THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9604010166
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Rick Pitino may be the only person in America who comes to New York to escape the lunatic fringe.
In Lexington, Ky., where the inmates fight for control of the asylum, Pitino takes more calls from psychotics than a volunteer on a 24-hour suicide hot line.
``I have a thing called Big Blue Line, where everybody helps me coach,'' he was saying Sunday, sarcasm dripping off every word. ``Have they ever coached? No. Have they ever played? No. But they're a great help to me.''
A while back, Pitino fielded a call from a fan with far too much time on his hands.
``He said, `I broke down the last game three times on tape,' '' Pitino recalled. ``And I said, `You watched the last game three times? That's nine hours of work.' ''
Pitino is accustomed to this sort of thing. When he first arrived at Kentucky, people would send him ultrasounds of their unborn babies.
``Future Wildcat,'' they would write on the pictures.
This time, Pitino had a suggestion for the tape-obsessed fan.
``I said, `Go home, light a fire in your fireplace, get a nice bottle of red wine, put your kids to bed early. Put the Chairman of the Board CD on, listen to it, cuddle up to your wife and have a great night. And let me watch the tapes.' ''
Pitino heard from the fan a few days later.
``He wrote me a long letter,'' said Pitino. ``He said, `Coach, I tried what you said, but after a half hour of cuddling with my wife, I couldn't stand it. I had to put on a tape of Kentucky basketball and get away from it all.' ''
Pitino paused, looked out at a room full of Final Four media and said, ``I would say there are 2,000 fans that break down the tapes of Kentucky games. There's a lot to do in Kentucky, as you can see.''
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, the only other college coach still working on the 1995-96 season, thinks his long-time friend ``might be the only modern coach who can handle'' the pressures of the Kentucky job.
Though Boeheim means it as a compliment, Slick Rick's ability to deal with Kentucky hysteria doesn't seem so strange to anyone who has seen his whirling dervish routine on the sidelines, or heard about his obsessive behavior behind the scenes. No doubt, he shares a deeper kinship with the Lexington loonies than he wants to admit.
The public Pitino, though, gives little away. He talks about his team and his ambitions with a practiced patter bordering on the unctuous.
``Would I love to win this thing personally? Yes,'' he said. ``But do we have to win? No. We're still building. But you'd like to strike while the opportunity is there.''
Speaking of opportunity, one of Pitino's fondest memories is of his wedding night 20 years ago, only it's not what you think.
``Literally, I had just carried my wife over the threshold, put her on the bed,'' he said. ``This was a very important moment for me. And just then, I swear, the phone rings.
``I heard this whiney voice on the other end. It was Jim Boeheim.''
Boeheim, the new Syracuse coach, was calling from the lobby of the Manhattan hotel, offering Pitino an interview for an assistant coaching position.
Pitino got the job, but here's the real punch line: He dropped everything and left his bride alone while he met downstairs for three hours with Boeheim.
When Pitino left on a recruiting trip, his wife, Joanne, went to Syracuse. For the next week, she spent her honeymoon in a house shared by three of Boeheim's buddies.
Fans are crazy and unreasonable, but some coaches can still teach them a thing or two about sheer lunacy. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, right, and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim
chat following an interview session Sunday.
by CNB