I'll just say that life has taught me not to make that [language] any more of a gauge of intelligence than . . .
We agree on that. Completely. Never said the guy was unintelligent. No way to tell that from whatever questions he's answering about basketball for some beat reporter.
My point was only that he either didn't learn basic word usage in 4 years of college - which is indicative of effort, not IQ, or, he knows the difference but chooses to go with the slang, which I think is inappropriate for the highest paid national representative of UConn. Simple point really. The reason that the reactions are so strong is because some (like you) inferred an IQ implication, which was not there. Others react because they perceive it as a racial attack. Both are ludicrous. Speaking basic English at a 5th grade level should not be something that's negotiable for somebody who is a national representative of our school. If Dave Benedict walked in for the interview and said, "I is very interested in Connecticut," the interview would have ended right there. Double standards are inherently racist.