It could have gone in any direction. Rick Pitino could have announced his resignation from Louisville. He could have announced his retirement. He could have taken a brief leave of absence for "personal reasons." He could have talked about exciting new sponsorship opportunities with Papa John's Pizza. Everything was in play.

Instead, in his sudden 3 p.m. press conference today, Rick Pitino gave a bizarre seven-minute lecture to the media on ethics, the economy, the important things in life, and somehow, Teddy Kennedy.

It turns out Pitino is none too pleased with Louisville television station WKLY's decision to publish Karen Sypher's testimony to local police. (You can listen to that testimony here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4.) Much of that testimony was largely discredited; after Pitino turned Sypher into the FBI for extortion, Sypher accused Pitino of sexual assault. Local police chose not to prosecute her claims. Apparently, that's what's got Pitino riled up. Most written reports of Sypher's testimony have included that caveat lately. The tapes don't. They're context free. So any listener stumbling upon them, without the knowledge that much of Sypher's accusations have proven untrue, might be persuaded otherwise.

So Pitino took to the lecturn and, well, lectured. He brought up recently deceased Senator Ted Kennedy, remarking that it was sad that WKLY chose to publish the Sypher tapes the same day as the senator's passing. (Um, what?) He mentioned the economy, saying he understood that things in the news business were competitive, before actively encouraging "any fans of anything we've done" to "change the channel" or "read something else" if they didn't like the stories they were hearing about Pitino and the Louisville program.

And then Pitino got really defiant, saying the Cardinals would still be "run with integrity," and that he would continue to bring in top 10 recruits. Frankly, he sounded like an angry guy but one who knows he isn't going anywhere. It was a weird, offbeat performance, but it was convincing. Maybe that's all Pitino needed.

Related: Ill-behaved People, Big East Basketball