He could have flipped off anyone.
No doubt. But Cal did a ton of damage to the UK program. Pitino never really did any.
His table dance with Sypher was not a good day. From that personal issue he certainly panicked when presented with a psycho who said she was preggo. I always believed that was BS and a blackmail opportunity. Beyond that I doubt he had direct knowledge of what was going on in Minardi Hall. From people I know who were close to him they insulated him from things...plausible deniability. He basically allowed things to happen but without direct knowledge of the seedy details. I think his staff went too far and that took him down. Deservedly so. But Jurich knew too. Jurich was the bigger evil. JMHO
That’s not much of an improvement in my opinion. Has he ever publicly apologized for what happened under watch? We aren’t talking petty crimes, recreational drugs, or paying recruits here. We’re talking about a sex trafficking ring soliciting minors for sex.
I agree. LilBrothel as I called them clearly deserved the Death Penalty. This was actual staff orchestrating prostitution. Not boosters entertaining recruits with willing Coed "Hostesses" as has happened most places. Certainly that is where the plausible deniability comes in. Did the head ball coach know or was it wink wink? I think that no program, aside from BYU, has clean hands in recruiting with "benefits."
I definitely agree that every program in the country except for the military academies and true religious schools are dirty (I’m not saying all religious schools are clean, obviously that isn’t true).
Pitino has been in the wrong on some things but I believe he had no idea that tricks were being turned on campus. Just my gut feeling. I know coaches are responsible but you don't know what your players are truly doing when you're not around them.
Oh well. Emotions compel all of us to say or do stupid things.
I agree. A team and its staff are not connected 24-7 at the hip. Same in a company. If you are on a 1-yr contract and your job is recruiter....you cannot tell me that "liberties" are taken to get a signature just so you show the head guy you are needed...and deserve a raise. Its human nature. So did Pitino tell McGee go find a really skanky hoe and her daughters to service the recruits and their dads/handlers? I doubt that. I believe the pressure from the top to sign recruits causes an implied sense of urgency that can get out of hand. Or in the hand as it were.
It's not like it was organized by the players. It was organized by Pitino's staff. And the participants were not just current players, but also underage recruits.
I'm retired, but I've ran a law firm and an engineering firm. If you are the boss and don't know what is going on, you are not a good boss. Treat people right, keep a thumb on the pulse. When you get a call from someone you are not recruiting, and admit that he fell in your lap, and then deny knowing that your assistant offered him money, you were not doing your job as the boss. Being the boss comes with big pay, but also big responsibiilty.
Many of the ones who hate him weren't even born when he was our coach, which is why they don't know good coaching from the bad crap we got from Cal.
I didn't mind him taking the UL job. Agreed that it was the best college job available. But, flipping off Rupp Arena, the whore at Porcini's. Come on, I know he's a good coach, but at this point I would rather my alma mater not be associated with him.
I've got no proof about what the man did or didn't know about Powell and her crew. I've met him though and know how he coaches and runs a program. He's a micromanager by nature and he also kept track of darned near everything going on. I have a real hard time believing that he was completely unaware of what was happening with recruits during visits. Jurich may have been in the dark about all of the particulars, but even he may have known the broad strokes as well.
He had high praise for Billy Clyde when we hired him too. Pitino is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Funny how Self escaped any serious backlash or punishment and he was on the FBI wiretap. He just blamed an assistant.
I've read plenty about that and only see a few cryptic texts between Adidas and Self. Is there more that I am missing?
