Last night after the NCAA Championship game I was listening to ESPN radio and commentator John Thompson, former coach at Georgetown mentioned how important it was that UCONN's winning coach, Kevin Ollie, was an African American. What the hell difference does it make whether Ollie is black, white, purple or green. He is obviously a very good coach since he was able to coach his underdog team to the National Title. What if Kentucky had won? And if somebody like Dick Vitale had said how important it was that John Calipari was Italian American? Or even said how important it was that he is a white man. He would be fired instantly. Basketball is the sport that gives black coaches more opportunity than any other sport.
commentators will make statements about things they think are important weather it really is or not. I will point out that UConn had more white people on the court than Kentucky. I guess blacks and whites can celebrate something.....as if that shit really matters.
Or how about if someone made mention of how important it was that there was at least one white player on the court? It is time to let race totally go. The young men on the court were on the court because they were the best players available at that time. Same goes for the coaches.
It matters because a black man won the championship and that is supposed to equate to more black men getting coaching jobs. Who cares if he can coach or not (which Kevin obviously can), I agree with @KyleK this has been played out. Time to move on.
Related....ESPN talking this morning about how - like he does at this time every year - Henry Aaron came out and said there aren't enough black men in major league baseball. Henry, its not because they are being denied the right, its because young black men with the ability to play professional sports are gravitating to basketball or football, because baseball is boring. Also, you can make big money in those sports faster than you can in baseball. Sometimes; not always, but sometimes, its not about discrimination.
There is huge money in baseball and there is no salary cap. For a group of your inner city kids to play a pickup game of basketball all they need is a ball and a court. Basketball courts are everywhere. And you don't need a large group of people to play. If you don't have 10 players you can play 4 on 4, 3 on 3, 2 on 2 or even 1 on 1 and you are still developing your basketball skills. To play baseball you have to have a lot more players, a big field, and equipment that is more expensive than a basketball or a football
very true. not one team would turn down a black player with considerable skills. on the same token, Larry Bird was quoted saying there are not enough white superstars in the NBA.
There certainly aren't very many white players, much less white superstars in the NBA. Perhaps its because the people who are in the league are better than the ones who aren't.
It's more than money. Major League baseball pays higher salaries than any league except the NBA. And I don't think that the numbers are all that low. Blacks are about 12% of the population and they range from 8 to 10% of MLB. Not too far off. They just don't have the dominance that they have in the NBA and the NFL because baseball is more competitive for a wider range of people. Baseball is not a sport in which exceptional agility, strength, and speed are required to be exceptional. Fat slow guys like Babe Ruth can be the friggin' biggest name in the game. Skills like keen hand/eye coordination, accurate throwing, and situational awareness can trump the ability to jump high and run.
true, but 2 top 10 players imo are white, Kevin Love is 5 on my list and Dirk is 10 or was at one point.
