Maybe UConn’s Jim Calhoun — a winner last night over Pitt — needs a dictionary? And perhaps the Hartford Courant’s Jeff Jacobs needs a bodyguard.
A well-read man such as Calhoun should know “malignant” has more than one definition. One is “malicious,” a word he isn’t afraid to employ. A few days before mailing his letter, Calhoun stood before reporters after practice and sent me a less edited message:
“Jerry Tarkanian. Malignant cancer,” he said, though I have left out a few highly profane words. “I really think that for a cancer survivor, that’s a real nice thing to say. Don’t worry. You don’t have to print that because I’ll tell him when I see him tomorrow. If he has enough [testicles] to come up, he better come up with a couple of armed guards, talking about malignant cancer.
“Your guy,” he said, pointing to Phil Chardis of the Journal Inquirer in a reference to columnist Randy Smith, “he’s just crazy. So I don’t count him. The other guy has some malice, I think.”
“The other guy” – that’s me.