Louisville Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino Admits "Indiscretion"

Six years ago, Rick Pitino, coach for the Louisville Cardinals and father of 5, had sex with Karen Sypher in a restaurant after it closed for the evening. Two weeks later, Ms. Sypher, claimed she needed to have an abortion. Pitino gave her $3,000 but claims the money was for Ms. Sypher to get health insurance, since she didn't have any, not to pay for an abortion.

Karen Sypher, 49, was accused last April of trying to extort $10 million dollars from Rick Pitino, who ultimately went to the FBI with his story. She told authorities that it wasn't consensual sex and that Pitino assaulted her when they met to discuss her abortion plans. Pitino denied the accusations. Kentucky authorities said there wasn't sufficient proof to press charges.

Although the 56 year old Rick Pitino did nothing illegal, the publicity from this one indiscretion could take away everything he's built up over the years. He's the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals. He has taken three out of four schools to the Final Four. He's written best-selling books on how to be a winner on the basketball court and in life. He has always presented the image of being family oriented and often talks about his relationship with his wife Joanne.

"I do want to say that the past seven months have been very difficult on the people I love," Pitino said. "I am here today because I personally apologize to my family every single day. I let them down with my indiscretion six years ago and I'm sorry for that and I tell them that every day."

His contract states that he could be fired for dishonesty or moral depravity, so the future of his coaching career could be on the line. It all depends on whether the University of Louisville President James Ramsey will accept Pitino's apology and allow for the fact that we are human and make mistakes.

The abortion issue could be a problem that will override even President Ramsey's willingness to let Pitino continue to coach. Louisville is heavily populated with Roman Catholics and Rick Pitino himself is Roman Catholic. Even though there is no direct involvement in Karen Sypher's abortion, the fact that he played some part in the outcome might damage his reputation too severely to recover.

This affair might have been left to fade from Rick Pitino's mind, had it not been for Karen Sypher trying to turn it into her personal cash cow. She married Tim Sypher in 2004, the equipment manager for Pitino, who served Pitino with a list of demands his wife had written out. She wanted $3,000 per month, college tuition for her children, two cars, and money to pay off her house. That's a bit steep for a little nookie after hours in a restaurant, but she was obviously counting on Pitino not wanting this to go public.

Pitino says he's going to "keep quiet" about what's going on with the extortion charges and will continue to work with the police as well as coach the Louisville Cardinals for "as long as they will have me".

The athletic director, Tom Jurich, says he expects head coach Pitino to stay at Louisville "for a long time". Let's hope public opinion is on Pitino's side in this and allows him to move on with his life.