University of Louisville Magazine

FALL 2013

The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.

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Athletics Hail to the Cards! Winning the men's NCAA basketball title comes with perks, some better than others. It's safe to say a trip to the White House to meet the president is near the top. Coach Rick Pitino led his team on a whirlwind tour of the nation's capital in July. They met with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Rand Paul, and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and topped off the trip with an audience with college basketball's highest-profled fan, President Barack Obama. "Today we're here to celebrate a Louisville team that always played hard, that always worked together, that stayed focused on one singular goal, and that is to bust my bracket," Obama said. The commander-in-chief lamented that even though he had the Cards in the title game, he did not factor in the extra motivation needed to put UofL over the top. "I guess I doubted the motivational power of making your 60-year-old coach promise to get a tattoo if you win," Obama said. "We're not going to ask coach to show it at the White House, but I have to hand it to you, coach. You did not chicken out." Joking aside, the president not only recounted the team's athletic accomplishments, but also commended the players' academic and service accomplishments. Pitino presented the president with a special-edition championship Louisville Slugger baseball bat — presumably to be used at testy D.C. press conferences — and also with a presidential basketball jersey. 24|LOUISVILLE.EDU

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