Rick's Big Week

Rick Pitino had a pretty nice run the past couple weeks.   His son, Richard Pitino, gets a high profile head coaching job at Minnesota, he finds out that he's going to be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he gets a raise at work, and his team win the D1 NCAA basketball championship.  Oh, and a horse he co-owns qualified for the Kentucky Derby.  What have you done lately?

Eric May

Eric May just completed his senior season on the University of Iowa basketball team.  He was a team captain and by all accounts a great leader.   Eric had a tremendous freshman season, earning All-Big Ten Freshman team honors, had a solid second season, and was hampered by injuries his junior year, causing his play to suffer. His senior season was played with much of the intensity and athletic ability fans had hoped for after his freshman year, producing numerous dunks that ignited the crowd while seeing his shooting percentages rise, earning praise for his defensive performances, and just generally helping out everywhere.  I believe Eric earned a lot of respect from Hawkeye fans because he played on two of the worst teams in Iowa Basketball history and stayed through a coaching change while some of his teammates left the program. 

Here are some Eric May dunks:

Thanks for your dedication and effort, Eric!

Also, I want to note that the only other senior on this year's team was walk-on Chris Rickert. It must have been full-on ricksville on senior day.

Richard Gets a Promotion

Per the major sports media outlets, Richard Pitino, son of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, has been selected to be the next head coach for the University of Minnesota, replacing Tubby Smith.

Richard is a relatively unknown name, having only one year of head coaching experience, leading Florida International University to an 18-14 record.  Richard is also only 30 years old, which is young for a head coach at a major university and makes me feel slightly old.

So much news lately.  Spring is apparently a busy time for Ricks

Flair News

In more sad and recent news, Rick Show has learned that Ric Flair's son, Reid Flair, was found dead Friday morning at age 25.  Reid was also a professional wrestler, most recently working in All Japan Pro Wrestling.  I got all the way through writing this up for his connection to Ric Flair before I noticed that Reid's birth name was Richard, so on Rick Show he could have stood on his own.  

A little video about a tribute to Reid:

In this kind of hilarious little video, TWO Flairs appear!

In unrelated Flair news, while finding articles on Reid's death I came across this article noting that Ric was hospitalized recently.  We wish Ric and family all the best in this time.