University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino held a public press conference Wednesday August 12, 2009 in regards to the allegations his longtime assistant's wife, Karen Sypher made about him. Pitino admitted he had a sexual encounter with Karen Sypher, wife of Tim Sypher at a Louisville restaurant after hours. She made the allegation that Pitino twice raped her, which police supposedly claims there's lack of evidence. The Louisville's Courier-Journal obtained a record of the police interview through the state's Open Records Act in which Pitino gave his side of the story. Pitino has sued Sypher charging that she's trying to extort $10 million from him.
Sypher was indicted by a federal grand jury for an extortion attempt and for lying to the FBI. She pleaded not guilty. Pitino hasn't been charged with any crime so far. After the tryst Pitino had with Sypher, she became pregnant. She told Pitino she didn't have health insurance and wanted to obtain an abortion. Pitino gave her $3000 for medical insurance. He claims it wasn't necessarily for abortion. Pitino's attorney Steve Pence claimed that Pitino thought the money was for medical insurance.
I remember Rick Pitino back in 1989 when he took over the University of Kentucky's basketball program that was mired in a recruiting scandal back then. He helped resurrect that program and turned it around. During his tenure at Kentucky, he took that team to three final fours and won an NCAA championship in 1996. He took over Louisville's program in 2001 and turned it around as well. He's taken Louisville to one final four and two elite eights in the NCAA tournament. He's a great coach. I've always admired his abilities to motivate players to play their best on the court. I had considered him a master motivator. However, given what he did, I believe he needs to resign as head coach. He did apologize to the players and fans and even to his family. However, he sat a bad example before his players and he hurt his own immediate family in the process. The worst part was his betrayal to his wife and children. Louisville's contract calls for terminating the contract of the coach for moral depravity and misconduct that damages the university's reputation. However, Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich and Louisville President James Ramsey both stand firmly behind Pitino. Even his recruits so far haven't changed their mind about playing basketball for Louisville next season.
Even though Rick Pitino labeled his encounter as an "indiscretion", adultery is adultery. There are some sins that can be committed and you can repent and ask forgiveness for and fellowship is restored. However, adultery is a sin against one's own body and that sin will haunt you all your life. A husband can be as repentant as he can be towards his wife and she could forgive him. However, repentance won't restore what's been lost with that kind of sin. His relationship with his wife won't ever be the same again. There's some things that saying "I'm sorry" doesn't restore. We still should repent regardless of what sin it is. However, some sins carry so much damage there's no way to restore the damage that's been done. When adultery's been committed, trust has been broken. There's been betrayal to the marriage vows. Repentance doesn't wipe away that reproach. Even if the wife forgives her husband, there's still that sense of mistrust and only time and faithfulness on the part of the unfaithful will help that if ever. That's how damaging adultery is to a marriage.
On top of the affair he had with Sypher, she became pregnant with his child and he gave her money for an abortion. He may claim that the money wasn't necessarily for abortion, but if she told him she wanted an abortion, he ought to know she would use the $3000 for an abortion. That's another sin--the taking of a life of an unborn child. That's another scar on his record. Sometimes a couple will "play" around and the woman will become pregnant and she will have an abortion to cover up their sin. There's numerous unintended consequences as a result of adultery.
Rick Pitino's conduct is a terrible example before his players and it's not good for the reputation of the university. Our world today doesn't think anything of adultery and fornication anymore. As long as a coach can win and generate revenue to the university's sports program, that's all that county. It's all about the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!
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