Editor's Note: I must offer my apologies to ALLBLUCAT.  He came to me with this idea about 12 days ago, but a combination of illness and being extremely busy with other commitments, have conspired to keep me from completing my part of the post. KH 

Point/Counter Point has arrived at A Sea of Blue.  No, there will be no Dan Aykroyd/Jane Curtain-like snide remarks, no name calling, and certainly no nonsense.

The Rick Pitino, Karen Syphersituation has to be resolved, so this post will present both sides of the case, stated as best as we can.  These are NOT necessarily the personal views of the authors, but someone has to take each side of the issue.

Pitino Must Go (ALLBLUCAT)

Rick Pitino must go.  Now.  No more explanations, no more apologies, no more salacious television reports regarding the details of this circumstance.  Here are the five reasons that Pitino must leave the University of Louisville, and allow this sad chapter in  their history to pass:

1.  No one completely recovers from a scandal of this magnitude.  Pitino's character will now be at the center of every discussion about every facet of U of L basketball ever conducted.

2.  U of L fans deserve better.  They have given support to Pitino both financially and emotionally.  He has betrayed their trust and brought shame to their program in a incident that can in no way be turned into something positive for the University.  Louisville has much too proud of a tradition, and fan base to allow this to go unpunished.

3.  If Pitinois honest with himself, he has to admit that this is going to be a drain on is ability, not only to coach, but to do all of the things that go along with being an ambassador of the U of L program.  Interviews, public speaking engagement, fund raising, TV and radio, Internet; these things are all going to interfere with his efforts to do a good job as

4.  He has NOT "practiced what he has preached" to his players for the last 30 years (as he said in his press conference).  No one can counsel players on their behavior, morals, and character, and yet have an incident like this in their background.  He will be labeled a hypocrite, and rightfully so.  He loses all credibility with the young men he has been charged with teaching.  The University hired him to be an example to these young men, their families and the public in general.  How can he go into a recruits home and tell a parent how he runs a program where integrity and values are the cornerstone of their approach?  Opposing coaches will have a field day with the offhand remarks and snide comments to recruits and parents.  He will not be able to overcome these obstacles.

5. Finally, U of L President Dr. James Ramsey and AD Tom Jurich put a morality clause in his contract for a reason.  They did no want  to have to deal with a scandal like this bringing down their program.  The fact  that this is an issue that the NCAA has no jurisdiction over is of no importance.  Pitino should resign so that he Athletic Board at U of L does not have to exercise that option.  Pitino owes them better than that.

Rick Pitino Must Stay (Ken Howlett)

1. Isn't the embarrassment enough?  I mean, c'mon, Pitino was flat-out busted ... In a very public way ... In what amounts to a public place ... With a woman he did not know. That's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost of screw-ups.  Quite frankly, I'll be impressed by his mere presence on the sidelines this season, because if it were me, I'd be looking for some real estate in The Falklands. Firing the poor bastard just seems like overkill to me.

2. This episode could be a great teaching-tool for Pitino.  For someone enduring the most public fatal attraction in the history of ESPN, the possibilities to use his experience for "good" are boundless.  His players know EXACTLY what he's going through, and how easily it could be them on the hot-seat of public opinion, instead of him.  How better to relate to the young men in his charge, now that he's shown them he's flesh and blood, just as they are?   Pitino now has something Vanilla Ice never had ... street cred.  Now, when he tells his players, "Watch the company that you keep," he has there undivided attention, as opposed to before when he'd get the brush-off with a "Yeah, okay coach."   He'll pontificate, "Don't do what I did," endlessly, and for a change, the players might actually listen.

3.  Future mother's of recruits , and donors to the program, will ultimately decide Pitino's fate.  If Pitino is able to recruit as effectively now, as he did before, then the program won't suffer anything more than some embarrassment.  And if the boosters continue to give as before, well then, nothing will have changed.

But, if the opposite occurs then U of L could be in trouble for the near-term, and that's when a decision has to be made.  I don't feel that what Pitino did should be a fire-able offense, but if he becomes detrimental to the program, then he should go.  Whether that happens or not, I don't know, but I tend to think that it won't.

4.Lastly, Pitino needs to stay at U of L so we can all witness the spectacle of Calipari v. Pitino on a yearly basis.  The UK v. U o L rivalry is about to get as hot as its ever been, and to be robbed of that by a lapse in table manners, seems wasteful.