The Cardinal Countdown: 84 Days Until Kickoff

#84 Gio Pascascio

Class: Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-3/185

Position: Wide Receiver

Hometown: Glendale, AZ

Twitter:@GiovanniBeast

Thoughts: I touched on this in some of the previous wide receiver posts, but Louisville will rely pretty heavily this season on some new faces at the position. While Gio has been around the program, he wasn’t thrust into a production role until potentially this season. Pascascio played well on special teams last year which is a useful tool to help transition to the speed and strength of the college game. While his performance in the Spring game didn’t set the world on fire I have no doubt a few days on the JUGS machine and a few hours with Coach Thomas in his ear can solve a lot of concerns they may have. There is no doubt most eyes will be on Quick, Staples, Savage and Samuel, but with his size Gio will get a shot at some point to help on the outside, he just needs to be ready when his number is called.

Sweet Tweet:

I think the overwhelming majority of Cards fans loved the FSU jerseys. I thought the Cardinal on the helmet was difficult to see, but I chalked that up to my colorblindness (do not point at something and ask me "what color is this". Seriously. Don’t.) This of course made me flashback to some of our past jerseys and I tried to rank my Top 3 in the last 10-15 years or so. If you disagree feel free to offer your opinion, incorrect as it may be, in the comments.

#3. Black out 2014 (While the 2006 blackouts are sentimental, I prefer the style of these. Helmet is "okay" but jersey and pants are a great combo)

#2. All white 2013 (I really like the "all white" unis from most seasons because they look crisp and clean. The 2013 edition, similar to the black above, had the stripes on the shoulders and legs along with a  Cardinal head you can’t see in this photo because of the towel. Pretty solid.)

#1. All red home uniform 2003-2005 (Not sure if its nostalgia or the programs performance during this time but I loved the all reds with the yellow outline on the numbers. Immediately makes me think Bush/Brohm and that makes me happy)

.

.

.

#84 Colin Holba

Class: RS Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 6-5/233

Position: Long Snapper

Hometown: Louisville, KY (Product of Eastern High School)

Twitter: @ColinHolba

Thoughts: Last season I told you to prepare for ‘Holba Hysteria’ and it has finally arrived. Grant Donovan, who was a damn good long snapper and by the way, signed a contract with the Redskins, had to pass his long snapping "skillz" (long snappers prefer a "z" on the end. Don’t question it, they’re strange) onto Holba and he is now the man of the hour. The football player/pitcher from Eastern is now your long snapper, baring something crazy, for the next 2 seasons.

I love these guys. They never get any publicity; they typically do their job very well, and hardly ever get a shout out from the punter. For some reason you never hear about punters buying their long snapper a car or a $50k watch or something crazy like pro QBs do for their O-line. A nice snap goes a long way towards ultimately providing a successful punt. Show some love punters! Also, do a quick Google search for "long snapper". Sure, you get a few hundred pages of grown man butts, but if you keep digging deep enough you get this beauty…

What other football term provides search results of butts and fish?

I’m waiting…

You win long snappers, you win.

Sweet Tweet:

I literally despise the St Louis professional baseball team and everything they do in the postseason

— Colin Holba (@ColinHolba) October 13, 2014

As a Cubs fan currently living in the city of St. Louis I could probably craft quite the symposium on my disdain for the baseball Cardinals that reside in this city, but there are much more important things to get too. Something much bigger than myself…It’s a tradition unlike any other…the annual long snapper trick shot video.