Card Chronicle, a Louisville Cardinals community

Good stuff from our man, Mengus. Second, let's all agree to stop portraying this as a recruiting victory of UCF over Louisville that somehow spawned angry Louisville based media attacks on UCF. DaMarcus Smith listened to the people around him, and perhaps felt he had no choice. At no point has DaMarcus portrayed his recruiting decision as a freely made choice based upon the merits of UCF. I know that judging from my Twitter feed that people think I have an irrational hatred for UCF, but I really don't. I grew up in Tampa. I went to a UCF game in the Citrus Bowl when Duante Culpepper was the only player they had worth speaking of. I think UCF is on the fast track toward BCS membership in the Big East and will be a great member. I've said it all on the record now so that people won't be tempted to think that a schtick on Twitter is serious. It's not. It is entirely conceivable that DaMarcus Smith traveled to Orlando, visited the (now almost mythical thanks to Brandon Bender) UCF campus, met with George O'Leary and the players, and decided that he'd rather play for UCF. If there was any indication that such a thing had occurred, I would, as a fan of Smith's (I watched him play four times this year and remain hopeful that he stars at the college level, even at UCF) and of Louisville, readily admit that the Knights had won the battle for the kid's heart fair and square. That, sadly, has not happened here and it's time for Louisville fans to stop attacking UCF as if it had anything to do with it and for UCF fans to stop gloating over landing Smith as if you landed him at Louisville's expense in a fair fight. DaMarcus Smith will enroll at UCF and suit up in the fall because the people around him made him feel as if he had no other choice.