Teams is the plural form of team.

TEAMS may also refer to:

• TEAMS (academic competition), a competition sponsored by JETS
• TEAMS (cable system), an Kenyan initiative to link the country to the rest of the world through a submarine fibre optic cable.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Background information
Birth name	Edward Christopher Sheeran
Born	(1991-02-17) 17 February 1991 (age 21)
Origin	Halifax, England
Genres	Folk, acoustic, hip hop, grime
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, producer, rapper, beatboxer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, BOSS Loop Pedal RC-30
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Asylum, Atlantic Records
Associated acts	Yelawolf, Devlin, Wiley, Ghetts, P Money, Wretch 32, Sway DaSafo, Jamie Woon, Yasmin, Amy Wadge[1]
Website	edsheeran.com

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter who is currently signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.^[2] Sheeran broke through commercially in June 2011, when his debut single "The A Team" debuted at number 3 on the UK chart.^[3]

Life and career[link]

1991–2011: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire to Irish^[4] and English^[5] parents, before moving to Framlingham, Suffolk; he is a cousin of TV journalist and presenter Gordon Burns.^[6] He learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham.^[7] His early childhood memories, referred to in a interview on the Zane Lowe show, included listening to Van Morrison on his countless trips to London with his parents and going to an intimate gig with Damien Rice in Ireland when he was 11.^[8] He also opened for Nizlopi in Norwich in April 2008 after being one of their guitar technicians.^[7] Sheeran began recording in 2005, which led to the release of his first EP, The Orange Room EP. Sheeran also released 2 albums, a self-titled one in 2006 and Want Some? in 2007. He moved to London in 2008 to play gigs, starting off in very small venues, playing every day, to as little as five people. In 2008, he auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High.^[9]

In 2009, Sheeran played 312 gigs. He said that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Sheeran wanted to beat him on this number.^[10] Also in 2009, he released another EP, You Need Me, just before going on tour with Just Jack. He also did a few collaborations with Leddra Chapman, including Cee Lo Green's Fuck You. In February 2010 Sheeran posted a video through SB.TV, which led to mainstream rapper Example asking Sheeran to tour with him. Also in February 2010 he released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his later debut single "The A Team".

In April 2010, after leaving his old management company, Sheeran bought a ticket to Los Angeles, with no contacts other than one poetry night. He played open mic nights all over the city, before his talent was spotted at The Foxxhole by Jamie Foxx, who was so impressed that he offered Sheeran the use of his recording studio and the run of his Hollywood home for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew, with him also getting credit from The Independent newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and Elton John.^[11] Sheeran also self-released two other EPs in 2010; Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford and Songs I Wrote With Amy, which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge.

Sheeran at Academy 1, Manchester Dot to Dot Festival on Monday 30 May 2011

On 8 January 2011, Sheeran released his final independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway and Ghetts.^[2] With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 2 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week.^[12] Three months later, Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden. Over 1,000 fans turned up to see the show, so Sheeran ended up playing four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

[edit] 2011–present: + and commercial success

On 26 April, Sheeran appeared on the TV music show Later... with Jools Holland – where he performed his debut single "The A Team". Six weeks later, "The A Team" was released as a digital download in the UK. The release served as the lead single from Sheeran's debut studio album, entitled +. "The A Team" entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. It was congratulated on being the best selling debut single and the overall eight best selling single of 2011, shifting 801,000 copies.^[13] The lead single also became a top ten hit in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands. During a headline set in the BBC Introducing tent at Glastonbury Festival 2011, Sheeran announced that "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" would be released on 28 August as the second single from the album. The second single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart.^[14]

Sheeran's debut album + was released on 12 September 2011. + received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[15] + debuted number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 102,000 copies in its first week.^[16] It became the second best selling debut album and the ninth biggest-selling album of 2011 in the UK, shifting 791,000 copies.^[17] The album climbed back up to number one on the UK Albums Chart on 1 January 2012, fifteen weeks after it last peaked at the top. The album has been certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 900,000 units.^[18] As of March 2012, the album had sold 1,021,072 copies in the UK.^[19] The album also reached the top ten on the Australian Albums Chart, Flanders Belgian Albums Chart,^[20] Dutch Albums Chart,^[21] Irish Albums Chart,^[22] New Zealand Albums Chart^[23] and the Swiss Albums Chart.^[24]

On 11 November 2011, soul ballad "Lego House" was released as the third single lifted from the debut studio album +.^[25] It received its first radio play on BBC Radio 1 on 8 September 2011.^[26][27] It entered the UK Singles Chart at number five, on 17 November. "Lego House" also reached the top ten on Australian, Irish, Scottish, New Zealand Singles Charts, Flemish Ultratop 50 and the Wallonian Ultratip. "Drunk" was released on 19 February 2012 as the fourth single lifted from +.^[28] "Drunk" became the Sheeran's fourth consecutive top ten single in the UK, when it peaked at number nine.^[29] "Small Bump" is scheduled for a release in late May 2012 as the fifth single.^[30]

The song "Moments" on the debut album by boy band One Direction was co-written by Sheeran.^[31] On 21 February 2012, Sheeran attended the 2012 Brit Awards, he received the Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Breaktrough of the Year.^[32][33]

On 10 January 2012, it was announced Sheeran would support Snow Patrol on their United States tour from late March until May. On the band's Fallen Empires Tour.^[34]

His song "Give Me Love" was featured in the episode "Dangerous Liaisons" of The Vampire Diaries.^[35][36] At the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards in May 2012, Sheeran's "The A Team" beat Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" and Florence and the Machine's "Shake It Out", winning the award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.^[37]

Philanthropy[link]

Sheeran will perform a gig in Bristol, which has raised £40,000 for a charity that reaches out to street sex workers. Sheeran agreed to the event after one of the women One25 helps contacted him. "It's good to show insight that these people are real people with real emotions and they deserve the same charity work as anyone else," Sheeran said. "There's a lot more popular charities that get a lot of attention. And with certain subjects like this they're often washed over and people don't necessarily give them the attention they deserve." Tickets were available to those taking part in the charity's Give it up for One25 campaign by giving something up for 125 hours and hitting the £125 fundraising mark. Louise Willott, who organised the event at The Fleece, said of Sheeran: "He had volunteered in Crisis in London. which is a homeless shelter, and he had met a woman who told him her story. Her name was Angel. "He then went and did some more research about the issues and obviously he must have been moved and inspired to have written The A Team." Willott added: "The Fleece is quite a small venue - it only holds about 400, which makes it extra exciting as it's really intimate and Ed's not playing those size venues anymore. In total this has raised about £40,000 for the project. Its just going to give us such a boost. This is a difficult time for any charity. There's less money available and there's more competition for it, so to have one event raise £40,000 is just incredible."^[38]

Discography[link]

Album[link]

• + (2011)

Tour[link]

Opening act

• Fallen Empires Tour (North American select dates) (2012)

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

[edit] BRIT Awards

[edit] BT Digital Music Awards

[edit] Ivor Novello Awards

[edit] MOBO Awards

[edit] Q Awards

[edit] UK Music Video Awards

See also[link]

• List of Official Subscription Plays Chart number-one songs from the 2010s

References[link]

External links[link]

• Interview
• Official website
• Ed Sheeran on Myspace
• Ed Sheeran on Facebook
• Ed Sheeran on Twitter
• Ed Sheeran's channel on YouTube

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (June 2011)

Star Slinger (Born Darren Williams) is a hip hop producer based in Manchester, UK taking influences from memphis rap to shoegaze.^[1][2] He first came to the attention after self-releasing a beat tape via the internet in the summer of 2010 entitled "Volume 1". Williams picked up noteworthy press interest from Pitchfork Media, SPIN Magazine, Dazed & Confused Magazine, was named in the NME's Top 50 Bands of 2011 and was interviewed by Rob Da Bank & Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1. He also received plays from Diplo on a mix for Australia's Triple J Radio Station.^[3][4] In October 2011, Star Slinger released his first real single on Mountain Dew's label "Green Label Sound" with Kansas based R & B singer Reggie B along with a remix by Diplo for free on their website.^[5] Influential BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac named it "Single of The Week". Despite speculation, not much info has been confirmed regarding the forthcoming Star Slinger album. Star Slinger is known to post all his official and unofficial remixes on his Soundcloud profile. "Star Slinger Soundcloud Profile". http://www.soundcloud.com/starslingeruk. Retrieved 16 Dec 2011. 

Press quotes[link]

"Best new act of the year by miles." – The Guardian^[6]

"Combines the hyper soul sampling of Kanye West or Dipset producers Heatmakerz with a bubbling psychedelia reminiscent of J Dilla’s spacier moments." - Pitchfork Media
^[7]

Background[link]

Williams studied music technology at Leeds Metropolitan University.^[8]

Discography[link]

Albums/EP's:

• Teams vs. Star Slinger - Self-Titled (EP) Mexican Summer (2011)
• Volume 1 (LP) [Self-released] (2010)
• Rogue Cho Pa (EP) [Self-released] (2011)

Singles

• Dumbin' (featuring Reggie B) Green Label Sound (2011)
• Remedy (7") - Double Denim Records (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (January 2008)

Patrick Lencioni is the author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a popular business fable that explores work team dynamics and offers solutions to help teams perform better.^[1]

In addition to the bestselling Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he has written eight other business books: The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business; Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team; Death by Meeting; Silos, Politics and Turf Wars; The Five Temptations of a CEO; The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive; The Three Signs of a Miserable Job and Getting Naked.

He has also applied his management insights to help families in The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family in which he shows that families can benefit from the type of advice that he provides to organizations.^[2]

Lencioni, who lives in Alamo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the president of The Table Group, a management consulting firm specializing in executive team development and organizational health. As a consultant and keynote speaker, he has worked with thousands of senior executives and executive teams in organizations ranging from Fortune 500s and high tech start-ups to universities and non-profits. His clients include AT&T, Bechtel, Boeing, Cisco, Sam's Club, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Allstate, Visa, FedEx, New York Life, Sprint, Novell, Sybase, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the US Military Academy, West Point. He has delivered dozens of keynote addresses on leadership, organizational change, teamwork and corporate culture.

He is frequently interviewed for national media including features in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Fortune Magazine has listed him as one of "10 new gurus you should know".^[3]

Previously, Lencioni worked at the management consulting firm Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation, and Sybase, where he was VP of Organization Development. He is on numerous advisory boards, and sits on the National Board of Directors for PFLAG and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

References[link]

External Links[link]

The Table Group

Rick Pitino
Pitino in the 2007 Big East Tournament
Sport(s)	Basketball
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Louisville
Biographical details
Born	(1952-09-18) September 18, 1952 (age 59) New York, New York
Playing career
1970–1974	UMass
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1974–1976 1976 1976–1978 1978–1983 1983–1985 1985–1987 1987–1989 1989–1997 1997–2001 2001–present	Hawaii (assistant) Hawaii (interim HC) Syracuse (assistant) Boston University New York Knicks (assistant) Providence New York Knicks Kentucky Boston Celtics Louisville
Accomplishments and honors
Championships NCAA Division I Tournament Championship (1996) Regional Championships - Final Four (1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012) America East Tournament Championship (1983) America East Regular Season Championship (1980, 1983) SEC Tournament Championship (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997) SEC Regular Season Championship (1995, 1996) C-USA Tournament Championship (2003, 2005) C-USA Regular Season Championship (2005) Big East Tournament Championship (2009, 2012) Big East Regular Season Championship (2009)
Awards NABC National Coach of the Year 6th time (1987) John Wooden National Coach of the Year (1987) SEC Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1996) C-USA Coach of the Year (2005)

Rick Pitino (born September 18, 1952)^[1] is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996. He has coached on the professional level for the NBA's New York Knicks and Boston Celtics with mixed results.

Pitino holds the distinction of being the only men's coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to a Final Four. (John Calipari did the same, but two of his Final Four appearances were later vacated by the NCAA.) Pitino is also only one of three coaches ever to take his school to the Final Four in four separate decades. In addition, Pitino has achieved a measure of success as an author and a motivational speaker.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Pitino, a Sicilian American^[2] and native of New York City, grew up in the Village of Bayville and was captain of the St. Dominic High School basketball team in nearby Oyster Bay, Long Island.^[3] He enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1970. He was a standout guard for the Minutemen basketball team. His 329 career assists rank tenth all-time at UMass, as of the 2009–10 season.^[4] He led the team in assists as a junior and senior.^[5][6] The 168 assists as a senior is the eighth-best single season total ever there.^[4][7] Pitino was a freshman at the same time future NBA legend Julius Erving spent his junior (and final) year at UMass, although the two never played on the same team because freshmen were ineligible to play varsity basketball at the time. Other teammates of Pitino's include Al Skinner, who also went on to become a successful college coach, and baseballer Mike Flanagan, who went on to pitch in the major leagues and win the AL Cy Young Award in 1979. Pitino earned his degree from UMass in 1974.

Collegiate coaching[link]

Pitino is currently head coach of the University of Louisville. Previous college coaching assignments include Boston University, Providence College, and the University of Kentucky. As a collegiate head coach, Pitino has compiled a 521–191 record, for a .732 winning percentage that is ranked 10th among active coaches and 29th all-time among all collegiate basketball coaches entering the 2009 season.

Pitino is considered by many to be one of the first coaches to promote fully taking advantage of the 3-point shot, first adopted by the NCAA in 1987. By exploiting the 3-point shot, his teams at Kentucky in the early 1990s were known as Pitino's Bombinos, as a significant portion of the offensive points came from the 3-point shot. Even now, Pitino's teams are known for the 3-point threat and all of his teams rank towards the top in 3-point attempts per season.

Many of Pitino's players and assistant coaches have gone on to become successful collegiate coaches. In total, 21 former Pitino players and coaches have become Division I head coaches, including Florida's Billy Donovan, Minnesota's Tubby Smith, Arizona State's Herb Sendek, and Cincinnati's Mick Cronin.^[7]

Assistant coaching career[link]

Pitino started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Hawaii in 1974, and became a full-time assistant (and interim head coach) in 1975. He was then the first assistant hired by Jim Boeheim in 1976 as Boeheim began his tenure at Syracuse University.

Pitino served as Hawaii's interim head coach late in the 1975-76 season. Coach Bruce O'Neil was fired after the Rainbow Warriors' started the season 9-12. Pitino led Hawaii for their final six games, going 2-4 in the span.^[8]

Pitino's time at Hawaii was marred by a 1977 NCAA report on sanctions against the program. According to the report, Pitino was implicated in 8 of the 64 infractions that led the University to be placed on probation. The violations involving Pitino included providing round-trip air fare for a player between New York and Honolulu, arranging for student-athletes to receive used cars for season tickets, and handing out coupons to players for free food at McDonald's. He was also cited, along with the head coach, Bruce O'Neil, for providing misinformation to the NCAA and University of Hawaii officials. Also in 1977, the NCAA infractions committee recommended that Pitino and O'Neil be disassociated from Hawaii athletics. In 1989, Pitino would dismiss the report, saying "I didn't make any mistakes, I don't care what anybody says."^[9]

Boston University[link]

Pitino's first head coaching job came in 1978 at Boston University. In the two seasons before his arrival, the team had won a mere 17 games. Pitino led the team to its first NCAA appearance in 24 years.^[10]

Providence[link]

Pitino left Boston University to become an assistant coach with the New York Knicks under Hubie Brown. Pitino returned to college coaching to become head coach at Providence in 1985. Providence had gone a dismal 11–20 in the year before he took over. Two years later, Pitino led the team to the Final Four. That Final Four team featured point guard Billy Donovan, who would go on to be an assistant coach under Pitino at Kentucky and then win back-to-back national championships as head coach at the University of Florida.

Kentucky[link]

After spending two years coaching in the NBA, Pitino returned to the college level again in 1989, becoming the coach at Kentucky. The legendary Kentucky program was dusting off its shoulders from a major recruiting scandal brought on by former coach Eddie Sutton that left it on NCAA probation. Pitino quickly restored Kentucky's reputation and performance, leading his second school to the Final Four in the 1993 NCAA Tournament, and winning a national title in the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Kentucky's 6th NCAA Championship. The following year, Pitino's Kentucky team made it back to the national title game, losing to Arizona in overtime in the finals of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Pitino's fast-paced teams at Kentucky were favorites of the school's fans. It was primarily at Kentucky where he implemented his signature style of full-court pressure defense. The following year he left Kentucky for the NBA and Kentucky went on to win the 1998 national title. He would later refer to Kentucky as "the Roman Empire of college basketball".

Louisville[link]

Pitino went back to the NBA in 1997, but returned to college—and his adopted home state—on March 21, 2001 to coach the University of Louisville following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum. In the 2005 season, Pitino led Louisville to their first Final Four in 19 years, and became the first men's coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools to the Final Four. Immediately following their Final Four run, several players graduated or entered the 2005 NBA Draft. The inexperience caused the Cardinals to limp into the Big East Tournament seeded 12th, and miss the NCAA tournament. They made the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), where they were defeated by eventual champions University of South Carolina. The 2007 Cardinal team was primarily the same team, with added freshmen. Picked to finish towards the bottom of the Big East Conference again, Pitino led them to a second-place finish, 12–4 (tied with the University of Pittsburgh, but Louisville beat them earlier in the season) in the conference standings and a first round bye in the conference tournament. Pitino implemented a 2-2-1 and 2-3 zone defense midway through the season. The 2007 team's season ended when the Cardinals lost to Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2008 Cardinals finished second in the Big East and ranked 13th in both the AP and Coaches' polls. Louisville was the third seed in the 2008 NCAA tournament's East region. They defeated Boise State, Oklahoma and Tennessee to advance to the Elite Eight, where they were defeated by North Carolina. Louisville was the top seed overall in the 2009 NCAA tournament and was planted as the first seed in the Midwest region. They defeated Morehead State, Siena and Arizona to advance to the Elite Eight, where they were defeated by Michigan State. In 2010 the Cardinals suffered a disappointing 15 point loss to their first round opponent, the California Golden Bears. In 2011, Louisville was upset by 13th seeded Morehead State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In 2012, Pitino coached the Cardinals to the Big East tournament championship and a berth as a 4 seed in the West region of the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals defeated Davidson College, University of New Mexico, and Number 1 seeded Michigan State to advance to the regional final against the Florida Gators and his former player and friend Billy Donovan. The Cardinals would go on to win that game, but lost to The University of Kentucky in the 2012 Final Four.

Professional coaching[link]

Pitino became head coach of the New York Knicks in 1987. The year before he arrived, the team had won only 24 games. In just two years, Pitino led the Knicks to their first division title in nearly twenty years.^[10]

His NBA coaching experience often demonstrated a deep frustration with the dynamics of the league, especially in Boston, where he amassed a 102–146 record from 1997 to 2001. After being beaten by the Toronto Raptors on March 1, 2000 on a buzzer-beater by Vince Carter, Pitino's frustration reached critical mass as he addressed the press. Referring to the expectations of Boston Celtics fans and media, Pitino challenged each of them to let go of the past and focus on the future:

Pitino struggled in his roles with the Celtics, and statistics like 1999's 19–31 record made him little better in the eyes of many Boston fans than his inexperienced predecessor, M.L. Carr. Pitino's remarks became a cornerstone of Boston Celtics lore, and has served as a metaphor for other sports franchises and their inability to relive past successes.^{[verification needed]} Pitino himself reprised the speech in a tongue-in-cheek manner at Louisville in November 2005, challenging his freshmen players to play as tough as past seniors and drawing laughter from sportswriters in a post-game press conference. During his time in Boston he had complete power serving not just as head coach but as general manager, CEO, and president of the team.

Puerto Rico National Team[link]

On December 20, 2010, the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation announced Rick Pitino as the next head coach for Puerto Rico's Olympic team. The President of the Basketball Federation described the hiring as the highest impact coaching hire in the history of Puerto Rico Basketball. On April 29 2011, it was announced that Pitino would not coach the Puerto Rico national team due to scheduling conflicts and NCAA regulations disallowing it.

Author and accomplishments[link]

Pitino is the author of a motivational self-help book (and audio recording) named Success is a Choice. He published an autobiography in 1988 entitled Born to Coach describing his life up until his time with the Knicks. His most recent book "Rebound Rules," was the top seller at the 2008 Kentucky Book Fair.

In 2005, Pitino's Louisville team posted a tie for the most single season wins in school history (33) while he is one of two men's coaches in NCAA history to lead three separate schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to the Final Four. The other coach is his in state rival, John Calipari (UMASS, Memphis, Kentucky).

Pitino's .744 winning percentage in 43 NCAA Tournament games ranks third among active coaches.

Thoroughbred horse racing[link]

Beyond basketball, Pitino has been involved in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing as the lead partner in Celtic Pride Stable and the Ol Memorial Stable. Among his notable horses have been A P Valentine and Halory Hunter.^[12]

Personal life[link]

Pitino married his wife, the former Joanne Minardi, in 1976. They have five living children: Michael, Christopher, Richard (now the head coach at FIU),^[13] Ryan and Jacqueline. Another son, Daniel, died in 1987 from congenital heart failure at the age of six months. Rick and Joanne established the Daniel Pitino Foundation (along with a Daniel Pitino shelter in Owensboro, Kentucky) in his memory, which has raised millions of dollars for children in need.^[14]

Their son's death was not the last tragedy for Rick and Joanne. Both were especially hard-hit by 9/11, as Joanne's brother and Rick's closest friend, Billy Minardi, was working as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center when it was struck by American Airlines Flight 11. Since 2002, the University of Louisville has designated a December home game as the Billy Minardi Classic, and the university named a dorm on campus as "Billy Minardi Hall." Only a few months earlier, another brother-in-law of Rick, Don Vogt, was killed after being hit by a New York City cab.^[3]

Extortion attempt against Pitino[link]

On April 18, 2009, Pitino announced that he was a target of an extortion attempt.^[15] On April 24, Karen Cunagin Sypher, the wife of Louisville equipment manager Tim Sypher, was arraigned and charged in US District Court with extortion and lying to federal agents.^[16][17] On August 11, Pitino admitted to having engaged in sexual relations with Cunagin on August 1, 2003 in a Louisville restaurant, Porcini's. Several weeks later, Cunagin told Pitino that she was pregnant and wanted to have an abortion, but she did not have health insurance. Pitino paid her $3,000 for an abortion.^[18]In addition, Cunagin stated that her estranged husband, Tim Sypher, was paid to marry her.^[19]

At a press conference on August 12, Pitino made a statement, in which he apologized for his indiscretion and stated that he would remain as coach.^[20] While Pitino's contract allows for his firing for "acts of moral depravity or misconduct that damages the university's reputation," University of Louisville president James Ramsey announced on August 13 that Pitino would be retained in his position.^[18]On August 26, Pitino demanded in a press conference that the media stop "reporting these lies." The conference was called even though University of Louisville officials advised that he was not obligated to respond.^[19]On August 6, 2010, a federal district court found Sypher guilty of extortion and lying to federal agents, carrying a maximum penalty of 26 years in prison. After her conviction, Sypher hired new attorneys and accused the judge, prosecutors, her former attorneys, and Pitino of taking part in a conspiracy to ensure she was found guilty.

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

^Kentucky was ineligible for both the NCAA and SEC Tournaments in 1990 and 1991 due to sanctions from the Eddie Sutton-era.

^^Kentucky finished first in the SEC standings. However, due to their probation, they were ineligible for the regular-season title; it was awarded to second-place LSU instead.

NBA[link]

See also[link]

• List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins
• List of NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coach
• List of NCAA Men's Division I Elite Eight appearances by coach

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Louisville profile