Sports Column

My takes on color and coaching, quirky lacrosse moves, Porter-Gross jersey retirement and Winter Hawks movie night

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Nov 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

Basketball coach Craig Robinson's hiring in Corvallis showed that color isn't an issue at Oregon State.

JONATHAN FERREY / GETTY IMAGES

Last week, a report by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida revealed that only four of the 119 Division-I football coaches are black.

The report’s co-author, Richard Lapchick, has asked the NCAA to adopt a rule mandating that minorities be interviewed for head-coaching vacancies — a college version of the NFL’s “Rooney Rule.”

Lapchick has been calling out sports organizations, college and pro, for years on the subject. Years ago, that was absolutely necessary. The view here is, that’s no longer so.

First, college and pro athletics is a business. Winning is essential to making money. Athletic directors and general managers must hire coaches who can win, or their own jobs will be on the line. Does anybody think they’re not going to hire the most-qualified candidate, regardless of color?

Second, I know the line of thinking is that Mike Tomlin would never have been hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers if not for the “Rooney Rule.” Sorry, but there are dozens of assistant coaches — white, black, Samoan — who may be deserving but never get an opportunity to interview for a head job. That’s life.

I understand having a black president doesn’t wipe away prejudice in America. Sport may be ahead of society, but I just don’t think race is an issue much anymore. When Craig Robinson was hired as basketball coach at Oregon State, the concern from virtually everyone was the same — does he have enough experience? I have heard not one word about the color of his skin.

Racists aren’t running things in college athletics or the NFL. Let’s not insult them by supposing that they are.

• Last season, Dan Dawson was a member of the Portland LumberJax of the National Lacrosse League. He was so good, coach Derek Keenan calls him “the best player in the league last year.”

This season, Dawson will play for the Boston Blazers, who chose the forward in the NLL dispersal draft.

How could that be?

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