It's Getting Close to Basketball Season

Actual basketball games will be starting up in a little over a month in the city of Louisville, meaning the final season at Freedom Hall, and a distraction from whatever you call the sport being played at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, is upon us. Wanna be amped up for the season? Check out some of these articles and links -

• Dana O'Neill has a great article on ESPN.com talking about the offseason distractions for the Cards. Some great quotes from Pitino, Preston, Edgar, and Samardo. Definetely worth a read, here's an excerpt of what Preston Knowles had to say:

"No, I didn't lose respect for him,'' junior Preston Knowles said. "Everybody makes mistakes. If we talked about all the mistakes I've made, we'd never get up from here. The only thing that matters is you don't bring that into the Yum! Center [the team's practice facility]. His personal life is his personal life. It's not about me, and he didn't make it about me.''

When I read a quote like that, I automatically start feeling better about the basketball season. My thoughts on us slipping due to the distractions and missing 2 lottery picks + McGee all don't seem so negative. Thanks, Preston, our official man-crush.

• The team had their first official practice this past week, and according to Rick Pitino, it was a three hour practice. Any doubt that we'll be the most well conditioned team in the nation? A non-stop three hour practice makes me tired just thinking about it, these guys will be ready by the time the season starts. Hearing about their drive to excel and succeed, as well as their toughness puts me in my happy place. Check out the article from RickPitino.com here.

Speaking of RickPitino.com, what's up with the music on the site? If you thought he was anything but a stone cold pimp, check out track 2 on the radio at the bottom of the screen and second guess yourself.

• Since these are the worst mug shots ever, for UofL fans at least, we have to show them and put good news beside them. Yes, Rick Pitino confirmed it, Terrence Jennings & Jerry Smith will not miss any game time due to the arrests. This is huge for the Cards, missing 2 projected starters for any period of time would hurt the team tremendously. A case of wrong place, wrong time, two good kids who made a mistake.

• It's the return of the Swop - Great article by The Courier Journal's C.L. Brown about Swop. I'm calling it, Swop is going to have a huge impact on the team this season, you heard it here fifteenth. But how can we talk Swop without some proof of his brilliance? Boom!

• Finally, the Red & White Scrimmage is just a week away (from Sunday). Be ready, get your tickets, let's get this season started off right.