City: Louisville, KY

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (502) 852-5151

Address: 2800 South Floyd St.

Description: University of Louisville basketball tradition is firmly rooted in the 1960s when the Cardinals were led by Louisville native Wesley Unseld and Breckinridge County’s Butch Beard. (Unseld was the only player to be the NBA’s rookie of the year and MVP in the same season.) Today, the Cards have garnered a faithful following at their Freedom Hall venue that makes them one of the most successful college teams in terms of percentage to capacity annually. Games are often sold out, and when the new waterfront arena is completed in 2010, it is expected that their crowds will be even larger.Although most would say that basketball is the most-followed college sport in town, the Louisville Cardinals football team has a solid Derby City fan base as well, and its popularity seems to have risen to almost the same level. When they play in town, they play at the new Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium out near Churchill Downs. The men’s football team, which has produced players such as Johnny Unitas, Deion Branch, and Sam Madison, achieved national respect under Howard Schnellenberger in the 1990s, when they overwhelmingly defeated Alabama at the Fiesta Bowl. Their clout soared even further when the team joined the Eastern Conference and in 2007 won the FedEx Orange Bowl under Bobby Petrino. Although football and basketball seem to dominate the local fan base, there are many more sports at the University of Louisville, including men’s and women’s soccer, golf, tennis, and track and field, in addition to the popular baseball and softball teams. For information about all of the different teams, go to www.uoflsports.com.