Buckley: A lopsided loss to Louisville? For Memphis, ‘this group had no idea what the rivalry really meant.’
Despite the inclement weather in Louisville, Cardinals fans dressed in red filled the stands Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center in Kentucky. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Tim Buckley
Tim is a veteran sportswriter who graduated from CBHS in Memphis and the University of Missouri. He previously covered LSU sports in Baton Rouge, and the University of Louisiana football and basketball for The Daily Advertiser/USA TODAY Network in Lafayette, the NBA’s Utah Jazz for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, and West Texas State basketball for the Amarillo Globe News in Texas.
LOUISVILLE — This one was special when Memphis was Memphis State and Louisville was, well, Louisville.
When the Tigers played in Mid-South Coliseum, the Cardinals in Freedom Hall.
When former Louisville assistant coach Dana Kirk, after a stop at Virginia Commonwealth, took over in 1979 at — how dare he? — Memphis. When Denny Crum reigned as Cardinals coach for 30 years starting in ’71, and Rick Pitino for 16 more to follow.
When the names of the Memphis stars were Larry Kenon, and Larry Finch, and later Elliot Perry, and the names of the Louisville stars were Darrell Griffith and “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison, and the lists go on and on.
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