- Jim Calhoun and John Calipari are undeniable college
basketball coaching legends, emphasis on college. These two J Cals are giants, so much so, that in the eighties and nineties, with Calipari at UMass,
and Calhoun at UConn, the northeast just didn't seem big enough for the two of them, and legend has it, if you stand at just the right spot, on the Connecticut and
Massachusets border, you can still smell the lingering
scent of beef in the air. (bright upbeat music) In 1986 Jim Calhoun left
his post at Northeastern, and joined a UConn Husky team
that had spent the decade in the bottom half of the northeast. His first season with the team
did not reverse their fortune as UConn finished the
season with only nine wins, and found themselves looking
up at the entire conference. The following season, Calhoun led them to a 20 and 14 record, and an NIT championship
win over Ohio state. Meanwhile, before the start
of the '88 '89 season, John Calipari left his assistant
position at Pittsburgh, and assumed head coaching
duties for the first time, at the helm of the UMass Minutemen. It was a UMass team with only
one tournament appearance under their belt, and it
had been over ten years since they cracked the top
three in their conference. At this point in time, there
is no reason to suspect that Calhoun and Calipari had any plans to open up a beef market. The two teams only had one non
conference match up a season, and that's if they even played at all. But, just keep watching. On January 30, 1989,
UConn played gracious host to the Minutemen, and spanked
their pants off, 104 to 75. One year later, to the
day, UConn made the trip to the Curry Hicks Cage in Massachusets, for a game neither coach
seemed to be excited for. Calipari straight up said, "We don't have a chance
against Connecticut," and added that its a good
game for them to have, if they pound us it might
help them at Providence. Calhoun responded by saying,
Oh, its great for us, it might be one of my favorite things. That and swallowing tacks and hemorrhoids. I'm going to assume he
meant having hemorrhoids, and not swallowing them. Either way it seems like these two should actually be friends. UConn won again by nearly 20 points. After the game, Calhoun
had praise for a team Calipari himself claimed
didn't stand a chance. Saying maybe John doesn't like them, but a couple of them could
come down to Storrs next week, and we'll dress them. He also hinted at the
possibility of UConn, UMass yearly match up coming to an end. But Calipari was in no rush to lose a high profile
game off his schedule. Calhoun however, didn't play on campus, He played in arenas, so he tried
to move the games at UMass, off campus and to the
Springfield Civic Center. Calipari wouldn't budge,
so Calhoun shut it down. The two New England teams
that first played in 1905, would play each other no more. In the time the teams spent
apart, something changed. UMass got good, like really good. At the end of that '89 '90 season, UMass made the NIT for the
first time in over ten years. And the following year they
advanced to the semi finals, before falling to Stanford. In 1992 UMass defeated fourteenth ranked, and undefeated Oklahoma on national tv. [Announcer] Its over and the
Minutemen are the winners. - UMass had arrived,
and in the driver seat was Coach John Calipari. That year the Minutemen won
the eight ten conference championship for the first
time in school history, they made the NCAA tournament
for the first time since 1962, and advanced to the sweet six
tee for the very first time, before being eliminated at
the hands of Rick Pitino, and his Kentucky Wildcats. UConn on the other hand was
eliminated by Ohio State, in the second round. In an attempt to improve
the following year, Coach Calhoun and UConn
hoped to add in state star, Marcus Camby, but Camby looked
past the team only 25 miles away from his home in Hartford, and instead packed his
bags and headed to UMass, much to the dismay of Calhoun. At the same time coach
Calipari had changed his tune when it came to playing
former rival UConn, stating we're a top 25 program, we don't need to play those games. If UConn wants to play us
they can get in touch with us. The Minutemen where good,
and Calipari was making friends along the way, as
evident in this exchange with Temple coach John Chaney. UMass went on to win
the eight ten conference championship again in 1994,
but were eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the second round. They had reached their
highest AP ranking that year coming in at number six in January, and followed that up the next
season by becoming the first team in New England to be
given the number one ranking. Jim Calhoun had never lived, or worked outside of New England, the region was a point of pride for him, but the king, the king
was now John Calipari. Most people had expected
Calipari to only last a few years at UMass before moving
on to greener pastures. Instead Calipari plowed the dirt, and grew his own damn grass, making the rest of the
Northeast basketball world green with envy. In the words of Jim Calhoun,
why should he leave? He makes more money than I do. It was clear that tension
between the two coaches was growing even though they
no longer met on the court. In 1995 shortly before the
start of a NCAA tournament, that would feature both
teams as two seeds, John Calipari's coaches show
cohost displayed a shirt aimed at UConns
unwillingness to play them. On the front: UMass refused to lose, on the back the outline of
the state of Connecticut, and the words UScared, what's your excuse for not playing this year? Because even though both
coaches have already expressed a lack of desire to play each other, they still prodded each other over it. As for the tournament, both teams advanced to the elite eight before being bounced. And no, those shirts
never hit the shelves. Like two pre teens they went
back and forth between who did, and who didn't want to dance. Towards the end of '95 Calipari said, maybe we don't have anything to gain. Calhoun noted that it was John who originally wanted the game. It was anywhere anytime, and
when he gave Calipari a time and a place, according to Calhoun, Calipari took a step back. Calipari also said he did
not want to be the one to coax UConn to play them, adding we will play anybody, anywhere. Jesus Christ, just kiss already. In 1996 UMass made the final
four for the first time, in school history. An achievement that
would later be vacated, after reports that star, Marcus Camby, had received gifts from an agent. Calipari took that
opportunity to point out that UConn star Ray Allen
probably did the same. It was a great time to renew the rivalry. Fans had been clamoring to
see these two teams play. So UMass and UConn agreed
to a four year deal. The agreement was announced
six years after the last time the two teams played each other, and hours after John Calipari
accepted the head coaching job with the New Jersey Nets. On December 27 UConn defeated
Bruser Flints UMass team 64 61 While John Calipari
and the Nets defeated the Indiana Pacers. UConn continued to be a
successful program under Calhoun, and in 1998 when he was asked
about his teams dominance over New England basketball,
Calhoun was incapable of leaving Calipari out of his answer. In a bid to paint himself
as a true New Englander, and Calipari as an outsider,
he claimed the former UMass coach never said cah in his life. He used to have an r, I
don't have any r's at all. That proves that I belong here. This beef is more of a
chowder, a beef chowder. Eaten with your hands out
of the center console, of a Honda Civic, its a Patriots
vanity play that just says, *beep* kill me. While we digest lets skip forward to 2009, and talk dollars and cents. [Interviewer] Considering
that you’re the highest paid state employee and there's a
billion dollar budget deficit, [Calhoun] Not a dime back. [Interviewer] Not a dime back. [Calhoun] Not a dime back, I'd like to be able to retire someday. When the reporter referenced
his one point six million dollar paycheck, Calhoun's response was, "I make a lot more than that", before calling the reporter stupid and telling him to shut up. God Bless America. When Calipari was asked
a similar question, as now Memphis Tigers head coach, his response was a bit more palatable. "We're obnoxiously paid." Although I found no evidence that he then, cut a check to the state. Later that year Calhoun
actually had some complimentary words for Calipari's coaching. Saying "I love the fact he
puts his players in position to succeed, I have great
respect for how he coaches. Then this next part, I just
want to read it to you. He said "John came from Moon
Township in Pennsylvania. He said UMass was king of New England. He didn't know what chowda was with an A. You gotta know what clam
chowda is before you start saying that, especially to
a guy from South Boston." So if you have not already picked this up, Jim Calhoun is from New England. Calipari's time in the NBA was cut short due to a lack of success. He then ended up back on the
college level at Memphis, where he spent almost ten years. But all this sick chowda chatta, came in a lead up to a
match up between Calhoun, and Calipari's new team,
the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky won 64 61. It was the second win
Calipari got over Calhoun, the first coming in 2007 while at Memphis, a game also played in the Garden. After two decades of beef,
their head to head record was tied two two. They may not have played
each other very much, but that didn't keep
this steak from sizzlin'. Like Sizzler, the steakhouse. Heading into the 2011 NCAA tournament, Calipari, unprompted,
reeled off a list of teams to Sports Illistrated,
that he wouldn't watch, if they were to progress
further than his Wildcats. On that list, of course,
was Jim Calhoun's Huskies. He was then quoted saying,
"Are there times that there's envy and jealousy in our
profession and in me? Yes." "Which is why I don't
watch a lot of games." But one of these coaches was
going to have to watch the other advance as the two met
each other in the final four. Calhoun referred to the other
coaches left in the tournament as my three sons, or my two
sons plus my problem child. And at this point, following a
win at the Maui invitational, Calhoun held a three two match up lead. So if he wanted to be called daddy, then daddy he shall be called. He continued his winning ways
as UConn toppled Kentucky, 56, 55 behind Kemba Walker's 18 points. Admirably, neither coach
took it as an opportunity to sling mud at the other, Calipari sated, "We had our chance to win
the game, and as a coach, that's all you can ask
of these young people. Calhoun turned his focus to
the national championship. The Huskies defeated Butler
for their third crown, all of which came under Coach Calhoun. In 2012 Jim Calhoun
announced his retirement, and in his old age,
seemed to soften a bit. After calling Calipari
a bullshitter in 2014, he said he was a tolerable guy, which in New England
speak means I love you. In the end we have two of the greatest to ever coach the game. They were territorial
and had no intentions of bowing down to anyone. In 2015 John Calipari
was inducted into the basketball hall of fame,
joining his pal Calhoun, who had been enshrined since 2005. Thanks for watching this
episode of Beef History. Check out the other
episodes and then subscribe, so you don't miss future Beef. Its lab grown. (upbeat music)
Great video. Nobody really talks about that rivalry, especially since everyone misses the Boeheim-Calhoun conference rivalry.