A big time question - Duke v. Pitino?

My friends and I like to have e-mail debates centering around "who would you root for" - a question that typically involves two sides that no one would be particucularly happy about rooting for ever. With the release of the NCAA tournament, I was asked, who would I root for in the championship game if it came down to Duke and the Rick Pitino coached Louisville. I had to take a moment. But then my answer was clear.

Duke.

This was an amazingly tough choice. But I do not want Pitino to succeed at Louisville. I know success has degrees, and by many definitions, he has had success at Louisville. But he left Kentucky where he was right in the middle of putting together a dynsasty. And he did all of that so he could come to the Celtics, be the arrogant, unflicnhing a-hole he is, and ruin the Celtics. My favorite team. And then he goes back to college, and all is forgotten. Well f*ck him. He doesn't get to win another championship, and make his stay in Boston really nothing but a minor footnote. The man is a smug arrogant a-hole. Who else writes a book called "Success is a Choice," and then writes another similar book. Hey Rick - you failed in miserable fashion in Boston, did you just choose not to succeed then? And by the way Rick, the second you left, the team turned it around. So it wasn't the players, it wasn't the defense, it wasn't the pressure of playing in Boston or the negativity from talk radio - it was you. All you. One-hundred percent. No debate. As a Celtic fan, I am thankful every single day, that Rick Pitino will never again walk through that door.

Pitino never should have left Kentucky, and if he wins a title in Louisville, well then - it all worked out in the end for him. Well, I dont want it to work out. I want it to always be over his head that he never achieved the type of success in Louisville that he had in Kentucky. And also, he has one title. Fine. But start to win two, and your place in history really changes.

Duke - yes I hate Duke, like any person really should. But how much more obnoxious could Duke get? The answer is none. None more obnoxious.

So, for now, I can just root for each team to lose so it will never come to such a terrible choice. And if it does come down to Duke-Lousville, I will be fine. I won't watch - will be too busy lighting myself on fire.