Welcome to Louisville Hate Day 2012

The wait is over. The hate is here. Welcome to Louisville Hate Day 2012. Before we start throwing jokes at Louisville fans faster than they can take away Stephan Van Treese's scholarship, let me explain how this works for you newbies. For the next 24 hours, every post on this website will be directed at the dirtiest of birds, the Louisville Cardinals. Every hour, on the hour, you can expect to see something new from one of KSR's writers, former writers, or maybe even a special guest or two. The posting will begin at 8:00 AM with Matt's "Reason We Celebrate" and it'll continue on through the night.  It's like a telethon, only we're not raising money; we're raising line-beard and flatbill awareness. Now, many of you are already asking, "Why one day? I hate Louisville everyday." Well, I do too. I hate Louisville more than Louisville fans hate 40-hour work weeks, dental appointments, the judicial system, and spellcheck. But today is special. It's unlike the other 364 days of hating Louisville because we don't waste a single breath on anything other than hating Louisville. It's all jokes, all day. We do it as a constant reminder that we're better than them on the court, on the field, and in all aspects life. Some call it bullying; we just call it being a big brother. Let's run through some notes from the day and then it's on to KSR's Super Bowl -- and we're leaving it all on the field today.   --- The big news from Wednesday involves the playing future of former Xavier guard Dez Wells. It was reported early in the day that Wells would visit Louisville on Sunday and then announce his decision Monday afternoon, but shortly after that, news broke that Wells was on UK's campus Wednesday night and there is interest between both sides. As Matt mentioned on the radio show, the only way Calipari will pursue Wells is if he thinks he will be eligible to play this season. He's a solid player with NBA potential, but Cal isn't interested in messing with his 2013 class if Wells can't play right away in 2012. So, with Wells visiting campus Wednesday night, it shows that there is some confidence in his 2012-13 eligibility. --- Some Kentucky fans have an issue with Dez Wells concerning his departure from Xavier. On paper, he sounds like a guy you'd rather not roll the dice with. He was involved in the infamous brawl with Cincinnati and was recently expelled from Xavier for "sexual assault allegations" on campus. But, all reports from those around Xavier and anywhere else say he's a great kid and they wouldn't hesitate to sign him at any program in the country. You can even say he was mistreated by Xavier when they let him go, considering there was no arrested and no charges to go along with the allegations. Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters called it "fundamentally unfair" the way Wells was let go without letting the legal process to play out. At this point, there's nothing to say he wasn't wrongfully accused, a la Chuck Hayes back in the day. --- So what happened to Louisville? The Cards appeared to be leading the way when reports came out saying Wells was down to Louisville, Memphis and Maryland. Wells has multiple connections to Louisville and a Sunday visit had him set up to pull the trigger. Unfortunately for Rick Pitino, he can't keep playing the nasty scholarship game, so he voluntarily backed out of the race to avoid all hell breaking lose with the scholarship numbers. You can only run off so many players before the entire world hates you, too. --- In football news, I can't stop watching Joker Phillips' locker room speech from that Mississippi State/Tennessee game mash-up. It makes me want to run through a wall. "BLLLATTTTTT" --- Anthony Davis isn't playing around when it comes to setting goals for his rookie season. He told The New York Times that he wants to win NBA Rookie of the Year, make First Team All-Rookie, First Team All-Defense, and win Defensive Player of the Year in his first season. After what the kid has already accomplished, I think anyone would be crazy to say he can't do it. --- It's looking like rain will be a factor in Sunday's football game and that can only mean good things for Kentucky, as rain tends to be an equalizer in games. My biggest concern has long been how Kentucky's secondary will hold up against Louisville's passing attack, specifically DeVante Parker, and now Mother Nature has offered her hand in defending the deep ball. On the other side, Louisville's biggest concern is special teams and a slippery ball won't make it any easier for the Cards' freshman kicker and redshirt freshman punter. May the shanks be with you, boys. I'm going to cut the notes a little short tonight so I can get to work on more #LouisvilleHateDay material. I have an all-nighter ahead of me to churn on some posts so feel free to keep me entertained on Twitter or in the comments section. Also, if you're reading this at midnight, tune in to ESPNU's new show "Unite" right now. A producer from the show called me late Wednesday night to ask what Louisville Hate Day is all about. He told me they will talk about KSR and Louisville Hate Day in tonight's episode and then recap the entire day in Thursday night's show. See? Even ESPN hates Louisville.   The fun starts now. Get to tweeting. #LouisvilleHateDay *** UPDATE *** It only took 26 minutes...