Sports in Louisville, Kentucky
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College basketball and football are very popular in Louisville, which prides itself on being one of the best college sports towns in America.
The city is home to the University of Louisville Cardinals, who compete in the NCAA's Division I and are a member of the Big East Conference. The UofL men's basketball team won the NCAA Division I basketball championship in 1980 and 1986 under head coach Denny Crum, and recently achieved the NCAA Final Four in 2005 under head coach Rick Pitino. The women's basketball team, under head coach Jeff Walz, reached the final of the NCAA women's tournament in 2009 (and losing to unbeaten Connecticut) with a team featuring 2009 WNBA Draft #1 pick Angel McCoughtry. Both basketball teams ended their tenure at Freedom Hall in 2010 and moved to the new KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville for the 2010–11 season.
The UofL football team, with coach Bobby Petrino, finished No. 7 in the nation for the 2006 season, 19th in the final BCS rankings of 2005 and 10th in 2004. After winning the Orange Bowl—the school's first Bowl Championship Series game—in January 2007, Petrino left the Cardinals to be the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Steve Kragthorpe was hired to replace Petrino less than two days later. Kragthorpe was fired after three years and replaced by University of Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong. The UofL football team plays on campus at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The UofL baseball team advanced to the 2007 College World Series in Omaha, where eight teams competed for the national championship. UofL is only one of two schools in the last five years to have been to the Final Four, a BCS bowl, and the College World Series in Omaha.
Bellarmine University, home of the Knights, fields 16 competitive NCAA Division II teams and competes in lacrosse at the Division I level (the only men's collegiate lacrosse program in the state).
Spalding University, home of the Golden Eagles, plays in NCAA Division III and in the Saint Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Churchill Downs is home to the Kentucky Derby, the largest sports event in the state, as well as the Kentucky Oaks, which together cap the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. Churchill Downs has also hosted the renowned Breeders' Cup on seven occasions, most recently in 2010, and will host again in 2011.
Besides racing there is the World's Championship Horse show. This show is mostly for Saddlebred horses and is held in conjunction with the Kentucky State Fair. This is the premier event of the year for Saddle seat Pleasure and Equitation.
Louisville long ago hosted teams in the National Football League and Major League Baseball and fielded a strong franchise, the Kentucky Colonels, in the American Basketball Association before the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976. The Colonels won the penultimate ABA championship in 1975, defeating their archrival, the Indiana Pacers, in the 1975 ABA Finals.
Louisville is now home to five minor-league professional and semi-professional sports teams. The Louisville Bats are a baseball team playing in the International League as the Class AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The team plays at Louisville Slugger Field at the edge of the city's downtown.
The Louisville Bulls are a semi-pro football team in the Mid Continental Football League. The city also hosts two soccer teams. The Louisville Lightning play indoor soccer in the Professional Arena Soccer League, while the River City Rovers, founded in 2010, will play their inaugural season in the USL Premier Development League in 2011.
The Kentucky Colonels were the winningest team in the history of the American Basketball Association, but the Colonels were not included in the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976. A later team with the same name played in Louisville in the ABA 2000 league but moved to Murray, Kentucky in 2007 before folding.[1] Louisville and the corporate community had also attempted to pursue the Vancouver Grizzlies franchise before their ultimate move to Memphis in 2001.[2]
Louisville is also the home of Valhalla Golf Club which hosted the 1996 and 2000 PGA Championships, and hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup. It is also home to one of the top skateparks in the U.S., Louisville Extreme Park.
The city was home to two professional ice hockey teams in the East Coast Hockey League, from 1990 to 1994 the Louisville Icehawks, followed by the Louisville Riverfrogs from 1995 to 1998. The city also had an American Hockey League team from 1999 to 2001, the Louisville Panthers.
Louisville is also the home of Ohio Valley Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion that served as World Wrestling Entertainment's developmental territory from 2000 until 2008.[3] Many notable WWE performers trained in OVW, such as Jillian Hall, Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, CM Punk, and The Spirit Squad (which included the wrestler now known as Dolph Ziggler).[4]
| Club | Sport | Founded | League | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville Bulls | Football | 1988 | Mid Continental Football League | Various |
| Louisville Kings | Australian rules football | 1996 | USAFL (USFOOTY) | Hays-Kennedy Park |
| Louisville Bats | Baseball | 2002 | International League | Louisville Slugger Field |
| River City Rovers | Soccer | 2010 (begins play in 2011) | USL PDL | Centurion Soccer Fields |
| Louisville Lightning | Soccer | 2009 | PASL-Pro | Mockingbird Valley Sports Arena |
High school sports are also very popular in the city, especially football and basketball.
Louisville area high schools have been dominant in football in recent years. Trinity (1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010), Male (1993, 1998, 2000) and St. Xavier (1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2009) high schools have won every football title in Kentucky's largest enrollment class (4A through 2006, 6A since 2007) except one (Nelson County 1996) since 1992 and have been 13 of the 15 finalists since 1997. Central has won three of the four 3A titles since Kentucky's move to a six-class system (2007, 2008, 2010). Manual also has a storied history, collecting 5 state titles (1925, 1938, 1948, 1959, 1966) and 2 national titles (1925 and 1938). Manual and Male are the oldest high schools in Louisville, and the 1st football game in the state was played between these two in 1893. Also, Trinity and St. Xavier have one of the fiercest rivalries in high school football. Every year, the Trinity-St. Xavier game draws an average of 35,000 fans to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Currently, St. Xavier leads this storied rivalry with 31 wins, 26 losses and 2 ties.
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