Pitino-Sypher saga
Posts related to the Rick Pitino allegations, extortion and the fallout
Those watching the end of the 24-hour hoops marathon Tuesday night should see some classics. Gonzaga vs. Michigan State. Arkansas vs. Louisville. Memphis vs. Kansas.
The final two are part of the Naismith Hall of Fame Classic and features four of the game’s most successful programs.
Not that those four exhibited Hall of Fame behavior during the offseason. Rob Dauster at Ballin’ Is a Habit thinks the tourney name is worthy of a little irony. Perhaps the Role Models Classic? I mean, do you remember what kind of offseason those four had?
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Louisville fans must be dying for the college basketball season to actually start.
First, summer’s derailed by the Rick Pitino-Karen Sypher saga (still ongoing), which resulted in nothing but a lot of grief for the coach and the program. This chart from Luke Winn sums it all up.
Add to that Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith – two likely starters for 2009-10 – arrested last weekend in southern Indiana and charged with resisting law enforcement, battery and disorderly conduct, things could be better for the Cardinals.
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Rick Pitino isn’t letting life’s trials beat him down. Just ask any of the 17,000 people who watched his motivational speech on Tuesday.
Sure, he’s had a trying few months. He admitted to having an extramarital affair and is still dealing with an alleged extortion scheme.
Seems the angry Pitino who lambasted the media in late August is gone, replaced by a more serene, accepting man, who admits he “can’t fight” being judged.
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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.
And, in the process, he lost any favorable public opinion he had.
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I spent last week in Kansas to see family and attend a friend’s wedding and couldn’t get away from Pitino, Karen Sypher and the whole sordid mess. That saga – along with Tiger at the PGA – was guaranteed to spark long discussions on coaches and other people of power getting caught in tabloid-worthy scandals.
As a result, I spent a sizable portion of Monday trolling the Web for more news and option on Pitino. Couldn’t be helped. It’s one of those stories impossible to ignore. Three spots were valuable as one-stop reading sources, though.
The consensus? Pitino messed up, both in his choice of late-night entertainment and how he handled the fall-out, right away and in ensuring years. How could someone obviously so smart and media savvy botch this whole thing so badly?
Still, it’s not the worst thing to hit the sport recently, or even this decade. Tough to argue with Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News, who compiled the Top 10 coaching scandals of the 2000s. Pitino didn’t make the cut (and Kelvin Sampson was No. 10) because … man, there were some stupid coaching decisions.
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It's a head-shaking story. No other way to say it.
But it's also a reminder -- as if sports fans needed another one this summer -- that we really don't know our sports figures, no matter how much larger than life they may seem. CONTINUED >>
Rick Pitino could probably use a trip to the beach about now. But first, he better call any recruits to let him know he isn’t going anywhere…
Louisville’s coach said there is “absolutely no truth” to the rumors that he’s returning to the NBA to take the Sacramento Kings job.
Count that as a win for the school, for college hoops and the Kings.
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