UConn Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun – The Tip of the Backlash Iceberg

We’ve commented before that Barack Obama has no idea of the anger and backlash that is sweeping this country as a result of what increasingly feels like a fraudulent presidential campaign and election in 2008. This nation was built on the foundational principles of individual freedom and responsibility under God, and the people who make the country work revere those principles intuitively and naturally. They have a gut-level revulsion to socialism—the denial of individual freedom, and the redistribution of wealth through the coercive powers of government. As they have learned of the fraud and socialism that constitutes the stimulus bill, they are livid. The liberal bubble media won’t report it, but the backlash is out there, and it’s growing. The bubble media that covers the sporting world just got a little glimpse of it. You’ll enjoy it, but let’s set the table a little more.

Many of us try to take refuge from the nation’s disastrous ensnarement in socialism in the world of sport. Competitive sport by nature relies on its version of meritocracy – the best players play because they provide the best chance to win, which is the object of the game. A coach won’t put LeBron James on the bench because it isn’t fair that he plays so many minutes and the 12th player on the roster plays so few. The coach works to make all players become better through discipline, practicing the fundamentals, conditioning, etc., but in the end, the players have to prove their worthiness to play when the game is on the line. The coach puts in the game the players that will most help the team to win.

Similarly, the owner of the team wants to win, because paying spectators prefer to watch good teams that win as opposed to mediocre teams that don’t. And so the owner picks the coach whose track record of winning suggests that he does the best job in preparing and selecting players to play to win. And because all owners want to win, the value (translation = compensation) of a winning coach increases, because the owners are willing to compete to have the coach work for their team and not the other team.

America as a nation—and therefore the American economy— is intrinsically built on the concept of meritocracy. So pardon us for this class synopsis of “Nature of Sport 101”, but it is a useful reminder of what a meritocracy looks like. And it sets the table for a look at this wonderful post-game Q&A exchange between head basketball coach Jim Calhoun of the University of Connecticut, and some unidentified snot-nosed little punk of a reporter (since identified as Ken Kreyaske). The post-game question of this reporter wasn’t about the coaching strategy or tactics that led to yet another UConn win in front of yet another sellout crowd; no, it was to the effect that, ‘in these economic hard times, don’t you think you make too much money as a state employee?”

We didn’t know much about the personal history of Jim Calhoun before this rant, but all you have to do is listen and sense the anger in the man to know that this is probably a guy who knows what it means to work his way up to the top of the coaching profession. He radiates the pride that comes from knowing he has become the best by working hard and overcoming lots of adversity. He wasn't handed anything by anyone. He worked for his station in life. He doesn’t apologize for achieving excellence or the compensation that comes from excellence. And sure enough, the bio information in Wikipedia (here) shows a man who is anything but a child of privilege.

Not everyone makes the same level of compensation as Jim Calhoun, but there are millions of Jim Calhouns (and Jane Calhouns) across this country who share the same work ethic, and would identify the American dream as exactly what Jim Calhoun’s career exemplifies. And here’s a little secret: many of them are registered Democrats (Calhoun actually strikes us a likely to fit that profile). They may have long ago identified themselves as Democrats out of some vague support for the little guy, but they are not socialists. They and millions like them—both Democrat and Republican—are outraged that Obama is sliding this nation to a left-wing model where the government will decide how much success is too much success—i.e., what pay is ‘excessive’ and should either be cut or the excess should be confiscated from the Jim Calhouns and given to those who don’t work as hard as he has. This model is un-American; it violates man’s God-given right to freedom; and it will fail. Americans know it; they increasingly know they were defrauded by the glib posturing of Obama during the 2008 election campaign; and they distrust and reject Obama’s judgment about what ails us and what will turn things around.

The backlash is growing, and Jim Calhoun just gave us the proof.

Paul Gable

Posted February 22, 2009