Oh my how my beloved University of Louisville Cardinal hoopsters are in the deep doo doo.
There is a hellhound on the Cardinals’ trail.
How ironic it is, that in this, the tenth anniversary of the year Hurricane Katrina tried to kill my favorite city New Orleans, that its almost namesake has dealt a blow to U of L b-ball, the extent of which destruction is yet to be determined.
Like the ravages of Katrina, much of which was self inflicted because of Army Corps of Engineers misfeasance through the decades, the plague upon the House of Cardinal that is Katina Powell and her entertainment posse appears to have been essentially of Louisville basketball’s own making.
My prayer, and that of all U of L fans, is that our basketball program survives and revives like the Crescent City, which is, in many ways, more vibrant than before it was flooded almost to death a decade ago.
But, that, sadly, is a long way off. If ever.
All of this just makes me so very very sad.
This will not be a rehash of the news that has been coming to light on a daily basis since Friday evening a week ago when it broke. I know nothing more than what I’ve read. Which does not now, nor shall ever include Ms. Powell’s book.
The C-J, Eric Crawford and Rick Bozich at wdrb.com and the usual national basketball pundits have the wherewithal, time and inclination to do the leg work, in hopes of answering the many questions that have been raised so far, but remain unanswered.
I haven’t the desire to do any digging myself.
It simply hurts too much.
Nor have I the slightest assumption as to where it may lead, and what the consequences shall be.
Here’s what I believe at this juncture.
A nasty taint has permeated Rick Pitino’s program. It will not dissipate for a long, long, long time, whatever is or is not revealed by the various investigations.
It’s going to get even smellier before the air begins to clear.
Bottom line — forgive the perjorative — Louisville basketball is fucked.
Something naughty was going on. That appears a given, even at this early stage. How illegal it was, how it violated NCAA regulations is still to be determined. No good can come from any of this.
And, if Madame Katina is to be believed, that she and her “entertainers” were paid, as much as $10 large over a four year period, there is but one consideration that will be pivotal to the outcome of this scandal.
That is, as Deep Throat advised Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, “Follow the money.”
If any moolah passed to Madame Katina as she alleges, to perform the duties she alleges, and that money came from anywhere but Andre McGee’s shallow pockets, like, say, a booster who wanted to “help” recruiting, or from the athletic budget through a renegade employee, this is going to be brutal.
It’ll still be plenty bad, if, for reasons that remain inexplicable, McGee did this all on his own.
How can the imbroglio do anything but deal a mighty blow to recruiting?
I, like most, don’t believe Rick Pitino knew of anything that might have been going on. Which is different, of course, from whether he should have known. While he, like most major college coaches of major college sports, is a control freak, there are certain matters he delegates. Watching over his guys when they’re not in the gym, has been one of them it has always appeared.
What I would suggest to the coach is this: It’s time to shut up. He’s made it clear what he says he knows. Concentrate on this season, coach. Talk ’15-’16 hoops.
Other than that, well, other than that, nothing.
I don’t even want to contemplate what might be the eventual outcome. Stripping away the ’13 title would be a paper thing. I’ll still have that in my heart. Whether it’s in the record books or not is of no consequence . . . to me anyway.
As for the pall over the program for the foreseeable future, it sucks. What more is there to say?
There’s no reason to go on here. I realize I haven’t added a thing to contemplation of the whole affair. Then again my intention wasn’t to give insight. I suppose I simply needed to vent. So I have.
It’s that time of year when hope prevails. U of L’s newcomers show promise. It coulda been a surprisingly successful season, magical.
Now this.
Damn.
— Seedy K
The effects on recruiting may shift the focus into concentrating on 1-and-doners who have little concern for “longterm” outcomes and only want the immediate exposure that comes with being on national TV regularly. Of course, this would also require a shift in the cpaching philosophy that has long felt that freshman need time and seasoning before they can see the floor. Until any sanctions are placed, the recruits and their supporters may only care about the upcoming season.
I’ve loved Louisville basketball since I attended a Missouri Valley Conference game as a boy in the early 1970s. My father, a local surgeon, gave my half a Darvon for my broken arm just before we left for the game. I remember rising and floating like a bird in the high cloud of cigarette smoke at Freedom Hall as we climbed to our seats. A love for Cardinal b-ball was forever imprinted on my developing brain.
I suspect this whole Andre McGee story is true enough, and it’s pitiful. I also believe Pitino probably knew nothing about it (which, of course, makes it even worse). Pitino has always been a drama queen, and I’m tired of the drama surrounding his basketball program, as are many Cardinal fans. It’s time for him to move on.
I don’t fear for the long-term viability of the program, but we are not going to get our full MOJO back until there is a major facelift. I said this after the regional final last year — the 2015 season felt like like 1989. Good season, but increasingly you could tell there was something wrong / missing and we were on the downhill. The feeling is stronger now.
Dumpster Fire is defined by urbandictionary.com as:
1. A complete disaster.
2. Something very difficult that nobody wants to deal with.
This situation is a dumpster fire. And I agree with Blind Luck. The Rick should go.
The rumor I have heard is that CDK and his minions have infested the world with AIDS.
I know this because a crazy monkey told me this in a tell-all internet sensation penned by a former Pulitzer Prize winner that has been down on his luck. The monkey has a real bad problem with gonja and has admitted that it is telling me this for money. Oh, btw, the monkey also has farmed out its liter for salacious acts with members of CDK’s crew, who are supposed to be saints and be above and beyond reproach. Most, if not all, of the monkey’s evidence, unfortunately, was lost in a virus that infected her phone—which is quite possibly the first time that this has ever happened in telecommunications history! What bad luck for the monkey.
I also know this rumor to be true because at least one supposed witness who has pledged his talents to at least 3 different programs has advised that the gist of this monkey’s story is truthful—although we don’t know what the gist is or any foundation for the suggestion. We know this because an investigation has leaked this despite the time honored tradition by this organization investigating that it tells us nothing until it has completed its work.
On the other hand, there is confirmation of these horrible acts by at least one former member of CDK’s tribe who has confirmed that members of the monkey’s tribe danced before them in—Oh My Gawd!—bathing suits….and the the onlookers showered the tawdry dancers with a few Washingtons of their own.
I have no reason to believe that certain members of CDK’s tribe that happened to live in the place where the infestation took place have confirmed that they know nothing about the entire situation. I am sure these people are lying and have selfish reasons for protecting themselves from the facts—even if they are not implicated at all in the situation.
In addition, the mere fact that the time line of these allegations don’t quite fit doesn’t dispel the indisputable truth of these horrible facts. Nor does the monkey’s poor bookkeeping practices or obvious fabrication of her ledger detailing the money’s she received from CDK and crew cast any shadow of doubt on the horrible acts of CDk et.al that deserve public ridicule, immediate incrimination and severe, irreversible punishment.
Accordingly, CDK must be permanently banned from writing, breathing, etc, and should be hung in the public square so that no member of his tribe or any other, will ever consider these horrendous acts of potential consensual sex between young folks that should know better, like their holy foes up the road in Lexington and Bloomington.
/S/
Matt Jones
Mr. Jones, I am not now, nor have I ever had sexual relations with a monkey. But, Mr. Jones, I know something’s happening, but I don’t know what it is.
not one to quibble, but always one to nit-pick, is your denial of relations with monkeys species specific or are you doing a Hillary on chimps, tans, apes, etc ?
More interestingly, if recruits who may have been entertained as alleged by said monkey, have they received excessive benefits and lost their eligibility unless they compensate whomever it was that provided the unsanctioned benefits as others have had to do in parallel situations? The seepage from the sewage might extend onto many campuses
All this, and now Willard, too? There is smoke. There is fire. There is something amiss that will consume the program. Sooner than later. It makes me sad, too.
It is my confirmed belief that the great majority of scholarship athletes, not only at our beloved UofL but at institutions of higher learning throughout the USA, have received excessive benefits, whether they be blonde, brunet, red headed, step-children or sporting 36 D’s or larger.
I proclaim without any underlying research that 99.99999% of these benefits have been offered and accepted without a single penny changing hands. In fact, I suspect that most offers are turned down out of sheer boredom or fatigue from engaging in spurious acts of passion up to 8 days a week or more.
My quibble with your position today is not missionary. It is with the certainty with which you speak that “…something’s happening, but (you) don’t know what it is….”
What is certain is that you have no more of an idea of what, if anything, has occurred than the rest of us. Your fears may or may not turn out to be justified, but until the facts and not just some Gonzo journalistic internet b*llsh*t is published, you, me, all your readers,(including Blind and Hoya) should just shut up and wait for the truth to come out. To call for RP’s resignation and/or firing is just as irresponsible as the innuendo published by the hurricane and her Indy publishing company.
I can GUESS what I think really happened just as well as you and your minions. I choose to let the system play through before I cast stones of indignation and plead for forced resignation.
Oh, btw, I do know one thing. It would be totally out of character for our basketball staff (and Head coach) to not only instigate such shenanigans, but also to condone it. Rick is not a dumbass and after what he went through with Karen S, I sincerely doubt he would take a chance on any tawdry sexual drama to be connected to him or his program.
Still, somebody, somewhere may have somehow thought this would be a GREAT idea. Whoever that person is will pay for it, IF anyone really did use UofL funds for such illicit purposes. If it was a booster, he/she will be jettisoned from the program. If such a person exists and is on staff , he/she will no longer be part of the Card nation.
I do not know Andre, but I doubt this would be something he would think would be smart. Nor do I think he would let RP or any other staff member know about it if he was somehow involved in it. It is my belief that nobody at UofL with any semblance of decision making authority would be so stupid. If that person exits, he will not be part of the program for long.
This is not to say that our beloved UofL hasn’t provided an extra benefit or two that may have been hidden from the upper brass and thus has gone unreported. I can’t imagine that any college team down to Centre College is totally pristine. But to suggest that RP, his staff and the administration promoted a slimy culture of sin involving a woman who was so seedy and ignorant has this one is what is hard for me to believe. But then again, I don’t get to proclaim such non-sense for formerly respected publications like Sports Illustrated, either.
Maybe Andre was knocking a little bit of the crazy hurricane off from time to time and was using his connections to the Cards to sweeten the benefit and/or involve a 2 or 3 on 1 fastbreak.on occasion. I don’t know–and neither do you.
But I refuse to believe that this was an designed recruiting strategy implemented by the Rick to induce 17-18 year old boys to play for the Cards. Nor do I believe that UofL has created a $100M/year monster sports program built on the foundation of keeping women in their place, whether that be on their knees or on their backs.
Unfortunately, the spread of baseless innuendo and the innate desire to tear things down in our society is at an all time high. I am just a little surprised that you and your readers have so quickly determined that we are guilty of some kind of high crimes and treason to which our enemies and uninformed national pundits would readily subscribe. Perhaps the truth will prove your fears to be correct. But in the meantime, let’s not lynch the accused for a murder when jay walking may be the only crime.
Sorry for the rant, but I am sick of hearing all the crap about things that may well not be true. I want you to write about football instead, please.
Finally, I refuse to believe Ken’s innuendo that you have had sex with monkeys.
Thank you.
The voice of reason (?)
“you, me, all your readers, (including Blind and Hoya) should just shut up…”
Really, counselor? Bully me all you want, but I have the right to yell theater in a crowded fire. And something is burning. Lack of knowledge about a situation so salacious as Ms. Powell’s, draw the attention of the NCAA (it’s called a “Level One” infraction) and is no longer considered an excuse. Ask Coach Larry Brown at SMU. Seriously. (LOVE your writing though, sir.) 2-3 years pass quickly. And all those delicious recruits lined up this year? Gone. Even our DC home boy VJ King, I’m betting.
Alas, dear friend, I feel your pain. Love my Cards, love the Big Easy….heading there Thursday….will think of you and our beloved Cards. PLE
“Hurt recruiting?” How could it get worse. Filling out the squad with two 5th year Seniors from mid majors, not ranked in the pre-season Top 25 and ranked sixth in the ACC. My $$$ are already in for for men’s BB, but I will be making more Women’s games this season in appreciation of Jeff Walz’s nation’s top recruiting class.
For years now I’VE TOLD all of you to get on the Jeff Walz women’s basketball bandwagon and after today’s signing of another 5 star I say it even more. He can really coach and is personable and seemingly unfull of bullshit. It’s never too late. In addition they actually play a schedule full of quality non conference teams.
Even more depressing is the fact that CBS Sports has us ranked #50 in their pre-season poll. Even if they are only half right that still has is down at #25.