Posted on 02/25/2005 8:52:54 AM PST by BlackRazor
Chaney's punishment should be dismissal, not suspension
Feb. 24, 2005
By Gregg Doyel
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
No more excuses for John Chaney. No more explanations, no more minced words.
Temple coach John Chaney has had a handful of run-ins. The Hall of Fame coach from Temple perpetrated a crime on college basketball this week, and the punishment for that crime should be an immediate dismissal.
In Temple's 63-56 loss Tuesday to Saint Joseph's, Chaney sent in a goon -- his word, goon -- to send a message. That message went all the way to a hospital in Philadelphia, where Saint Joseph's forward John Bryant was diagnosed Thursday with a broken arm.
Chaney sent a player into the game for the express purpose of roughing up Saint Joseph's, and the result was the probable end of John Bryant's career.
And so should end John Chaney's career.
Earlier Wednesday, before anyone knew the severity of Bryant's injury, Chaney suspended himself for the Owls' next game, Saturday against Massachusetts.
That gesture, before any of us knew about Bryant's broken bone, looked noble enough. Now it looks hollow. What happened Tuesday night wasn't an act of passion. Chaney was upset with the officials for allowing the Hawks to set what he felt were illegal screens, but sending in his goon was no fateful, split-second decision. One day earlier, he had told the media that he would take action if the Hawks continued with their illegal screens.
On Tuesday, that action was named Nehemiah Ingram. He stands 6-foot-8, weighs 250 pounds and plays almost never. He averages 0.4 points and 0.0 assists per game, not that Chaney called on Ingram on Tuesday to score or pass. He called on Ingram to get rough, and Ingram did -- fouling out in four minutes, including a technical foul.
The result was a disaster, right down to Ingram's stupid shove of Bryant at the end of a layup. Bryant landed hard, and probably won't play again this season. Because he's a senior, he probably won't play again. It's too late to redshirt, and he's not good enough to play overseas. His career, in effect, is over.
And Chaney will miss one game? Not good enough. At the least -- the very least -- Chaney should match Bryant on a game-for-game basis. Bryant's out? Chaney's out, too. If Bryant doesn't return this season, neither should Chaney.
And after this season, a Temple administration that has kowtowed to Chaney needs to take a hard look at the kind of man Chaney has become. Or the kind of man he has been all along.
For years, we've looked the other way. All of us have. Chaney once grabbed the neck of a rival coach, George Washington's Gerry Gimelstob, in 1984. Everyone looked the other way. That's just John Chaney.
Chaney once threatened to kill a rival coach, Massachusetts' John Calipari, in 1994. The threat was captured on video. It was embarrassing, a career-ending move for most coaches. Not for Chaney. Everyone looked the other way.
Last month, Chaney lit into President Bush's stance on Iraq during a Philadelphia sports writers dinner. That was inappropriate -- members of the audience had come to honor Chaney's 700 career victories, not listen to his politics -- but acceptable. But when several members of the audience heckled Chaney as he spoke, saying he was ruining the evening, the Temple coach asked one of them to step outside.
Not acceptable. But everyone looked the other way, even me. Grumpy old men, I wrote the next day. Forgivable, I wrote.
Forgive me. I'm part of the problem. Me and every other sports writer who has been so impressed by Chaney's mission -- to graduate young men; to make them better in basketball and better in life, and not in that order -- that we were blind to the whole picture.
If Bob Knight grabbed another coach around the neck, would Knight still be coaching? Maybe, but maybe not. If Mike Davis threatened to kill another coach, would Davis still be coaching? Probably not. They haven't built up the same level of media equity enjoyed by Chaney.
With the X-ray that confirmed Bryant's broken arm, Chaney's equity should be gone. It probably should have been gone long before, but hey, Chaney didn't really choke Gimelstob. And he didn't really kill Calipari. And he didn't really beat up a heckler at that Philadelphia banquet.
Well, guess what? This time, he really did it. Chaney really hurt Bryant. No, he wasn't the one who gave the airborne Bryant that fateful and unnecessary shove, but he might as well.
Time to go, John Chaney. You were good for the game for a lot of years, but now the game is too good for you.
The free ride is over. You are no longer what we want to believe you are, John Chaney. You simply are what you do.
And you've done too many unforgivable things to be forgiven this.
Temple/Chaney ping!
He's such a tool. I smell a lawsuit.
PING
Did something happen in the last five years that's made Chaney snap?
They have a poll posted on the site -- vote if you have an opinion.
I think he shoud be fired!
He's a black democrat, so he won't be fired.
If Bobby Knight would have done this the liberal sports writers would be all over him. It would be 24 hours non-stop of the history of Bob Knight abuses.
He's black.
He's untouchable.
He can do just about anything he wants and suffer no repercussions from it.
Hell of a commentary on Big-time NCAA sports and the leaders of this Collegiate undertaking. It is almost time to start reforming these esteemed Institutions from outside-in.
BTW, I got some original art-work from Ebay, some crazy horse prints...man o man.
"He's black."
__________________________________
I was just about to ask for a picture. Not knowing the man, you've confirmed my suspicions.
Flame away......
I agree with the sentiment of the article. Chaney has gotten a free ride for far too long. I'd suspend him for a year -- without pay -- and put him on notice that the next time he pulls a stunt that brings dishonor on the University he will be fired. My guess is that Chaney would quit in a huff. THAT would be even better than a firing, IMHO.
You guys know what, after seeing the replay again this morning (I was mostly awake for it this time) and the report of the kid's arm being broken, I admit I was on the extreme low end of what the punishment should be.
Not only that, but the pure insult to the kid that he called a goon. Great comment there coach, what a moron!!
At the very very least, the suspension (should you go that way) should be the rest of the year to include any postseason and any time deemed necessary for next season. I too think he should be canned for this incident.
the A-10 commish is a wimp so I dont think any of that will happen though....
If he were a hockey coach, no one would be breathing a word of criticism.
What league is Temple in?
Isn't this a league commissioner's decision?
The incident was not racial. A basketball coach (black) sent out a "goon" hit-man (black) with a resulting victim (black).
However, the 'racial' overtone, could be from the Temple President (white), the A-10 Commissioner (white) unwilling to act with the proper action against the perpetrator of this incident.
Linda Bruno - Atlantic 10 Commissioner
David Adamany - Temple University President
John Chaney - Temple Basketball Coach
John Bryant - St. Joseph's Basketball Player
My reason in stating "He's black" was racial...but not for the reason you gave.
I believe that there's a reluctance to fire high-profile blacks (such as Chaney) because of the resulting noise from the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons who'll scream "racism" at the drop of a hat.
At the minimum, Chaney should have been roundly punished for his death threat against John Calipari.
But this episode goes way too far. If Woody Hayes had to step down at Ohio State for going after a football player, then Chaney should be forced out with this more serious episode.
His suspension of himself is a total farce. If he has the power to suspend himself, why doesn't he just forgive himself? What a joke! Hit the road, Chaney. Temple will survive without you.
Go 'Nova!
Not always...The Orlando Magic canned Doc Rivers. Of course they lost a lot, even with T-Mac when they had him.
Ohio State sh*tcanned Randy Ayers for recruiting the fugitives from the chain gang and creating the resulting legal problems that destroyed their program for a few years.
Of course the Pittsburgh Pirates NEED to fire Lloyd McClendon, but because he sucks as a manager, not because of his color. I could get better production out of their talented young players than he has.....
Chaney should be long gone.
But he was held up as a role model in the past, so, most likely, nothing will be done.
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