The Zoo Ranks 12th, and We’re Inside 100 Days to Kickoff

Don’t miss my conversation with Louisville Zoo Director John Walczak on the Rusty Satellite Show (also featuring graphic facilitator Kat Gentner). While I was at the Zoo Tuesday, I took this photo of John in front of an animatronic bug. We also discussed, outside the interview, how the Zoo overcame the bad public relations from the 2009 train derailment. Walczak explained the thorough safety precautions now in place.

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John Walczak, director of the Louisville Zoo, which finished 12th nationally among zoos in a contest.

Originally we had planned to do the interview to promote the Zoo’s participating in a USA Today contest in which online voters selected the best Zoo in the country. The results just came out, and Louisville’s was 12th in the voting. Top zoos were in Toledo, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Memphis and Columbus. Which, really, just means those cities have the most active online voters.

This may be a stretch for a segue, but unless you listen constantly to sports talk radio, you may not realize it’s less than 100 days until the University of Miami invades Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium for Louisville’s first game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bettors may look to sites like MyTopSportsbooks.com for a line on the game, but I suspect the Cards will be favored, given their 36-9 whipping of the ‘Canes in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

This week the ACC announced kickoff times for five U of L games, including the Monday night opener with Miami, which will air on ESPN at 8 p.m.  The Murray State game that Saturday night starts at 7. And let’s hope the Thursday, Oct. 30 home game with Florida State will garner national interest when it kicks off at 7:30 p.m.