After much speculation and anticipation, we now have the answer to what type of tattoo Rick Pitino would get.

 

Tattoo mavens everywhere wished he'd opt for something cool like a cardinal pecking on the corpse of a wolverine, a Chinese symbol meaning King of the World, or the classic barbed wire.

 

Everyone else wondered why a rich middle-aged white dude would even put himself in a position to get close to the ink.

 

Unfortunately for both camps, Pitino chose a respectable tattoo on his left shoulder. It's a cardinal with words underneath that read 2013 champions. Perhaps this is his show of confidence that the title will never be vacated by some future NCAA action. In that sense, this is a reassuring sign.

 

So maybe this is the start of a new trend.  I don't think John Calipari, Jim Boeheim, or Mike Krzyzewski will be promising to get inked anytime soon but maybe some less successful coaches may have a new tactic.

 

Maybe this trend will become so successful that coaches will be covered with body art like the majority of the players. Not!

 

Hopefully, the positive aspect of this news is to teach these young men and the nation to be true to their word. At the age of 60, Pitino had thought the possibilities of him having to fulfill this promise slim, but when they did, he maned up.

 

Maybe we all will learn that a man's word is his bond, and in this case, it is now also his brand.