As Pitino walked to the patent office with his University of Louisville windsuit and matching red cardinal boxer briefs, he probably felt he had a goldmine of an idea. A year ago he was probably thinking “What does Louisville need to combat the big boys of college basketball?” Public love making scandal…check, pretend to be a relevant basketball program…check, gigantic tax purchased bar/arena…check. Then (transition to Winnie the Pooh narrator voice) he thought and he thought and he thought…and then…it hit him “Eureka!!! We need a slogan”. And the slogan he settled on was “Louisville First”. I argue 3 different reasons why he might as well have patented “Pitino First”.
The birth of this ridiculous idea probably originated when recent Louisville recruits started defecting. Fun game time: Type in the google search bar “Louisville recruit” but don’t click search, rather look down at the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] google suggestion. It says “Louisville recruit decommits” (Seriously, not joking). Rodney Purvis, Negus Webster-Chan, Michael Chandler and Tony Woods all “committed” to Louisville only to later change their minds and go somewhere else. Pitino wrapped up the presents for Christmas morning only to have the Grinch steal them during the night. After those decommitments, Pitino had to re-recruit their replacements or just go with what he already had.
The straw that perhaps broke the camel’s back (is that right, camel?) was the revolving door in Pitino’s assistant coaching staff. Ralph Willard, Steve Masiello and Tim Fuller all left Louisville in a 2 year span. Pitino was so mad and desperate he had to hire his own son and 2 guys that no one has ever heard of. It was at this very moment, one can only assume, Pitino went to the ol’ drawing board to come up with this program changing motto.
The audacity of making everyone associated with the University of Louisville to have a “Louisville first” mentality is truly sickening. What school is so fantastic that a human being would commit to the school and only the school? For instance, Kentucky is a great school with an amazing history, but Billy Gillispie proved that it takes more than just a school to get recruits. High schoolers liked Kentucky, but most refused to play for a mad man who squats for 21 hours a day, locks players in bathroom stalls and makes terrible financial investment decisions (ok that has nothing to do with recruiting, but I couldn’t resist). So how is a kid/coach going to concrete themselves into a school or city which they have never lived in? Remember when Rick’s son Richard was widely being speculated as the next coach at Boston U? Daddy Pitino never even let Richard entertain an interview and even laughed it off as a joke when he was asked about it. It’s real funny to deny your son a dream job opportunity isn’t it?
Pitino doesn’t really want everyone to commit to Louisville, but rather commit to HIM. Pitino decreed a 3 year rule on his assistant coaches, NOT the university. Pitino stated he want kids that WANT to play here, NOT the school. Understandably Pitino is upset by the incredible turnover lately, but to mask it with a “school first” philosophy is just BS. Look them in the eye, man to man and say “Don’t commit if you don’t mean it”. You would get a lot more respect that way.
The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] reason for this slogan is the easiest to believe. Pat Riley supposedly patented “3 peat” and makes a buck here and there with said patent (I can’t confirm that). Ricky may be thinking of the coaching after life and all the cash that will flow in when Louisville paints that slogan all over the bucket. Not a bad idea and actually it’s the only part I like about this whole ridiculous thing. I’m all for making money and not doing nothing.
Am I crazy or am I on to something here?
