The Rick Pitino Saga: Blonde Devils takes a break from tanning to comment

Sex: the act of sexual intercourse (...between two people who know each other really well?)

According to ESPN's article on the Rick Pitino saga by Jemele Hill, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino should resign. She wonders:

How can parents trust Pitino to guide their son correctly after reading he had sex with a woman he barely knew?

What?!?

So, I'm just confused a teeny bit on the subject (seriously, ESPN, seriously). Is having sex with someone you barely know now considered immoral and unethical? Don't get me wrong, I agree that in Pitino's case it constituted cheating, but that's a direct quote above--she's not even talking about cheating. I'm also curious as to how in the name of all that is holy that recruiting trips fall under the category or moral and ethical? Jemele further suggests that paying for an abortion and calling it "health insurance" is somehow reprehensible.

Pitino should resign. Spare his university further embarrassment. Spare his family continued humiliation. Save himself from being questioned by unsure parents who, when sizing up Pitino, will wonder whether they really want to entrust the care of their son to a man who, according to some reports, forked over $3,000 to Sypher for an abortion. Oops, I mean "health insurance."

First, I like that he isn't confirming whether or not this woman had an abortion because it's not his business to share. And second, that's absolutely what their sons should be learning to do! Could you imagine how wonderful it would be if these boys actually were taught to take responsibility and pay for their mistakes? That should be the first thing they learn at college: if you get a girl pregnant because you're too stupid to wear a condom, you better pay for it. Which brings me to my final point, and the real issue which ESPN completely misses here. The concern shouldn't be that Pitino stepped up and potentially paid for to fix a problem he caused, but why oh why was he not wearing a condom? I would expect most Kentucky restaurants come equipped with condom machines in their bathrooms (sorry for the joke, Kentucky, but I couldn't resist), which would have been very convenient given Pitino's preferences. It is one thing to have sex with someone you barely know (again, according to Jemele most of us are going to hell), but doing it in a restaurant bathroom (yuck) without a condom is just completely irresponsible. (I realize that if you're a guy you're probably a little confused by my previous sentence, so please just ignore the logic as you usually do and proceed to the next paragraph.)

Jemele does make an excellent point though when she observes that if Pitino "were a .500 coach with no titles or just another University employee, he'd be gone already." She's right. But the question is, do these schools and communities really care about the morality of their coaches or is it just business? Perhaps these morality clauses are just a "Get Out of Contract Free Card" for schools. Does anyone really care if Rick Pitino cheats on his wife? The problem lies not in the school or the person, but in society.

The idea many people have is that if you have the opportunity you take it. But they should keep in mind that the opportunists will do the same (see example, Ben Roethlisberger). And perhaps it's not a morality issue at all, but an intelligence one. Maybe we need smarter sports/public figures? And maybe these men/people should just stop getting married and committing themselves in relationships if they don't want to commit themselves in relationships. I know, rocket science...

And finally, I would like to point out that the most sympathetic character in this entire saga, Rick Pitino's wife, is only going to suffer if her husband loses his job. The reason for sticking it out through these ordeals is to reap the benefits of the IFU gift (i.e., I f-ed up and I still love you and more importantly, this costs an entire year's salary so I'm hoping you'll forgive me). Yes, I know that's not the only reason, but my point is that she and her children all suffer if the main income-earner in the household is out of a job.

In the end, not only is this entire saga ridiculous, but what Pitino did was stupid and mean to his family and the fact that we're even discussing this (whether you're Louisville, Karen Cunagin Sypher or Rick Pitino) is all about money. Because there are so many more important issues in the world than where Rick Pitino likes to ejaculate.