Russ Payne

Russ Payne

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About

I am a 55 year old father of three, who has loved sports since I was a young child. Living in Louisville I have been blessed with the Louisville Cardinals, the Kentucky Derby, and some pretty decent AAA Baseball.
In High School I loved to write, but that passion faded as I started a family in my 20s. Now that I have reached the Second Half of my life, I have tried to rekindle that passion, and put my thoughts into blogs and articles about my Cardinals and other happenings in the world of sports. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts, and would appreciate all the feedback you can give, good or bad.

Short List

  • Favorite Athletes

    Dustin Pedroia, Vijay Singh, Preston Knowles, Rajon Rondo, Cal Ripken

  • Favorite Sports Teams

    Louisville Cardinals Basketball, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics

  • Favorite Coaches

    Rick Pitino, Terry Francona, Denny Crum

  • All Time Sports Moment

    UL Winning 1980 Championship; Watching Cal Ripken at Camden Yards; Red Sox winning 2004 World Series; Ryder Cup 2008

  • Most Memorable Game Attended

    Kentucky Colonels winning the ABA Championship in 1975 with Artis Gilmore, Dan Issell and Louie Dampier, with Hubie Brown the coach

  • Most Unbreakable Sports Record

    Lou Gehrigs consecutive game hits and Cal Ripkens consecutive games played

  • Ruth or Mays?

    Mays

  • Unitas or Montana?

    Unitas

  • Jordan or Russell?

    Jordan

  • Gretzky or Orr?

    Gretzky

  • Pele or Maradona?

    huh?

  • Federer or Sampras?

    John McEnroe

  • Tiger or Nicklaus?

    Tiger

  • Petty or Earnhardt?

    My kids are into NASCAR but it never really caught on with Dad.

  • Schumacher or Senna?

    yea right

  • ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 or SEC?

    Big East basketball, SEC football

Bulletin Board

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  • Aaron Torres posted 1189 days ago

    Aaron Torres

    Russ-

    Thanks for commenting on my article "College Basketball Power Rnkings."

    You are right, the Cards don't get nearly enough respect, and really only have one loss in the last two months (UConn), when they actually showed up to play.

    I think in a lot of people's eyes, this team has been scarred by what they did early in the season (losses to WKU, UNLV etc) and the Notre Dame loss. They also played the "glamor," programs in the Big East (Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Syracuse) early, so those showcase games that everyone else had, Louisville hasn't really had.

    Marquette could have been one, but everyone seems to think that the Golden Eagles really aren't that good, and are downplaying Louisville's win because Domenic James wasn't playing. If you ask me, Marquette is actually a lot better then people give them credit for, and are totally capable of making a deep run.

    Basically if Louisville wins out and UConn loses to Pittsburgh, then the Cardinals are the Big East champions. We both know that. But I believe the respect for Louisville won't really come until they do well in the Big East tournament. They'll likely be playing a good Syracuse/Cincinnati/West Virigina type team in their opener, and someone ranked in the top 15 (Villanova, Marquette, UConn, Pitt) in the semi's and finals. It's simple: win those games and you will get respect.

    Regardless, thanks for leaving feedback on the article. Please feel free to check out more of my work at www.aarontorres-sports.com, as I'm always looking for feedback there too.

    Take care, and good luck to the Cards in the tournament. I do however hope the white suit is retired for good!

    Aaron