Pitino Called A Coward By WEEI's Glenn Ordway

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

                                [The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
                                [Boston Globe Online / Sports]

                               
                                SPORT VIEW
                                Talk is cheap on both sides

                                By Howard Manly, Globe Staff, 03/30/99

                                Of all the criticism heaped on Rick
                                Pitino the last few days, nothing
                                was worse than the word uttered by Glenn
                                Ordway, the host of WEEI's ''Big Show.''

                                He called the Celtics coach ''a coward.''

                                The Big O didn't back off yesterday,
                                either, when Bob Lobel appeared on the
                                ''Big Show'' and questioned Ordway about
                                it.

                                As Ordway explained, he used the word
                                after Pitino himself used it to describe
                                the unnamed source or sources of a story
                                detailing locker room conversations.
                                Pitino said that if anyone had anything to
                                say to the media about his coaching style,
                                they should, in essence, be a man and tell
                                him face to face.

                                In the same story Pitino said there was
                                one player he didn't like coaching, but he
                                refused to identify the player.

                                OK, Ordway has a point. But ''coward''?

                                Sounds more like a case of hypocrisy than
                                anything else, and definitely not
                                cowardice.

                                ''I was just using his definition,''
                                Ordway said.

                                Pitino was clearly making one of those
                                tired, lame, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do kind
                                of statements.

                                And he has been making a lot of tired and
                                lame statements lately. Picking on talk
                                radio is a little like playing the Celtics
                                these days - it's an easy victory.

                                After a loss to Indiana Sunday, Pitino
                                smacked talk show callers again in attempt
                                to praise what he deemed the real fans,
                                the people who want to see the Celtics
                                play hard.

                                ''I'm not talking about the guys on the
                                radio who have no clue what life is
                                about,'' Pitino said. ''The 4 percent of
                                the people who don't work for a living and
                                call in those shows - I'm not talking
                                about those people. I'm talking about the
                                people who are gainfully employed and work
                                hard in life.''

                                Ordway is no fool. He knows the Red Sox
                                start the season Monday afternoon - and
                                the public floggings of them on 'EEI will
                                begin Monday night. He knows that Pitino
                                bashing is the flavor of the moment.

                                Before letting a caller speak yesterday,
                                Ordway asked if he had a job. The great
                                majority of callers claimed to be
                                employed, including a software salesman
                                and political analyst.

                                Ordway didn't stop there. He also read
                                from the want ads to inform his listeners
                                about possible job opportunities.

                                Ordway denies that he is out to get
                                Pitino.

                                ''I think he is a great coach,'' Ordway
                                said. ''But he has to understand that it's
                                the players that win championships in the
                                NBA, not the coaches. Phil Jackson is a
                                great coach, but he would not have won a
                                championship without Michael Jordan. K.C.
                                Jones was a great coach, but it was Bird
                                winning the championships.

                                ''Pitino is just not bringing in the
                                players that he needs. That doesn't mean
                                he is a bad coach.'' <snip>

                                This story ran on page C03 of the Boston
                                Globe on 03/30/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.