Rick Pitino has gone ahead and bitten the bullet with this whole extortion thing. A woman who is accused of attempting to extort up to 10 million dollars from Pitino can no longer hold the fact that she slept with the married Coach up for ransom. Rick Pitino finally admitted to the fact that he slept with Karen Cunagin Sypher back in 2003, as well as the fact that he paid 3000 dollars for her to have an abortion.
This might be the strangest tale of the college basketball season, and it is before they even tip off. Sypher is said to have asked Pitino for up to 10 million dollars in hush money, and then was charged with extortion. After she was charged with extortion, she then turned around and said that Pitino had raped her…not once, but twice. This has shed some doubt on the allegations to say the least among police and onlookers.
What is troubling to me is the flippant attitude that Pitino’s lawyers seem to have about this. While Pitino did not break any crimes, and is not under investigation of any crime, he is married with kids. The fact that the man had an affair seems lost on the majority of people involved in the situation from the Pitino camp. He is far from blameless in this situation. By his own admission he went outside of his marriage and slept with this woman. He also admitted to paying her for an abortion.
While Rick Pitino is being publicly supported by the big shots in Louisville, they are surely not happy about this latest little episode. While they may say they support Pitino up front, it would not surprise me in the least if they are already plotting to remove him. The Cardinals are no stranger to bad press over their history, and the last thing they need is something like this shining the spotlight on their sports program. Pitino had a lapse in judgement to be sure, and one can not simply dismiss the charges this woman makes without a fair investigation. (no matter how absurd they seem on the surface)
I certainly hope that Pitino is allowed to face the wrath of this wife and family, and that is that. His affair is something that Louisville University should leave alone. He committed no crime, in spite of a lack of decision making skills on that night. Whatever the case, it is not something that Louisville could do much about.
