Now that North Carolina plays Louisville tomorrow, I get to go through my internal debate again. Do I like Rick Pitino?
I always liked him when he was the coach at Kentucky. Seemed like a fun guy to play for – had that full court press style. His teams were awesome to watch.
He came to Boston for a book signing when it was wildly rumored he was going to leave Kentucky for the Celtics. I went and walked away very impressed. He shook everyone’s hand, looked you in the eye, and said “thanks for coming”. A complete 180 from Mo Vaughn who never looked up the entire time and looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Jerk.
Two weeks later (if that) he was the Celtics coach. I was PUMPED. I bought tickets for a bunch of games. Followed the team closer than I ever had before. They won their first game of the season – Halloween night – against the Bulls.
And then they stunk. Badly. And Pitino was horrible. And then he quit. I think every Celtics fan hated him. Including me.
But then Pitino came back to college. My then-girlfriend was a huge Pitino fan, and so I got back on the bandwagon. His teams are fun to watch again. And – its clear - college is where he belongs. So when his teams are playing, I tend to root for them.
But there is always those Celtic memories and how he ruined the team for almost a decade. There is always that image of how he got out of town when it wasn’t going well. He’s still probably one of the most hated guys in Boston sports history.
What do you think?? Do the OC readers like Pitino?
kevin
The photo is from si.com. It obviously is the ‘beginning of the end’ of some long years in Boston.
