NCAA FootballWeird But True

A College Football Team Lost Because They Played Too Much Call Of Duty

Louisville lost to Pitt 21-14 on Saturday, stopping the Cardinals’ winning streak at three and further muddying the Big East title picture (which has a chance to wind up almost as big a mess as it did last year). There’s no shame in losing to Pitt – though inconsistent, the Panthers are a talented team capable of beating pretty much anyone on their schedule. According to coach Charlie Strong, though, the Cardinals had some issues this week that had nothing to do with their opponent:

Charlie Strong says the release of the Call of Duty video game distracted the team from its Pitt preparation.

I don’t know about Strong’s tone of voice when he delivered this. Maybe he was joking. But maybe he wasn’t. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 indeed came out last week, and undoubtedly, a lot of guys on Louisville spent not-insignificant time playing it. They’re not normal college kids, exactly, but they are still college kids, dammit. As a fan of the team Louisville vanquished to begin the winning streak Pitt just broke, though, I kind of wish the game had come out, say, October 17.

Photo via Shutterstock (Sanzhar Murzin)