WDRB Sports Journalist. Writer. Photographer.
It has been a different sort of Christmas here. On Thursday, Dec. 22, my mother, Jackie Crawford, died unexpectedly. I was there with my father when the end came. We saw her struggle, suffering from pneumonia and respiratory complications from a genetic liver condition that had been discovered only recently. The speed with which it…
Nearly 3 months into his job as the University of Louisville men’s basketball coach, we’ve learned a few things about Kenny Payne. One of them: Ask him a question, and often, he’ll tell you a story. And that’s a good thing. From his first day on the job, storytelling has helped Payne engage with a…
Bill Simon is the kind of new thoroughbred owner that the sport badly needs. Innovative, successful, experienced, and passionate about the sport and giving young people support to advance. Simon is the owner of Barber Road, who will be the first Derby starter for him, and for trainer John Ortiz and jockey Reylu Gutierrez. Before…
For the second time in six weeks, I found myself at Churchill Downs, taking pictures of a sign being changed on Thursday afternoon. The maneuver was pretty simple. It happens every year. Churchill Downs adjusts its sign between the iconic Twin Spires to reflect the year and the running of the Kentucky Derby, in this…
WICHITA, Kan. — One Louisville women’s basketball Elite Eight victory story. This shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve been to every Final Four the program has played in. I also was a student at U of L when they still played some home games at Manual High School. It is 4:30 a.m. Why do these stories…
WICHITA, Kan. — You look at the Louisville women’s basketball team, and on appearances alone, it’s tough to lump them in with teams like South Carolina, or even ACC champion North Carolina State or defending national champion Stanford. Louisville coach Jeff Walz acknowledged, before the Cardinals beat Tennessee by 12 points to earn a shot…
WICHITA, Kansas Olivia Cochran walked back to the locker room, an ice pack to her eye, which was fast swelling up like a prize fighter from a shot she took in the fourth quarter of Louisville’s 76-64 win over Tennessee in an NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen matchup at INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday afternoon. Cardinals’…
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When Kenny Payne was being recruited to the University of Louisville by Wade Houston and Denny Crum, it was perhaps the hottest address in college basketball. It wasn’t the most tradition-rich. It didn’t have the longest history or the bluest blood. But Johnny Dawkins, a Duke player who faced the Cardinals in the 1986 NCAA…