Sunday, October 17, 2004
bring that beat back, beat back
Mike DiMauro digs into Jim Calhoun and the University of Connecticut administration for refusing to release details about A.J. Price's health to the members of the Huskies men's basketball beat. But kindly informing reporters covering the College Basketball Preseason Tip-Off Luncheon in Augusta, Georgia – roughly 1,000 miles away from Storrs – of Price’s condition.DiMauro should have spared readers his elevated sense of self-importance.
Remember this one and write it down: It is the beat writers' daily diligence that keeps the people who buy the tickets and donate to the program informed.
But he is correct. Calhoun and the University of Connecticut should have toed a consistent line. The coaching staff and the administration should have either respected the Price family’s request for privacy (which I would have preferred) or honored the public’s interest in the health of a player on the state’s marquee team (which I would have accepted). They should not have adopted one policy with respect to in-state media and practiced another in front of the national press corps.
