Saturday practice notes

On Saturday, they had team open practices for the public. I missed the Oklahoma practice, which was first. But Louisville had the second practice, and it was spirited, to say the least. There was lots of yelling at each other to hype one another up. I remember at one point Angel McCoughtry pausing at the back of a layup line screaming, "LET'S GO!"

At the end of their practice, Coach Jeff Walz and a ball boy stood on either side of the basket while players took turns dribbling to the rim....and when they got there, Walz and the boy lifted them up so they could dunk the ball. Most went in, and the crowd was loving it.

The Connecticut practice was all business. In fact, Geno Auriemma didn't pay much attention to it at all. He stood at the press table almost the entire time talking to Rebecca Lobo, Doris Burke and Beth Mowins. The Stanford practice was equally business-like, but I didn't stay for the entire time because I had to get on the bus to get to the WBCA high school All-American game. I will post a full game report on that later.

Sunday game notes: Louisville stood for the anthem and held hands. After the singing, both teams jogged to meet each other, in two long lines, and shake hands at mid-court. I don't know if that's a Final Four tradition, but I thought it was really cool.

There's talk around town of a Cardinals ass whuppin tonight. It might happen, but I hope the young upstarts find one more burst of energy against seemingly unbeatable UConn. If Louisville has to lose, make it a good game.

Gotta go get ready........