Lost in the madness of "Captain Controversy 2014" on Tuesday was this note from the C-J's Jeff Greer:
He also said Louisville is going to bring back the rally beards. So there's that.
— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer_cj) January 20, 2015
It was after a win over Temple on Valentine's Day a year ago, you may remember, that Pitino announced the team had all agreed not to shave until its next loss.
"We all said, ‘Let's have some fun. Let's grow beards until we lose,'" Pitino said after that game. "It's the first time in my life that I'm trying to grow a beard, and it's the first time I've looked in the mirror and seen multifaceted hair coming in, different colors. We want to have some fun right now, so we're going to do that and hopefully we can get on a little streak and grow some full beards."
Pitino was hoping the idea would galvanize the team, which had struggled in big games up to that point, in the same way that the tattoo agreement had galvanized the 2013 squad. In some ways it worked, as Louisville finally notched a signature win by beating Cincinnati. The Cards didn't shave until after a March 1 loss at Memphis.
So come on out to the Yum Center on Jan. 31 to see all your old friends: Bearded Levitch, Bearded Pitino, Bearded Balado, Bearded Trez, Bearded Wayne .... and their new pals Bearded Anas, Bearded Chinanu and, of course, Bearded Matz.
