No cheap loans from Calhoun
If his ego were cheap loans, everyone would be in the money.
The University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun knows what he’s doing on the sidelines of Huskies basketball. He knows how to get the most out of his players. But clearly, Jim doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. That’s what the New York Times’ “Talking Business” columnist Joe Nocera shows us. He was watching ESPN like thousands of other sports fans and heard the veteran coach melt down over a simple question. Apparently sanity loans cheap, and Calhoun didn’t get much in return for his:
“Coach, considering that you are the state’s highest-paid employee, and there is a $2 billion budget deficit, do you think…”
So began a question by reporter Ken Krayeske. But before he could finish, Calhoun cut him off.
“Not a dime back,” the UConn coach snapped.
Krayeske: “$1.5 million is enough?”
Calhoun: “I make a lot more than that. What’s the take tonight?” Krayeske didn’t know, so Calhoun told him to “shut up.”
Then Calhoun melted down
Calhoun claims that the UConn basketball team made $12 million in profit for the university, and that justified his salary. Not that the players who aren’t allowed to hold jobs have anything to do with it… of course not…
Jim Calhoun, wake up. Like so many other states in this country, Connecticut is facing a huge deficit and state employees are being laid off. Nocera puts it brilliantly: Calhoun’s salary is being paid by a state university that will be making lots of cutbacks. He is intelligent enough to understand that many people are suffering under the down economy. His lack of compassion of self-sacrifice is stupefying.
Get this; Calhoun’s estimates are off!
According to Nocera, Andy Thibault of The Cool Justice Report did some checking and found that last season, the Connecticut men’s basketball team generated only $7.3 million in revenue, not the $12 million Calhoun claimed. Get your own facts straight, Jim. But there’s more. The team spent $6.1 million of that $7.3 million. So their actual profit was $1.2 million. Interestingly, that’s smaller than Jim Calhoun’s salary. Time for some recession belt-tightening, coach. If you find that you need some cheap loans after cutbacks, rest assured that they are available.
Related articles
- Jim Calhoun’s Annoying Interrogator Is Not Happy With That Annoying Answer [College Basketball] (deadspin.com)
- Jim Calhoun Is Not Amused By Your Questions [College Basketball] (deadspin.com)
He certainly does come off as greedy, but in Calhoun’s defense the reporter was being a bit unprofessional. Discussing the pay of state school employees may not be the best idea, and especially when it comes to coaches. If you want to talk salaries that could be reduced to greater effect, how about a 5% reduction in legislator salaries, and never mind what university presidents take in. I guarantee you that the president of UConn takes in far more than Jim Calhoun, and if the basketball program is still turning a profit, he deserves it.