Louisville City Wire

Eric Gocke doesn’t miss a University of Louisville game.

“My favorite team is the Louisville Cardinals. I’ve been a fan my entire life – 46 years,” he told Louisville City Wire. “If I can’t go to the game I watch on TV or attempt to stream if available. If neither are an option, I follow the score or play-by-play online.”

Gocke said although he enjoys the games, as a fan he would like additional ways to have fun and become involved.

Eric Gocke and his wife cheer on the Cardinals. | Submitted

“I’m not aware of any virtual game day experience,” he said. “That would be cool. An app would be awesome. Real-time stats, what’s going on with other teams in the conference, ability to stream the game, Jumbotron, trivia would be a good start to the app.”

It’s been a tough season for Cards fans, Gocke said. Louisville is 3-7, in 12th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Games against Kentucky and Murray State were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Nov. 30 head coach Scott Satterfield said the season finale against Wake Forest, scheduled for Dec. 19, may be canceled, or the date could be shifted. The Cardinals could play a different team.

“We’re just going like we have most of this year and that's living day-to-day,” Satterfield said on his radio show. “It’s kind of up in the air right now. We’ll treat this week as a bye week and then I’m sure we’ll hear from the ACC later in the week and go from there.”

Gocke said this is merely the latest piece of bad news.

“The football season is a bust this year,” he said. “All around, sports definitely don’t feel the same this year, so no big on us being terrible this time around. I feel like every sport has an asterisk this year.”

Louisville has a proud gridiron heritage, with its most famous alumni being legendary Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, who suited up for the Cardinals in 1951-54.

Satterfield led the Cardinals to an 8-5 season in 2019, his first year as head coach. This season, however, has been marked by losses and uncertainty.

Gocke is ready for some basketball. He’s a registered nurse who attended Bellarmine University and went on to serve as an Army nurse for 6 1/2 years, later doing a six-month humanitarian mission to Honduras where they treated thousands of patients. He, wife and their 2-year-old son all cheer for the Cardinals.

His father was a Louisville graduate, as are two of his three brothers. One of his nephews also is an alumni, and another is attending the university.

The men’s basketball program has been a national title contender for his entire life. The Cardinals have won three NCAA tournaments.

Denny Crum, who learned at the hand of UCLA legend John Wooden, brought prestige and power to Louisville with his high-flying teams. The Cardinals were a TV favorite as they routinely rolled up 20-win seasons and claimed national titles in 1980 and 1986.

Under coach Rick Pitino, Louisville once again rose to NCAA heights and won a national crown in 2013. However, violations forced the school to vacate the title.

Coach Chris Mack is building a new tradition in Louisville. The Cardinals were 22-14 in 2018-19 and 24-7 in 2019-20, 15-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, before the season was halted.

It's an open question how far Louisville might have gone if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down the season without a champion crowned.

Gocke is optimistic about the 2020-21 campaign, and the Cardinals opened 4-0.

“I’m hopeful for the basketball season,” he said. “We’re a young team but I think we’ll do great things.”