Creepy Joe™ feels Calhoun's pain

Apparently UCONN basketball coach has gotten all the support he needs, including a call from Connecticut Senator Creepy Joe™ Lieberman, and the head of the NCAA. According to the Hartford Courant:

Sen. Lieberman and all those other phone calls from around the country — from the head of the NCAA, all the other various people — that's all I've really needed," said Calhoun, a cancer survivor.

I find it strange that Courant sportswriter Mike Anthony identifies Calhoun in this context as a cancer survivor. Because there's no other reason to use that description here, one can only assume that Anthony was attempting to drum up sympathy.

And if I recall correctly, Lieberman also supported John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Constitutional scholar Bobby Knight supports Calhoun's First Amendment rights.

I watched the UCONN men's game Saturday (yes, I'm still a fan), and was appalled when commentators Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg climbed on the Calhoun bandwagon and claimed that Calhoun had been "conned" (their pun not mine), when Ken Krayeske asked the now infamous question.

In the end, all those who are in the tank for Calhoun seem to be re-framing the controversy as if it were somehow about Calhoun's generousity, which doesn't seem to be the issue being questioned.

There are three issues: Does Krayeske, or anyone in the press have the right to ask any question they please at a press conference (or is the post-game press conference sacrosanct)? Should the highest paid state employee be questionned about the economic problems facing the state? And did Jim Calhoun handle the question correctly, and with the dignity required of a top state representative?

The answers seem pretty clear, and it's become obvious that Krayeske has made his point.

Thank-you, Roger

The legacy press can call Ken Krayeske anything it wants. That's freedom of the press, and now Ken Krayeske is a very public figure and open to such criticism.

But, it's turning out, Ken Krayeske is brilliant in his own way. The Jim Calhoun salary debate is now a public story. The Hartford Courant printed no less than three pieces on it today (a front page tickle, a story by Matthew Kaufman and a column by Rick Green). And that's just the Hartford Courant. The story is all over the country. The blame for that lies with Calhoun, not Krayeske.

But I want to cite Roger Catlin, of the Hartford Courant, who, in his blogs agrees that the post-game sports news conference is, indeed, an appropriate place for the question of salary to be raised. While many other journalists have called Krayeske out-of-bounds, Catlin has rightfully come to his defense. By and large it appears that the sports reporters on the inside circle for UCONN men's basketball show as much deference to Jim Calhoun as the White House press corps showed to George Bush.

Go Huskies.

Much has been said and written in the past two days about the unfortunate press conference performance of Jim Calhoun after Saturday's game. Colin McEnroe's analysis is particularly insightful.

If you haven't heard, Calhoun's hair trigger temper was set off by law student, and freelance journalist Ken Krayeske's (you might remember his last brush with fame) question about Calhoun's salary. Watch.



You can form your own opinion about Calhoun, or Krayeske. As Jeff Jacobs reports in the Hartford Courant this morning, Calhoun had his numbers wrong. Jacobs also admitted that the UCONN press corps, in fear or fealty, has failed to ask Calhoun the same question, which Jacobs describes as a legitimate question. Still, he questions Krayeske's timing.

I'd say Krayeske had perfect timing. He asked his question. He got his response. And today it's a national story.

While Jacobs, over the years, has been one of the reporters who has fearlessly defied Calhoun's intimidation of the press, the Courant on Sunday reported that "The press conference continued without further incident." This tells you everything you need to know about how important the press conference is and how important the news from such a press conference typically is.

And for all those sports fans who feel that a basketball press conference is somehow sacrosanct, it's time for a review of the Constitution. Calhoun did not have to answer the question. He certainly didn't have to call the journalist "stupid" or tell him to "shut up." He lost his temper, and I'd guess he's regretting it now. Think what you like about Krayeske. He showed more courage than any other reporter in the room.

Another case of the blogs beating the legacy press to the punch.