Most of you know that I love sports. ESPN and all things sports have become a part of my daily life. Take your pick, I love pro and college sports, it doesn't really matter.
But I want to talk about college sports for a minute, and a dirty little secret in big time college football. For those of you who follow college sports, you will know by now that Auburn University fired their successful football coach, and hired a guy who was about to get fired by a lessor known football school, Iowa State. He was about to be fired because even at a non powerhouse program like Iowa State, a record of 5-19 is not acceptable. Gene Chizik might be a good man and a great motivator, but the truth of the matter is that he did not deserve to get the Auburn job. Turner Gill did.
Field, why Turner Gill? Well, Turner Gill is African American and....Oh here we go, of course, here comes field with the give it to the black guy speech. No, not quite, this time it's a give it to the best guy who happens to be black, speech. And if I did give that speech, could you think of a better group of people to give it to than the nation's top college Athletic Directors? Consider: Twenty five percent of the assistance in major college football are African American; fifty percent of the players are African American; yet only three percent of the coaches are black. That grades an "F" from the Black Coaches Association. Wouldn't it have been nice if a big time program like Auburn had stepped up to the plate and hired a qualified person of color? I don't often agree with the mouth from the South, but Charles was right about his Alma Mater this time. This shit was embarrassing.
"It’s a comment on Auburn. It’s a comment on the state of Alabama, I just feel sadness because you know what people think of the South and Alabama, things like that. And you just hope that at some point that people are going to say we’re going to change this. Or it’s just going to stay status quo...” ...I look at things from a commonsense standpoint, how do you interview Turner Gill and pick Gene Chizik over Turner Gill?"
Not only Auburn Charles. All the big time Division 1-A programs with there athletic directors, boosters, and alumni. Many of these schools are in places like Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas, where college football is their pro game. And even in places with pro teams like Georgia and Louisiana, the college football team is still the only game in town. Who do you think is more well known in Georgia, the coach of the Bulldogs or the coach of the Falcons? If you guessed the "Dawgs" you guessed right.
And now the buzz is that one reason Gill was turned down, wasn't because he is black, but because his wife is white. Yep, seems jungle fever doesn't play too well at those cocktail parties with those good ole boy boosters. They don't want to have to "guess who is coming to dinner". Oh, and we might want to add Florida assistant, Charlie Strong, to that mix. Yep, seems the white wife scuttled his chances as well. Honey I am going on a job interview. Hey, check out this new tanning bed I got you. Oh, and look at this nice wig.
Oh field stop it, you are such a race baiter. If that was the case why doesn't the black AD at Syracuse hire Gill? Isn't he in the state of New York already? (University of Buffalo) What is it field? Self racism? Maybe all these athletic directors are smarter than we are, have you ever thought of that. Maybe it's not about race? Yep, I think about it all the time. And you know what? My mind always goes back to the same thing.
"I shuddered when I read the comments of Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs, who spoke of Chizik being the “right fit” for the job. I desperately hope that had everything to do with football."
~Dick Gabrial~~
I hope so too Dick. But it doesn't matter whether it had to do with football or not. The next big black buck recruit will still be all too glad to sign on the dotted line for old Southern State U come signing day.
Some things will never change.
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