We take you to a living room someplace in America, where Rick Pitino is sitting with a mother, a father and a talented high school prospect. He is staring at the family with those dark, penetrating eyes, selling the tradition and virtue of University of Louisville basketball, trying to convince them why Jimmy Jumpshot should avoid the temptation of John Calipari and his rejuvenated program at Kentucky to sign with the Cardinals.Suddenly, inevitably, Mom pops the questions: How can you take care of my son when you, Rick Pitino, acknowledged having sex with a woman at a table inside an Italian restaurant after closing time? And how can I respect your morals, Rick Pitino, when a married father of five and a devout Roman Catholic discreetly pays the woman $3,000 because she needed, uh, health insurance to cover an abortion? And why would I send Jimmy to Louisville, Rick Pitino, when you could be fired for cause at any time if the university decides you've violated a contracted morality clause for acts of dishonesty, "moral depravity" or "willful conduct that could objectively be determined to bring public dispute or scandal" during your tenure?




