FanHouse GenoAuriemma

Yes, the question came from a guy whom Sean Penn might describe as a hippie, commie something or another. Yes, it was asked by a rabble-rousing political activist who, among other quirks, once was arrested for disrupting a gubernatorial inaugural parade. But just because it was presented by the notorious Ken Krayeske doesn't mean it was inappropriate, that millions of Americans weren't curious to hear the answer.

Why, Jim Calhoun, should the University of Connecticut men's basketball coach be the state's highest-paid employee at $1.6 million a year ... when the state has a $2 billion budget deficit?

The above video appears to show UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma and Syracuse forward Nicole Michael exchanging words as they go through the post-game handshake line, followed by Michael trying to trip Auriemma when they cross paths again, and Auriemma being restrained by his players from going after Michael. A bizarre incident, to say the least.

I thought Shelley Smith of ESPN did an even-handed job when she broke the news that the University of Connecticut women's basketball team committed a recruiting violation by taking Maya Moore on a tour of ESPN. UConn coach Geno Auriemma does not agree with me.

Auriemma said this on his weekly radio show:

"It's a story that has been rehashed by ESPN to serve its own purposes. ... Shelley Smith came up to talk to me to do a story on [Tennessee women's basketball coach] Pat Summitt and my relationship with her, why the series was canceled, and I flat out said, 'Go ask her. I didn't cancel it.' I didn't want to be involved in [that] story.

"And [Smith's] response was, 'OK, we're going to [report the violation].' ... What purpose does that serve? It's already been discussed and dealt with [last summer]. It's typical: 'Let's drum up some interest before the NCAA Tournament starts and hope these two meet in the finals so we can get boffo ratings' at the expense of Maya Moore."

The notion that this was done "at the expense of Maya Moore" strikes me as rather silly. No one is saying Moore did anything that any high school basketball player wouldn't do: She was offered a tour of ESPN and she accepted. What makes the story interesting is that it was Summitt, Auriemma's arch rival, who reported the tour to the NCAA. If Auriemma doesn't think that's newsworthy, he's wrong.
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