FW: [Husker] Callahan's response to Tom's comment

[Nick Chevance]

I think Dick Karre hit the nail on the head with this assessment of
Callahan's speaking.  If you listen to him, which I tend to find hard
to do, he just doesn't seem to have a really good grasp of the
language.  The guys on 1620 in the afternoon run this bit "Did the
Coaches Really say That!" where they take audio clips from the news
conferences out of context and have a woman read them, dripping with
innuendo.  Listeners have to decide if Callahan actually said the
piece or not.  Funny bits, but when you hear Callahan actually say
those things, you can tell he has just an odd way of stringing words
together.  To me, its like fingernails on a chalk board, sometimes.

Maybe its his upbringing in Chicago (and I come from there too), or
that he's just been a football guy for so-o-o long, but I find his
speeches in front of the cameras and microphones to be odd, filled
with funny uses of big words and lots of "coach jargon."  Malaprops, I
guess I'd have to call them.  I have wondered if he talks like that
when he's in a relaxed environment, if he has those moments.

I tend to put a lot less credence in what he says in front of the
media because I think he's trying to be polite without giving out much
in the way of information.  Sort of like most politicians.  But I
don't think he's particularly good at it.  So I think he's just
fumbling through these things, not entirely sure what he's supposed to
say.  He doesn't think well on his feet, so when he's pressed for an
answer to a question from beyond left field (like the Osborne
hypothetical), the results are interesting.  But I can't read much
into what he says.  I think he could do well with some public speaking
coaching.  Sometimes a short "I don't know" is good enough.

Nick
-- 
"The only thing standing between me and total happiness is reality."
Douglas Porter