Wednesday, 5/14/97 Pitino payday Spoiled by riches, players
don’t give coaches proper respect
Seventy million dollars. Seven million a year. $85,000 a game.
$1,770 a basketball minute. Rick Pitino has made his mother the
proudest woman in Little Italy and at the same time made God, our
Lord in Heaven, look like a lower middle class worker. Let’s face
it: Pitino has redefined the nature and purpose of the coach not
only in basketball but in all sports. And I say it’s just about
time. The world of sports is going as crazy as Bellevue and coaches
are as respected as Rodney Dangerfield. Brian Hill was essentially
fired by his players. Jim Leyland was pushed from the proverbial
penthouse atop the NL East into Clipperland by Scrooge-like
management. Paul Westphal was treated like the oldest child in a
family, taking the blame for Baby Charles’ mistakes and boo-boos.
P.J. Carlesimo got fired after a successful season, as did Don Hay.
Last year there were seven coaching vacancies in the NFL, and the
coaching carousel continued to spin in other sports. And does
anyone think a different coach will turn everything around? We’ve
seen coaches get fired for no reason at all and, in most cases,
because of players whining. You know, those little bunches of
brats, the players. P.J. Carlesimo got himself in trouble when he
yelled at Rasheed Wallace for a bad pass and Wallace left practice.
What the hell? Can anyone explain that to me? No, you can’t. At
least not legitimately. It wasn’t always like that. When Babe Ruth
couldn’t get along with his coach in Boston, he was shipped to the
Yankees. If the Babe were alive today, his coach would be stoned,
castrated and then fired. The only explanation includes cooing over
the talents of Juwan Howard and other pansies in sports. Their
crying and bitching and moaning typifies a sports world that has
begun to masturbate over money. Players don’t play for the love –
they play for the cash. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they started
taking over control of the team, control that belongs in the hands
of the coach. Why dump a player with a monster contract when you
can dump his yeoman coach, coaches like Bill Fitch. After all, fans
come to see players, not coaches, right? Wrong on both counts. Fans
go to see teams that win. Why do you think the Clippers have no
fans? Because they suck, that’s why. And who makes a team win? The
coach. We’ve started to come around, thanks to guys like Pat Riley
and Scotty Bowman (we’ll try to ignore that Mike Keenan fiasco) and
Pitino’s contract proves that. At Kentucky, Pitino won a
championship with a team embroiled in recent allegations of
wrongdoing that drove recruits such as Shawn Kemp away. Who’s to
say he can’t do it again? Talent can only win so many games, but
knowledge of the game wins championships. Just watch as the
talent-stacked Lakers fall to the smarter Utah Jazz. And Pitino
knows the game. That’s what coaches are paid for and why Pitino can
now buy the entire state of Rhode Island. Pitino now makes more
than any of his players, and I say, "Amen, can I get a witness from
the congregation," for that. Now, any player who thinks the
franchise will value his talent over Pitino is just plain wrong.
The message is clear: You mess with our guy and we’ll shoot you or
trade you to the Clippers – take your pick. Pitino has upped the
ante for the entire world of sports. Now coaches can be as prima
donna as their players and garner the respect they deserve but
never got because the players made 10 times more money. It’s a
brave new world in sports, a world where our priorities may be
shifting back to normal. Athletes may still be greedy and coaches
may be becoming the same, but at least the balance of power is
going back to the coaches. Toussi is a Daily Bruin sports writer
and columnist. He can be reached via e-mail at
stoussi@media.ucla.edu. Previous Daily Bruin stories: What’s
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