I'm still steamed over Jim Calhoun's arrogant and condescending response last week to a question about his salary and the disturbing response by the "journalists" in the room to free-lance reporter Ken Krayeske's follow-up line of questioning. Many bloggers gleefully jumped in, using works like "attack" and "ambush" to describe Krayeske like a jackal looking for an easy prey, saying he picked the wrong place and wrong time to ask Calhoun such questions.
Calhoun, of course, regularly has access to the biggest of bullhorns and he got another opportunity to sound off on the matter Saturday when CBS' Jim Nance tossed an easy lob to the coach. Calhoun refused to apologize for his outburst and was backed by Greg Gumbel, who was playing good cop-bad cop with Seth Davis.
Other coaches are now being asked to justify their sky-high salaries in the crumbling economy. North Carolina's Roy Williams was the latest, and he at least displayed sensitivity to the situation.
Then there is Southern Mississippi's Larry Eustachy, who said he was going to give back a $25,000 bonus to the school, partly because of the economic downturn and partly because he had not done a good job. Southern Mississippi athletic director Richard Giannini accepted Eustachy's offer.
"I respect him for what he did," Giannini said. "He knew the economic times we were having and we need to use every dime we can find."
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