Sports: Pitino's return leads to Bluegrass hysteria

That's what the red-faced man who works with Louisville pipe fitter Mike McCoy used to call the coach who led the Kentucky basketball team to the 1996 national championship.

Now he calls Rick Pitino something else.

"He calls him traitor," said McCoy, 47, a Louisville native and lifelong University of Louisville fan. "If you mention Rick Pitino's name, he'll rant and rave for 30 minutes. Kentucky fans are having a hard time with this."

They knew the New Yorker with the funny accent and fancy suits was not born of Kentucky blood. But he was, they believed, one of them.

During eight seasons on the Wildcats sideline, he became family. He was the monarch of the Big Blue Nation.

So how could he?

How could Pitino, after three-plus failed seasons in the NBA, return to college coaching just 70 miles east of Lexington? How could he trade his lovely blue ties for gaudy red ones? How could he coach, of all schools, hated Louisville?

Louisville!

Pure treason.

Pitino figures he'll know soon enough who among the Wildcats faithful truly liked him or just loved winning.

It will be obvious Saturday, when he steps a polished shoe onto the court at Kentucky's Rupp Arena as coach of the visiting Cardinals.

The brave will cheer.

The rest will boo.

"I see it, but I don't quite understand it," Pitino said of the psychological damage done to Kentucky fans. "If they like and respect me, they should be happy I'm here.

"They should want to beat the hell out of me when they play us. But they should be happy that I'm back in the state because they realize I worked extremely hard at their university and that I've gone through some tough times, and they want to see me and my family happy."

He makes sense. But to think rationally is asking a lot of some Kentucky fans in this situation. Well, any situation.

In Big Blue Nation, where passion bleeds into fanaticism, some call him Benedict Pitino. They burn copies of his book, Success is a Choice. They refuse to root for his racehorse.

They feel, quite plainly, spurned.

"It's a lot like a very religious family with a loved one who converts to another religion. And basketball in Kentucky is like a religion," said Stan Frager, a Louisville sports psychologist who has worked with athletes from both programs.

"The people of the religion he is leaving feel very, very hurt. And the people of the religion he is adopting are very happy."

Are they ever.

* * *

On March 21, Pitino was introduced in Louisville (pronounced "Looavull" by those in the know) as the successor to Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum.

In 30 years, Crum led the Cardinals to six Final Fours and national titles in 1980 and 1986. But Louisville fans, who for many years trained themselves to dislike Pitino, executed a slick crossover move.

They found Pitino, unlike his Armani image -- a brand he never has worn, by the way -- to be genuine and engaging. They looked forward to his trademark uptempo style.

And they began the countdown, after so many mediocre seasons, to the Cardinals' return to the elite of college basketball.

Now he is their savior.

"Three years, in 2004," said Dale Self, owner of a Louisville sports bar named Hoops. "His first recruiting class will be juniors then.

"But I wouldn't be surprised if he got to the Final Four earlier than that."

Pitino's arrival brought excitement to Louisville's downtrodden program.

Season ticket requests exceeded supply by more than 4,000. Fans waited 18 hours for the school's first midnight practice Oct.13. Television executives scheduled the Cardinals for 12 national appearances, including Saturday's game on CBS.

"It was like magic when we got Pitino," Hoops regular Roger Ruark, 67, said.

"He'll turn it around."

Pitino failed in his role as coach and president to rebuild the Boston Celtics, resigning last season. Unfulfilled by the pro game, he realized he preferred the passion and enthusiasm in college, where he went 352-124 in 15 seasons.

Kentucky was on probation when he arrived in 1990, but he accepted the challenge to rebuild the school's once-proud dynasty and promised to win right away.

In eight seasons, he went 219-50. He guided the Wildcats to two SEC regular-season titles, five SEC tournament titles, three Final Fours and one national title. And he has not lost his touch.

Louisville went 12-19 last season. Under Pitino, the Cardinals are 8-1, including victories over Ohio State and Tennessee at Freedom Hall. Entering tonight's game against Eastern Kentucky, they have won seven in a row. "Last year, it got to the point where we got used to losing. We didn't expect to win anymore," guard Bryant Northern said. "Right now, everyone feels like we can win. There's so much more confidence even though it's basically the same group of guys.

"That's Coach Pitino."

* * *

Pitino has changed.

He is older, 49. He is wiser, aware of the mistakes he made in Boston because of his impatience. And he is sadder, scarred by the terrorist attacks. His brother-in-law and best friend, Bill Minardi, who worked in the World Trade Center, died.

He looks thin.

Sitting in a conference room of the recently redecorated Louisville basketball offices, he rests an elbow on the table and uses a hand to prop up his head.

"I'm energized physically, tired emotionally," Pitino said. "I'm wounded for this country and for my family. And quite frankly, I feel a little sorry for myself, too. I'm just trying to weather some rough storms in my life through what I call basketball therapy.

"I'm staying involved with the kids, staying involved with the game, not sweating the small stuff. I'm still meticulous about the fundamentals of basketball, but I'm not sweating any small stuff in my life at all."

Beyond the opinions of outraged Kentucky fans, Louisville might have been seen as an odd choice. For Pitino, it was the only choice. He did not want to start over again. He had dear friends in the state of Kentucky.

Louisville felt like home.

"This is the last stage of my coaching career. I'm not going anywhere," said Pitino, who signed a six-year, incentive-laden deal. "My only aspirations are about making this a championship-caliber program, fitting into this community and impacting lives.

"I have come full circle as a basketball coach, where I have experienced success and failure. I'm not rushing the program here. I know it's down and has to be built up the right way, through discipline and dedication."

Among the many close friends Pitino has in Kentucky is the man who has his old job. Tubby Smith, who won the 1998 national title in his first season at Kentucky, said he looks forward to Pitino raising the stakes.

"Rick was looking to get back into coaching, and Louisville was the best job available. It won't affect our friendship," said Smith, who recently signed a contract that will keep him at Kentucky through 2006-07. "You're going to have enough hostility among the fans. You don't need to create any more.

"Rick is a very likable, caring person. As great a coach as he is, he's a better father and person. And I've always felt that way. I have the utmost respect for Rick."

* * *

A few years ago, Pitino would have fretted about going back to Rupp Arena under potentially volatile circumstances. He would have focused as much on his reception by Kentucky fans, some of whom he knows resent his move, as the wonderful years he spent in Lexington.

He would have worried.

But not now.

"Before, I would have had both great and bad feelings about going back," Pitino said. "Right now, I don't have any anxiety about going back.

"I look forward to playing a great basketball team and the cherished memories I had there. There is no trepidation about going back."

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