Rick Pitino and False Victimization

By posting this, I'm taking a few risks. 1) I will come across as judgmental and graceless towards those who have fallen into sin. 2) More facts will come out that shed light on an on-going case. 3) Feelings will be hurt.

I"m going to try to avoid all of those. . . . . .


This case really shocked and angered me when I first saw it. For those of you who don't know, Rick Pitino is a basketball coach at the University of Louisville. He's one of the most popular and successful coaches in college basketball. He had sex with a woman at a restaurant, (not his wife), and she became pregnant. Weeks later, she called him and told him the news, said she was going to get an abortion, but that she didn't have health insurance. Pitino then gave her $3,000 to get health insurance. She used that money to get an abortion (either directly or indirectly via health insurance). Then, a few months later, she began to extort money from Rick Pitino, asking for $10 million dollars and threatening him with the story, etc. . .

The University of Louisville has pledged full support for Rick Pitino and is framing him as the victim of this woman's extortion plot.

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Whew. . .what a tangled web we weave, indeed. . . . .What really sets me off in the whole thing is the attitude of the University. Rick Pitino, although the victim of the crime of extortion, is not the true victim here. I can think of two victims who deserved someone's full support, the rest of the Pitino family and the the unborn child. Unfortunately, they didn't really get it. (to be fair, the University has pledged their support to Pitino "and his family"). I have a hard time feeling for Pitino being the victim. Its not that he should be quiet and pay whatever she asks. . .but I don't sense alot of humility from either him or the University.

Do I think there is forgiveness for the sin of abortion? Absolutely. Is there forgiveness for the sin of adultery? Yes, absolutely (it's eerie how Pitino's case is similar to King David's here). I don't know what its like to be a powerful man in his position, and I"m sure temptations are everywhere. . . there but for the grace of God go I.

But, I think its a statement on how backwards our culture is, that we're more concerned about the crime of extortion than either one of the other crimes here. Extortion is wrong, and I don't support it. But, where is the outrage from the University on the conduct of it's coach? Where is the outrage or humility from anyone involved on the issue of a funded abortion?

I hope that Rick Pitino is given the gift of repentance and that his family can be made whole again. For his mistress, I pray that God gives her that gift as well and that He can make both of them whole again.