"to be liked is a choice"

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

> I wish more people would just own up to the fact that they simply don't
like 
> the guy.  If he says "the buck stops here", he's "The Ricktator".  If he 
> points out he consults others when making decisions, he's "Slick Rick 
> passing the buck".
> 
> Jim

I think it's noble that two of our more respected contributors have decided
to come to Pitino's defense. But in doing so they shouldn't attack a straw
man - the irrational "anti-Pitino" who hates him so much that nothing Rick
does will ever satisfy. 

I'm happy to own up to the fact that Pitino inspires feelings of dislike in
me. But Jim, I think you've got the cart before the horse. Unlike Dorine, I
can't claim to have been suspicious from the start. Like many people I
suspect, I was overjoyed when Pitino came aboard. It has only after
observing his behavior over an extended period of time that I first grew
weary and then disdainful of the man's public persona. It has been his
actions and statements that led subsequently to growing disenchantment, not
an irrational dislike that causes me and people like me to interpret his
action or statements in the worst light. Indeed, you're whole scenario
about the botched "trade" is predicated upon just this sort of
understanding of the man.

Let's face two facts about the man:

1) He revises history constantly - you know it and I know it - and always
in his own favor. We don't have to run down the litany of trades, signings
etc to prove it (at least, I hope not) let's just look at the Fortson
situation. The trade goes down 6 months ago and Fortson is a key to our
playoff chances this season; things don't work out and now the key to the
whole trade was the draft pick? Who does he think he's fooling? Even
politicians, like Al Gore and the abortion issue, don't consider the public
this stupid (I know, pretty harsh being compared unfavorably to a
politician). Gore at least told us he's changed his mind on the issue over
the course of time. 

2) He rarely takes the heat for poor decisions - it's always circumstances
that have "changed" and not poor judgment on his part (and although I'm not
a football fan, I still can glean that Pitino's treatment in no way
resembles what happened to the Pat's ex-coach). Again, the Fortson
situation: it's Twon's fault for not playing the "3", Fortson's demands are
too greedy, etc. Yeah, and Tim Duncan was supposed to be ours. . .

> Jim's absolutely right here. The other thing is that the media, and
> Pitino's critics on this list, use the fact that Pitino credits his
> staff with personnel moves to bash him when he gets it right. Remember
> when he said how he asked Lester Conner, I believe, if there was
> something wrong with Pierce when he slipped to 10? People were
> blasting him for that ("if it were up to Pitino, he probably would
> have passed on him too"). And I really don't think that Pitino is
> trying to "blame" Wallace here because as far as I can tell he's
> pleased with the personnel moves in general. He's actually greatly
> praised Wallace for what he's done with personnel (on his show, I
> believe) and is probably trying to give him credit for it, and it
> looks like the media is distorting reality, saying that Rick is 
> trying to blame Wallace.
> 
> Alex

Alex, with all due respect, I have a hard time believing that Pitino's
problems with his reputation really stem from the few instances in which he
has sought to include his staff in a public discussion of the team's
decision process. I don't remember him taking heat over the Pierce
selection, and if such a remark was made I have a hard time believing that
it wasn't meant tongue-in-cheek. You've made valuable contributions to this
debate in the past, for example pointing out the contradiction of
criticizing the players he has assembled and his coaching of them (if the
former is bad, then how can you assess the latter) but this latest defense
of Pitino is pretty lame. 

If the ONLY thing that Pitino's critics in the press and on this list had
to point to were his statements regarding his staff, then you'd have a
case, but I hardly think that is the situation. The reason that Pitino's
credibility is SO eroded (to the point that people could even start to
believe that references to his staff might be an attempt to shift blame OR
that people could even start to believe Pitino might attempt to concoct a
phony trade to motivate Fortson/depress his market value) is due to a
history of three years of attempted manipulations large and small. It is
the accumulation of Pitino's own past statements and actions that have led
to this state of affairs, not a dislike of Rick that has led us to read
every little thing he says five different ways (except in the case of Peter
May ;) 

Heck, I voted for Clinton and the impeachment made me mad as hell, but I'm
not so defensive about him that I can't acknowledge that the dude is a
slippery SOB. There are very good reasons why Clinton pisses so many people
off and I can acknowledge that. I suspect that both of you know deep down
that the same is also true of Pitino, so please, come down of the high
horses.

-TomM