Card Chronicle, a Louisville Cardinals community

This is good. I like this.

This story is absolutely hilarious. "I just said, 'I got this. I'll do all the talking,'" Pitino said. "I must have said it 20 times. 'I know everything about this kid. You don't need to talk. I'll do all the talking.'" Pitino begins his spiel, pitching what would make Syracuse a better fit than NC State, another school in the running for Shrigley's talents. He wanted to emphasize that the Wolfpack and coach Norm Sloan had more players at Shrigley's position, so he'd be better served at Syracuse, where there wasn't such a numbers crunch. "So I'm just getting started on the part about NC State and his mother says, 'Yes, I told Norman that,'" Pitino said. "And Jim and I just look at one another. Finally Jim says, 'Do you know Coach Sloan?' She said, 'Yes. He's my brother.' I didn't say a word the rest of the night." Boeheim confirmed the story to O'Neil, saying "We had to pull over after we left the house. Funniest thing I've ever seen. Yeah, 'I'll do all the talking,' he kept telling me."

And CRP was one of the coaches watching. Good to see a beloved former Card succeeding, as well as to see the connections remain between Coach and players.

A caller named "Ethan" on the Rick Pitino Call-In Show is upset about the state of the Louisville basketball program. He tells Rick he's frustrated with the bridge year 10 seasons into Pitino's tenure at Louisville. Click the link above to hear the caller's comments and Pitino's response. H/t to KSR for being obsessed with Louisville the link.

ESPN's Eamonn Brennan (who has the same birthday as Jim Thome and I do): Interestingly enough, Shaun Assael, author of new ESPN Insider blog The File*, requested the full testimony from Pitino's embarrassing trial this summer. Why? To check out the more obscure, less salacious details from Pitino's extortion. What did Assael find? In his own words: What it shows is something that hasn't received a lot of attention: Pitino managed to have one of the best seasons of his coaching career while watching his personal life fall apart. The ensuing entry is very detailed and very long, so you should probably just go over and read the whole thing. But the general gist is this: At nearly every successful step of Louisville's undeniably very successful 2008-09 campaign, Pitino was simultaneously coaching his team to big road wins, leading the Cardinals to the top of the Big East tournament and notching a No. 1 seed while at the same time -- oftentimes just minutes before games -- receiving threatening phone calls, envelopes with lists of demands, and even a phone call from Sypher's mother asking why her grandson's car hadn't yet been bought. Yeah. It went there. Anyway, if Louisville fans were worried that last year's doldrums and the coach's previous recruiting drought were products of the Sypher mess, rather than the usual year-after some elite programs go through from time to time, it's probably fair to dispel that notion. The 2009-10 Cardinals had a very good season during the midst of what was perhaps the most intense chapter of Pitino's Sypher story. Apparently the man can multitask.

The Dagger's Jeff Eisenberg is on it. Thanks, Yahoo!

In Coach I tend to trust. Through the early losses, in years past, I've kept the faith because I believe not just in his record but in his knowledge of the game and his tireless game prep. Even more comforting: when the character of his team changes (once experienced and refined; suddenly raw, young, and talented), he adjusts.

It's OK to laugh at this...I think.