Calipari Has Been Obsessed with Pitino for Years

In this week's Louisville Courier-Journal, sports columnist Rich Bozich wrote a nice piece on John Calipari's envy of Rick Pitino. However, for those who have been following Calipari and Pitino for the past two decades, this isn't news. Calipari has been obsessed with Pitino for years. 

Let's take a look back at just some examples of Calipari's long-standing fixation with Pitino. The complete list is too long for this note. Here are some of the more memorable Calipari bites: 

• In his book, "Hello Everybody, This is Cawood Ledford," legendary and long-time Kentucky Basketball announcer Cawood Ledford described a visit from Calipari's UMass team when they traveled to Lexington and faced Pitino's Kentucky squad on December 4, 1991. Wrote Ledford: "The most energetic one of the (UMass team) was the coach, John Calipari, whose clothes and sideline behavior were so much like Rick's that it was almost comical." 
• In a March, 2011 article published in Sports Illustrated, writer S.L. Price on Calipari: But he's still not above calling editors to savage writers he dislikes, and he takes a child's delight in zinging ESPN columnist Pat Forde—co-author of a book with Pitino, Calipari is quick to say—who has detailed Calipari's perceived misdeeds in print and on television.
• ...Later, in the same article, Calipari is quoted: "I would just tell you: I respect (Pitino), respect what he's done over his career." Then he yells in a voice thick with sarcasm, "And thank him for all the help he's given me over my career!"
• In 2008, Pitino published his book, "Rebound Rules: The Art of Success 2.0." Less than two years later, Calipari's book hit the shelves. Its title? "Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life." As Cawood put it, almost comical. 
• Pitino's Louisville team lost to Calipari's first Kentucky team in the 2009-10 basketball season, in a game played in Rupp Arena at Kentucky. Months later, former Kentucky player John Pelphrey brought his Arkansas team into Rupp Arena to take on Calipari's Wildcats. Pelphrey, one of Kentucky's famed "Unforgettables," has his jersey retired and hanging in the rafters of Rupp Arena. When Calipari was asked by a member of the media if he had ever faced an opposing coach whose jersey was retired in his team's home arena, Calipari responded: "Well, if I recall, Pitino's got a retired banner hanging up there and he came in here and took an 'L.' Hmm...look who was on Calipari's mind again, in the middle of his team's SEC schedule, weeks removed from the Kentucky-Louisville game. 
• In April of 2011, Calipari was asked if whether he was rethinking his policy of filling his roster with prospects who only play one season of college basketball. Calipari responded: "Now, who knew that Eric Bledsoe, who I loved to death, was able to leave after a year? He didn’t play in the McDonald’s game that year. He was behind (Louisville guard Peyton) Siva in all the stats and everything else." Interesting that Calipari could have compared Bledsoe a number of top recruits, but he picked Peyton Siva. Par for the Calipari course. 
• In Calipari's first season at Kentucky, he tried to schedule a practice at Louisville's Freedom Hall. 
• Calipari showed interest in coaching the Dominican Republic immediately after it was announced Pitino might be coaching Puerto Rico's national team. 
• Having accepted the Dominican coaching job, Calipari staged a midsummer exhibition game in 2011 in Louisville's KFC Yum! Center. 
• Calipari has been squeezing Pitino recruits since taking the head coaching job at Kentucky. First, it was Marquis Teague. Now it's Gary Harris. Calipari also tried to court former Kentucky Mr. Basketball Elisha Justice to Lexington after he had committed to Pitino and Louisville. Justice kept his word, and had an effective freshman year at Louisville. 
• Asked about former Pitino guard Edgar Sosa, who played on Calipari's Dominican Republic team, Calipari said: "Somebody had to teach that kid the pick and roll."
• And the most recent: Calipari was asked last week about the Kentucky fans camped outside of Memorial Coliseum in Lexington to secure tickets for Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness tip-off to the basketball season. Calipari's response: Cal’s answer: "It’s a unique thing. There’s no other state — none — as connected to their basketball program as this one. Because those other states have other programs. Michigan has Michigan State. California — UCLA has all those. ... North Carolina has Duke. It’s Kentucky, throughout this whole state, and that’s what makes this unique." Could Calipari simply have forgotten that Louisville was a city in the state of Kentucky? Probably not. Said Calipari in December of 2010: "The state is driven by the city of Louisville." 

Of course, it's easy to understand why Calipari is fixated on Pitino (not counting Calipari's possible deep-rooted psychological problems and anger issues). Pitino has coached in Five Final Fours. Calipari has had two Final Fours vacated (the third, it is only reasonable enough to say, is still pending). Pitino defeated Calipari's No. 1 ranked UMass in the 1996 Final Four, en route to Pitino and Kentucky's sixth NCAA Championship. (Calipari's 1996 UMass team later had its Final Four vacated by the NCAA). Pitino is the only coach in the history of college basketball to lead three different schools to the Final Four, is a five-time National Coach of the Year and is a lock for the Hall of Fame. Calipari is the only coach in the history of college basketball to lead two different schools to the Final Four and have both of those Final Fours vacated. Pitino is one of only 12 active Division I coaches to have won a National Championship. Calipari has never won a National Championship and has a long, long row to hoe if he ever wants to see his name mentioned in the same sentence as "Hall of Fame." Pitino has a winning record versus Calipari in games coached head-to-head, and perhaps most telling, Pitino has never lost to Calipari when it matters - in the postseason. Pitino has never lost a same season rematch with Calipari, and is 3-0 versus Calipari in postseason play, including 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament. 

After Calipari's latest geographical jab, Pitino responded: "Four things I've learned in my 59 years about people. I ignore the jealous, I ignore the malicious, I ignore the ignorant and I ignore the paranoid."
"If the shoe fits anyone," he added. "Wear it."

Kudos to Pitino for sticking up for his program and its fanbase. Like any other opposing coach Pitino might face, the only time Calipari crosses Pitino's mind is when Pitino is scouting Calipari's teams, three or four days before gameday. But for Calipari, Pitino is something he just can't seem to shake.