In the land where the grass is blue (but it's really green), hearts are hung on ten-foot hoops. In this painted-area promised land, Rick Pitino has been anointed (not begrudgingly) savior not once but twice - resurrecting a penalized Kentucky program and shaking the University of Louisville out of the Denny Crum doldrums. The man in the white suit then slapped his savior-ship on two books and products stretching from Louisville to Lexington.
And now the other shoe...and the pants..have dropped. Pitino the father and husband has admitted to an affair and a payment for either an abortion or health insurance.
Despite his Xs and Os genius, Pitino was unable to XYZ and the response has been more difficult than getting caught in said zipper.
I will be torn - the name on the jersey represents a place I love enough to throw up a "rock on" sign at the mere mention of "the ville". Yet the self-described devout Catholic and his supporters fail to grasp the gravity of the situation. Pitino not only marketed his success, but also his piety. Not just his heart for the hardwood but his passion for people and their success.
And thus, Pitino can prove his ultimate love for others by not only admitting his mistake, but also accepting the consequences therein - by resigning. Never mind that coaches should be worthy of respect and universities should be places of learning and character building, Pitino can prove himself to be the man he calls others to be by sparing his family the vicious and vociferous venom lobbed at his loved ones. Regardless of whatever consequences he has felt like he deserves, his wife and sons deserve none. By falling on his clipboard, Pitino not only protects his family but incarnates his ultimate demand from his players: team play.
10 comments:
Nicely put. I agree completely. Glad the "Threat Level" is back.
The measure of a person is not found in the good times but in the bad times. I disagree with you in that I don't think he should step down. I don't look to Pitino to be perfect. He is fallen just like you and just like me. He has accepted responsibility for his actions and just like any of us he deserves an opportunity to redeem himself in no matter the circumstances. No one turns away from there sin without being confronted with it be it by a person pointing it out or God dealing with it directly. What he did was horrible but to say that he should lose his job because he made a mistake of character sets a bar that a basketball coach should have the same standards as an elder in the church. Im sorry but I don't look at a coach and think he should be anything I am not....perfect.
Many people are going to say that he is a "role-model" and that he was not a good one but I say think of this....Is a role-model someone who doesn't fall or someone who when they fall, excepts responsibility his actions and works to rectify the situation. I want my son to see that kind of role model.
One final thought, and this doesn't apply to leaders in the church because they are called to be above reproach, BUT should any man or woman caught in adultery lose their job?
Im not a Louisville fan in any measure so you can be sure that this is not because I am a Louisville Lover in my defence
Hey Brandon -
Thanks for your words, bro. I am not calling Pitino to perfection anymore than I am calling anyone else to perfection (unless they are Methodist - bad seminary joke there), but I am definitely calling him to a high standard. I will call on anyone who has a position of high influence into the lives of others to high standards. Thus, I think that any man or woman in a position of influencing others, or calling others to a moral high bar should lose their jobs for not adhering to that themselves.
I completely agree that Pitino should have an opportunity to redeem himself - but redeem himself to who? The university? The players? The city? For me, Pitino's ultimate redemption lay not within what I think of him or what the university think of him, but in the way that he treats / supports / loves his family. In this affair, he absolutely did not put his wife and family first, a resignation instantly moves them to first place on the list.
Do you think he has accepted responsibility? I am not sure. I am always torn when a public figure only begins to accept responsibility when they get caught. In this case in particular, it looks like he actually tried to smear the woman (with the whole FBI thing) before he got busted. I'm not sure that is the case, but that is the impression I got. I am admittedly having some difficulty accepting his contrition.
The measure of a man is found in bad times - but in my estimation, Pitino is still numero uno in his mind and keeping his job illustrates that fact.
Looking forward to what you have to say, man.
I do not have much to say on this particular topic. However, I agree with Louis... so glad Threat Level Midnight is back on the radar!
Welcome back. Don't stay gone so long next time.
KL
I had writer's fatigue / block / cramps / nothing to say
Great photograph choice. I do believe that is Tim Sypher to the right of Pitino in the white shirt.
Can't claim that I knew that - I just had a love / hate relationship with the white suit
Higher standards are good but it seems who we hold to those standards would be where we differ and that is OK. I feel,outside of the those called to lead the church, we have to be careful not to put people on a pedestal.
His redemption should be first and foremost to his family that I fully agree with but it does have to come from everyone who is doubting his character as a person because he fell in to temptation. Does he need the money of coaching like the "average joe" would to support his family no. But I would make the argument that to a coach...and I have done some myself and known ALOT of them....that to take them out of the coaching would probably do more harm to the family and himself than continuing to coach. Is UofL doing the right thing? I don't know and I won't begin to tell them what they should or shouldn't do but I always worry when we place public/influential people on a pedestal because there is only one place to go from there...down which I would say is COMPLETELY the case with Slick Rick.
I think the biggest point for me is that he is a basketball coach, not a minister, not the president of the US. I agree it is hard to measure a mans apology without sitting down with said person in a one on one situation. Also almost no one ever apologizes for something until they get caught. I accept his apology at word and will wait and see in deed as to him following it through in the coming days. You believe that a resignation is the first step is him following through on his word. I think the fact that he isn't "high and mighty" like many people want to make him is only going to make his influence on college students even more applicable as he can model true redemptive behavior for them.
All my words will be completely wrong if he doesn't follow through with actions what he has said in words. So I guess time will tell.
I'm still not ready to talk about.
Totally see where you're coming from Brandon - and Jennifer, I'm sorry it still hurts so bad :)
Post a Comment