Is it in the job description or is it "practically" in the job description? Coaches aren't obligated to do anything post game with the media' date=' and I say that as someone that has been in the media half my life. Great if they do, I'll still get my job done if they don't...[/quote']

 

They do come NCAA Tournament time don't they?

Not exactly. Aside from letting those close to him know when he'll be out, journalists basically have to make a choice: cover the home team, which my customer base is far more interested in on the whole, or leave and cover Pitino and miss out on my own team's coach.

 

I think your personal bias against UK fans is stronger than the supposed bias against Rick Pitino that you are trying to project onto them.

 

I can respect what Pitino did for UK and accomplished there but still think he's a guy who comes off as arrogant because of things like this. He's a guy who either thinks he's entitled to do things like this because he's more something (whether it be special, entitled, etc.) than everyone else or he doesn't care enough to offer up a reasonable explanation for why he's so different.

 

Did he do a post game press conference after he won a national title or did he do that one outside of the locker room as well?

 

I have managed to cover the UC presser and go get Pitino outside the UL locker room every time they've been to Cincinnati. Last year in Louisville I covered Pitino in the press room at YUM and then got Cronin outside the UC locker room. And FYI the UL SID alerts the media when Pitino will be available. It isn't some conspiracy for him to only talk to Forde, Demling and Bozich...

They do come NCAA Tournament time don't they?

 

Yes, it is mandatory in the tournament...

I have managed to cover the UC presser and go get Pitino outside the UL locker room every time they've been to Cincinnati. Last year in Louisville I covered Pitino in the press room at YUM and then got Cronin outside the UC locker room. And FYI the UL SID alerts the media when Pitino will be available. It isn't some conspiracy for him to only talk to Forde, Demling and Bozich...

 

Serious question because I don't know. How much room is there outside visitors locker room in Rupp for interviews. If I had to take a wild guess there are a lot more reporters at the UK/UL game than UL/UC. I ask because the common gripe I read on twitter was lack of space or access. Like I said I have no inside knowledge and just taking other reporters words on twitter.

Ok I see what you mean. I was talking more in a general sense. If your oer coach goes to a rival school your not going to like him, and I'd argue it even adds more fuel to the fire.

 

Also if Pitino never really cared about UK why should I care about Pitino?

 

Roy and K switching jobs would be 10X more polarizing that Rick going to UL. For me personally, I can't compare the two.

 

I don't think UK fans should care about Pitino.

Roy and K switching jobs would be 10X more polarizing that Rick going to UL. For me personally, I can't compare the two.

 

I don't think UK fans should care about Pitino.

 

I can see your argument for those two being more polarizing because of their ties to the university. But I also believe Ricks personality and actions just make him a very polarizing person. Throw in the UK/UL rivalry and there will be animosity . Rick is the first coach I have a lot of memories of at UK and I have great respect for his accomplishments on the floor at UK and elsewhere. Doesn't mean I have to respect him off the floor . He was UK basketball to me for a lot of my childhood and high school days. Him going to UL was like a family member kicking me in the gut. Then he just made it easy to mock him with his own actions and quotes.

I can see your argument for those two being more polarizing because of their ties to the university. But I also believe Ricks personality and actions just make him a very polarizing person. Throw in the UK/UL rivalry and there will be animosity . Rick is the first coach I have a lot of memories of at UK and I have great respect for his accomplishments on the floor at UK and elsewhere. Doesn't mean I have to respect him off the floor . He was UK basketball to me for a lot of my childhood and high school days. Him going to UL was like a family member kicking me in the gut. Then he just made it easy to mock him with his own actions and quotes.

 

 

Rick is polarizing. No doubt about that. Him going to UL still wouldn't be half the story of Roy and K switching schools.

Is it in the job description or is it "practically" in the job description? Coaches aren't obligated to do anything post game with the media, and I say that as someone that has been in the media half my life. Great if they do, I'll still get my job done if they don't...

 

I think maintaining a positive public image for your university is something that is part of the job. Part of that is being a professional, and Pitino's actions don't really put me in the mind of a consummate professional.

 

You and I both know that it's not something that Pitino would have pulled early in his career, and that he's probably manipulated his post-game routine to his advantage when it comes to avoiding something controversial.

 

Further, with all due respect, the U of L/UC rivalry is not the UK/U of L rivalry. The amount of media attention, national coverage, etc. that goes into the two is not really comparable, and that's before you throw in the grudge factor.

 

Think of it as if it were UC and Xavier playing when both are ranked in the Top 10, and it's also a yearly affair (rankings and implications). We're talking about the past two national champions who share the same state and have quite a storied history. At points the rivalry has been so bad that politicians had to intervene just to get the schools to play.

 

Now throw in the "grudge factor". You are kidding yourself if you don't think Pitino and Calipari have some SERIOUS dislike for one another and you know that losing to Cal when UK got the benefit of the doubt on some calls probably didn't sit well with Pitino. I don't know why the CBS commentators would have mentioned that Pitino wasn't making himself available if it weren't somewhat of a big deal.

 

 

I just think it's kind of weird to excuse Pitino's behavior when we suffer through guys like Jim Calhoun in the "normal" setting. Calhoun is just as accomplished and I'm sure that, if given the choice, he'd rather not have done them given the way he acts so disinterested (or even downright hostile after losses), but he still did it, and he still sat and fielded the tough questions instead of ducking them.

 

I take doing it as part of sportsmanship. Unless you have a really good reason to miss something that everyone else in the coaching fraternity does, why wouldn't you?

 

 

All that said, I think Pitino is a GREAT basketball coach. He rebuilt UK when no one else wanted it. He didn't always act like he loved Kentucky, and that was fine, but he had his moments like the "Camelot" quote that showed he appreciated too. I was happy Louisville won the national title last year. I don't hate Pitino because he went to Louisville or think of him as a traitor. He took the money to go back to the Celtics, which is what 99% of us probably would have done in the same situation. He took a good college job with a solid athletics department in going to Louisville. That's fine too.

 

I won't say that when I heard about the whole press conference thing on the broadcast, that it didn't strike me as somewhat arrogant and/or petty of him. If UK had lost and I'd heard Cal was doing the same thing (and again, I didn't know it was something that he normally did and/or understand why the national broadcast thought it was significant enough to mention), then I'd think the same of him.

 

That's just my opinion though and reasonable minds can differ.