I think we all can agree that this is the most difficult time we've seen economically in almost 80 years. President Obama addressed our economic state almost immediately upon taking office. During his inarguation speech he noted that things will get worse before they get better and he asked each American to do their part individually to help recover from these difficult times. This past Saturday our current economic state and sportsworld made a head-on collision when Ken Krayeske, a political activist and freelance journalist confronted UCONN's head coach Jim Calhoun at a post game news conference following a victory over South Florida. Krayeske wanted to know why Calhoun would accept a salary of $1.6 million dollars when Connecticut's budget deficit is estimated at $944 million dollars for the current fiscal year and up to $8 billion over the next two. Initially Calhoun joked with Krayeske saying he wouldn't give one dime of his salary back, then became visibly aggitated and responded "Quite frankly, we bring in $12 million dollars to the University, nothing to do with state funds. We make $12 million dollars a year for this University. Get some facts and come back and see me....Don't throw out salaries and other things." Calhoun then advised Krayeske to just shut up. I take my hat off to Coach Calhoun for standing up to an idiot that has no journalistic integrity. Some reporters go a little too far with their inquiries. It's tough to say just why they do it. Some would like to build a reputation for asking "the tough questions", and others are merely jerks. I would venture to place Krayeske in the latter. First and foremost his arguement doesn't have much merit, it's apples and oranges. Coach Calhoun's responsibility is to the University of Connecticut not the state of Connecticut. As he stated his program generates $12 million annually while taking home $1.6. That's quite the tradeoff. Secondly and most importantly, would he himself be willing to take a pay cut? It takes a lot of gall to try and regulate someone else's income. Coach Calhoun's salary isn't excessive or inflated considering what he brings in. There are written and unwritten rules with any profession. As a journalist, one of the unwritten rules is to maintain integrity at all times. Don't berate someone simply because you have the platform to do so like the idiot who attacked Rod Marinelli and hide it behind the guise of being a journalist who isn't afraid to ask the tough questions. That is irresponsible journalism at it's finest. Hopefully Krayeske has learned a lesson in this unfortunate encounter, but that's an oxymoron.
