Pitino's gripe with the media

Thoughts on the Pitino presser from yesterday: obviously I'm glad he didn't resign, and am encouraged to see him fighting back (shows he's not slowly becoming more despondent or itching for a way out of town). I do question how helpful was the press conference and its purpose. Speaking to the press to lament to the press the shortcomings of the press is an endeavor destined to fall short of its intended outcome, if for no other reason than because you can fully expect said press to become ultra-defensive in response. Crawford's first blog post and Bozich's article in the paper this morning are testimony to that. It could also re-energize Pitino's detractors on the blogs, though at this point I wouldn't base too many decisions on that criteria. But in the larger scheme of things, this presser will not amount to much, or at least not to the level of hysteria cited by Crawford (worst mistake since not guarding the inbound pass? Oh please...)

After the press conference, I did see one version of the video that especially irritated Pitino, of Sypher describing how he initiated their meeting; it was found prominently on Fox 41's web site yesterday, though I can't find the same one today. A different video more sympathetic to Pitino's side, where Sypher explains why she didn't report her claims until six years later, is now featured. Based on the first video at least, Pitino is right: it befits the category of frivolous journalism and even ventures into tabloid reporting. Fox treated the story as if the tapes had been found along with the missing Nixon recordings. No new information brought forward. Make no mistake, he overreacted -- and yes I admit, like Crawford noted, I probably wouldn't have bothered to see it had Pitino not mentioned it in the presser -- but as I said before, this just doesn't classify as the cataclysmic mistake being portrayed.

Even if the substance of the press conference's purpose wasn't advisable, style points will matter to Cards fans. This is the first time we've seen Pitino with fire in his eye, ready to fight for his job and publicly fight back against the forces that have haunted the program and his family (beyond his own transgressions) the last seven months. For us, it was satisfying and comforting just to see him combative and energized.

So I'm middle-of-the-road on this one... not a great idea, but not the end of the world, and even some points of value to be found. To sum up the whole thing, I am reminded of Tom Arnold's response to Arnold Schwarzenneger in True Lies (I think when Arnold announced he would sneak into an enemy party by walking through the front door... something like that): "Ballsy. Stupid, but ballsy."