Ok, so back to the title. I am absolutely not a UK (Kentucky) fan and am growing less and less a fan of U of L (Louisville). I think when you live in this state you have to sort of root for one of the teams. I don't like any SEC teams so the UK option was out. I liked Louisville because the were usually the underdog and everyone loves underdogs right? Something has come to light in the recent days, however, that involves UL men's basketball coach Rick Pitino - who ironically used to coach UK back when they were relevant (I say that to dig at UK fans who read this because UK will be good again this year so just relax). Pitino had been involved in a lawsuit by a woman who claimed he raped her several years ago. He then countersued her for extortion. Her story was totally unbelievable - and it was. By the way, she shops at Fresh Market. Reallly. So does Pat Forde who has nothing to do with this post but a lot to do with college baskeball. The cops didn't press charges to Pitino because her story had so many holes in it and really didn't even make sense. I'm sure I don't have all the facts exactly right but its pretty close.
Yesterday it came out that Pitino told police that he did have sex with the woman (in a restaurant) but it was consensual. She got pregnant. He paid for the abortion. After the abortion they had another rendezvous. Pitino is married with five kids and a devout Catholic and a great basketball coach with a program of "integrity."
I get it that a lot of people do this sort of thing all the time in this country - paying for abortions, covering it up, etc. Here's the problem. He said that he was sorry for the "indiscretion." The school president said that his players and the students need to know that everyone "makes mistakes." I think I blogged about this back during the Michael Vick dog trail because that was just a mistake too. Look, I know that that these high profile people have media spin machines and I know why they use these words. But are we (the public) so incredibly stupid to blow this kind of stuff off as a "mistake" or an "indiscretion?" He paid for an abortion to cover up his infidelity. Mistakes happen when you miss a turn or dangle a modifier in a paper. Indiscretion is a lapse in judgment. Maybe you hired the wrong guy for the job or bought a stock that wasn't so great. When you cheat on your wife in a restaurant and pay to have your "mistake," or as Obama calls it, your "punishment" murdered, that puts you in the big leagues of gigantic sins. "Josh, you sure are judging him." Yep. I am. If he and guys like Mark Sanford and Michael Vick (and on a lesser level any of the baseball players who've been busted with steroids) want to just refer to this kind of stuff as "mistakes" which influence our culture with massive implications when it comes to desensitizing us to the consequences of sin, you'd better believe that I'm going to judge him. You should too. If any of these guys had owned their sin with the same level of repentance that their sin entails it would be a different story. But when they blow it off and minimize it to divert the consequences that deserves someone calling them out.
Michael Vick paid his due and will get a second chance in the NFL as he should. 2 years in jail is paying your "debt to society." Mark Sanford, however, is still governing in South Carolina making decisions that influence his state and this country. Rick Pitino will still coach basketball at U of L and influence the lives of young men. All of these guys did stuff that may or may not should have gotten them fired (Pitino probably shouldn't lose his job - Sanford - absolutely). But, we should be paying close attention to the way people own their sin and how they repent. Its the same with your kids. When they do something wrong, and I mean really wrong, an "I'm sorry" doesn't always cut it.
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