I have been a Kentucky Wildcat fan longer than I care to remember.
I fell in love with the Big Blue when Rupp’s Runts were “moving
to the right side of your radio dial,” as Cawood Ledford would tell me. I was
devastated when Dampier, Riley, Conley, Kron and Jaracz came up short against
Texas Western in March of 1966.
I remember my first game in Memorial Coliseum – UK routed
Oregon State in the 1966 UKIT – and in those years when I lived in eastern
North Carolina, found that I could get in my car, get close to water and pick
up WHAS radio like I was in downtown Louisville and listen to the Wildcats.
I wanted to throw a brick at my TV that day when Louisville
rallied in the second half, then went on to beat Kentucky, 80-68 in overtime,
for a trip to the 1983 Final Four. I jumped for joy 29 years later when Darius
Miller came up with that steal that started driving the final nail in
Louisville’s coffin and propelled the Wildcats to the NCAA Final in New
Orleans.
But I won’t gloat over what has transpired at the University
of Louisville the last two days.
There was even a time, a very long time ago, when I had one
of those “My Two Favorite Teams are Kentucky and Whoever Louisville Plays”
stickers on my car.
But I can’t be giddy
about the downfall of the Louisville basketball program.
Unless you have been totally cut off from the world, you
know that Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino was put on “unpaid
administrative leave” Wednesday. It’s apparently a semantic designation to be
in line with his contract, but Pitino has been “effectively fired” at
Louisville, according to news reports.
Athletic director Tom Jurich was placed on “paid
administrative leave” but he’s gone too.
Both moves are the result of Louisville being part of an FBI
investigation into funneling money from a shoe company to a recruit. If the
allegations are true, U of L Interim President Greg Postel deserves all the
applause you can give for having the guts to stand up to a program that has
been scandal city since long before he took over.
As easy as it would be to goad, it’s really not a time for
that for several reasons.
1
We know this is the start, but have no idea
where things will finish.
The allegations that took Pitino and Jurich down were the
result of a large scale FBI operation. Even though Louisville was not named in
the allegations, it did not take a genius to know who was “University Six.”
What we don’t know what the future holds. Before all the reports
from the Louisville press conference were filed Wednesday, news broke that the
FBI had raided Nike Grassroots Basketball offices and subpoenaed employees.
Soooo, it looks like this is far from over and you will see
more revelations.
I’m just not going to speculate on who.
2 Many people are legitimately hurting right now.
At one time, I never thought it would be possible but some
of the finest people I know are diehard Louisville Cardinal fans.
One of those fans kisses me good night and wakes me up with
another every morning. Yes, my wife is a Cardinal fan. I love her very much and
our smack talk is always good natured, ending with a “just hush” or something
like that. We pull like crazy for our teams but 10 minutes after the game, we
are back in the same room.
I do not feel much sympathy for Pitino or Jurich if the
allegations are true. I do feel for students
who are trying to work toward their degrees having the cloud of an athletic
scandal dominate their time at U of L.
It’s bad enough that the school is said to have a $48 million shortfall
and resulting cuts. I feel for Louisville’s passionate fan base. While it’s not
a huge base, it is undoubtedly one of the five most rabid in the nation.
They deserve better than the constant scandal that has
clouded U of L in recent years.
3 It
affects me.
I am not a U of L fan. I can watch any number of college
basketball games any day of the week during winter. So whether the Cardinals are on or not really
has little effect on me.
However, Louisville appears to be a candidate for the
so-called “Death Penalty” to shut the program down a year or two.
Think about that a minute.
Since U of L is the main tenant, The KFC Yum! Center would
be largely vacant for a year or two. You just can’t schedule enough concerts in
there to pay the bills.
Several months ago, Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon told
Louisville Business First magazine, “that the KFC Yum Center has placed a
considerable burden on Kentucky taxpayers, with 75 percent of the operating
income generated for the arena coming from either a tax increment financing district
implemented by the state or an annual contribution of nearly $10 million from
Louisville Metro Government.”
If the main tenant is gone, guess who foots the bill?
Regardless of your team allegiance, that would hurt.
4 I am a
Christian
Those four words have been taking even more meaning over the
last few years, probably because I am older and more reflective.
I don’t believe those words mean I can’t have some
good-natured fun with people, knowing it’s in fun, but it also means I should
be sensitive to others.
What happened at Louisville is the result of greed and
hubris. There can be no other explanation. The Book of Proverbs says, “The
greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live”
(Proverbs 15:27). That’s not something to rejoice over.
Granted, what happened at Louisville is a result of the
misplaced emphasis on sports and our society’s worship of people who can run
faster, jump higher or shoot the three, but those those people who are hurting
are people.
And, from my corner of the world, that’s more important than
what shirt they wear on Saturdays or how many Final Four trips they have.
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