By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Feb. 23, 2009
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com
First, thanks to Cool Justice readers for all the great tips.
Maybe UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun wasn't thinking straight when he tried to shout down reporter Ken Krayeske and talk about facts at the same time.
Practice what you scream, coach.
It certainly looks like men's basketball brought in only $7.33 million instead of the $12 million Calhoun claimed.
UConn men's basketball generated $7.3 million in revenue and spent $6.1 million in 2007-08, according to information Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway and Assistant Athletic Director Maureen O'Connor filed with the U.S. Department of Education as part of its Equity in Athletics Analysis.
Maybe Calhoun's $12 million figure is from the men's and women's team combined, which totaled $12.6 million in revenue in '07-08.
More @ Connecticut Local Politics
And To Wit / Colin McEnroe
And NY Times
And The 40-Year Plan
And The Nutmeg Grater
4 comments:
Great reporting! Wish I had hired guys like you!
i'm not quite sure how YOU feel about all of this andy
at any rate, great job of gathering materials, stories and posting about it. i had not heard a THING about this prior to now
and a shout out to you being mentioned in the grey lady
So if Calhoun was not coaching and the legacy wasn't there, like any number of programs across the country that don't have good coaches, would the program still make $7.3 million? If the program wasn't in the tournament and in the top 25 every year would UConn make that amount?
What about entertainment draw for prospective students? If the University gets only 100 students that are interested in basketball, and that's why they attended, does that money go down in the books? Probably not, because they more than likely sit in the student section. Which takes in no profit.
I am not defending a tirade against a reporter, but I am defending the fact that Calhoun means a great deal to not only his university but to the college game itself.
The program pays him 1.3 mil out of 7.3. That means that he accounts for 1/7 of the expenditures. Is it worth it? Ask Uconn.
It's not like he's producing the talentless hacks that come out of Duke.
Ask UConn? How about asking the Connecticut taxpayers who fund UConn. UConn's judgment is apparent - they gave him the money, clearly they think it's worth it. No one is disputing what UConn thinks. The question is whether the taxpayers of the state think that paying him half that amount would be fair in light of changes to the economy. This isn't 2006 any more, whether we are talking about Wall Street or Storrs.
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