Wall Street Journal's take on the Cards

Perspectives on the University of Louisville basketball team seem to be coming from everywhere, and here’s one from a place you might not expect — a financial writer for The Wall Street Journal.

Dennis K. Berman is a bi-weekly columnist for the WSJ, and its Global Deals Editor. But earlier this week, he dipped into the arena of sports.

What I didn’t know about Berman, whose bio states that he is a Kentucky Colonel, is that he was a former U of L ball boy. In this piece, he writes with some nostalgia about the Cardinals, but goes even farther. He suggests that a sagging nation can learn somethings by the way U of L plays basketball.

In particular, he holds up Preston Knowles as an example. His column begins . . .

The stock market has gone to hell. Congress remains a mess. Even the new U2 album disappoints.

Into this wretched winter steps the University of Louisville men’s basketball team. The top seed in the NCAA Tournament is perhaps one of the only groups left in this country that moves with purpose, teamwork and poise under pressure.

I was born into the golden era of Louisville basketball. One of my first memories is greeting the eventual 1980 national championship team at Louisville’s Standiford Field.

And Berman ends on this rather unlikely note . . .

(Obama) says he draws management inspiration from the basketball court. Perhaps that’s why I have this strange vision of our lethargic-sounding Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, jolted to action after watching the Cardinals march through the NCAA Tournament. These days the world needs less John Maynard Keynes and a lot more Preston Knowles.

It’s a good piece, and you can read the whole by clicking here.