This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us at For the Win today. We greatly appreciate your time.
That’s something Rick Pitino has probably never said to his players. He doesn’t seem to appreciate much of anything they do at St. John’s.
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the rant Pitino went on about his team after their latest loss to Seton Hall. He publicly undressed his entire squad and its problems in front of cameras for the world to hear.
He called this job the “most unenjoyable experience” of his life. Honestly, is he sure about that? Because I can surely think of more than a few Pitino circumstances that seem like they might’ve been a bit more unenjoyable than coaching at St. John’s. I mean, that’s why he’s there in the first place, right?
Look, I get the frustration. St. John’s isn’t very good. The team is 2-8 in its last 10 games. But this isn’t just frustration — it’s bullying. It’s Rick Pitino using his power as a head coach to make his players feel as small as possible. He groaned on and on about how his players are “slow laterally” and “physically weak.” Those aren’t critiques — those are insults.
Plus, I’m sorry, but did I miss the part where somebody was holding him hostage and forcing him to coach this team? Everybody and everything suck so bad! …but he won’t leave.
Of course he won’t. There’s no cushy buyout and a clear path to a bigger job he can leech off of at the end of the road. He may never coach again if he does that because the sad reality is he just might not be good enough anymore. His best days as a head coach might be in the rearview mirror.
Ah, yes. There it is. The personal accountability Rick Pitino is terrified of taking here.
What he didn’t let us know in that rant is that these are all his players. This is the team that he orchestrated. This squad added 12 new players this offseason. This is the team he wanted. If they’re so bad and slow and weak, that’s on him.
As the head coach, it’s your job to get your players to play their best ball. It’s your job to make sure they’re able to sustain the 12-point lead they built. It’s your job to get your house in order after your team loses eight of the last 10 games. That’s why you’re paid what you’re paid.
Taking out your shortcomings on your unpaid “amateur” workforce while you literally make millions to fail is feckless. Period.
Be better, Rick Pitino. If you have it in you.
This is what being an adult looks like
Rick Pitino could probably learn a thing or two at his big age from Sheryl Swoopes here.
Remember the whole Caitlin Clark thing where Swoopes got some numbers wrong? She called the Iowa star and apologized for it. Meghan Hall has more here.
“It’s been a whirlwind month regarding the alleged beef between Sheryl Swoopes and Caitlin Clark. Fans have been in a frenzy since Swoopes said that she didn’t think Angel Reese or Caitlin Clark would make an immediate impact in the WNBA and implied that Clark’s previous pace to break Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record was seemingly unimpressive. Those comments ignited hoops fans and even led to the team’s social media account getting involved. Then, things quickly escalated to “Don’t Be a Sheryl” and “Be a Sheryl” shirts flooding the internet. It was A LOT.
However, per Chantel Jennings of The Athletic, Swoopes recently revealed during a Baylor-Texas Tech broadcast that she had a conversation with Angel Reese via phone, and she also reached out to Clark to clear the air.”
Swoopes left out the glorious details here but, long story short, she apologized and told her that she respected her game. And I’m sure that means a lot to Clark, considering that Swoopes is a basketball legend.
It’s great to see the air cleared between these two.
The Nationals are not for sale
If you were in the market to purchase a baseball team, it sounds like you should take Washington off of your radar. The Nationals are not for sale anymore. At least, that’s what Mark Lerner is telling the Washington Post.
Add this latest announcement to the list of confounding moves the Nationals have made since winning a World Series in 2019.
Since then, the team has:
— Shed a ton of salary by letting its stars walk in free agency or via trade
— Announced that the Lerner family would be looking to sell the team
— And now the family has completely backed away from the idea of a sale
The Lerners are unpredictable. It’s hard to know what the future of this team holds or when it’ll even be competitive again.
The rebuild is moving along according to plan with Washington completely rebuilding its farm system. Ownership just has to be willing to spend again. Maybe, now that the Lerners are fully committed to the Nationals again, they will.
Don’t hold your breath on that, though.
Quick hits: Behold! MLB’s new awful jerseys … The 102 best NFL free agents … and more
— Andrew Joseph has a look at all of the Nike-Fanatics MLB jerseys for this season.
— Christian D’Andrea has a list of the 102 best NFL free agents this offseason. Yes. One hundred and two.
— Skylar Diggins-Smith finally revealed exactly why she moved on from the Phoenix Mercury. Meghan Hall has more here.
— Prince Grimes says you should buy low on Jayson Tatum’s MVP odds. This is a good bet.
— Man. Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic’s friendship is the absolute best. Here’s Meghan with more.
— William Byron’s big finish at the Daytona 500 had fans on tilt. Here’s Nick Schwartz with more.
Thanks so much for reading, folks! We appreciate you. We’ll be back again with more tomorrow. Until then! Peace!
-Sykes ✌️