I disagree with UL fans take on their so called big wins in football

[CHAMPCAT11]

First of all, I'm not saying we have a lot of football success to brag about. I'm posting this because there's seemingly a UL fan in most all of our threads claiming how their football team is so elite. My opinion is that we've been really bad 99% of the time. I'll be the first on to admit that. But I also don't think UL's claims of so many huge wins that they keep chirping about on this board is correct. Here's my point and I'll try to be brief. The first thing they try to hang their hat on is that Fiesta Bowl win over Alabama. Notre Dame and Virginia were selected to play in that game (not UL or Bama) and they turned it down (as did a few other teams) due to the controversy over the Martin Luther King issue. That so called signature win came against a bad Alabama team that went 7-4 in the regular season after starting 0-3. Gene Stallings was the coach and he got fired. Why is that such a huge win ? Then there was that huge win against Florida State in the rainstorm. Florida State lost 4 games after UL beat them and one of the losses was to an unranked NC State team. Florida State ended up 9-5 after Georgia beat them in the Sugar Bowl and their final poll ranking was 23rd. Doesn't seem like such a big win to me. Then there's those huge wins over Miami. They beat Miami in 2013 when the Canes were 9-4 and again in 2014 when they were 6-9. I repeat: 6-9. I don't see the greatness there. There was that Sugar Bowl win over super power Wake Forest. Wake Forest did have a good year but the league was so weak that they tried to change the system and put another team in their bowl slot. They ended up ranked 19th. Yes, you read it correctly. That Wake Forest Sugar Bowl team finished the polls at #19. One of UL's other monumental achievements was the Florida game in the Sugar Bowl. That's the same Florida team that will Muschamp took from the penthouse to the outhouse. They finished with a losing record the following year if I'm not mistaken. We all know that Florida's owned us forever and we have very little to puff our chests out about but we did beat #1 ranked LSU which is the same LSU team that went on to win the National Championship and we also beat a weak Alabama team in the Tim Couch era. Unlike UL you don't hear much about our win over Alabama because Alabama wasn't any good that year the same way their Fiesta Bowl team wasn't any good. We can't toot our horn because Alabama was bad that year. UL's perceived 'greatness' was built by beating terrible teams in double terrible conferences. I'm not a huge historian but I think my comments are accurate. Not here to fight with UL fans but I just don't think their historic wins were all that historic.

 

[hmt5000]

we have had our share of big wins over the years but the problem with our schedule being so brutal is that those are wiped from memory by all the horrible losses. if we only played a couple good teams in '07 and '08 i have no doubt we'd of been playing on new years day.... and we proved we can beat fsu and clemson in bowl games... here comes a ul fan to say how many players were suspended for the fsu win but then will defend the notre dame win against a D that had 9 players out with injuries!!!

fact is we never had the depth to win more that one or 2 big games in a year and then attrition just took its toll and going to the same few play makers repeatedly took its toll on them.

 

[FickusDuckus]

I was along for the ride for a period with the UL program as it grew up. I understand why they are so proud. I've mentioned it here before. I went to a lot of games back in the late John L and into the first petrino tenure due to my step-son being a decent sized donor to the program. OTOH I have been a UK fan since I was a teenager. I think I might have a unique perspective as I dont harbor any hate sports wise at all, not even towards UL. To be honest in football other than the annual rivalry I never viewed them as a threat and still dont. I believe both programs can co-exist at a high level.

I tend to get aggravated at the pettiness betwixt the fan bases. What we poke fun of them about is nothing within their control. They are an inner city school not far removed from private status. Their mission will never allow them to rise too high in the academic rankings. As for us I have heard the cow college and all of the hillbilly stuff and once again. We are a state school in a largely rural state that is fueled by agriculture. So guess what UL folks, the things you laugh at are exactly the things we were formed to teach. Its all so dumb.

Which leads me to my point. A rivalry is kind of like raising a child, tending a garden etc. You are going to get out what you put in. Both schools continue to find ways to belittle the others accomplishments. Once again all so silly. In reality, both schools have a complex set of hurdles to overcome. While we have a brutal league we also have had the benefit of a lot more $$$ and state support. But we have built in losses, even in great years. We are a hoops school in a basketball league and looked at as the oddball by our peers in the SEC. UL OTOH has had easy competition compared to the SEC but they also did not have an SEC budget. When Jurich got there they had nothing but a struggling hoops program and a football team that had a couple of good years after Howards rehab but one that was dying due to the coach at the time.

Now onto why FSU was big at the time. The reason that FSU win was so big to UL at the time was it was a statement. They were a solid non bcs school that had a hard time getting teams to schedule them. In the end that FSU team went on to be like 7-5 or something but if you remember that UL team was mediocre as well. IIRC thats the year Ragone almost got killed behind a terrible line. Think of it like this. Imagine if we beat UF this year and they go 5-7. It will still mean something. Symbolic it may be but a statement will have been made.

If were honest I could list a hundred games between both schools that had some sort of meaning and I guarantee you that I would get hundred reasons from the opposing fan base as to why that win didn't matter.

At the end of the day if both fan bases are a tad more cordial to one another and maybe even learn the art of tipping your cap to the opposition when deserved. Well these type threads wouldn't be needed. I've preached it here before and I know it falls on deaf ears as I'm sure it would on their forums as well but its just plain common sense. The "be the better man" approach is badly needed in the internet community. We all know its only online for the most part as many things said on these boards would result in dental work in a public forum.

In the end both programs have had their moments. If UL fans cant understand our struggle and realize our bright spots there is nothing you can do with someone like that. I tend to just disassociate with these folks if possible and if not I don't talk sports with them. The same goes for us. If we as fans cannot realize where they have come from in 30 years, well maybe we are the person I'm referring to.

 

[tmuck]

You knocked them the F out hence the lack of responses from the linebeards.

 

[dorkmeister]

We saw what happens when they play a SEC team that is prepared and up for them. UGA killed them and Auburn was totally destroying them till they took their foot off the gas.

How about the beat SEC teams on a regular basis then they can start talking about "big" wins. Until then, they are a bottom feeder who got lucky. Play and beat the SEC teams if you want to brag!!!!!!

 

[rockycard]

How about the beat SEC teams on a regular basis then they can start talking about "big" wins. Until then, they are a bottom feeder who got lucky. Play and beat the SEC teams if you want to brag!!!!!![/QUOTE]

There is one SEC participant that we do get a yearly win against!

I don't, nor does 99.9% of our fan base consider us elite. We look at our program as being solid though.

 

[The Public Enemy]

How about the beat SEC teams on a regular basis then they can start talking about "big" wins. Until then, they are a bottom feeder who got lucky. Play and beat the SEC teams if you want to brag!!!!!!

There is one SEC participant that we do get a yearly win against!

I don't, nor does 99.9% of our fan base consider us elite. We look at our program as being solid though.[/QUOTE]

Yup...since John L arrived Louisville program is Top 20-35...solid program not elite with big wins...

 

[Senore2006]

You knocked them the F out hence the lack of responses from the linebeards.

What you missed, of course, is that he knocked you out of the park as well, lol.

That was one of the best posts I literally have ever read. Fickus Duckus, you rock, my friend.

Which reminds me - are you any relation to Biggus?

 

[NCukcat62]

How does a team have a record of 5-9 in college football?

 

[tmuck]

What you missed, of course, is that he knocked you out of the park as well, lol.

That was one of the best posts I literally have ever read. Fickus Duckus, you rock, my friend.

Which reminds me - are you any relation to Biggus?

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I was referring to the OP. Try to keep up.

 

[UK till Death]

I was referring to the OP. Try to keep up.

Senore is 88 years old, cut him some slack.

 

[Senore2006]

Ah, of course. The unreadable OP and its tortuous and predictable complex rationalizations focusing on Louisville as such a loser program in reality.

Stuff like this you can only read on one web site, lol.

UK fans were right. Looking very forward to our game.

 

[55wildcat]

OP how dare you to put a pin in that bubble..

 

[stenchymouse]

There is one SEC participant that we do get a yearly win against!

I don't, nor does 99.9% of our fan base consider us elite. We look at our program as being solid though.

Yup...since John L arrived Louisville program is Top 20-35...solid program not elite with big wins...[/QUOTE]
I do consider UofL to be a solid program...

They made an absolute commitment to football and was able to build a program by playing a weak schedule that has gradually gotten better.

Up until the past few years, UK never made a commitment to football and never could build a winning culture due to the schedule.

I think we're finally gonna become "solid" but our road is much different than UofL's...

I think that the next 5 years will see both programs having success.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Good to see another UL thread. Enemy and Senore were getting bored.

 

[CHAMPCAT11]

Ah, of course. The unreadable OP and its tortuous and predictable complex rationalizations focusing on Louisville as such a loser program in reality.

Stuff like this you can only read on one web site, lol.

UK fans were right. Looking very forward to our game.

From reading your posts I understand you're not the brightest bulb on the tree but if you're going to answer on our board instead of yours it would be nice if you didn't show your ignorance. You guys chirp on this board all the time about your so called 'collision course' and to date that is laughable. My post was easily readable to anyone with a measureable IQ. Go back and read it or have someone read it for you. The big wins that you guys can't shut up about weren't big wins. I didn't make anything up in my post. UL may beat us again this year, I understand that. UL may improve and become an elite team at some point but they're not a super power like you insinuate (that means think) they are. I also said we've been really bad for a long time and I don't have room to brag. I'll admit to that again if that makes you feel better. But if beating the teams I listed above is a big accomplishment then your goals are low. We may not get on that so called collision course ourselves but UL damn sure hasn't gotten there either. Thus far you've beaten patsies and the great traditional teams you've beat were having bad seasons when you beat them. And to the respectable UL fans that visit this board I apologize but this Senore dude doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[HedleyLamarr]

Louisville's big wins are big, relative to where the program was back in the days before Howard. Winning any Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, etc. was unthinkable prior to that time, so beating top programs like Alabama, Florida, Miami, FSU, ND, even in years where they were down a bit, is still huge for the program. Contrary to what is frequently stated here, I've never heard Louisville fans say that we are an elite program. We are proud of how far we've progressed, and hope to become one of those elite teams. We still have a long way to go. Go Cards!

 

[Senore2006]

Louisville's best year was a year in which Rutgers, WVU and the Cards were in the top 10 for long stretches of time. USF was also a top 25 team. They beat WVU, lost a heart breaker to Rutgers and that loss determined we would not got the chance to be considered for the NC Game. Prior to that, there was serious speculation about our chances. We lost as the #3 team in the country at the time.

 

[HiStepper]

"In the end both programs have had their moments. If UL fans cant understand our struggle and realize our bright spots there is nothing you can do with someone like that. I tend to just disassociate with these folks if possible and if not I don't talk sports with them. The same goes for us. If we as fans cannot realize where they have come from in 30 years, well maybe we are the person I'm referring to."

A very thoughtful and rational post FD.

 

[Poetax]

What you missed, of course, is that he knocked you out of the park as well, lol.

That was one of the best posts I literally have ever read. Fickus Duckus, you rock, my friend.

Which reminds me - are you any relation to Biggus?

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You forget that FD was a ul fan for awhile and still doesn't hate you. You should take his misaligned kindness and run with it because most of you mash us badly on your site which leads to extreme dislike among most UK fans. And PE, I'm not including you in that group because you seem to be different in your posting then the others.

 

[AbsoluteCats]

I just hope one of the big boys takes their foot off the gas for us this year so we can actually beat one of them. We haven't in at least three decades.

Guess that LSU win that when they won the championship does not count...

 

[bthaunert]

The Florida win was a big win, no other way to put that. That Florida team beat the 8th, 10th, 14th, and 23rd ranked teams (Final Poll) that year and were a late fumble (On UGA;'s 5 yard line) away to possibly defeating #5 UGA and being undefeated. That was a good Florida team. The notion that they sucked the following year has zero to do with how they were that year.

I agree with the other games being over big time programs who weren't having great seasons. I would say UL is looked at nationally as a decent program.

 

[WildcatofNati]

How about the beat SEC teams on a regular basis then they can start talking about "big" wins. Until then, they are a bottom feeder who got lucky. Play and beat the SEC teams if you want to brag!!!!!!

There is one SEC participant that we do get a yearly win against!

I don't, nor does 99.9% of our fan base consider us elite. We look at our program as being solid though.[/QUOTE]
What SEC participant gives you a yearly win? You have a total of 13 wins against UK, against 14 losses. Of course, from 2011, you have had a yearly win against UK, so I suppose for a U of L intellectual, that translates to a "yearly win", period.

 

[kb22stang]

Elite or not they have a better program than UK at this point. Hopefully Stoops can change that.

 

[dvillecatfan]

First of all, I'm not saying we have a lot of football success to brag about. I'm posting this because there's seemingly a UL fan in most all of our threads claiming how their football team is so elite. My opinion is that we've been really bad 99% of the time. I'll be the first on to admit that. But I also don't think UL's claims of so many huge wins that they keep chirping about on this board is correct. Here's my point and I'll try to be brief. The first thing they try to hang their hat on is that Fiesta Bowl win over Alabama. Notre Dame and Virginia were selected to play in that game (not UL or Bama) and they turned it down (as did a few other teams) due to the controversy over the Martin Luther King issue. That so called signature win came against a bad Alabama team that went 7-4 in the regular season after starting 0-3. Gene Stallings was the coach and he got fired. Why is that such a huge win ? .

stallings resigned about 5 years later. his tenure led to the sanctions that set alabama back for a decade. he led them to a big upset over miami in the 92 sugar bowl...which, imo, is one of the best bowl games ever. do appreciate the effort of the op.

 

[BigBluuDog]

I was along for the ride for a period with the UL program as it grew up. I understand why they are so proud. I've mentioned it here before. I went to a lot of games back in the late John L and into the first petrino tenure due to my step-son being a decent sized donor to the program. OTOH I have been a UK fan since I was a teenager. I think I might have a unique perspective as I dont harbor any hate sports wise at all, not even towards UL. To be honest in football other than the annual rivalry I never viewed them as a threat and still dont. I believe both programs can co-exist at a high level.

I tend to get aggravated at the pettiness betwixt the fan bases. What we poke fun of them about is nothing within their control. They are an inner city school not far removed from private status. Their mission will never allow them to rise too high in the academic rankings. As for us I have heard the cow college and all of the hillbilly stuff and once again. We are a state school in a largely rural state that is fueled by agriculture. So guess what UL folks, the things you laugh at are exactly the things we were formed to teach. Its all so dumb.

Which leads me to my point. A rivalry is kind of like raising a child, tending a garden etc. You are going to get out what you put in. Both schools continue to find ways to belittle the others accomplishments. Once again all so silly. In reality, both schools have a complex set of hurdles to overcome. While we have a brutal league we also have had the benefit of a lot more $$$ and state support. But we have built in losses, even in great years. We are a hoops school in a basketball league and looked at as the oddball by our peers in the SEC. UL OTOH has had easy competition compared to the SEC but they also did not have an SEC budget. When Jurich got there they had nothing but a struggling hoops program and a football team that had a couple of good years after Howards rehab but one that was dying due to the coach at the time.

Now onto why FSU was big at the time. The reason that FSU win was so big to UL at the time was it was a statement. They were a solid non bcs school that had a hard time getting teams to schedule them. In the end that FSU team went on to be like 7-5 or something but if you remember that UL team was mediocre as well. IIRC thats the year Ragone almost got killed behind a terrible line. Think of it like this. Imagine if we beat UF this year and they go 5-7. It will still mean something. Symbolic it may be but a statement will have been made.

If were honest I could list a hundred games between both schools that had some sort of meaning and I guarantee you that I would get hundred reasons from the opposing fan base as to why that win didn't matter.

At the end of the day if both fan bases are a tad more cordial to one another and maybe even learn the art of tipping your cap to the opposition when deserved. Well these type threads wouldn't be needed. I've preached it here before and I know it falls on deaf ears as I'm sure it would on their forums as well but its just plain common sense. The "be the better man" approach is badly needed in the internet community. We all know its only online for the most part as many things said on these boards would result in dental work in a public forum.

In the end both programs have had their moments. If UL fans cant understand our struggle and realize our bright spots there is nothing you can do with someone like that. I tend to just disassociate with these folks if possible and if not I don't talk sports with them. The same goes for us. If we as fans cannot realize where they have come from in 30 years, well maybe we are the person I'm referring to.

after all that falderal Louisville is still Little Brother ..end of discussion.

 

[katwest]

Louisville benefited from playing those teams in a one game setting, 90% of football is played on emotion, playing Louisville in a bowl game doesn't do that much for those team that have been to numerous bowls. If a series were played between those teams and Louisville, the Cardinals would have lost every one of them, those powerhouse teams really have nothing to gain beating Louisville.

 

[FickusDuckus]

You forget that FD was a ul fan for awhile and still doesn't hate you. You should take his misaligned kindness and run with it because most of you mash us badly on your site which leads to extreme dislike among most UK fans. And PE, I'm not including you in that group because you seem to be different in your posting then the others.

I wouldn't say I was a fan. I own no clothing! I simply have had an open invite to UL and UK for the last 15 years or so due to my step-sons donations/tickets at both schools. He is a UL fan but keeps tickets to both and gives them to clients. It was easier to go to their games and sit in a suite due to health in that time frame. Nowadays I don't go to either schools games but I will make it to one of ours this year just to check out the stadium. In my prime I would go to games at places like EKU, WKU and even watched Phil at Morehead etc. I love the live experience but as age, health and technology takes over you almost cant beat a Lazy Boy at home with a couple dozen games at your disposal.

For me as I age the hate between the fan bases seems so petty. I'm talking grade school my dad is better than your dad stuff. The stuff I read here and on the rare occasions I venture to one of their sites is so over the top. I try not to say anything online I wouldnt say in public. I don't think a lot of folks do and the ones that would speak the way they speak here/there in public are a glaring example of whats wrong with society. There is never a day when loyalty to a team overtakes politeness, manners or kindness. Thats just my stance but it would be a good one for the sports world in general to abide by. For Petes sake we have people harassing, beating and even killing one another over sporting events. Its pretty sad and every one of those tragedies started with some words that one party didn't agree with.

 

[ajgcardman]

I wouldn't say I was a fan. I own no clothing! I simply have had an open invite to UL and UK for the last 15 years or so due to my step-sons donations/tickets at both schools. He is a UL fan but keeps tickets to both and gives them to clients. It was easier to go to their games and sit in a suite due to health in that time frame. Nowadays I don't go to either schools games but I will make it to one of ours this year just to check out the stadium. In my prime I would go to games at places like EKU, WKU and even watched Phil at Morehead etc. I love the live experience but as age, health and technology takes over you almost cant beat a Lazy Boy at home with a couple dozen games at your disposal.

For me as I age the hate between the fan bases seems so petty. I'm talking grade school my dad is better than your dad stuff. The stuff I read here and on the rare occasions I venture to one of their sites is so over the top. I try not to say anything online I wouldnt say in public. I don't think a lot of folks do and the ones that would speak the way they speak here/there in public are a glaring example of whats wrong with society. There is never a day when loyalty to a team overtakes politeness, manners or kindness. Thats just my stance but it would be a good one for the sports world in general to abide by. For Petes sake we have people harassing, beating and even killing one another over sporting events. Its pretty sad and every one of those tragedies started with some words that one party didn't agree with.

Amen, Fickus!

 

[AbsoluteCats]

Amen, Fickus!

Yea well you started it!!

 

[Senore2006]

Yea well you started it!!

Ha ha, Perfect!!