Lexington Herald Leader Takes Rick Pitino To Task, Shoots An "Air Ball". Read More Below.
Forgive, forget, keep cash flowing
Long, long ago, adults often uttered comforting bromides about how competing on the field of sports built character.
That's pretty much been relegated to the same cultural archive as poodle skirts and ducktail haircuts.
But we still maintain a host of illusions about big-time college sports. The most dangerous one, painfully unmasked in the aftermath of revelations about Rick Pitino's self-reported "indiscretion," is that something other than money is at the heart of the enterprise.
Tawdry encounter on a restaurant floor by a married man? Family man and devout Catholic paying for a mistress' abortion?
"We're all ready to move on," U of L President Jim Ramsey said Wednesday. Forget the morals clause in Pitino's contract. This is no time for the moral subtleties mulled in classrooms. This is about money.
Pitino, like the bloated banks the government has bailed out, is simply too big to fail.
University of Louisville basketball is a huge business that has an enormous economic commitment with the new arena under construction in downtown Louisville.
Beyond that, a whole host of boosters, sponsors, big givers and ordinary fans have literally bought into "the program."
Just this year — as Pitino mentioned twice during his self-absorbed apology Wednesday — the Cardinals reached the Elite Eight ("and we hope to go farther," coach said.)
And at the heart of it is Pitino, the rainmaker, the man who can deliver post-season play, keep the program in the run for a championship and a big payday.
He's so valuable that U of L has promised him a $3.6 million bonus if he stays until July 1 next year.
So, how could president Ramsey, an economist by training, or Director of Athletics Tom Jurich not find it in their hearts — or on their spreadsheets — to forgive Pitino and beg the rest of us to forget?
Likewise, as basketball recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger told Herald-Leader reporter Jerry Tipton, parents looking for a path to an NBA payoff for their talented sons will also probably be willing to overlook Pitino's moral lapses.
"If you see the issue as money in the pocket, that's going to supersede a potential character issue involving the coach," he said.
"Money takes precedence for a whole lot of people."
Long, long ago, adults often uttered comforting bromides about how competing on the field of sports built character.
That's pretty much been relegated to the same cultural archive as poodle skirts and ducktail haircuts.
But we still maintain a host of illusions about big-time college sports. The most dangerous one, painfully unmasked in the aftermath of revelations about Rick Pitino's self-reported "indiscretion," is that something other than money is at the heart of the enterprise.
Tawdry encounter on a restaurant floor by a married man? Family man and devout Catholic paying for a mistress' abortion?
"We're all ready to move on," U of L President Jim Ramsey said Wednesday. Forget the morals clause in Pitino's contract. This is no time for the moral subtleties mulled in classrooms. This is about money.
Pitino, like the bloated banks the government has bailed out, is simply too big to fail.
University of Louisville basketball is a huge business that has an enormous economic commitment with the new arena under construction in downtown Louisville.
Beyond that, a whole host of boosters, sponsors, big givers and ordinary fans have literally bought into "the program."
Just this year — as Pitino mentioned twice during his self-absorbed apology Wednesday — the Cardinals reached the Elite Eight ("and we hope to go farther," coach said.)
And at the heart of it is Pitino, the rainmaker, the man who can deliver post-season play, keep the program in the run for a championship and a big payday.
He's so valuable that U of L has promised him a $3.6 million bonus if he stays until July 1 next year.
So, how could president Ramsey, an economist by training, or Director of Athletics Tom Jurich not find it in their hearts — or on their spreadsheets — to forgive Pitino and beg the rest of us to forget?
Likewise, as basketball recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger told Herald-Leader reporter Jerry Tipton, parents looking for a path to an NBA payoff for their talented sons will also probably be willing to overlook Pitino's moral lapses.
"If you see the issue as money in the pocket, that's going to supersede a potential character issue involving the coach," he said.
"Money takes precedence for a whole lot of people."
Labels: College sports, Crime, News reporting, Punishment
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 2:22 PM
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