Fair and Balanced JC Article

[Waquoit]

I must admit I pretty much agree with the whole thing . It ends, " I glimpse an Irish poet. I pass him in the aisle at every Bushnell musical. Imagine! He should coach for one more season and go out as that other guy. Write down those five words and live them. Responsibility, self-regulation, patience, integrity, consideration. Base your final season on them. Then retire as the legend you deserve to be."

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Fair and balanced? It points out every single bad thing that has happened to UConn under Calhoun and places all the blame on him.

More like a hatchet job.

 

[8893]

Anyone who thinks a "Faulknerian loss of innocence" symbolized by pot smoking, academic and other issues with players (like many other college students) began after 1999 simply wasn't paying attention to UConn hoops at all in the pre-Calhoun era. Player behavior is not what changed; enforcement did. And once we became a very good team and people started paying attention to us on the court, people also started to pay a lot more attention to what our players were doing off the court.

Makes a nice theme for an article, but total bullshit imo.

 

[rbny1]

"Fair and balanced?" You're kidding, aren't you?

 

[upstater]

I think he was being sarcastic: "Fair and Balanced." Get it?

 

[OkaForPrez]

What is milkweed? Why does it sail? And why was it used in two analogies in this article?

 

[8893]

What is milkweed? Why does it sail? And why was it used in two analogies in this article?

I think it's what McEnroe was smoking when he wrote the article.

 

[willie99]

far from fair and balanced, a very under handed piece with inaccurate statements like "the recruitment of Miles necessitated a prolonged collusion with an agent, even after said agent was accused of stealing from RIP"

that's just BS, the man's a pathetic liar

there's a reason why Colin's career has been in a steady decline for over a decade now, he's a stupid uniformed man.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It was a very underhanded attempt at slapping JC across the face.

I loved the comments about KEA. After all, no UConn player smoked pot before JC got here (cough, cough,.... Norman Bailey,...... cough, cough).

 

[mcs333]

If it was fair and balance it would talk about how he helped C. Butler turn his life around., tons of charity work, how his players come back and support him and the program. BS piece.

 

[Excalibur]

I think he was being sarcastic: "Fair and Balanced." Get it?

No. He's serious. Still mad a JC for supposedly firing Hathaway.

 

[sammydabiz]

Man these are the times I truly wished we had an "unlike" button. This article is crap, and anybody with a conscious memory of JC and our UConn men's basketball program can easily see this article is intended to highlight our downfalls with no regard for JC's accomplishments, particularly off the court. OP where's your head at?

I must admit I pretty much agree with the whole thing . It ends, " I glimpse an Irish poet. I pass him in the aisle at every Bushnell musical. Imagine! He should coach for one more season and go out as that other guy. Write down those five words and live them. Responsibility, self-regulation, patience, integrity, consideration. Base your final season on them. Then retire as the legend you deserve to be."

 

[Danzz]

Fair and balanced? It points out every single bad thing that has happened to UConn under Calhoun and places all the blame on him.

More like a hatchet job.

That was no hatchet job, it was the truth and "you can't handle the truth." Seriously, JC's tenure at Uconn deserves mixed reviews. There is no arguement about what he did for Uconn basketball. He made the program into a national power.
His inattention to academic issues and the recruiting that goes along with it was terrible and he deserves to get hammered for it. The University and in particular the athletic deaprtment also deserves to get hammered for not providing a workable program and oversight. And as far as the players were concerned, it is hard to think of many schools that had worse problems.
We have 3 national championships a ton of alumni in the NBA. We also are saddled with a pretty bad reputation which we earned and when we had a chance to improve it, we didnt.
I really believe that JC is a good guy and I know he has helped a lot of kids. He does a lot of great work for charity.There are many good things you can say about JC and also some not so good and they all would be deserved.

 

[RS9999X]

Compared to some McEnroe columns on Calhoun this was nice and breezy.
There's no question Jim Calhoun is an old school coach and behaves that way. We know his age and we know he's in pain and sometimes is a little too arrogant. He also brings the goods.
I too find him painful to watch sometimes. A line like "We need to find some guys who want to play basketball" at halftime is just well....Calhoun. And it is sometimes a little too ugly.

 

[UConn5]

I have to say, I don't like reading criticism of JC for a number of reasons, but I think the author was saying a lot of things that many people think about deep down. Make no mistake, I LOVE JC. I don't want him to go. If I had my way I would have him coach forever. I just don't want him to stick around too long. I don't think that next year or even the one after that is too long. I just really really hope doesn't turn out to be. I would never advocate him stepping down, especially not with the uncertainty of next year looming. and I don't think that he will. To be honest, I can envision him coaching the next year, evaluating the state of the program (assuming that recruiting turns out ok) and feeling good about what he is leaving behind, because I think that is what matters most to him.

 

[8893]

That was no hatchet job, it was the truth and "you can't handle the truth." Seriously, JC's tenure at Uconn deserves mixed reviews. There is no arguement about what he did for Uconn basketball. He made the program into a national power.
His inattention to academic issues and the recruiting that goes along with it was terrible and he deserves to get hammered for it. The University and in particular the athletic deaprtment also deserves to get hammered for not providing a workable program and oversight. And as far as the players were concerned, it is hard to think of many schools that had worse problems.
We have 3 national championships a ton of alumni in the NBA. We also are saddled with a pretty bad reputation which we earned and when we had a chance to improve it, we didnt.
I really believe that JC is a good guy and I know he has helped a lot of kids. He does a lot of great work for charity.There are many good things you can say about JC and also some not so good and they all would be deserved.

You could have just written the part in bold.

 

[willie99]

That was no hatchet job, it was the truth and "you can't handle the truth." Seriously, JC's tenure at Uconn deserves mixed reviews. There is no arguement about what he did for Uconn basketball. He made the program into a national power.
His inattention to academic issues and the recruiting that goes along with it was terrible and he deserves to get hammered for it. The University and in particular the athletic deaprtment also deserves to get hammered for not providing a workable program and oversight. And as far as the players were concerned, it is hard to think of many schools that had worse problems.
We have 3 national championships a ton of alumni in the NBA. We also are saddled with a pretty bad reputation which we earned and when we had a chance to improve it, we didnt.
I really believe that JC is a good guy and I know he has helped a lot of kids. He does a lot of great work for charity.There are many good things you can say about JC and also some not so good and they all would be deserved.

it was far from the truth, it was full of distortions, inaccuracies, false facts and flat out lies

the author had an agenda and presented everything in a fashion to achieve his personal agenda under the guise of objectivity. It's a great example of why the media is one of the least respected professions on earth.

 

[Waquoit]

it was far from the truth, it was full of distortions, inaccuracies, false facts and flat out lies

Name some of the inaccuracies, false facts and flat out lies.

 

[Waquoit]

That was no hatchet job, it was the truth and "you can't handle the truth." Seriously, JC's tenure at Uconn deserves mixed reviews. There is no arguement about what he did for Uconn basketball. He made the program into a national power.
His inattention to academic issues and the recruiting that goes along with it was terrible and he deserves to get hammered for it. The University and in particular the athletic deaprtment also deserves to get hammered for not providing a workable program and oversight. And as far as the players were concerned, it is hard to think of many schools that had worse problems.
We have 3 national championships a ton of alumni in the NBA. We also are saddled with a pretty bad reputation which we earned and when we had a chance to improve it, we didnt.
I really believe that JC is a good guy and I know he has helped a lot of kids. He does a lot of great work for charity.There are many good things you can say about JC and also some not so good and they all would be deserved.

That a pretty good summary of how I feel. It was no hatchet job.

 

[willie99]

Name some of the inaccuracies, false facts and flat out lies.

already did in my first post on the topic

"the recruitment of Miles necessitated a prolonged collusion with an agent, even after said agent was accused of stealing from RIP"

there was no collusion with the agent, or Calhoun's career would be over. Never mind a prolonged collusion, and then he throws in the part about despite the stealing from RIP. seriously?

what more do you need to know? that speaks volumes about his intention right then and there. Only a hater can overlook it

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Waq,

As far as being fair (which is what you referred to the article as in your title), I imagine that you can argue that it is fair if you really want to stretch the definition of that term. In regards to being balanced; are you kidding???? Do you have any clue as to what balanced means?

 

[upstater]

Name some of the inaccuracies, false facts and flat out lies.

We already did. Read your own thread.

 

[upstater]

That was no hatchet job, it was the truth and "you can't handle the truth." Seriously, JC's tenure at Uconn deserves mixed reviews. There is no arguement about what he did for Uconn basketball. He made the program into a national power.
His inattention to academic issues and the recruiting that goes along with it was terrible and he deserves to get hammered for it. The University and in particular the athletic deaprtment also deserves to get hammered for not providing a workable program and oversight. And as far as the players were concerned, it is hard to think of many schools that had worse problems.
We have 3 national championships a ton of alumni in the NBA. We also are saddled with a pretty bad reputation which we earned and when we had a chance to improve it, we didnt.
I really believe that JC is a good guy and I know he has helped a lot of kids. He does a lot of great work for charity.There are many good things you can say about JC and also some not so good and they all would be deserved.

It's full of outright distortions and inaccuracies that have already been noted and addressed in this thread. It's absurd that you would write such a post given that.

 

[Danzz]

It's full of outright distortions and inaccuracies that have already been noted and addressed in this thread. It's absurd that you would write such a post given that.

The only inaccuracy that I can see is the collusion with an agent in the Miles debacle. There was never any evidence presented to support that allegation. It is your choice to ignore the negative stuff or call them distortions. We can blame the NCAA for our problems and excuse JC's behavior as part of some special plan but the fact is Uconn screwed up and we are paying the price and not just tourney ban next season.
None of this stuff makes JC an ax murderer but it doesn't make him an angel either.

 

[upstater]

The only inaccuracy that I can see is the collusion with an agent in the Miles debacle. There was never any evidence presented to support that allegation. It is your choice to ignore the negative stuff or call them distortions. We can blame the NCAA for our problems and excuse JC's behavior as part of some special plan but the fact is Uconn screwed up and we are paying the price and not just tourney ban next season.
None of this stuff makes JC an ax murderer but it doesn't make him an angel either.

Why not take on the other inaccuracies that have already been addressed here?

Why ignore them?

1. "The Faulknerian loss of innocence began immediately. Scrapping, tumbling point guard Khalid El-Amin was picked up in Hartford having bought pot." You agree with this? Apparently, Calhoun sold his soul for a player like KEA, who smoked pot, and thereby started UConn down the devil's path? Really? If you believe this, I suggest you should not be a fan of college basketball at all.

2. Then there were the (largely unpunished) guys who stole laptops but only from women. Except for the fact they were punished, they were suspended, and according to the faculty board that decided those suspensions, they suffered the exact same fate as over 50 students who were caught stealing laptops in those years.

3. And then came Calhoun's obsession with a problematic young player, Nate Miles, whose recruitment necessitated a prolonged collusion with an agent, even after said agent was accused by Hamilton, the hero of 1999, of stealing more than $1 million. You yourself stated this was inaccurate.

4. The team now faces a 2013 post-season ban for different reasons — its woeful academic record. Based on a bogus APR scam that shows Kentucky with an APR of 974. UConn is now scamming the system as well. I'd argue the "woeful academics" come from the schools like Kentucky and now UConn and apparently lots of other schools that are in line with the NCAA by gaming the system. If you honestly believe APR is a measure of academic credibility then t=yuo don't know anything about how universities work. It's a figleaf for the NCAA and it perverts academics and learnoing, a point Bilas has been adamant about. If the NCAA really cared about academics they would simply require higher admission standards. That would solve the problem instantly.

Q: was there one truthful charge in the article at all?