Cheney...not the Vice President

Alright, so Temple's in a little bit of a mess right now. I agree. Nobody likes it when someone gets hurt out on the court. In case you haven't heard, (which only means you haven't read anything about sports over the last week) Temple's coach John Chaney told a player to go in the game against St. Joes and foul hard. Well, foul he did, and ended up breaking another player's arm.

So Chaney suspended himself a game, then Temple suspended him for more, and now he's voluntarily sitting out the A-10 tournament.

Why all the big fuss? I think it's because the press needs something to jump on. I grew up playing basketball--many boys do--and I was taught from as young as 6 years old in YMCA ball, that if you're gonna foul, foul hard. You don't want them making the shot and getting a free throw. I've had coaches tell me numerous time (as well as the whole team) "foul him hard. Stop the clock and don't let them score." Or, "foul him hard so he thinks twice about coming into the lane again."

No, it was not a headhunting licence. No, I was never asked to purposely go into a game and break a guy's arm. But from what I can tell, Chaney didn't say that either. He said to go in and commit hard fouls. If he had the intention of hurting St. Joes players, he will pay for that sin in the next life, but until I see proof that is what he wanted, let's let this hall-of-fame coach live with his guilt, his suspensions, and take him down off the cross.

Besides, it's not gonna stop the YMCA coaches from teaching hard fouls to our first graders.