So, who is having a worse day: Louisville coach Rick Pitino or USC coach Tim Floyd?

Tipsheet votes for Pitino. He has been the subject of an alleged extortion attempt. Karen Cunagin Sypher, the estranged wife of Pitino’s long-time equipment manager, has been indicted.

The Associated Press explains:

The complaint said Tim Sypher brought Pitino a written list of demands from his wife, including college tuition for her children, two cars, her house paid off and $3,000 per month. The demands later escalated to $10 million instead.

Authorities have not said what sort of information Karen Sypher might have been trying to use to extort Pitino. They have said the coach believed it was related to an unspecified 2003 encounter with her.

There is no end to the weirdness, apparently. The scuttlebutt is so strong in Louisville that some insiders predicted Pitino could retire or rekindle his interest in the NBA.

Floyd, on the other hand, faces allegations that he paid an associate of USC star O.J. Mayo $1,000 in 2007. That is hardly a shocking revelation in the big scheme of things – since top recruits are reputed to command six-figure deals in the underground flesh trade – but it could prove problematic for Floyd.

Yahoo! Sports had the details, noting that a former Mayo associate, Louis Johnson, has shared this story with NCAA investigators and various federal agencies.

ALSO, PITINO MUST DEAL WITH THIS GUY

Some guys can’t let go of past glory.

AND SPEAKING OF TOUGH SHOTS

Don’t play these guys in H-O-R-S-E.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Cardinals struggle through their first official slump of the season:

• What’s with all these exciting Game 7s in the NHL playoffs? Did Gary Bettman put the fix in?
• Say, was that really Stephon Marbury stepping up to lead the Celtics to playoff glory? Who knew he was still relevant?
• Will kudos from SI.com get fans off Bill DeWitt’s back?

MARK CUBAN WAS JUST EXCITED

The Dallas Mavericks owner would like to end his running feud with Kenyon Martin’s family. This apology should help.

BIG BABY WAS JUST EXCITED, TOO

Another pressing sports issue has been put to rest. This item came over the wires:

WALTHAM, Mass. — Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis apologized Tuesday for bumping a 12-year-old boy while celebrating his game-winning shot against the Orlando Magic.

Davis said he got emotional and didn’t see the boy as he turned and ran to the Celtics bench to celebrate his 21-foot jumper that gave the Celtics a 95-94 win over the Magic on Sunday. It tied the second-round playoff series at 2-2.

“If I’ve hurt anybody or if I’ve done any harm to anybody, please forgive me because my intentions were just harmless,” he said.

SO WAS LA LA VAZQUEZ

Carmelo Anthony’s significant other — a cultural icon in her own right — got hauled off. Can’t NBA fans get along?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Roger Clemens is innocent Not really. But he says he is. Again. There’s a new book out, ‘American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens And the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime,’ and Clemens felt the need to go on the radio again and claim that everybody is lying and he’s innocent, and that he wouldn’t think of taking drugs because his father and brother died young of heart attacks, and, ‘It would be suicidal for me to take any kind of dangerous drug.’ Several syringes are expected to offer rebuttal testimony in the coming weeks.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Who says baseball is a bad influence on kids? What other generation of young fans could hang around the sandlot and chat authoritatively on ‘gynecomastia’ and ‘human chorionic gonadotropin’?”

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Again, for the record, Manny Pacquiao has made money in more weight classes than Oprah.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The Pittsburgh-Washington series has been the highlight of the Stanley Cup playoffs because of the dueling hat tricks of superstars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Think of those two as LeBron and Kobe Bryant. Except on a much, much smaller scale. Because it’s hockey.”

MEGAPHONE

“Meeting Al [Davis] was pretty unique. I found out five or ten minutes after my first practice there that he hated African-American athletes from Notre Dame. And they literally told me that. They literally told me that because we’re known for using our education more than our athletic ability that he thought that I would be one of these guys that would basically take the money and run. I don’t know if that was a ploy to get me amped up, but it certainly worked.”

Tim Brown, to Yahoo! Sports.

ELSEWHERE ON STLTODAY.COM

The Chicago Blackhawks have set a good example for the Blues to follow.