By now you've all heard about Rick Pitino, the very successful college basketball coach at the University of Louisville, one of the big-time programs where a won-loss record that would be golden at many other places gets you a one-way ticket out of town.
Pitino also coached at archrival University of Kentucky and won a national championship there in 1996.
What's not to like about Rick, another Long Island Italian-American kid who made it big?
Pitino, married with five children, has admitted to a one-night stand (actually, it was a table) in 2003 with Karen Sypher. They reportedly had sex on a table at an upscale Louisville restaurant (no, not Denny's). She apparently got an abortion, married his assistant Tim Sypher, then tried to extort $10M from Pitino and is now under indictment and getting a divorce. Suffice it to say that it is quite messy.
Pitino's nominal UL boss, President James Ramsey, is standing behind him despite a clause in his contract that permits termination for "acts of moral depravity or misconduct that damages the university's reputation." I'm sure Ramsey ran this past the boosters.
Some Kentucky Catholics (all fifteen) are urging forgiveness. That's nice.
So why am I posting about this? I am not here to judge Pitino, a highly-paid, high-profile, very successful coach. His last UL team was 31-5 and missed the Final Four by a game. His overall college winning percentage is something like 73%.
What I am wondering is this:
1) would Pitino be getting cut such slack if his last few teams had been mediocre?
2) will he be let go if it turns out this sordid affair affects recruiting or his team's play?
We'll see what happens this year. As former UNLV head coach Jerry Tarkanian once said, "As long as you're winning, they love you."
"It's Happening Here." - UL motto
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