Another football season in The Ville is knocking, this year bringing even more optimism than last season. Head Coach Jeff Brohm reinvented the Cardinal gridiron squad and reinvigorated the community with an overachieving team a year ago. The University of Louisville football program reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship for the first time in history. The Fern Creeker creating a milestone on the shelf next to a bookcase full of other memories.
Growing up and spending entirely too much of my formative years in the patchwork minor league baseball stadium that also served as the hallowed, revered birthplace of Howard Schnellenberger’s Collision Course. This fan was indoctrinated at a young age to the roots of the Red Rage. Most of the specific memories start to blur after a while, but some key moments stand out from the Fairgounds and transition to remembrances of magical moments at Papa John’s and L&N Cardinal Stadium as Card Nation traded the red, green and yellow seats for the pink ones.
A key moment in the 1990 season as the Memphis State lined up to kick a game-winning field goal. If the Tigers split the uprights, UofL never thrashes Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl. But Cardinal legend Ray Buchanan’s body came flying in parallel to the ground and UofL’s season and historic victory were saved.
Me and a friend were transfigured to another level of elation in the newly-named Crunch Zone, and to top off the moment, we felt compelled to throw a giant tub of popcorn on our high school Spanish professor who was unfortunate enough to have seats two rows in front of us. And he wasn’t mad. How could he be in the moment?
Rocky Top came to town the following season along with a rowdy crowd and the Cards held their own for a bit, but couldn’t hold on and the fans had a taste of what big time football in The Ville could be like. So many fights in the stands that night, but Muhammad Ali was on the field hamming it up before the game.
Howard had the Cards rolling in 1993 when the tradition-laden Texas Longhorns came to town expecting to two-step right back out with their Stetsons high. Bevo was the one looking for the early exit and the upstart Cards showed what they’re capable of at times, winning impressively 41-10. That was my one of my first games in the UofL student section as a freshman and it was one for the ages.
Frozen Liberty Bowls with each one colder than the next. If you know, you know. Those concrete bleachers in Memphis could introduce your gluteus maximus to absolute zero, watching wins over other historically rich teams like Michigan State and BYU. There were not enough layers to be had. Plus, there was the summer-like weather of the 2004 Liberty Bowl, but the atmosphere was freezing around Bobby Petrino and his flirtations with other programs leaking out beforehand. The play of the players drowned out his shenanigans, however, as Stefan LeFors and Michael Bush out on a thrilling show over top-10 Boise State.
Mario Urrutia stiff-armed UofL into the national scene big time in 2006, and Cardinal Stadium was rocking, trouncing the U, even without Mr. Bush. The night before, you could feel something magical was about to happen.
Later that season, the Brian Brohm-led, blacked-out tsunami storming the field with my oldest after downing top-5 West Virginia was especially sweet, as it put the Cards in the national title hunt legitimately for the first time. Who could forget that perfectly-placed white UofL flag planted in the center of the Cardinal Stadium field peppered with ecstatic fans? The ride home down the Western Kentucky Parkway in the wee hours of the morning was not as dreadful as it could have been, listening to the pundits take the Cards serious for the first time. The pox be upon Wesley Woodyard and his tackling technique.
Lamar’s explosive exploits leave nothing to be said, unless you’re a fan of the Florida State Seminoles. That Game Day experience would bring out the expletives for Seminole fans.
There have been those magical moments and many others sprinkled throughout my life as a fan in the red and black. Even most recently, one could feel the magic building, palpable even, as Brohm returned home to lead UofL over a beatdown on tenth-ranked Notre Dame in Louisville. The city was electric again.
Could this season be the one? With the expanded playoff picture and more opportunities for the non-traditional powers, the door is opening. Bringing lots of cherished memories with room for more, can the Cards come a knocking?