*Update.
Tom Jurich, who compromised ethics to become the greatest athletic director on the planet, and Rick Pitino, as good a basketball coach as there is, have been fired by the University of Louisville after the latest scandal, a pay-for play recruiting scheme. Ten people nationwide, including four assistant coaches, were arrested and charged by the FBI yesterday. Neither Jurich or Pitino were among them although the university is under investigation.
Tom Jurich came to UL in 1997. After forcing out Denny Crum, who had won a national championship fifteen years before, Jurich hired Pitino in 2001 after the latter resigned as head coach of the Boston Celtics. In 2013 Pitino won Louisville its second national championship.
In football Jurich accomplished a complete turn around. In 1985 he hired Howard Schnellenberger who put the school "on a collision course with the national championship." Playing as an independent they didn't quite get there but in 1990 finished 10-1-1 and 14th-ranked in the country.
Jurich's permanent impact on UL athletics was in conference realignment. In 1996 he got the "Cardinals" into Conference USA, a "mid-major" grouping. In 2001 the football team went 11-2 and was ranked 17th. After the 2002 season Jurich hired Bobby Petrino. The 2004 team was 11-1 and ranked 6th, its highest finish ever at that time.. In 2005 men's basketball and football were now well-regarded enough that the school was invited to join the Big East, one of "power" conferences in college athletics. The 2006 football team finished 12-1 and ranked 5th. Petrino left after that season and after three years of failure Jurich hired Charlie Strong. In 2012 the team finished 11-2 and ranked 13th.
The Big East Conference then imploded. Louisville had to take a major step backward and play in the new American Athletic Conference. Against inferior competition the team went 12-1, ranked 15th. Strong departed for the University of Texas. Playing a weak hand, Jurich took the university from the AAC to the ACC, the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was the greatest coup in conference realignment. A commuter school, the second university in Kentucky, was now affiliated with academic blue-bloods Duke and Notre Dame and respected schools Virginia, North Carolina, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Pittsburgh. To start Louisville's first season in the ACC Jurich hired back sleazy, scandal-tarnished Bobby Petrino.
It has been twenty years. Tom Jurich took the University of Louisville from the outhouse to the penthouse and now back again.
...
10:23 am:
Carmelo Anthony pulled himself out of the Garbage Garden in Manhattan and will ply his trade in the Oil Patch with OKC. With MVP Russell Westbrook and Paul George the "Thunder" are fantasizing about championships.
And Dwyane Wade, late of Miami, later of Chicago, is joining bff LeBron James in Lake Mistake. Cleve has fashioned a silk purse out of the Kyrie Irving sow's ear this summer. They now have two former league MVP's and a Finals MVP, on their roster, got Isaiah Thomas for Bed Bugs and have next year's predicted top selection in the draft. Great work by Alt-Bert.
Tom Jurich, who compromised ethics to become the greatest athletic director on the planet, and Rick Pitino, as good a basketball coach as there is, have been fired by the University of Louisville after the latest scandal, a pay-for play recruiting scheme. Ten people nationwide, including four assistant coaches, were arrested and charged by the FBI yesterday. Neither Jurich or Pitino were among them although the university is under investigation.
Tom Jurich came to UL in 1997. After forcing out Denny Crum, who had won a national championship fifteen years before, Jurich hired Pitino in 2001 after the latter resigned as head coach of the Boston Celtics. In 2013 Pitino won Louisville its second national championship.
In football Jurich accomplished a complete turn around. In 1985 he hired Howard Schnellenberger who put the school "on a collision course with the national championship." Playing as an independent they didn't quite get there but in 1990 finished 10-1-1 and 14th-ranked in the country.
Jurich's permanent impact on UL athletics was in conference realignment. In 1996 he got the "Cardinals" into Conference USA, a "mid-major" grouping. In 2001 the football team went 11-2 and was ranked 17th. After the 2002 season Jurich hired Bobby Petrino. The 2004 team was 11-1 and ranked 6th, its highest finish ever at that time.. In 2005 men's basketball and football were now well-regarded enough that the school was invited to join the Big East, one of "power" conferences in college athletics. The 2006 football team finished 12-1 and ranked 5th. Petrino left after that season and after three years of failure Jurich hired Charlie Strong. In 2012 the team finished 11-2 and ranked 13th.
The Big East Conference then imploded. Louisville had to take a major step backward and play in the new American Athletic Conference. Against inferior competition the team went 12-1, ranked 15th. Strong departed for the University of Texas. Playing a weak hand, Jurich took the university from the AAC to the ACC, the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was the greatest coup in conference realignment. A commuter school, the second university in Kentucky, was now affiliated with academic blue-bloods Duke and Notre Dame and respected schools Virginia, North Carolina, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Pittsburgh. To start Louisville's first season in the ACC Jurich hired back sleazy, scandal-tarnished Bobby Petrino.
It has been twenty years. Tom Jurich took the University of Louisville from the outhouse to the penthouse and now back again.
...
10:23 am:
Carmelo Anthony pulled himself out of the Garbage Garden in Manhattan and will ply his trade in the Oil Patch with OKC. With MVP Russell Westbrook and Paul George the "Thunder" are fantasizing about championships.
And Dwyane Wade, late of Miami, later of Chicago, is joining bff LeBron James in Lake Mistake. Cleve has fashioned a silk purse out of the Kyrie Irving sow's ear this summer. They now have two former league MVP's and a Finals MVP, on their roster, got Isaiah Thomas for Bed Bugs and have next year's predicted top selection in the draft. Great work by Alt-Bert.
