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Pitino's issue with UK

C

CatsPaws270

Heisman
Dec 7, 2015
24,509
64,087
113
Over this long haul....it just seems like Pitino over time just keeps doing things to slight the University of Kentucky. I understand with the recent scandals and the trash talk...but it seems much deeper than that...

He chose to coach and directly compete against us at OUR BIGGEST RIVAL in 2001. He could've went ANYWHERE....could have even waited and pushed Tubby out...but no. And the fact that Tubby was his former assistant and he went right down the road to directly go against him is even more baffling??

Was he mad at comments made in 1997? Did he want to prove that he was BIGGER than our program...that Adolph Rupp had nothing on him? Was he mad that he FAILED in Boston and wanted to take it out on us? Was he mad that Billy Donovan did not get the job?

At first...he loved competing against Tubby/Billy because he looked way better in comparison. He was peaceful. He was dreaming we'd hire Pelphrey or Travis Ford. Then...Calipari comes in and steals his thunder. Cal is more likable and has made Kentucky a bigger show than when he was in Lexington...Pitino no longer feels BIGGER than a Kentucky with Tubby/Billy...he feels small in comparison to Kentucky w/ Calipari.

When Cal came...he seemed angrier....took more subtle shots at our fanbase in the press. He tried to rough up Boogie in that first game. We kept winning and he kept trying harder....we beat his experienced defending champs with a team of all freshman ending his Sweet 16 undefeated run....he gave us the bird after we beat him again....he tries everything he can to get better recruits and it dooms him...now we are racists?!

In the end, we have won and his bitterness has cost him big. He wanted to believe he was bigger than the program and he wasn't at all...he even accused our governor (who has no real UK ties) of orchestrating a conspiracy with Papa John (who donated millions to UofL) to take him out.


I'll always love what he did to bring us back...and wish he could return one day...but his bitterness towards us will make that impossible.
 
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K

Kybluedude

Heisman
Nov 19, 2005
9,398
12,075
0
Pitino became a desperate man. Wanted the adulation from Kentuckians and didn't get it. I remain convinced a few UL boosters talked him into taking the job and that he would still be the king of Ky. Didn't happen and he became bitter and then resorted to cheating
 
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D

docholiday51

Heisman
Oct 19, 2001
22,011
26,718
0
It is pretty simple Pitino thought/still thinks he is bigger than the UK program.He will invent stories or issues to support his mindset.

It torments him that at the end of the day he knows that is not the case.He did bring the program back quickly from where it was in 89' and 90'.

Whatever his legacy might have been in college basketball has been destroyed by the way things ended for him at UL.He will never recover from that.He would be better served to embrace the positives he created at Providence and UK and let go of the rest but that is not who he is now.
 
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C

CatPhight_rivals65113

Heisman
Nov 15, 2008
38,645
57,515
0
 
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W

W_Heisenberg

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2013
2,435
1,075
0
HoptownCat93 said:
Over this long haul....it just seems like Pitino over time just keeps doing things to slight the University of Kentucky. I understand with the recent scandals and the trash talk...but it seems much deeper than that...

He chose to coach and directly compete against us at OUR BIGGEST RIVAL in 2001. He could've went ANYWHERE....could have even waited and pushed Tubby out...but no. And the fact that Tubby was his former assistant and he went right down the road to directly go against him is even more baffling??

Was he mad at comments made in 1997? Did he want to prove that he was BIGGER than our program...that Adolph Rupp had nothing on him? Was he mad that he FAILED in Boston and wanted to take it out on us? Was he mad that Billy Donovan did not get the job?

At first...he loved competing against Tubby/Billy because he looked way better in comparison. He was peaceful. He was dreaming we'd hire Pelphrey or Travis Ford. Then...Calipari comes in and steals his thunder. Cal is more likable and has made Kentucky a bigger show than when he was in Lexington...Pitino no longer feels BIGGER than a Kentucky with Tubby/Billy...he feels small in comparison to Kentucky w/ Calipari.

When Cal came...he seemed angrier....took more subtle shots at our fanbase in the press. He tried to rough up Boogie in that first game. We kept winning and he kept trying harder....we beat his experienced defending champs with a team of all freshman ending his Sweet 16 undefeated run....he gave us the bird after we beat him again....he tries everything he can to get better recruits and it dooms him...now we are racists?!

In the end, we have won and his bitterness has cost him big. He wanted to believe he was bigger than the program and he wasn't at all...he even accused our governor (who has no real UK ties) of orchestrating a conspiracy with Papa John (who donated millions to UofL) to take him out.


I'll always love what he did to bring us back...and wish he could return one day...but his bitterness towards us will make that impossible.
Click to expand...



He tried to get Tubby out, behind the scenes...couldn't get enough support to make it happen and to make it look like a logical move. He was pissed and took the UL job, that was a big reason for him accepting it.
 
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davekersey

Heisman
Oct 10, 2007
3,088
10,124
0
In the summer of 2001 Rick Pitino met with tubby Smith Larry Ivy and CM Newton at a golf course in my hometown of Naples Florida on the 19th hole over drinks the topic came up that tubby was extremely unhappy at UK and wanted out and that Rick would take the job if and only if Tubby's entire contract could be bought out Ivy took it back knowing that Rick was carrying baggage of a few black guys that not many people know about that happened in Lexington and also that he had been talking to University of Louisville and because of that UK said no we're not buying out tubby and so then Rick became coach of the University of Louisville that same year. The above was voice texted so there may be an error or two in the sentencing but the story is true and verifiable
 
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T

TNCatfanforever

Heisman
Apr 3, 2003
21,972
13,697
62
Rick was so good for us after the probation, but I really believe that he has mental issues now and is not responsible for his actions of the 15 years....he is a sick little man...
 
Kyspringcat

Kyspringcat

All-Conference
Oct 11, 2014
2,549
3,844
113
davekersey said:
In the summer of 2001 Rick Pitino met with tubby Smith Larry Ivy and CM Newton at a golf course in my hometown of Naples Florida on the 19th hole over drinks the topic came up that tubby was extremely unhappy at UK and wanted out and that Rick would take the job if and only if Tubby's entire contract could be bought out Ivy took it back knowing that Rick was carrying baggage of a few black guys that not many people know about that happened in Lexington and also that he had been talking to University of Louisville and because of that UK said no we're not buying out tubby and so then Rick became coach of the University of Louisville that same year. The above was voice texted so there may be an error or two in the sentencing but the story is true and verifiable
Click to expand...
I have heard the same from someone with ties to the inside at UK.
 
yoshukai

yoshukai

Heisman
Dec 21, 2002
29,648
41,891
102
I REALLY want that damn Pitino jersey taken down .
 
Last edited:
B

Bmenk

Freshman
Jan 3, 2003
541
56
0
davekersey said:
In the summer of 2001 Rick Pitino met with tubby Smith Larry Ivy and CM Newton at a golf course in my hometown of Naples Florida on the 19th hole over drinks the topic came up that tubby was extremely unhappy at UK and wanted out and that Rick would take the job if and only if Tubby's entire contract could be bought out Ivy took it back knowing that Rick was carrying baggage of a few black guys that not many people know about that happened in Lexington and also that he had been talking to University of Louisville and because of that UK said no we're not buying out tubby and so then Rick became coach of the University of Louisville that same year. The above was voice texted so there may be an error or two in the sentencing but the story is true and verifiable
Click to expand...
 
bbnkat02

bbnkat02

Heisman
Nov 14, 2017
47,616
70,832
113
Boy, at the end of the day. The end of the Tubby era and BCG era actually in a weird way may have saved Uk basketball.

Because of them Rick (with who knows what trouble) couldn’t coms back to UK and we ended up getting Cal.

Was it rough? Yeah. But I’d do that again and again knowing that Cal would be coming.
 
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A

AGEE11

All-American
Jan 10, 2014
3,222
6,651
0
To answer the OP's original question, Pitino was convinced he was bigger than the UK brand and college basketball in general.

He was humbled and boo'd when he took over our rival and was showed he wasn't in the same stratosphere as UK.

His ego couldn't handle that so he lashed out like the spoiled entitled snowflake he is.

AS to the recent questions, I too want to know what "carrying baggage of a few black guys that noone knows about" means
 
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