Calhoun asks a question; do we like the answer?
Posted: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 6:46 PM
Filed Under:
Coaches, Rants
It’s Super Bowl media day. A time when nonsensical stories take center stage as the media horde (about 4,000 microphones worth) descends upon 100 or so NFL players a few days before the big game. Few questions actually relate to the game (Tom Brady was asked what his favorite band was, while Michael Strahan sang and Richard Seymour showed off his pedicure.)
On that note, I offer two college basketball stories about incidents off the court, tangentially related to the sport.
First, UConn coach Jim Calhoun.
His Huskies won their fourth straight game on Monday, improved to 15-5 overall and offered further proof they’ve recovered from a 2006-07 season in which they missed the NCAA Tournament. They’ve won the last two without suspended guards Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins, who were suspended after alcohol violations, but newspaper reports indicated marijuana also was found in the car.
And that last part got Calhoun going on Monday. He criticized the media for their handling of the case, saying it was merely embarrassing and hurtful to a couple of kids who made a mistake.
Here’s the whole quote, courtesy of the News-Times (Danbury, Conn.).
"I would be remiss if I didn't say that if some of you guys worked as hard on (writing about) our team as you are trying to be P.I.'s, it would really help everybody. You're really trying to help some kids and I really appreciate that, what you're trying to do," Calhoun said with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Just want to let you know that. I love kids and kids make mistakes. I'd like to have you working hard on the team and do your (blanking) job instead of trying to hurt younger people because you feel someone's pressuring you. It's really unfortunate, it really is.
"You've done your job, things were reported, and you'll know the information as soon as it comes out. I told you they would not be playing tonight or the next game and I told you this week that something would come out but that's not good enough for you, you've got to go into P.I. (private investigator) mode. If that's what you want, go ahead. Just make sure when you make that call and it doesn't get answered, that you're fooling with my kids. Fool with me now, say I'm a bad coach, I shouldn't discipline. OK? Just so we understand that, just so we all understand each other."
As rants go, it doesn’t come close to Calhoun’s infamous postgame diatribe after a 2004 loss to Providence. But it raises the question: Should the media be investigating incidents involving teens when the coach has already taken appropriate disciplinary action?
My answer? Of course. As student athletes, they’re public figures who are fair game when it comes to breaking the law. Simple as that. It may be embarrassing, but provided the coverage is fair, it’s necessary.
Of course, Calhoun is also correct in defending his players. But that’s where he and the media just have to disagree.
That’s what happened with this next story.
Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, his team slightly above .500 without point guard Ronald Steele, doesn’t have a fan in Mobile Press-Register columnist Paul Finebaum, who thinks Gottfried’s teams are underperforming.
So Gottfried’s wife, Elizabeth – in Colleen Bellotti fashion – gave Finebaum a piece of her mind on Saturday.
"(She) was suddenly hovering over me, asking, ‘Why do you hate Mark Gottfried? I guess you weren't satisfied getting Mike Shula fired. Now you want to get Mark Gottfried fired,'" Finebaum told the Birmingham News.
Should Elizabeth Gottfried have gotten in Finebaum’s face? After all, shouldn’t Gottfried have to deal with any media criticism as a coach at the state’s premier college?
Sure. A game may not have been the appropriate place to it, but Finebaum is a public figure, just like Gottfried, which makes both of them fair game.
It’s like this blog. If any of my opinions infuriate or annoy people, the message boards below where people can respond. (If the response includes profanity, it may not be published, but I’ll still read it.) It may not be as upfront as confronting me at a game, but it’s still an opportunity for readers to have their say, which is something that doesn’t always happen when it comes to reporting stories. We try, but hey, people in the media make mistakes too.
Just make sure we’re also held accountable.
