Cardinal Football

This is the story of an urban university's up-and-down struggle to find its niche in the world of big-time college football. Although its bowl trips and national rankings have been few and far between, the University of Louisville has a football history that's incredibly rife with larger-than-life heroes.

Although many football fans may not realize it, the immortal Johnny Unitas, who became known as "Mr. Quarterback" in the National Football League, is a U of L product. So are other famous pro stars such as Lenny Lyles, Doug Buffone, Tom Jackson, Otis Wilson, Joe Jacoby, Mark Clayton, Ted Washington, Frank Minnifield, and Ray Buchanan. They are all in this book.

Jim Bolus was 54 when he died in May, 1997. A sportswriter for The Courier Journal & Louisville Times for more than 30 years, he became known as the world's foremost expert on the Kentucky Derby.

His awards include the Dean Eagle Memorial Award, four Florida Thoroughbred Breeders awards, the Old Hilltop Award, the Warner Jones Award, the Walter Haight Award, and the Joe Palmer Award. With Billy Reed, the co-author of this book, he won a national Sigma Delta Chi award for general reporting and a National Headliners award for investigative reporting in 1972.

He's survived by his wife, Suzanne; son Jim Jr., daughter Jennifer, and daughter-in-law Tana; and grandchildren Eli and James Michael.

Billy Reed began his journalism career with the Lexington Herald-Leader, his current employer, in 1959. He was associated with Sports Illustrated from 1968 through 1997, the last seven years as a senior writer. In 1974, he succeeded Joe Creason as general columnist of The Courier-Journal, and three years later he succeeded Dave Kindred as that newspaper's sports editor, a job he held until he returned to the Herald-Leader in January, 1987.

Reed's book credits include Famous Kentuckians, a series of profiles published in 1977; Born to Coach, the story of basketball coach Denny Crum's first 15 seasons at the University of Louisville; The Final Four, a history of that event; and Hello Everybody, this is Cawood Ledford, the autobiography of UK's legendary play-by-play announcer.