like massages and now I’m getting massages all the time.”

4. On trying to lead newcomers: “Talking to these freshman is like talking to a pond – just because the water moves doesn’t mean it’s listening.”

3. On breaking out of a shooting slump with a big game from beyond the arc: “No I’m not surprised at how I shot today. If it’s two in the afternoon and it’s dark outside, then I’d be surprised.”

2. On how much the team feeds off of David Padgett: “How much do people eat off plates? We feed off him a lot because he’s our point-center, our point-forward, our point-shooting guard. He’s everything because he rebounds the ball, he passes the ball, he leads us. He could lead us out of the closet, lead us to the ocean. He’s just our everything.”

1. On coach Rick Pitino’s powers of persuasion: “He’s the type of man where, if a dog couldn’t talk — which a dog can’t talk — he would make a dog think it can talk. That dog would keep barking for a long time thinking it was talking.”

Let’s enjoy every second we have left with this kid because they’ll never be another Cardinal like him.

1. Q: When was the last time you cried?
A: Five Years ago.

2. Q: What food did you eat as a kid that you didnt like?
A: Dry Steak

3. “I am silent but deadly”

4. “I love the crowd’s energy…I eat it”

5. “this game is great because I know the whole country is now happy that Kentucky has beaten Louisville.”

6. “this state is only big enough for one team”

7. “I want to win because the whole world loves Kentucky basketball and I do too.”

8. Q: What fact do people not know about you that is interesting?
A: I Speak Polish

9. “Wins make me remember how great the blue state of Kentucky is.”

10. Q: Woo was asked what he was going to do with the matchup with Big Baby Davis:
A: “Stop him. I don’t see anybody having an advantage on me.”

11. Q: He then was asked about the new found confidence of UK:
A: “I think we have the whole state of Kentucky backing us,” said Obrzut, native of Poland. “All the United States. Even the soldiers in Iraq. The only thing that matters to them is Kentucky’s games.”

12. Quotes after Louisville games:
a) “When I came to America and this state, I realized that this was the biggest game. I wanted to give the fans a Christmas gift and help us win the biggest game.”

b) “It is great right now because I am living my dream. Playing well and helping my team is my dream.”

c) “It was so loud I thought the roof was going to blow off….but luckily it didnt.”

d) “When Padgett shot, he didnt even look at the basket. I dont know how people shoot without looking at the basket, but maybe he will teach me.”

e) “The Kentucky fans are great 6th players and I love to play for them. After I had four finals and a long week, their cheers made me feel very good.”

13. “I think it’s always easier to call a foul on the bigger man because he’s more visible because of his size. It’s not football where the referees can stop and review the play.”

14. “We have a chance to spin our season around. We can show we are the Wildcat team (and) we are ready for the NCAA Tournament.”

15. “We’ll see if we lose. Hopefully not.”