Friday Photos 14: National Champions

It happened. This is real life. 

The Louisville Cardinals are the 2013 National Champions.

Tears were already welling in my eyes during the National Anthem.

Knots formed in my stomach as Spike sank shot after shot.

But with 3 minutes left in the first half, MOP Luke Hancock cut the Cardinal 12-point deficit down drilling 4 three-pointers in a row.

And then Siva lobbed to Harrell for a monster dunk, and I nearly tripped on my rug and fell, exploding off my couch with excitement.

The captains continued to lead the way.

And Dieng said "uh-uh-no" to Burke.

Chane went into beast mode and with 4 minutes left, I started dry-heaving, wishing the clock would hurry up.

And then finally, the last second ticked, and the celebration began.

As the confetti fell, so too did my tears.

Denny Crum, the two-time National Champion, Hall of Fame Coach who started it all, smiled in approval.

And on the very day when Pitino was officially welcomed to the Hall of Fame, he became the first coach to win two National Championships at two different schools.

They really did it.

They won it for Ware.

And the city of Louisville rejoiced.

It couldn't have happened to a better team.

Louisville First. Cardinals Forever.

It's Time

The last time Louisville won a National Championship, my brother and I looked like this:

And let's face it: I wasn't old enough to appreciate it.

For 27 years I've heard about "Never Nervous Pervis" & Company and how glorious a National Championship it was.

But 27 years has been more than long enough to wait. 

It's time to finally cut down those nets, Cardinals. 

I want a National Championship that I can tell my niece about when she is old enough to appreciate it.

Go Cards. Beat Michigan. It's time for another National Championship.

April Awesomeness

I know that the NCAA basketball tournament is all about March Madness, but seeing as how the Final Four is taking place on April 6, I think it's only appropriate to call it April Awesomeness. 

For Cardinal fans, these first few days of April have been all about awesomeness. Which is remarkable, considering that there was a moment on the last day of March when tragedy struck for guard Kevin Ware. But what has transpired for the University of Louisville since that horrible injury, has been nothing short of glorious. 

Let's take a look back at all of the awesomeness that has been the past week, shall we? And while we're doing that, let's go ahead and treat our ears to B Simm's "You Don't Want These Cards", 'cause it's awesome too.

1. Kevin Ware is a rockstar.

I'm pretty sure I  had never heard his voice until this week. But between the interviews he's given for ESPN, CNN, Good Morning America, and the way he owned the Top Ten list on Letterman, I couldn't be prouder that this young man represents the team I love so much. His grace, strength, and humor in the wake of breaking his leg can only be described as awesome.

2. "Louisville First" is a message that's been heard loud & clear.

Just when I thought I couldn't love this team anymore, they stared adversity in the face and overcame it--together. From Luke stepping up (like the captain he is) to make sure Kevin wasn't alone in his time of need, to Kevin holding back his own tears to encourage his teammates to win the game, this special group of Cardinals have epitomized family this week.

3. Two Final Fours proved to be better than one.

After watching our men's team defeat Duke by 22 points to reach its second consecutive Final Four, we switched the channel to watch our women's team take down the overall number 1 seed Baylor. Then on Tuesday, we watched as the women defeated Tennessee to earn their own Final Four spot! In the words of T-Pain, "all we do is win, win, win--no matter what."

4. Blackshear, Smith, Behanan, and Siva earned individual accolades. 

Russ Smith was named a third-team All-American. Wayne Blackshear earned the Elite 89 Award, given to the player with the highest cumulative grade point average participating in the Final Four. Chane Behanan won the Pepsi Max Dunk of the Year Award for his knee-to-face monster jam against DePaul. And last but not least, Peyton Siva won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award. From the Basketball Hall of Fame: The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award is named in honor of James Naismith’s daughter-in-law. A panel of representatives from the National Association of Basketball Coaches selects the recipient. To earn the award, the recipient must demonstrate leadership, character, loyalty, all-around basketball ability and excellence in the classroom.

Do I need to quote T-Pain again?

5. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared Friday "Ware Red Day".

Like I was gonna wear any other color. Do we have an awesome mayor or what?

6. Rick Pitino is a Hall of Fame coach.

Word on the street is that he is expected to be selected for the 2013 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class. The official announcement will be on Monday.

What. A. Week. I'm probably forgetting something, but as far as I'm concerned, there's never been a better time to be a Cardinal fan. I wasn't old enough in the 80s to appreciate those glory days of basketball, but I imagine it felt something like this. 

I can only hope that Louisville can keep the April Awesomeness up and win the school's third Men's National Championship, and first Women's National Championship.

Let's. Go. 

C-A-R-D-S! CARDS!

Friday Photos 13: Smoky Mountain Getaway

If you've never visited the Smoky Mountains, I suggest you remedy that stat. 

I just got back from a Gatlinburg getaway with my fam and I loved it so much, I knew I had to share with you the beauty that is the Smoky Mountains in this edition of Friday Photos.

Whether you're in Downtown Gatlinburg,

in Smoky Mountain National Park,

or cozied up in a cabin,

you can't help but appreciate how gorgeous the Smokies are.

Take it from my niece--you won't be disappointed with a visit to the Smoky Mountains.

Friday Photos 12: Sweet Sixteen

Happy Friday, everyone, and Happy Sweet Sixteen, Cardinal Fans! 

I don't think I'm alone in saying that this day took forever to get here. It probably didn't help that I had the countdown going for Spring Break and Louisville basketball; but at any rate, we finally made it.

The anxiousness has set in. It's excruciating & exhilarating all at once to cheer on my Cards during March Madness and I do not want it to end. I love this team and I want nothing short of the National Championship for them. 

I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Louisville's postseason, primarily because they've been winning by such large margins. But I don't think for one minute that they are untouchable and am grateful for the fortune this team has found on their Road to the Final Four. 

Keep it up, fellas. Beat Oregon. GO CARDS!

Teaching With Technology

I don't often use my blog for teacher talk, but I recently learned about two programs too great not to share. If you aren't already using Edmodo & Subtext in your classroom, you're gonna want to read on.

After hearing that a few of the teachers in my school were using Edmodo, I wanted to see what it was all about. At first glance, it reminded me of a Facebook page. 

But further investigation showed me what a great (and FREE) communication tool Edmodo really is. I've just recently started using it with my class, and I know I've only scratched the surface of possibilities.

To set my class up, I assigned each student a username & password, and created a Group. Edmodo gave me a Group Code, which I used to "invite" each of my students. Easy as that. Edmodo also assigned each of my students a Parent Code, which allows parents to see what their students are writing. 

You know my third graders were pumped when I took them to the computer lab to first introduce it! I asked them to sign a pledge promising to use our Edmodo page with kind words to communicate about school-related topics only; they are fully aware that should they break this pledge, their Edmodo use will be suspended. 
The great thing about Edmodo is that students can only post to our class page or directly to me. They cannot send separate messages to one another, which subsided my fears of inappropriate use or cyber-bullying. 

Subtext is a great extension of our classroom. I've used it to post homework, daily reminders, videos, and discussion questions. You can create quizzes, take polls, use apps and much more! Speaking of apps, you've got to check out the Subtext app.

You can download the Subtext app for free on your handheld devices, or you can download it free through Edmodo. I would recommend the latter if you're going to use Edmodo because you can sync your class' Group easily with the Subtext. 

Subtext allows you to download e-books (some that are free), as well as to turn any online text into an e-book for free! When I was planning a lesson on idioms, I Googled "idioms for kids" and found an article that I liked. I saved it to Subtext and this wonderful little app turned it into an e-book.

What's really cool, is that it will read any of the books or documents you download out loud to the children! Furthermore, once you sync your class via Edmodo, Subtext allows you and your students to have a virtual discussion about what they are reading. They can highlight a section and comment on it or pose a question about it to their classmates, as I did above. They can also highlight a word and Google its meaning if they're unsure. And you know the kids love getting to choose from six different highlighter colors (their teacher does too). This app is seriously amazing!

Again, I've only just begun to discover what these awesome technology tools can do, so if you have any tips or pointers about Edmodo or Subtext, please leave a comment. Happy teaching, y'all!

Friday Photos 11: We Are The Champions

Cue Queen:

By now you already know that the Louisville Cardinals won the Big East Championship. I've watched the game 5 times now and I still can't believe it. Down by as much as 16, the Cardinals dominated the Orange in the 2nd half to win their 3rd Big East Championship. 

Therefore, this week's Friday Photos are dedicated to my Champion Cards. Here are some of my favorite pics from folks lucky enough to be in NYC for the big night.

These Champions aren't done yet, though. With a 31 point margin of victory in their first game of the NCAA Tournament, the overall #1 seeded Cardinal team is just getting started. Here's to another Championship in 5 more games. Go Cards!