Here's one more reason why so few people in Utah seem to miss former Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus — he's John Chaney's biggest fan.
(OK, there are plenty of other reasons not to miss Rick. For one thing, the Utes are doing just fine without Majerus, thank you, with a league championship, a national ranking and a seemingly certain trip to the NCAA tournament in the offing. And, for another, Majerus' act had worn pretty thin around here, even among the Utes' biggest fans.)
Anyway, Majerus is a Chaney fan at a time when the Temple basketball coach hasn't got a lot of supporters in the media. After the recent game against Saint Joseph's in which Chaney sent in a player he described as a "goon" to do nothing but commit fouls — and one of those fouls resulted in a Saint Joseph's player breaking his arm — Chaney has become a pariah among the TV sports media. He's been called everything from irresponsible to the worst thing that's happened to college sports since Woody Hayes.
All of which is more than a bit pious and self-righteous from the same group of people who would've said nothing if there hadn't been a broken bone involved. How many times have we seen either live coverage of basketball games or postgame highlights when sportscasters have ranged somewhere along the scale from disinterest to acceptance to understanding to chortled approval when coaches have gone with their own "goons"? It's not like that was unusual.
About the only thing surprising about what Chaney did is that he admitted to it and used the word "goon."
Chaney has had few defenders, but Majerus has been on his side. The ESPN/ABC analyst didn't blame the coach for what happened; he blamed the refs for not making the calls that Chaney wanted them to make (charging St. Joe's with illegal picks).
Assuming that Chaney was right, does that justify sending in the goons? Apparently, in Chaney and Majerus' world, two wrongs do make a right.
And Majerus also questioned why Chaney's assistants didn't keep him in check.
Was that part of the job description for Majerus' assistants when he was coaching? If so, they should've been paid a lot more.
You can agree or disagree with Majerus' assessment, but you've got to wonder about a guy who proclaims, "You'd want your son to play for him."
Which is easy to say if you don't have a son, I suppose. Although I can't imagine that most of us would want our sons to be employed as goons in a college basketball game. (And you've got to wonder how the parents of those players are feeling right now.)
"I'd like to play for him," Majerus continued.
Also easy to say because that's never going to happen.
I'm all for sports analysts expressing their opinions. And Majerus certainly has something to bring to the table, what with his many years as a successful coach.
And good for him for not jumping on the anti-Chaney bandwagon. No matter how much you think the coach erred, you've got to admit that was barrelling along on the strength of hypocritical hyperbole.
But don't tell me you'd like the son you don't have to play for him or that you'd like to play for him. Emptier words were never uttered.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com