Louisville head coach, Rick Pitino was in court today as he testified in the extortion case of Karen Sypher who is accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from Rick in order to keep quiet about a sexual encounter that occurred between her and Pitino in 2003.
For those unaware of the Pitino/Sypher situation, I am going to give you the run down.
On July.31/2003 Rick Pitino met his crew which I have nicknamed “The Commission” which included Reggie Theus, Vinnie Tatum, Jeff Carmichael, Glenn Hogan and Bart Adams at their favourite restaurant Porchini’s
Pitino meets Karen Sypher at the restaurant who according to various testimonies was being um…”very loose” to say the least.
In a testimony given by the owner and by a waitress who was working on that particular night Sypher was said to have been dressed in a “very short skirt” in which she allowed other members of “The Commission” to lift up her skirt. What was Sypher’s reaction you ask?
“Sypher didn’t protest and only giggled.”
Fast forward a couple of hours, Sypher and Pitino share a couple of drinks and were very flirtatious. It comes down to the end of hours at Porchini’s and Pitino and Sypher are 2 of 3 people left in the restaurant. One thing leads to another and Rick and Sypher proceed to engage in the best 15 seconds of Karen Sypher’s life……………………………………………………..yes you read right 15 SECONDS.
After Pitino put it down on Sypher, she gives him a ride home and asks if Pitino would be able to get her some basketball tickets……..
Long story short Karen realizes she is pregnant, Pitino pays $3000 for the abortion and all is well in Mayberry.
FAST FORWARD TO 2009…
Sypher feels she was raped and Pitino starts to get calls from Sypher’s associate trying to get Pitino to be Karyn’s life sponsor.
And that brings us to today
Pitino takes the stand on the 3rd day of the trial and gives his accounts of the situation
Here are some excerpts from Pitino’s testimony courtesy of Yahoo Sports
“Some unfortunate things happened,” Pitino said in the courtroom packed with spectators from basketball-mad Kentucky. “She opened up my pants.”
“Did you have sex that night?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford asked.
“Yes, very briefly,” said Pitino, who wore a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie. The two have said they had sex at the table.
A few weeks later, Sypher, then known as Karen Wise, called and said she was pregnant.
“I didn’t believe at the time it was my child,” Pitino said. “She said she didn’t know what she was going to do.”
Sypher said she had no health insurance, Pitino said, so he offered $3,000. He thought the money was for counseling and medical needs but Sypher later said she had an abortion, Pitino said.
“I could never rape a woman or be physically harmful to any woman at any time,” Pitino said.
Pitino said the ordeal took a toll on him as the Cardinals were making a run for the Big East conference championship.
“I was not sleeping. I was physically and mentally worn out,” Pitino said.
Now personally I believe that Karyn Sypher was looking for the quick come up with the rape accusation.
You mean to tell me that it takes you 6 years after the fact to realize that you were raped? And after being raped you kindly give your alleged sexual abuser a ride home as well as ask for basketball tickets……
Why Karen lied is not really important to me, but what is important to me is why isn’t Rick getting the same treatment from the media that Tiger did?
Tiger has sex with a bunch of good looking women and its world war 2, but when Rick Pitino has sex…at a table…..in a restaurant….with a 50 year old swamp donkey looking female the media does not crucify him?
I don’t see the difference, both men were married and both men strayed…Tiger gets crucified and Rick gets a pass? Oh
All in all, this whole situation is a little strange, but we have all seen this plot before so it shouldn’t come as a surprise what the outcome will be. The case will end and the media will forget this ever happened.
On a side note though, I do think Pitino should capitalize on this negative situation and get some sort of endorsement deal in the works with Viagra, because it hurts to think that Pitino is out here in these streets being a 15 second soldier. He needs to come to terms with this disability and capitalize on it…..Word to Jimmy Johnson
Kris Moyo is one of BSO’s newest writers and comes from a long background of jive talking and pimp walking. You can follow Kris on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/IAMKRIS24