Counting down the greatest Louisville Cardinals sports traditions

Tailgating

If you ask around, this is a favorite pastime of many Louisville faithful. Some folks look forward to football season for tailgating alone.

Though Louisville football hasn’t always been top-tier, the U of L tailgating experience has been ranked in the top five for decades thanks to groups like the Collision Course and Red Rage Tailgate who throw parties every single home game – regardless of the weather.

We pull up in our campers. We get the grill going. Crack open a beer. Take a shot. Blast some tunes. Fire up the grill. Divide up the beanbags. Toss the football around. Let’s party. Oh, and invite everyone.

It is the way we celebrate the kickoff of our celebrated peak sports season, and no matter how many wins and losses we have in a football campaign, our tailgaters are undefeated.

The Cards Cheer

Arguably the greatest sports tradition in University of Louisville history starts with a deliberately slow clap.

Clap……clap…..clap….clap..clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap clap clap clap, clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap
(Everyone): “Ohhhhhhh C!….A!….R!….D!…..S! Cards!!”

It’s not just a cheer. It’s an institution here in The Ville. A staple. The Cards Cheer is in our blood. It’s who we are. It’s what binds us. Its what makes us family.

At home games, neutral games, and even some away games, the cheer can be heard bellowing down from the stands in a triumphant roar. My greatest early memories of Louisville games and events always include The Cards Cheer. Man, I was hooked for life i

“Cards First Down!

It started as an announcement over the PA at Louisville football games. Over time it has blossomed into one of the most frequent chants at games

The very moment the offense picks up the first down, the mutterings begin throughout the stadium. Moments later it comes over the intercom “..and that’s good…for another…”

The home crowd engages: “Cards first down!”

This is always followed by a roar and in turn, carries the momentum even further as the Cards march down the field.

Throwing up L’s

Sure, other schools have hand signals for their schools, but Louisville putting L’s up has really rubbed other fanbases the wrong way, especially ones that don’t have a hand gesture of their own.

Actually, a couple of fan bases have even taken to throw the L down and adopted this such hand signal as their own.

Trying to disrespect the L only strengthens the hand gesture in the eyes of Cards fans.

You see it everywhere, especially on social media. This is how we directly communicate with our people without words.

One time I was on Spring Break in Florida and I was wearing a Louisville shirt and hat. A family passed me and simply said “Yeaaah!” and threw up the L. I replied the same way.