November 17, 2008

Don't even think about praying at UofL

I didn't see it live, but I've since seen the highlights of what nearly turned into a fight before last week's Cincy - Louisville matchup.

Apparently the Louisville players didn't think to kindly of the Bearcats meeting at midfield to pray before kickoff. While the Cards may not have minded the praying, they certainly took exception to Cincinnati's choice of geography.

The incident prompted a nice little exchange between the two head coaches before the game had even begun.

Brian Kelly said today that Kragthorpe "confronted" him about it before the game.

"It turned into a situation where a couple of their players came down onto the field and had to be restrained by some of their players," Kelly said. "Steve and I talked about it before the game. We disagreed about the manner in which it was handled but kept it professional and moved on.

"The kids played the game with a lot of emotion, but you had no taunting, no personal fouls, none of that baloney."

Asked what he said to Kragthorpe after the Louisville coach confronted him, Kelly said,

"Let's just put it that we disagreed on what happened."

Kelly and Kragthorpe did shake hands after the game.

"I think the sportsmanship thing to do was to shake hands," Kelly said. "I can't tell you it was the warmest of handshakes, but I think we have to set a good example for our players. Our disagreement had nothing to do with how our kids play and how it should go at the end of the day. The game was much more important than the pre-game."

In their defense, the Bearcats have held this same practice for two seasons under Kelly. That didn't do much to assuage the Cards, who still recall the mid-field logo stomp that Cincy put on 'em in 2004.

Kelly insists that those days are behind the Bearcats, though.

"Everything that we do, every day we talk about respecting our opponent," Kelly said. "We're not going to taunt. I'm not going to tolerate that kind of behavior from our football team. It's talked about every day. It's just unfortunate the way it was perceived."

A couple of thoughts:

- This is probably something that Kelly should have discussed with Kragthorpe beforehand. I don't think UofL would have taken exception had their coach known it was going to happen.

- This is just one more little thing that is likely to add a little spice to a growing Ohio River rivalry.

- What kind of reaction would be acceptable for the Cincinnati players if someone had thrown a punch during the prayer. I mean, it's a prayer, so... turn the other cheek?

Comments:

Don't even think about praying at UofL
I didn't see it live, but I've since seen the highlights of what nearly turned into a fight before last week's Cincy - Louisville matchup. Apparently the Louisville players didn't think to kindly of the Bearcats meeting at midfield to pray before kickoff. While the Cards may not have minded the praying, they certainly took exception to Cincinnati's choice of geography. The incident prompted a nice little exchange between the two head coaches before the game had even begun.
Brian Kelly said today that Kragthorpe "confronted" him about it before the game. "It turned into a situation where a couple of their players came down onto the field and had to be restrained by some of their players," Kelly said. "Steve and I talked about it before the game. We disagreed about the manner in which it was handled but kept it professional and moved on. "The kids played the game with a lot of emotion, but you had no taunting, no personal fouls, none of that baloney." Asked what he said to Kragthorpe after the Louisville coach confronted him, Kelly said, "Let's just put it that we disagreed on what happened." Kelly and Kragthorpe did shake hands after the game. "I think the sportsmanship thing to do was to shake hands," Kelly said. "I can't tell you it was the warmest of handshakes, but I think we have to set a good example for our players. Our disagreement had nothing to do with how our kids play and how it should go at the end of the day. The game was much more important than the pre-game."
In their defense, the Bearcats have held this same practice for two seasons under Kelly. That didn't do much to assuage the Cards, who still recall the mid-field logo stomp that Cincy put on 'em in 2004. Kelly insists that those days are behind the Bearcats, though.
"Everything that we do, every day we talk about respecting our opponent," Kelly said. "We're not going to taunt. I'm not going to tolerate that kind of behavior from our football team. It's talked about every day. It's just unfortunate the way it was perceived."
A couple of thoughts: - This is probably something that Kelly should have discussed with Kragthorpe beforehand. I don't think UofL would have taken exception had their coach known it was going to happen. - This is just one more little thing that is likely to add a little spice to a growing Ohio River rivalry. - What kind of reaction would be acceptable for the Cincinnati players if someone had thrown a punch during the prayer. I mean, it's a prayer, so... turn the other cheek?