Calhoun: 'Sorry If People Misconstrued My Interaction With DeAndre Daniels'

[HuskyCarlJ]

Reading through this thread I found myself firmly on the side of, "Even if he meant no harm, Calhoun had better watch it because if he's even remotely physical with his players bad things will happen."

After watching the video (available: here), count me among the shocked that this is even being discussed. DeAndre doesn't even miss a beat chewing his gum. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes Jim's demonstrative antics can be over-the-top but this really isn't among the top-5 things I've seen him do this season. I honestly am no more uncomfortable with this than I am with him calling Boatright out at halfcourt (and in fact, I'm probably less comfortable with the latter).

I think it's telling that the Courant, a print outlet, is the only news outlet that's running with this. Any kind of video news outlet would not find this compelling enough to warrant a story. I sincerely hope this doesn't get picked up nationally.

 

[UCDaveD]

Disagree - he does a terrible job with it - he insinuates that DD recoiled. He didn't flinch. Stupid article.

The comparison of what JC did to Marciano delivering a body blow to an opponent was a nice touch too.

 

[Fishy]

Why would they even bother to put out a statement over that? Because Jeff Jacobs was going to write a story?

Who cares? Why create a story?

Good Lord.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Does anyone have a link to the video?

 

[tykurez]

Jacobs has been better ... but he's way off with that article as it pertains to Calhoun (I don't necessarily disagree with the other portions.)

And why bring up a "wild" rumor about him punching Chuck?

 

[Dove]

Does anyone have a link to the video?

John...there are links to the video throughout the thread...

 

[EricSD]

Looks pretty similar to this incident



Things like this look a lot less severe than people are making them out to be. Doesn't seem nearly as bad as the Knight stories from years back. It's just that every single interaction is caught on tape now.

when the kid walks over, it looks like he jabs merryweather in the chest/stomach. merryweather takes a step backwards. unlike DD who kept walking towards JC when he was supposedly jabbed.

 

[UConn990411]

This is more a case of the Courant trying to create a story than this actually being one. Really, that's become the paper's style ever since its readership started diminishing.

Still, I expect ESPN to pick this up in 20 minutes...

 

[Waquoit]

That is the point - they will take whatever potshots they can - even if they have to make them up. I've patted guys on the back harder than that for doing a good job. Anyone who sees that exchange as innapropriate needs to get a new hobby or job.

You've gone full Husky Puppy, j.

 

[Penfield]

I have now watched the video several times and this is what I got out of it. You need to watch the whole clip on ESPN 3 to get the full context.

When DeAndre calls the time out he starts walking to the bench towards Calhoun. At this point Calhoun steps towards him and you can see him making a fist. From the video it appears Daniels is looking in JC's direction and would have seen him making the fist . The reason I think he saw this was when he receives the "hit" it is almost like he has no reaction at all... like he was expecting it. He barely stops moving, continues to chew his gum, and then says something to Calhoun before JC grabs his jersey. Calhoun screaming in his face with a clenched fist sure makes the still photo look bad.

I don't think Calhoun should be hitting players but I feel all he needs is a stern "Don't do it again" and everyone should move along.

I agree with Fishy - I don't see the point of releasing a statement over this. Why does the courant seem to look for any situation to mess with Calhoun?

 

[Dove]

Oh crap...Kanye West was just on CNN saying "Jim Calhoun hates black people."

 

[upstater]

It was a Jacobs-being-Jacobs article until this quote:

There was a wild rumor circulating a couple of seasons ago that Calhoun took that leave of absence because he had punched 7-foot Charles Okwandu at practice. And while he did jab his fingers into Okwandu's chest after 5-11 Peyton Siva of Louisville scored over him last year, there was zero substantiation that he had ever hit Okwandu. Folks at UConn have vehemently denied it.

Journalists should never stoop to that level.

 

[jleves]

You've gone full Husky Puppy, j.

I have no idea what this means.

 

[TRest]

The only thing I took from that clip is that Rich Coppola has some big-ass ears.

 

[CL82]

I'm going to be among the minority on this board but in real time I found both the Daniels poke and the milder Oriaki poke to be "inappropriate" not way over the line but over. On the other hand I have no problem with Jim walking on to midcourt to dress down Ryan. I'm not a big fan of grabbing or hitting to make a point. I recognize that I probably could hurt these kids if I hit them with a chair. I found both different than the shove toward the bench, which I view to to pretty much be the edge of contact.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Is this the first mention of this incident on this board?

I saw it. I felt JC crossed a boundary with this. From my observation he actually punched DD. I thought he was also out of control with Ryan in the WV game. This type of display got Woody Hayes and Bobby Knight into trouble. Hopefully this incident won't gain traction and JC will get himself more under control.

already has gained traction... from this board and threads like this. (look for the Ollie slang to become an issue too) posters are doing more harm than help to this UConn program IMO

 

[Ts5034]

I dont know about anyone else but this is the first time i ever heard that rumor about Chuck and Calhoun. If that was actually true i think it would have come out by now

 

[UCHuskies08]

I dont know about anyone else but this is the first time i ever heard that rumor about Chuck and Calhoun. If that was actually true i think it would have come out by now

Not to mention, even if we were to ASSUME that it was true (I think it's not), the Chuck "I love this team" interview seems to indicate that he didn't dwell on it too much.

 

[metsfan2323]

Everytime Deandre Daniels gets boxed out going for a rebound he gets hit much harder than that. (If he was hit at all) I hate our wimpy "sue them if they touch you" society. Nuns used to be notorious for wielding a mean ruler, I guess they were all criminals. Be carefull the next time you spank your kids, someone might want to remove them from your house and send them to foster care.

 

[metsfan2323]

Pretty sure before the poke of Daniels JC put a pretty serious shoulder into Giffey when Giff seemed to ignore him walking back to the bench. quote]

Wrong. It actually looks like Giffey gives JC a shove. Lets start making stuff up now. Our fans stink.

 

[caw]

Not to mention, even if we were to ASSUME that it was true (I think it's not), the Chuck "I love this team" interview seems to indicate that he didn't dwell on it too much.

He does seem a bit bitter...



I love that interview, if Calhoun punched him, Chuck is the most forgiving person in the world.

 

[ruskin]

Wrong. It actually looks like Giffey gives JC a shove. Lets start making stuff up now. Our fans stink.

Not sure where you're going with that Mets, especially the 'making stuff up' and 'our fans stink' part. Not inventing something here. The contact, whatever it was, was obvious enough for both the Mrs. and I to note it. I'm saying I'm surprised this isn't on the loop before the Daniels thing. Let's agree that we're all trying to save JC from himself here so he goes out in a blaze of glory and not in a Woody Hayes style flameout.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Ronnie Johns' take on the matter

 

[Danzz]

You have to be kidding me, we have all become such wussies. Calhoun has always been an in your face coach and holds his players accountable when they make dumb mistakes, it's precisely what makes the players better. To suggest he punched DeAndre is absurd. I turn on espn today and people are freaking out because Fran McCaffery throughing a chair down in the huddle. As a society we've become such goshdarn babies about everything, coaches have gotten mad since the beginning of time and sometimes they say curse words and even grab a player by the jersey.

When I was a kid playing Pop Warner, back in the late 60's,
the head coach would take you by the face mask and rattle your
head and teeth around. Not saying it was right, but he was good guy and
a really good coach and cared about the kids. I obviously still remember him fondly.
How do Calhoun's former players view him? That is the acid test. He seems to pass that one with flying colors.
We now view everything thru the prism of litigation, our loss.
I once read a book called Jurgen. A fantasy offering. Anyway Jurgen ends up in heaven and has to leave because he was bored to distraction. He begs Ole Nick to take him back.

Everything now is antiseptic, woefully repetitious and unforgivably uninteresting.
We legislate behavior. How sad

When I was a kid playing Pop Warner, back in the late 60's,
the head coach would take you by the face mask and rattle your
head and teeth around. Not saying it was right, but he was good guy and
a really good coach and cared about the kids. I obviously still remember him fondly.
How do Calhoun's former players view him? That is the acid test. He seems to pass that one with flying colors.
We now view everything thru the prism of litigation, our loss.
I once read a book called Jurgen. A fantasy offering. Anyway Jurgen ends up in heaven and has to leave because he was bored to distraction. He begs Ole Nick to take him back.

Everything now is antiseptic, woefully repetitious and unforgivably uninteresting.
We legislate behavior. How sad

I had a HS coach in the 60's who did the same thing, even slapped my helmut so hard in practice that it ended up sideways. I survived, no big deal and I also remember him fondly.
Must have missed and physical contact with DD but JC's move on national TV was classless and out of control. It even shocked Rafferty who never critisizes coaches.Screaming at DD as he appraoched the bench is one thing but charging halfway up the court to get to him during a game was way over the top and I think JC knows it and is embarassed by it. It has nothing to do with litigation.
The flip side is parents have become so involved and a general pain in the ass that some coaches are walking away so I do agree with some of your points.

 

[CL82]

It was a Jacobs-being-Jacobs article until this quote:


Journalists should never stoop to that level.

But are you even vaguely surprised that Jacobs did? Did you notice that video never shows the event in real time?

 

[Waquoit]

Guess I'm not surprised by the tsk tsking and the denial here. Woody Hayes wasn't going to hurt that guy but it didn't matter. the fact is JC is under the microscope these days. Questionable actions are going to be magnified. He has to modify his behavior a bit. I think he is lucky that a clear tape doesn't seem to exist because if it did it would rank just under Tebow as far ESPN airtime goes.

 

[slumdog]

When I was a kid playing Pop Warner, back in the late 60's,
the head coach would take you by the face mask and rattle your
head and teeth around. Not saying it was right, but he was good guy and
a really good coach and cared about the kids. I obviously still remember him fondly.
How do Calhoun's former players view him? That is the acid test. He seems to pass that one with flying colors.
We now view everything thru the prism of litigation, our loss.
I once read a book called Jurgen. A fantasy offering. Anyway Jurgen ends up in heaven and has to leave because he was bored to distraction. He begs Ole Nick to take him back.

Everything now is antiseptic, woefully repetitious and unforgivably uninteresting.
We legislate behavior. How sad

All due respect to a boneyard brother, this right/wrong, good coaching/bad coaching, players like him and respond, etc, conversation, totally misses the point (BTW, I had both kinds of coaches, and I always responded better to the ones that offered acknowledgment and guidance over threats and criticism. Totally depends on the player. At this point in my life, I'll take good coaching in whatever form I can find it).

It's about media perception, and what's the current cultural climate, and not even about this particular incident. This kind of snow gets out on talk radio and the blogs, and it gets a life of it's own. JC is generally seen as an evil bully outside of CT, and it's predictable that Coach will do this again, or worse, if nothing changes. People would love to take him down, and prevent him from joining the 4+ club, and at this stage of his life, there aint no time for a comeback. Just like Woody Hayes, and all the others, he'd be remembered not for his NC's and his character, but for the defining moment of that last behavior.

 

[RoderickSpode]

Nuns used to be notorious for wielding a mean ruler, I guess they were all criminals.

For the kids who had to put up with physical abuse from those bitter old virgins, that was criminal. How would you feel if your boss at work could smack you whenever he/she felt like it, and you were powerless to fight back or quit?

As for JC, this was a non-incident. I understand the university wanting to get ahead of the story given our recent PR issues, but nothing to see here.

 

[ruskin]

Not sure where you're going with that Mets, especially the 'making stuff up' and 'our fans stink' part. Not inventing something here. The contact, whatever it was, was obvious enough for both the Mrs. and I to note it. I'm saying I'm surprised this isn't on the loop before the Daniels thing. Let's agree that we're all trying to save JC from himself here so he goes out in a blaze of glory and not in a Woody Hayes style flameout.

EDIT: just watched ESPN3. In second half, with 17:29 left, Giff throws a crappy inbound pass gets knocked out of bounds and ball goes side out to Rutgers. They score as UConn D continues to break down. Calhoun calls TO and stares down Griffey. Griffey walks by him, seeming to ignore JC. Calhoun throws a subtle hip (not shoulder) into Giff as if to say 'Not so fast, big guy'. It's 1:14:29 into the tape. ESPN cut to a crowd shot right at that point so we don't see full episode, not that there's that much too it. But there's contact.

I agree that if this happened 30 years ago it's no big deal and the society as a whole needs to "harden up" (great video, BTW). But JC better off not giving haters ammo.

 

[Matt (Chicago)]

i was watching the game on SNY. we certainly noticed it, but it was more of a "hey did you just see that?" kind of thing. I would liken it to the Janet Jackson nipple shot at the superbowl...noticed it briefly then forgot about it when the game came back on.

The Okwandu thing just sounds absurd, almost laughable.