Thursday morning Cardinal news and notes

Some of you may have heard the tragic story of Shane Roof, who was sent to the hospital after he fell while mowing the lawn. Shane, a lifelong Cards fan, got an uplifting visit from some pretty notable former Cardinals.

We're all pulling for you, Shane.

Not sure what exactly this was for, but we need more pictures like this.

Could not have been with any better people, mentors and teammates. @peypeysiva @luke_skywalka11

A post shared by Russdiculous® (@le_lethe_) on May 30, 2017 at 7:28pm PDT

Also, I can't stop laughing at the thought of Russ going to martini bars now.

Speaking of Russ, you can catch him playing in the charity basketball game at Ballard to help support the family of LMPD officer Nick Rodman on June 24th.

It went a bit under the radar, but composite 5-star forward Brian Bowen took an unofficial visit to Louisville's campus earlier this week. Pitino does have on extra scholarship to use for the upcoming season,  but has said that he does not plan to use it. If Bowen does end up as a Cardinal, that'll be a big boost for the program.

Brendan McKay's homerun made the top 10 plays of the ACC tournament.

Speaking of McKay, Baseball America has McKay being drafted #2 overall to the Cincinnati Reds.

Tyler Johnson is taking a post-graduate trip to Europe, and is letting everyone know outside the St. Vitas Cathedral in Prague where he graduated from.

Some people take trips to Europe after graduation, others spend a concerning amount of time at the Granville.

To each his own.

Muhammad Ali's boyhood home, which was recently restored and turned in to a museum, may have to closedown.

There's a new Cards HQ podcast from Jeff Greer and Steve Jones, where they discuss the upcoming baseball tournament and the chances of the Cards advancing.

Steve Jones over at the Courier-Journal gives us five things we should know about the upcoming Louisville Regional.

James is ready for the Cardinals to overcome the crushing post-season exits from the last couple of years and make a run to the College World Series.

Three years seems like a long time to hold a grudge, but when you get your opportunity for retaliation, you gotta take your shot.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn't seem too worried about Lavar Ball being a problem for the league.

"I think here, if I were an NBA team looking at Lonzo Ball, I'm not sure how much consideration I would give to his father. I think ultimately the issue is, how much game does Lonzo have, how great a player can he be.

"I think his dad will invariably settle down once his son is drafted and a team has the appropriate discussions with him. So I'm not concerned about that," Silver said.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals starts tonight between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. I know most around here don't like the NBA, but it should be a fun third installment of this match-up in the Finals. LeBron is having another great season and the Warriors are one of the best offensive teams in the NBA.

Should be a lot of fun.

MLB.com's Jim Callis says Brendan McKay is one of the top two-way players in draft history.

Teams who like McKay more on the mound see him as a potential No. 2 starter who won't need much time before he's Major League-ready. Clubs who prefer him as a bat think he combines arguably the best pure hitting ability in the Draft with 20-homer power. He won the John Olerud Award as college baseball's top two-way player in each of his first two seasons and should repeat in his third because he's putting up better numbers than ever -- he's batting .363/.481/.705 with 17 homers and sports a 9-3, 2.37 record with 124 strikeouts in 91 innings.

Bovada currently has the Cards tied for third with LSU and Florida among the favorites to win the College World Series.

NCAA Baseball - Odds to Win

Oregon State                4/1

North Carolina               5/1

Florida                          15/2

Louisville                      15/2

LSU                              15/2

Stanford                       10/1

Texas Tech                   10/1

Kentucky                      12/1

TCU                              12/1

Arkansas                      16/1

Florida State                 16/1

Long Beach                  22/1

Southern Miss               22/1

Wake Forest                 25/1

Clemson                       33/1

Houston                        40/1

Brendan McKay has been named a finalist for the John Olerud Award, which is given to the best two-way player in college baseball.

Not to be outdone, shortstop Devin Hairston has also seen his name as a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award (the nation's top shortstop).

The ACC has announced the kickoff times and TV info for Louisville's football games against Purdue, North Carolina, and Clemson.

Remember how Kentucky fans felt so enraged that they decided to send death threats to referee John Higgins after the Wildcats lost to North Carolina? Well, seven of them have been identified.

"Based on the investigation's findings, our office has determined that no local charges will be filed and that pursuit of any criminal charges would be best served by deferring to authorities in the appropriate jurisdictions," Polikov said in a statement to the Associated Press. "The length of the investigation was drawn out due, in part, to the large volume of potential evidence requiring analysis and the multi-jurisdictional issues arising from the multiple states in which the communications originated."

It's just a game, folks.

And finally, Mike should be back in the next few days, so your regularly scheduled Card Chronicle programming will return.