The Hypocrisy of Rick Pitino

I try to avoid personal lives.

It’s a no-fly zone. I, like most media, prefer judging an athlete, coach, or entertainer on performance. My reasoning is simple: as a fan, I pay money to watch athletes do things I can’t. For instance, I forked over cold hard cash to watch Shawn Kemp dunk a basketball and Sean Avery (the NHL’s biggest twit) provoke opponents on the ice.

I didn’t like that Kemp wasn’t Father of The Year material. And I thought Avery’s ‘sloppy seconds’ comment about a competitor’s girlfriend was tasteless and offside.



(All class Sean!)

Still, I had no issue buying a ticket to watch Kemp and Avery because they have talent a normal person like me lacks. For this blog, off-court follies mostly take a backseat to on-court skill or the business of hoops.

Obviously, the two are often linked. For instance, the Los Angeles Lakers considered Ron Artest’s history before they signed him in July. And organizations surely research an athlete before offering him a lucrative contract.

Still, even with a hear-no-evil-see-no-evil approach, I can’t avoid Rick Pitino. I wanted to, but can’t.

Pitino -a married man, father of five, and high profile NCAA basketball coach- has been accused of raping a female acquaintance he met six years ago. Pitino maintains the sex was consensual, while the female has been charged with attempting to extort money and other benefits from the sideline boss.

Obviously, rape and adultery are wrong. The former is for the legal system, while the latter is for Mrs. Pitino. Instead, I want to focus on something Colin Cowherd addressed on his radio show today: the hypocrisy of Rick Pitino.

For years, Pitino has earned a fortune as a public speaker. Companies paid him thousands of dollars to speak to their employees and preach the virtues of discipline, faith, and family.

His message was clear: I succeeded at Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville because I behaved morally. You (the audience) can succeed by doing the same. Today, we learned this was a hoax and Pitino, in fact, didn’t buy what he was selling.

How can Pitino speak to others about living a certain lifestyle and then do the opposite? Even worse, how can Pitino charge thousands of dollars in speaker fees and ignore his own code?

Details surrounding the rape accusation are still emerging. The accuser’s credibility has been undermined by the extortion charge. And infidelity is common; people screw up. But mistakes aren’t the issue, hypocrisy is.

Today, Louisville forgave Pitino for his mistake. Hopefully, the coach looks in the mirror and realizes his own hypocritical ways.

Got thoughts on Rick Pitino? Let us know in the comment box below. Follow Oly Sandor on HoopsVibe and Twitter. Photo courtesy of bennett42728.