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.
