Aftermath of the Coleman/Budinger Incident gets out of hand

There was a lot of discussion this week over the incident where University of Houston player Aubrey Coleman was ejected after he stepped on the face of University of Arizona player Chase Budinger in a game last week.

Coleman was wrong and was punished by Conference USA. He even went on to issue a public apology.

End of story, right?

Think again.

Coleman is black and Budinger is white, so you know where this is going.

There’s a story out today that says since the incident Coleman has been receiving “racially charged emails and calls.”

The FBI is also getting involved, but will not confirm or deny an investigation.

Of course Coleman isn’t taking this lightly telling Andy Katz at ESPN.com, “There’s been a lot of racial slurs. It’s crazy. I saved the e-mails. I haven’t been contacted, but I do know the police and the FBI were at the practices to make sure everything was safe.

“I’ve been very depressed on how the public and the media put this out, like I did it on purpose,” Coleman said. “I wish it didn’t happen. I’m not that type of person. Chase is a great player and I would never try to do that.”

Obviously Houston coach Tom Penders is quite upset that one of his players and his team is being targeted by a bunch of nuts.

“He [Coleman] attempted to step over Chase; at no time did he mean to hurt the kid,” Penders said. “It’s clear on the replay that he never touches his face, but his shoulder.”

Arizona and Budinger haven’t commented on the issue yet, but I would hope they are as upset as everyone at Houston is, and reassures everyone that the callers and emailers do not reflect them and the fine program at Arizona.

Weren’t we just celebrating the beginning of change in this country a week ago?

Oh well. You know what they say, the more things change….