Feanor

Given my background, you'd think I would be the last person to use the dreaded "r" word as applied to sports.  I mean, when was the last time you saw a white, southern, Republican male broach the subject?  But it has just become so taboo for anyone to even dare mention this on any of the message boards here (which I'm taking a temporary break from), that I feel I've got to be the one to point some things out.  It should be noted, whenever you do mention racism on these message boards, you get struck down by about 500 respondents.  Ironic that I, the abovementioned white, Republican, Alabaman am the one bringing up the race card while a zillion Obama supporters, allegedly intellectuals from the Northeast, are furiously calling me an idiot. 

Anyway, let's take a look at this phenomenon.  In the NBA, there are no coaches criticized more than Avery Johnson, Sam Mitchell, Mike Brown, Doc Rivers and Isiah Thomas.  The media and fans now seem to be looking optimistically on previously criticized coaches Scott Skiles and Mike D'Antoni after their moves to Milwaukee and New York , respectively.  I've never heard a bad word about Randy Wittman or Lawrence Frank in the media, who have notoriously underachieved with some pretty talented teams these past few years.  Wittman, in fact, was praised this last season for developing the Wolves' young talent (I guess this really depends on your definition of "developing.")  So now, if we take Isiah out of the picture, is their sufficient proof that just by mere coincidence, Rivers, Mitchell, Brown, and Avery just happen to be four of the most horrible coaches in the league?  Some would come forth and say that none of them won a championship with teams capable of doing so.  To this, I respond, has Jerry Sloan ever won a championship?  Has Stan Van Gundy?  Has Rick Adelman?  No, no, and no, but they are regarded as some of the top coaches in the league.  Coincidence that people think Van Gundy, Adelman, and Sloan are great and Avery, Mitchell, and Rivers are awful?  I think not.  Not that everyone who thinks this is outwardly racist, but you just can't help noticing the fact that all 4 guys have led their teams to the playoffs before, many times deep within, and fans/media think they are the most terrible coaches in basketball.  You can't just say it's coincidence when all four happen to be black. 

The next logical counterpoint people will bring forth is that Byron Scott won coach of the Year, as did Mitchell last year, Avery the eyar before.  We'll throw out the Mitchell and Avery examples because the media has despised them regardless of those achievements.  As for Scott, well he seems to be on the media's good side for now, but it took an outstanding achievement of completely retooling a young New Orleans team nobody thought would even make the playoffs, let alone be on the verge of a WCF Finals appearance.  A few years back, when Scott was replaced in NJ by Frank, many fans and media were pretty happy with the decision (and I would know, I was living in Jersey City at the time.) 

Now, onto the NFL.  Marvin Lewis rebuilds a laughingstock in Cincinnati and people bash him now for not making the playoffs enough, even though in the pre-Lewis era, Bengals fans would have given their right hands for the right to even compete for a playoff spot.  Tony Dungy is criticized for not being able to win the Super Bowl enough and leading teams that choke in the playoffs.  This despite the fact that the very same Manning-led Colts could not even make the playoffs under previous Head coach Jim Mora (Playoffs?!).  Bill Cowher does the same thing in Pittsburgh, but he is lauded as one of the greatest coaches of all time.  Art Shell goes 2-14 in Oakland and the media brands him a bumbling idiot who has no idea what he's doing.  Rod Marinelli goes 3-13 in Detroit and the media says not a single bad word about him and apparently still believes he is the right man in Detroit.  Dennis Green has one losing season during a 10 year tenure with Minnesota, then goes on to have several in Arizona, and fans/media now deem him unworthy of ever getting a coaching job again.  Norv Turner has one playoff appearance during a 9 year coaching tenure in Oakland and Washington, but his hire is lauded in San Diego because of the great work he did with Alex Smith (right, Smith's an outright superstar right now) during one season as SF's OC.  Turner is then praised for getting the Chargers to the AFC Championship game, something Dungy was routinely criticized for when his Colts/Bucs got there and lost.  And speaking of Bucs, I've heard nothing but praise for Jon Gruden in the national media.  What exactly has Gruden done in Tampa Bay?  He did win the Super Bowl in 2002, with a team built by Dungy, and has done basically nothing since then.  So Dungy is a bad coach for leading his team to the playoffs every year and winning the Super Bowl once, and Gruden is a great coach for winning the Super Bowl once and then eeking out two playoff losses over a 4 year span?  You cannot possible say that all these double standards are a result of mere objective criticism.  Obviously something else is at work. 

Now, this does not mean every member of the media or fan who holds these views thinks about being racist and enjoys that fact.  No, it's far more subtle than that.  The point is, you cannot deny that a double standard exists for black vs. white coaches.  The evidence is right there, staring us all in the face.  There has to be a systematic explanation for this.  Whether or not you find this discussion annoying and want it never to be brought up again, you cannot deny the truth of this double standard, in the NBA and NFL.