Fun Pitino memory with Bama - pic request

[TankedCat]

A friend and I were talking about Bama coach Wimp Sanderson (and how he was actually a really good basketball coach for Bama) and I want to say that I watched a game early in Pitino's tenure at UK where he had a custom plaid jacket made that was almost borderline gaudy for when Bama came to Rupp. When he wore it out for the game, Wimp cracked up.

I can't find a picture of that anywhere. Surely I am not imagining this.

 

[Indyadolph]

It happened.
Unfortunately, I don't have a pic. I'm sure someone on here will have one.
But you are not imaging things.
Pitino gave-up the coat for auction, if I remember correctly. Probably a wise idea.

 

[Pygmy Sasquatch]

It was a crazy plaid jacket, I think it was really a horse blanket that was made into a jacket.

 

[Chairman Meow]

From the LHL article 2/27/91:



Pitino tried plaid power, too. He wore an eye-straining green, gray and blue plaid jacket, drawing a grin from Sanderson, the SEC's prince of plaid.



"He wanted to know what size it was," Pitino said of the coaches' pre-game handshake and brief conversation.



"You can tell Rick has a lot more money," Sanderson said.



Pitino's coat was an expensive brand. Sanderson's black and gray model was "J.C. Pen-NAY," the Alabama coach quipped.


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2008/06/12/529180_uk-1-game-from-clinching-best.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

 

[UKjanitor]

I have it on an old CD or video from then. I remember Pitino looking dapper in it, and better than Wimp looked. Now, both Pitino and Wimp look the same - nearly dead.

 

[UKUGA]

That 1991 season was great.

Unless this was just a rumor, we petitioned the conference to let us play in the conference tourney, and of course, they refused. They knew we would win and it could've cost the conference a tourney spot. (See: Metro conference, 1987, Memphis St.)

UK fans really loved Pitino back then. It was bigger than Calipari, in part, because we were Kentucky, a state with a bit of an inferiority complex, and this coach from the northeast, left the New York Knicks (the truth about his relationship with management came out later) to come to Lexington and coach our ragamuffin team that was on probation.

He immediately developed rivalries with coaches like Dale Brown, Wimp Sanderson, Roy Williams, and Dean Smith, and doing stuff like this kept people right in this guy's corner. It was truly like Pitino was fighting for the entire state of Kentucky and the whole state loved him for it.

 

[YouKay]

That was my absolute favorite moment from Pitino's entire tenure at UK. Pretty sure he wore that jacket more than once, or he had other ones.

 

[bballcat4]

Originally posted by TankedCat:
A friend and I were talking about Bama coach Wimp Sanderson (and how he was actually a really good basketball coach for Bama) and I want to say that I watched a game early in Pitino's tenure at UK where he had a custom plaid jacket made that was almost borderline gaudy for when Bama came to Rupp. When he wore it out for the game, Wimp cracked up.

I can't find a picture of that anywhere. Surely I am not imagining this.

TankedCat, I was at the game. Lil Ricky let Wimp come out first. Pitino waited until the last minute, then walked onto the floor just before they introduced the lineup. He didn't have the coat on during shoot around, but changed while team was back in the locker room.

Rupp Arena went crazy. It was a great moment. Rick changed back into his regular coat for the 2nd half.

I researched it for 5 minutes and couldn't find any pictures.

 

[metrueblue]

I was there also...one of my most favorite memories of Rupp! The crowd went nutso!

 

[JasonS.]

Originally posted by YouKay:
That was my absolute favorite moment from Pitino's entire tenure at UK. Pretty sure he wore that jacket more than once, or he had other ones.

He had a least two. I was at an auction where somebody paid like a grand for the first one he wore after the 1991 season ... because UK fans are not sane people.

 

[maverick1_rivals376538]

Originally posted by TankedCat:
I can't find a picture of that anywhere.

YWIA


.


This post was edited on 3/24 5:59 PM by maverick1

 

[Catapult_rivals218351]

I remember the coat. Seemed mostly blue to me. He also wore a pair of cowboy boots when Nolan Richardson came in.

 

[Mister Emu]

http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7gms3jx77p_6_1

http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7gms3jx77p_5_1

You can about half the suit on the left side of the first picture with better color. The second one Pitino is crouching down just to the left of the scrum.

Granted, it was only 10 mins of internet looking, but that is the best I could scrounge up.

 

[Orange Soda King]

Originally posted by Mister Emu:
http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7gms3jx77p_6_1

http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7gms3jx77p_5_1

You can about half the suit on the left side of the first picture with better color. The second one Pitino is crouching down just to the left of the scrum.

Granted, it was only 10 mins of internet looking, but that is the best I could scrounge up.

Oh wow. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Ghost_of_Rupp]

I was also at that game. I attended all of the home games from 1990-1995. Like others, for me, it was one of those unforgettable Rupp moments!