Freedom Hall

This Saturday night is a big night for Louisville Cardinal Basketball. For 54 seasons Freedom Hall has been the home of not only Cardinal basketball, but to also several Final Fours, Sweet 16's, the ABA...but to me and most importantly Cardinal Basketball. Next season the Cards will have a very nice, shiny new, palatial home in downtown Louisville. We drove by it last weekend and it is something to see!

From time to time folks ask why I am such a BIG UofL fan...lots of reasons, one, that's my hometown and most my buddies were Card fans. But the one thing that "sold" me as a fan was the night my dad took me to my very first UL game. It was 1977 and I remember my dad coming home from work...he told me he wanted to go to the UL game that night and then he said to me, "You want to go?" Of course my sister Lisa and brother Scott were a bit jealous, but they got over it.

I remember driving up to the Fairgrounds and walking up to the ticket booth, it was a cold night, and dad told the ticket man, "Give me your two best seats." We were in the end zone of Freedom Hall...the place was rocking, really don't remember who they were playing, but it didn't matter. We were watching the Cards doing warm-ups and my dad pointed out the man, the myth, the legend, Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith.

From that night on I was sold as a fan of the Cards. Since then I've been to plenty of Cardinal games at Freedom Hall...some really exciting games (my favorite was watching the Cards win against a highly raked Kentucky team, this is when Pitino was the UK coach and boy he was fired up in the post game show.)

I hope to see the Cards play in the Downtown Arena...maybe make some new memories there. But looking back at good ole Freedom Hall my favorite memory has to be going with dad for the first time. Thanks dad...I think you would like our UL basement!

Go Cards!