November 8, 2007

But the Cards REALLY need those wins

The Louisville Cardinals football team is taking Duke University to court for dropping the final three games of their football contract.

According to CBSSportsline, UofL is seeking at least $450,000 in damages.

Duke, according to the suit, asked the Cardinals to find a replacement opponent and promised to pay Louisville only if the school could not find one after a "good faith" effort.

Louisville claims it could not find an opponent of similar stature to fill the schedule and received "little, if any, help from either Duke or the (Atlantic Coast Conference)" in finding a replacement.

The Cards claim in their lawsuit that they have asked every D-IA (Football Bowl Subdivision) to agree to two games in Louisville in exchange for one return game. Louisville replaced this year's Duke game with Murray State, and has already signed D-IAA Indiana State to fill the Blue Devils other slot.

While I find it hard to believe that there aren't any schools that would take a 2-for-1 with Louisville, I don't think the Cards are going to get a check out of Duke, either.

First, Louisville is seeking $150,000 per game. That logic doesn't seem to make sense, as one of the three games was to be at Duke, so lost ticket revenue shouldn't be an issue. Whatever the calculation, it doesn't seem logical to place equal value on home and away games.

Secondly, the Cards claim that the replaced games are not of the same "stature" as Duke, but -- in all reality -- beating Murray State was probably just as satisfying as beating Duke, right? Right.

Posted by Kevin Donahue