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The Walker Article



Pitino is going to have a coronary when he reads that Antoine has been
eating pizza and practing with kids!  : )  That is not part of Camp
Pitino...no wonder Antoine doesn't want to go.

Seriously, it does sound like Pitino could shoot a little straighter with
Antoine and that might help Antoine turn the corner toward true leadership
of the team. Maybe RP doesn't want that though...hard to tell unless you're
a fly on the wall. Communication seems to be lacking and that's always
dangerous between the star and the coach.  The lockout makes the whole
thing more difficult. And then he media often gets in the middle and messes
it up. How many times have we heard athletes say that the media knows more
than they (the athlete) does?

The personal aspect of their relationship is stunning. It's like RP is the
father who will not concede that his kid is grown up (b/c the father knows
that the son will go crazy with that knowledge and approval) and Antoine is
the son who desperately wants to be told he's a man. It's a delicate
balance especially for RP who wants the kid to grow up, but fears giving
him the keys to the car too soon. Then there is his mother who, ironically
is loyal to Pitino b/c he stressed education, when her son left school
after his sophomore year.

It also struck me that there is no "loyalty" anymore in sports...the thing
that Antoine craves and is unwilling to give. It's the same thing with Mo
Vaughn..the misunderstood, won't give a hometown discount superstar. RP
would trade Walker, if he had to and Antoine would take his game elsewhere,
if he had to. Almost no one has a guarantee in sports anymore.

Now that we've heard from Walker directly, is there anyone out there who's
mind has been changed? I'm right down the middle with this one. I can see
both sides.

I guess the Friday summer afternoon e-mail traffic is expectedly slow.

TJL