If John Chaney wasn’t a Hall Of Fame coach who has 721 wins.....he’d be fired.
No. First, he’d be publically ridiculed.....then fired.
For those who don’t know, John Chaney’s Temple Owls played the St. Joseph’s Hawks a few nights ago. In that game, Chaney was peeved by what he thought were illegal screens set against his team. So, he sent out his "Goons" to handle it. He put in Nehemiah Ingram, a 6-foot-8 forward who barely plays, to pretty much lay the hammer to anyone wearing a St. Joe’s uniform. In four minutes of game time....Ingram managed to use up all 5 of his fouls. John Bryant of St. Joe’s went up for a layup.....and Ingram threw him to the ground, giving him an arm bruise.
Since then, it is known that Bryant’s arm is actually broken....and he will miss the rest of the year.
Chaney, along with Duke's Coach K, are the only coaches that actually look like their teams mascots
After the game, Chaney defended his decision to send his "goons" in to battle. "That’s what happens", Chaney said. "When I see something wrong, I try to right it. I’m not worried about it. We don’t have any recourse. When you do it to me, I do it back to you." In fact, a few days before the game was even played, Chaney complained about "illegal screens" by St. Joe’s and said he will send in "one of my goons and have him run through one of those guys and chop him in the neck or something."
Did he think Ingram crossed the line?? "We have to try to teach him better."
Chaney, after sleeping on it I guess, did an about-face and apologized for his actions. He called Bryant and his parents to apologize and to offer financial help with any medical bills. He accepts any action the school takes against him.
John Chaney, or Temple mascot???
Chaney suspended himself for this weekend?s game against Massachusetts. The athletic program went ahead and suspended him for the rest of the regular season. So, the penalty is a mere 3 games....against Massachusetts, Rhode Island and LaSalle. He will return for the Atlantic 10 tournament in Cincinnati and, most likely, the NIT.
The school has also decided to leave the first few rows of the student section empty for Saturday?s game against the Minutemen because students were seen spitting at St. Joe?s players and cheerleaders as they walked off the court after the game.
The only other time Chaney was suspended was after a post-game news conference where Chaney threw a tirade at John Calapari [who was coaching UMASS] and threatened him with violence. Actually, he threatened to kill Calipari. In 1984, he grabbed George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob by the throat because he didn?t like what one of GW?s players were doing. In 1993 before Temple?s game with Michigan?s Fab Five, during a news conference he asked his center William Cunningham if he was "going to attack Chris Webber." The game was a brutal ugly mess that Michigan eventually won.
The fact of the matter is that this may be the beginning of the end of John Chaney. At 73-years of age, the game may really be getting to him. That?s not to say he cannot coach.....but it is to say that if he lets possible illegal screens not being called to make him want to hurt players, then he really needs to think about stepping down. He is a faculty member of the school and should be held to the same standards as his peers.
This is very sad.A few days ago, I had a conversation with some buddies about high school players running up the score. I said it is up to the coaches to "call the dogs off". In the pros...that is fine. They are paid professionals. But these are kids. High school and college kids. So, when I heard about the Temple-St. Joe?s fiasco....it really fit into what I was thinking. I mean, you are angry at officials not making certain calls....so you want to go out and hurt a kid?? Sure, legally an adult....but he?s a college student. His actions made broke one kid?s arm. Also, he made Ingram...who never got any playing time....look like a thug. The kid never gets to play....so of course he?ll do what his coach says when he finally throws him in there. He wants to make coach happy so maybe he?ll get some more minutes down the road. Not to mention, he?d like to keep his scholarship.
So the argument is, does Chaney keep his job? Hard to say. I don't think we can demand that he step down....though it may be what is best for everyone involved. If he wants to coach and the school wants him there...how can we argue?
The fight is truly here: Do we overlook these incidents since Chaney is one of college basketball best coaches of all time?? Or do we overlook his sucess on the court and deal with the issues at hand.
6 comments:
I would hope more than the 721 wins, Chaney's track record of being a good citizen is the reason he's keeping his job. I think Chaney should have been forced to sit out the rest of the season and miss as many games as the St. Joe's player he injured would. I do think that sometimes in sports we let one mistake overshadow a lifetime of good works.
As for Ingram, if there was a man who let me go to college for free, get to play basketball, and he had the power to take that away any minute, I would probably do anything the man told me to do short of killing someone. He should know better, but the fault lies mainly with the man in charge.
I don't know of any other coach who, after attacking one coach, threating to kill another coach and then finally sending in a player to "send a message" would not be fired and ridiculed over the airwaves. It is time every coach is treated the same, reguardless of how many games his or hers teams have won.Makes one wonder what sportswriters would be saying if Chaney were white.
Maybe it is the other way around. Maybe his accomplishments on the court overshadow these antics. I mean, he publicly threatened to kill another man.
"I mean, he publicly threatened to kill another man."
As a Nets fan, I can assure you he is far from the only person who at least in passing has thought of John Calipari in that way ;-).
Notice how people from Hockey Country see nothing at all wrong with sending in a goon? Even the black guys, once they pass 60 or so....it's the Northeast Mentaliteeeee!!!
Temple University has to step up.
Chaney's successor should be named right away - either to coach next season OR the following season. You can make the case, although not too many will, that Chaney should have an opportunity to redeem himself, the program and Temple University by a final season where he can, at least attempt, to show some class. BUT such a one season reprieve has to accompany the very clear message that he is finished for the terrible harm he has done to the young man from St. Joe's and to basketball, most especially Philadelphia hoops.
The fact that Chaney saw fit to coach in the NIT while young Bryant was still unable to be NIT involved shows you how very superficial Chaney's personal sense of responsibility and ethical behavior is.
We don't hear anything about the Temple leadership as it applied to their own students who spit on and mocked John Bryant when he was lying helpless on the floor, do we?
We shall see what we shall see when they get together. What's your bet?
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