Tuesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—I’m biased, but SB Nation’s year end feature “The Year Sports Stopped Making Sense” is pretty terrific. I wrote about this officially being the year we lost all hope in the NCAA’s ability to ... do anything.

—Happy retirement to Devin Hester.

*muttering under breath*

Just kick the damn ball out of bounds.

—Just more blatant disrespect for Louisville from the worldwide leader.

—Richard Deitsch’s annual collection of the best journalism of the year is here for your consumption. Once again, Card Chronicle was snubbed.

—Good stuff, Cards fans.

—LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball are officially headed to LiThuania. I’m sure this will work out exactly the way everyone wants it to.

—The Havocs remain awesome.

See you on the 23rd.

—Speaking of the ‘Lopes, our guy Keonta Vernon set a school record for field goal attempts without a miss over the weekend.

—This state remains the weirdest.

—According to Wallet Hub, Louisville is the 107th best college city/town in America.

—From today through Thursday, you can get 100 Things Louisville for 50% off by following the directions in this tweet.

—I’m talking about the book on “Beyond the Game” today at 5. How am I doing both this and my own radio show at the same time? Will 15 minutes of my show just be answering questions you can’t hear into a microphone? You’ll have to wait and see.

I taped it.

I taped the other interview.

—100% would watch.

—DePaul has won five games in a row and it’s messing with my brand.

—I’m shocked this news didn’t get its own section on ESPN’s bottom line scroll.

Just another Louisville scandal.

—The third-ranked U of L women’s basketball team will play its final home game of 2017 when they host Tennessee State tonight at 7. Here’s a preview.

—You know how to pronounce it, but it’s so adorable how you act like you don’t.

RIP HIS HEAD OFF, DAVID.

—Three Cardinals rank in Baseball America’s top 100 college draft prospects for 2018. Josh Stowers leads the way at No. 41.

—This would have ended both the game and all investigations into Louisville basketball.

—My 20 favorite songs of 2017 are here, for anyone interested. You can judge Kesha as much as you want and it’s not gonna change a damn thing.

—Louisville once again got off to a slow start last night, a trend that has plagued it throughout the 2017-18 season so far. Jake Lourim looks at why this might keep happening.

“Sometimes as a player, it just takes a while to get into the flow,” Padgett said. “You’re figuring out what the other team’s doing defensively to you, what they’re doing offensively. Just something we’ve got to continue to work on.”

Mahmoud offered a reason that could be rooted in Louisville’s opponents, that the Cards have been too eager at the outset. In their six games against lower-tier opponents (excluding Purdue, Indiana and Seton Hall), they have led by an average of 3.3 points after eight minutes, then 8.8 at halftime, then a more comfortable 14.7 at the 12-minute mark of the second half.

“I think it’s more mentally, you’ve got to be more mentally ready to race right away from the jump,” Mahmoud said. “I think when we go out there, we want to win right away. I was joking earlier, we want to make the 60-point shot and just get the game over with. But that’s not going to happen. You gotta take it step by step.”

—Mo Thiaw says thanks.

—U of L’s tax-exempt status could be at risk because of years of inaccurate IRS disclosures. Sweet.

—Louisville landed a commit from 6’8, 250-pound JuCo tight end Nigel Kilby earlier this week. The man is large.

—Bryce is still balling.

—Duke Baksetball Report has your ACC roundup.

—Steve Spurrier says he thinks Lamar Jackson will be “outstanding” in the NFL.

"I think he'd be outstanding," Spurrier said. "I think he's going to be really good. He's really developed, I think, more into a dropback passer, but he can also take off running and extend plays. And what a difference that makes. I didn't coach one that could run quite like Lamar."

Spurrier now serves as an ambassador in the athletic department at the University of Florida, where he once was a star quarterback and then national title-winning coach. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last week and attended the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City on Saturday night alongside Jackson, who finished third in the voting.

“He's really developed, I think, more into a dropback passer, but he can also take off running and extend plays. And what a difference that makes.”

Spurrier said he believes Jackson has matured since winning the Heisman a year ago, growing accustomed to the celebrity status that accompanied the award.

"Just in one year, you can tell how much he's learned," Spurrier said of his fellow Heisman-winning quarterback.“

—Stay dry, y’all.

—The first day of U of L’s appeal hearing in Atlanta is going on as I type this. What’s happening? I have absolutely no idea.

This has been your U of L appearing update segment on Cardinal News & Notes.

—And finally, R&R is live from the Sports & Social Club today from 3-6. We’ll talk U of L sports for three hours and then hand the reins over to the coverage of the Louisville women’s game against Tennessee State. Listen here.