Rick Pitino tells police he paid Karen Sypher $3,000 to get an abortion

Andrew Wolfson of the Louisville Courier-Journal penned an article that showed up on the CJ's website Tuesday evening in which he (finally) brought to light the events leading up to the extortion case involving Rick Pitino.

Are you ready?

Try to stay with me here.

Rick Pitino had sex with Karen Sypher (then Cunagin) after hours at a restaurant in 2003 with his then-assistant Vinny Tatum within earshot.

Then she claimed that she was pregnant and needed money for an abortion.

Pitino met her at Tim Sypher's house to hash out a deal. In 2004, Tim and Karen Sypher would get married. That meeting was their first.

After filing divorce papers, Karen Sypher tried to extort Pitino for $10 million. Pitino refused and pressed charges, to which Sypher responded by claiming that Pitino raped her not once, but twice.

And that doesn't come close to describing how bizarre this story is. Seriously, go read it. I don't know who comes off worse. Karen Sypher looks like an absolute nut job, but what about Pitino? Cheats on his wife with a random broad he meets at a restaurant (on the restaurant floor, nonetheless) while his assistant is present, pays her to get an abortion, and then stands by as she marries a friend and colleague. Can you get much scumbaggier than that?

I think it is clear why Richard Pitino left Louisville to join the Florida staff. Is it a conflict of interest when you find out your boss/father cheated on your mother?

It is not likely that the elder Pitino will lose his job over this incident. While showing questionable (to say the least) morals and decision making, it does not look like Pitino actually broke any laws. Saying Sypher's story lacks credibility would be the understatement of the year.

I joke about it, but this really is not a laughing matter. Especially for the Pitino family, who get to see their personal problems displayed across TV sets all over the country tomorrow morning.

But as for Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher, I have no sympathy. As they say, when you play in dirt, you get dirty.