Last week, a ugly incident occurred in the Temple vs. St. Joseph, men's basketball game. Temple's coach, John Chaney allegedly inserted Nehemiah Ingram in the game to "send a message" to the players on the other team, for what he believed to be "illegal screens," which were not whistled by the referees. The end result of Nehemiah's rough housing left St. Joseph's John Bryant on his back with a broken arm.

Cheney has accepted a suspension throughout the Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament and the rest of the season. This week, I have heard individuals calling for his firing. To me this is unbelievable that people feel this way, in spite of how much rough play is applauded in baseball and hockey. These same sportswriters admire hard body checks in hockey, and call a pitcher, who purposely hits another player on the opposing team, a hero or doing his job. Basketball is not finesse sport, and I am sure, John Chaney did not want Nehemiah Ingram to hit Bryant, flush as he was defenseless in the air. Please realize the only reason this incident is getting so much airtime, is because John Bryant's arm was broken.

As a football coach, you do not have to tell your players to get after someone in a game. It is perfectly legal to knock someone silly within the boundaries of the football game. That does not mean that you are trying to end someone's season, but you could without having actions that contain malice. The same applies when a pitchers hits a batter on purpose, or a hockey player jams an opposing player against the glass, however it is your intent that matters most in any unfortunate situation. If Chaney wanted someone to be hurt, then fire him. I would have no qualms with that decision, if that was his intention of putting Ingram in the game. Yet if Temple's Chaney only wanted to even the score, in regards to hard screens in the game, then the suspension is justifiable. For it is not acceptable for a basketball coach to ask a player "to send a message," but solely to the fact; we do not want players to believe they have been given a green light to hurt someone.

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