Pitino Apologizes, Once Again Invokes 9/11

Rick Pitino's brother-in-law was a trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, and he died on 9/11 along with 3,000 other people, and now his and their memory is being invoked by a guy who, at best, is a floor-rutting womanizer.

Pitino apologized to his family, his players, his recruits, other families, the university, even sportswriters for "that indiscretion six years ago," which he then, somehow, related to that one really big indiscretion eight years ago:

When 9/11 hit, you needed a community to get you over it. In New York City, it was easy because everybody knew the devastation of that and they got each other over it. In Louisville, the impact wasn't felt like New York City, but I needed this community to help me get over it.

Pitino's gone this route before. In June, he obliquely addressed the Karen Sypher case, saying:

Times aren't easy, but if I can get through 9/11, I can get through anything in my life. And I got through 9/11 and there's nothing ever going to come close to that. We'll get through this in a positive way and move on.

Look, 9/11 was a national tragedy with profound personal dimensions for a lot of people, but the great majority of them have had the good sense not to wear it like a perpetual crown of thorns. Yes, Rick, please move on.

Rick Pitino's statement [Louisville Courier-Journal] EARLIER: Pitino Speaks: "If I Can Get Through 9/11, I Can Get Through Anything"