My take on the Pitino presser...

I wanted to do a blog post about my initial feelings on the UK bball schedule and talk about how many games I thought the football and basketball teams would win. But then, BAM, crazy came out of left field and really took ahold.

Let me temper this by saying this is only opinion, not fact. It is meant to be humorous and not in anyway slander anyone. I’m just reacting to an event that actually took place. Let me start off by saying I love Rick Pitino. The 96 team he assembled was the best team in college basketball history. I am glad for everything he gave me as a UK fan. I did jump on the bandwagon and throw some hate his way when he started at Louisville, but that dissipated slowly. Now I just choose to root against Louisville but not hate the man that brought me a ton of joy. He has also given us a fair share of comedy. Before this scandal I thought he would never top the white linen suit he had to change at halftime because he was sweating and it was becoming see-through. He had gone from a championship coach to a college girl on Spring Break after her 3rd Margarita.

Then this whole story hit. I'll be honest, as a fan of comedy and train wrecks this brought me a ton of glee. Our former coach, that had antagonized UK fans by going to their in-state rival, was just getting annihilated in the headlines, and it was hilarious to watch. I don't watch soap operas but this was playing out like one, and it was a beautiful mess. Depending on how much you chose to believe of the rumors and reports it was just breathtaking (its kinda' fun to just believe it all, even if all evidence points to the contrary). In fact the joke "pulling a Pitino" is my new favorite catch-phrase to throw out when I see a couple getting a little too affectionate at a restaurant.

Now let’s get down to the business of today. I'll try to avoid reusing anything I heard on Bill Simmons Podcast and just keep everything to the presser but there was some great stuff from him as well. Especially about how weird it is that the woman he had an affair with married his equipment manager and good friend, so they would be seeing a lot of each other I guess.

Pitino steps up to the mike and decides that there will be no questions, he's just gonna let the crazy flow.

From the beginning, he said: "I said I wouldn’t talk about this," -- Probably not the best idea; he seemed a little underprepared and had apparently been told not to talk by EVERYONE. But when he stepped to the mike I was on the edge of my seat. He keeps saying I'm a proud New Yorker--what does that even mean? I don’t even have a joke here, that really made no sense to me.

He is pretty upset about Ted Kennedy dying and the lack of reporting on that--I'm not making light of a disease but when a hard drinking, hard living 77 year old man with a terminal illness dies it’s still breaking news, and I'm sure that was reported earlier in the day, but it’s not a "everybody stop talking about everything else" story. Pitino really should have had this happen during the Michael Jackson freak-out. Picked the wrong deceased celebrity, so it seems. Why would Pitino think the Louisville papers would not cover something about the Louisville basketball coach? There is more than 1 page in the paper. Why would sports writers in Kentucky want to break the Ted Kennedy story? And why is he surprised that people are more interested in a high profile sex scandal. Apparently, he’s never read the news…ever. We have loved this stuff since Washington was president. We love a good sex scandal and this has everything... a crazy woman, a high profile guy, some cover up stuff, some inside stuff, lots of juicy details.

And I know he is worried about his wife, but maybe, just maybe, that means he shouldn’t have done anything with another woman. Maybe she is upset because her husband cheated, not because some tapes got out. And honestly I would have had no idea about the tapes unless there was some crazy press conference telling me not to talk about them.

Speaking of the tapes from Ms. Sypher, would anyone have given them an ounce of credibility? I'm sure people would have written about them or let people know what they said, but it would have been dismissed in 2 days. Now, it just seems like its starting back up a freak show that was already dying down.

Then, Pitino spends a lot of time trying to discredit the woman who has already been discredited by everyone. We all know she lied to get her name out there and get famous and tried to extort him which is pretty shady. But that’s what crazy people do. That's what you get when you hook up with a real life crazy person. They usually aren't the discreet, "yea let’s keep this between us types". They are more the Fatal Attraction types. Pitino is lucky he didn't end up with a boiled rabbit. I know what it’s like. It seems like a lot of the girls I attract are crazy people (could be they are all crazy but I'm sure there are like at least 7 that are sane, jk ladies its gotta be in the tens) But it’s always a memorable experience. You always get some kind of wild story to tell your friends who may or may not believe you. But we all know that those are the kind of people that don't play by rational rules and can't be reasoned with. Of course she tried to extort him and is doing interviews to get her name out there...She's crazy. It seems like Rick would be better off letting her spew her nonsense to just kill her credibility than to go hardcore on the offensive. It almost makes it seems like there is something said there that struck a nerve, that he wants to deny a little too quickly (just opinion but that’s how it possibly looks).

I personally don't believe a thing Sypher says, I’m not even sure that’s her real name. But this thing is playing out like Jerry Springer; next thing you know, we'll find out she was a guy all along. I expect to see her on the next Dancing with the Stars, SCANDAL edition. With Jessica Hahn, Monica Lewinsky, Darva Konger, the runaway bride, the Brazilian girl that the SC Gov went "hiking in the Ozarks" to see, and many more. I apologize to all the scandal ladies I left out, but it’s late and I don't read Us magazine or the Enquirer.

And He wants this to go to trial--REALLY???? REALLLY??? yeah cause he seems to love when things get out in the public record. Wouldn’t he want this to go away quietly even if he didn't do anything just so he could stop talking about it?

Pitino ends the conference with a statement that this hasn't effect recruiting at all--well good for you Rick. I'm sure the school being a laughing stock and the coach going off and having to defend himself in press conferences every few weeks will have no adverse effect on the parents of your recruits. Even if it doesn't that's the only thing I would have talked about, just said there is a lot of stuff being reported or said and it’s not true, I'm here to talk about basketball and that is going fine. It would have been better to be calm and collected or just ignore the tapes all together and wait for the trial he keeps calling for.

Also on that last statement. He seems to be yelling, almost like he is trying to convince himself, the Louisville brass or the reporters who cover the team. Why not just show them it’s going well, they will report what they see. I know he is thinking, if we lose a recruit they will blame the scandal but seriously, just go out there and get recruits. Actually...don't do that, forget I said anything. Keep having press conferences, have 1 a week, have 1 a day.

In the end we don't know the whole truth and probably never will. There will keep being rumors and leaks and things to talk about but it will be tough to take them at face value. All we do know for sure is this, if the UK-UofL game wasn't already the most anticipated of the year with all the other story lines (2 great teams w/ great players, Cal vs. Rick, the usual rivalry) it definitely is now. Just to see how players, coaches, and especially fans react. It could be the most hostile environment ever with the most ammunition ever. Who knows how it will play out, but frankly, I can't wait to find out.