Whose idea was Pitino's cringe-worthy presser?
Posted: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:28 PM
Filed Under:
Rants, Pitino-Sypher saga
Guess we should’ve seen this coming.
How Rick Pitino went all these months without snapping when it came to all the talk of infidelity, extortion and he said/she said is actually kind of amazing. Even public figures who regularly deal with the media don’t always stay cool under pressure.
Yet Pitino’s largely been a model of restraint, allowing the authorities and lawyers to handle the legal aspects and remaining mostly mum on the subject publicly.
And then … this happened. Whether it was the local media coverage or that he was simply fed up, Pitino lost it.
(A longer version can be found here.)
Right from start, it’s clear Pitino shouldn’t be talking. He’s working from a script, but clearly he’s angry, and it’s the kind of anger that slowly builds and boils up until you can’t even talk without shaking. I’m surprised he could see straight.
Good things rarely happen when you’re that angry. And this was not the exception. He was tired of keeping his mouth shut about the “pure hell” he and his family have been through.
“Enough is enough. I am saying something. It's a lie,” Pitino said.
For seven minutes, he lectured the audience on the proper way to handle the story, even ripping local media for interrupting coverage on Ted Kennedy’s death to report on some developments that weren’t really new.
“Everything that’s been printed, everything that’s been reported, everything that’s been breaking in the news on the day Ted Kennedy died is 100 percent a lie, a lie,” Pitino said. “All of this has been a lie, a total fabrication of the truth.”
I can’t stop watching it. How do you avert your eyes from a mess unfolding in front of you?
But why hold that press conference? Just who thought it was good idea? Did his loyal friends and advisors tell him the press would stop covering the case if he asked them?
He doesn’t have to be defensive when it comes to the case. Even if you don’t think the local media is treating you fairly, holding a press conference and losing your mind in front of a national audience is the best way to lose any public favor you once had.
Let the details continue to emerge and let officials handle Karen Sypher. If you’re convinced the “truth” will come out at trial, then wait for the trial.
You’re frustrated. Fine. Be frustrated to your friends and family, not the rest of the country. The sooner you stop lecturing everyone about how to cover the case, the sooner it’ll be forgotten.
