Video: Unlike Dennis Erickon and Herb Sendek, Jim Calhoun has Mouths to Feed Dammit
Posted on February 24th, 2009 by ScribeDevil
As you probably know, Michael Crow has imposed mandatory unpaid furloughs for all ASU employees to help the university make budget.
The furloughs extend to the athletic department. For example, Dennis Erickson will lose $20,800 of his $450,000 annual salary and Herb Sendek will lose $13,600 of his $292,000 annual salary during 12-day furloughs.
To our knowledge, neither has made a peep publicly, choosing instead to pitch in and do their part to help see the university through this mess.
And then you’ve got UConn coach Jim Calhoun. Enjoy the video.
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Connecticut should decrease his pay permanently for this display. There’s no room for people like this in college sports, especially a coach- what an absolute jerk. Doesn’t he think that the people who don’t have ANY income right now want to retire someday, too?
Bearing in mind that UConn basketball is probably one of the only profitable ventures the state runs (aside from, one imagines, the lottery)… no, Jim Calhoun shouldn’t be taking a pay cut. And frankly, I’d probably react in a very similar way if I were probed with that question in that setting. And I wouldn’t be embarrassed if I were the coach, as the governor of Connecticut suggested, especially when this question wasn’t asked by a Hartford Courant columnist or newsperson of any type, but a UConn law-school student/blogger/activist who is getting exactly what he wanted — national attention.
… off topic for a second — is it only me, or does it appear that Calhoun is dead-pan joking with the first few answers? The “not a penny back,” and whatnot. Having seen more than my fair share of Calhoun press conferences, I’d bet a good deal of money that he was. And then he got serious as the questioner kept going. But anyway…
I, a native northeasterner (but not a UConn fan, it should be noted), was explaining to my Midwest-born Greg and Mark Show co-host the other night that the national reaction to the Calhoun thing strikes me as a “rest of the country problem.” As in, Calhoun is in a part of the country where caustic and acerbic behavior is, for better or worse, a way of life. I bet the reaction to Calhoun’s presser by most in Boston and NYC (the two metro regions that UConn nears) was a shrug and a “no big deal.” Maybe not so much for everywhere else.
Anyway, lots of people in this economy are getting pay-cuts or lay-offs that they don’t deserve, and that’s awful. But life is pretty unfair all the time. And if Conn. ends up with a blanket policy to cut salaries as Arizona has done, then fine. Have at it. But to point out Calhoun only because he’s the highest paid seems silly. I’m sure there are lower (perhaps only slightly lower) paid state employees whose employment does not benefit the state nearly as much as his does.
It always feels weird arguing for the rich guy, especially one who is a bully sometimes like Calhoun. But here am, sticking up for him.
@Greg, I agree that it was a total ambush by the “journalist”. I’m almost surprised he didn’t call Calhoun a capitalist pig and throw a shoe at him.
That said, I think Calhoun could’ve displayed a bit of compassion for the pain so many of his countrymen (and people around the world) are going through. Oh well, two days later Calhoun wins his 800th game and no one seems to be talking about this.
Sorry, ZD. I accidentally deleted your comment …
“Twenty years ago, when Calhoun was just getting started with them, I heard “UConn” and thought my Syracuse was getting stomped by a team from frigid Canada. I don’t make that mistake anymore.
Suffice to say, Jim Calhoun is the Joe Paterno of UConn. If some jackass wants to show him up, he’s deserves to get chastised.
Besides, isn’t he under contract? I understand him not getting a raise, or maybe an attempted pay cut when his current deal is up (good luck with cutting the pay of a two-time champ), but for right now, this is such a non-issue. Talk to the overpaid insurance execs in Hartford before you head to Storrs.”
I’m with Greg. But one thing I wanted to add is how this whole ambush kind of reminded me of the time E.J. Montini wrote a column ripping the shit out of Jay Bell. I enjoyed reading it because Bell stole millions from that team by playing terribly, but it was a total cheap shot because Montini never interviewed him and never spent time around the team. And it reflected poorly on the other columnists.
I’m all for activist journalism. It’s important. Or, at least, it can be. But when wannabe “reporters” show up and hastily ask uniformed, ill-timed questions, two things happen:
1. Actual reporters are deprived of the chance to do their jobs, and their sources are just that much more likely to distrust them and/or blow them off.
2. The public’s perception of the media is further tarnished, because the overwhelming majority of people who don’t understand journalism continue to assume it’s all about paparazzi b.s. and not thorough reporting.
In both cases, the public loses out.
I agree Calhoun was kind of being sarcastic the first few questions and then — to no surprise — lost his temper and let the dude have it. But he never should’ve had to apologize. It’s not his fault the economy sucks. He’s a two-time cancer survivor who gives tons of money to charity and earns tens of millions for his school. If anything, you could argue he’s underpaid.