MU Defeats Louiville, Sabotages Local Industry

The tide in the battle for Big East dominance turned decisively Monday night as the Marquette University men's basketball team defeated the Louisville Cardinals 74-65 at Freedom Hall. However, perhaps more impressive than the Golden Eagles' victory on the court was the decisive blow the team struck to the Louisville area as they sabotaged local railway lines on their way out of town, causing a large train derailment early Tuesday afternoon.

In the wake of the rare dual-faceted victory, the Golden Eagles have won three in a row and are fast becoming one of the Big East's most dangerous teams. "We weren't that far away," coach Tom Crean said of the team's recent resurgence and the motivation for the team's impromptu attack on Louisville's regional supply lines. "In fact" Crean continued, "the railway station was on our way back to the airport anyway, so we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone."

The crushing blow to Louisville's record and infrastructure is considered by many analysts as a continued step in the right direction for a Marquette team looking to establish itself as a force to be reckoned with in the Big East.

As of midday Tuesday, officials in Kentucky were struggling to get the accident under control, but were relieved to learn that no serious injuries were reported. "We regret what has happened here, (and) we want to find out what caused it," train company spokesman Bob Sullivan said at a news conference, adding "and by 'what' I mean 'who,' and by 'find out what caused it' I mean 'I personally am going to hunt down Tom Crean and take retribution for this eggregious and unwarranted attack'."

The attack is believed by many to be revenge for incidents in 2003 and 2005 in which Marquette suffered stunning late-second defeats at the hands of Louisville players Reese Gaines and Francisco Garcia, both of whom proceeded after the game on a rampage of looting and pilliaging in a number of Milwaukee-area neighborhoods.

When asked about the possibility of a connection between this incident and those involving Gaines and Garcia, Crean pleaded ignorance. "We've got to move forward," Crean said, "we've got a little time to grow from it and build on it but it gets as hard as it could possibly be on Sunday," referring to Marquette's upcoming game with highly-ranked Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Marquette's recent advancements on and off the court are a marked improvement from earlier in the year, when Marquette's conference record stood at 0-2 and were frequent victims of guerrilla-style attacks at the hands of factions believed to be associated with Providence and Syracuse.