Coaches in court

Why does it always seem like news like this comes in bunches?

Rick Pitino's trial is over, but the ordeal isn't quite finished yet. The attorney for Karen Sypher, who, if you remember, was found guilty on all six counts as a result of her extortion efforts against Pitino, has filed a motion asking for a new trial as a result of the perjury committed by one or more of the prosecution's witnesses. They have asked for 45 days to investigate. Can you imagine what would happen if Sypher was actually granted a new trial? Would we have to hear all about Quick Rick's 15 seconds of fame again?

Staying in the Big East, Bobby Gonzalez has solved one of his legal issues. Gonzo sued Seton Hall for wrongful termination after the Pirate's first round NIT loss. Gonzo said he was wrongfully terminated with two years left ton his contract. Yesterday, the two sides settled, with the terms left confidential. Gonzo still is facing charges for allegedly attempting to steal a $1,400 satchel.

And then there is Andy Kennedy. Back in 2008, Kennedy was arrested for allegedly punching and yelling racial slurs at a cab driver that refused to allow five people into his cab. Kennedy filed a defamation lawsuit which was finally settled yesterday. Apparently, all Kennedy needed was an apology from the cab driver.

Continue reading...

Andy Kennedy Pleads Guilty

And here I was foolish enough to think we had heard the end of this story.

We have written about this incident three times before (which also happens to be three times too many), so if you are too lazy to follow the link, here is a quick synopsis of what has happened so far:

Andy Kennedy, the coach of Ole Miss and former coach of Cincinnati, heads out with some members of his staff to a nice place for a quiet night out The Lodge for "college night". At the end of the night, thoroughly inebriated, he hops in a cab to head home. Some way, some how, there ends up being a physical confrontation in the cab between Kennedy and the driver, resulting in Kennedy's arrest. After some priceless unintentional comedy (Kennedy's wife sued the cab driver for ruining their sex life, while the Cinci police released a video in which Kennedy says that his arrest will be an international incident, to which the cops reply "whatever, we deal with the Bengals all the time"), it seemed like this story was dead.

Not quite.

Kennedy has pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge after originally being charged with assault. His punishment? 40 hours of community service, six months probation, $100 fine plus court costs, and it can all be expunged from his record in a year.

A bit of a slap on the wrist for an international incident, no? Continue reading...

Coaches Behaving Badly

Back in December, Andy Kennedy was arrested for allegedly assaulting a cab driver. There were conflicting stories about what happened that night, but it seems like the Cincinnati police believe Kennedy was drunk and belligerent at local college hangout called The Lodge Bar. He tried to get more people in a cab than would fit, and ended up assaulting the cab driver after some sort of verbal altercation.

I didn't think this story would have any legs after it came out that his wife was suing the cabbie for, among other things, ruining their sex life. But now, the Cincinnati police has released the video from Kennedy's arrest:



My two favorite parts: when Kennedy says that his arrest will be an "international incident". Really? People outside of the US are going to care when a mediocre coach from a mediocre team in a mediocre conference gets arrested for being a drunk redneck? Right.

The other great line? At the 3:45 mark, one of the cops says something along the lines of "You think we haven't made a national arrest? We deal with the Bengals all the time!"

You can't make this stuff up.

While pops is in the news for his reported interest in the Georgia job, Pat Knight is in the news for a legendary tantrum. The video explains it exactly, but apparently what happened is a Tech player was called for a foul when he was thrown to the floor. Knight lost it, and twice chased the refs all over the court:



The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I guess. UPDATE: Pat Knight will not be suspended by the Big XII. How is that possible? Did you see what he did? Should I send this post to the Big XII? Continue reading...

So What Exactly Was Andy Kennedy Doing The Night Of His Arrest?

It's getting late, so I don't have a lot of time to get into it. By now you know what happened. Here's the cab drivers side of the story, and here's Kennedy's side of the story. Kennedy today counter-sued both the cab driver and the witness to the event. To be honest, I don't even care who comes out winning this thing. They both seem like d-bags to me.

Anyway, the point of this post was to say that I have no problem with Kennedy and his staff going out for a couple beers to unwind after a long day of game planning and traveling. I'm guessing that pretty much every staff in the country does or has done this before.

Kennedy was at the Lodge Bar on Wednesday night. I don't think that this is exactly the place he should be going to unwind with his coaches:


Ask Larry Eustachy why. Continue reading...

More on the Andy Kennedy Situation

Gary Parrish from CBS Sports has a source within the Ole Miss staff. According to him, this is what happened Wednesday night. From The Thoughts:

According to the source, the coaching staff had a team meeting, finished film and then went out for dinner and drinks Wednesday night in Cincinnati, where Kennedy used to coach. The party was a mixture of Ole Miss coaches, officials and some of Kennedy's friends from Cincinnati, and when it was time to go, the five coaches -- Kennedy and assistants Michael White, Owen Miller, Torrey Ward and Bill Armstrong -- jumped in a cab to take them back to the Marriott across the river in Kentucky.

Kennedy was in the front seat.

The four assistants were in the back.

According to the source, after driving "maybe a tenth of a mile" the cab driver realized there were five people in the car, and he told the coaches that he could not take five passengers. So he stopped, at which point Kennedy and his assistants jumped in another cab, one with a driver willing to take five passengers. At that point, the source said, the first cab driver pulled up beside the second cab driver and started yelling at the second driver "in a foreign language," and then the second cab driver turned to the coaches and asked if they owed the first cab driver money.

The coaches said they did not owe anybody anything because the first driver refused to transport them. Then, according to the source, assistant Torrey Ward, who is black, told the driver to stop talking to the other driver and to get them back to their hotel.

"And then the cab driver turned around and said "Shut the f-ck up, n-gger," the source said. "That's when things got heated."

According to the source, the coaches and cab driver did exchange words, "but nobody hit the driver." The source added that Kennedy and his assistants tried to get out of the cab, but that the driver locked the doors and got on his cell phone, "and we think that's when he called the cops." Eventually, the source said, the driver unlocked the doors and let the coaches out. They then got in a third cab and traveled about a half-mile before the cops pulled the cab over and approached the car.

"The cops said, 'Coach Kennedy, we need you to get out of the car," the source said. "They told him he was under arrest for assault."

According to the source, Armstrong came to the defense of Kennedy, started telling the police "this is bullsh-t" and that Kennedy didn't do anything wrong. That's when Armstrong was arrested, and then White, Miller and Ward waited at the police station for Kennedy and Armstrong to be released.

Also worth noting: There have been reports that Armstrong was kicked out of the Lodge Bar, which preceded the coaches getting in the first cab, but according to the source, that is "100 percent not true." Alex Moller, the general manager of the Lodge Bar, supports that claim. He told the Clarion Ledger newspaper in Mississippi: "The reports that they were kicked out are untrue. They were here, but they left on good terms. As for what happened after they left the bar, I don't know. But there was no incident here."

To be honest, I am leaning towards believing Kennedy on this one. And if the cab driver did in fact drop the N-word, then he has no right to complain about being called "bin Laden".

Here's to hoping this gets solved quickly. Ole Miss has enough problems this year involving injuries. Continue reading...