Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Brother Bowl and what it really means....
That we have a long way to go. Bottom line. In case you've been submerged in different forms of work, schooling, or you just don't give a damn about sports, the Super Bowl, the National Football Leagues's championship game and one of the premier events in the world, will feature a black head coach for the first time...on both sides of the field.Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith beat his mentor and friend, Indianapolis Colts head man Tony Dungy, by a couple of hours when the Bears defeated America's New Team, the New Orleans Saints 39-14 in the NFC title game. Dungy, probably the one of the more respected men in sports, finally got to the chip when his Colts pulled off a stunning 38-34 victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC title game.
So you can imagine with Super Bowl media week coming up, one can only imagine the line of questioning these worthy men will face. It underscores the fact that since we are talking about it (and YES, it is important), that racial equity, not just in sports, or in journalism, but as a whole still leaves a lot to be desired. This is only the second time in American pro sports history that two black coaches will face off in a league championship. The only other time? The 1975 NBA Finals, when Al Attles' Golden State Warriors bested K.C. Jones and the team known then as the Washington Bullets 4 games to 0. 32 years. Strides, yes. Journey completed, hell no.
Those in sports old enough to remember Al Campanis' disparaging remarks about the intellect of black baseball players and coaches and Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder's insightful thoughts on slave breeding creating superior black athletes, will remember that it was just less than 20 years ago when these remarks were made. In my generation's lifetime. People can make 20 years seem like forever, but in the fight against racism, bigotry and bias, it's a small window of time that apparently won't close without a fight.
So by no means is the fight for racial equity over. We've got has-been comics calling us "niggers," Affirmative Action being threatened in a time where the Good Ol' Boy network still seems to be thriving on all levels, stereotypes gaining steam thanks to VH1 and other foolishness, and of course an insane government regime ripe with acts setting us up to fail. We as black folk still need to raise hell, protest and show the world that we are worthy of equal treatment and opportunity. Just like Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith will do February 4th in Miami, Florida. continue...
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