National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentJanuary 26, 1998
Guest editorial -- Football must address race in hiring process
BY RUDY WASHINGTON Logic and reasoning didn't bring black coaches into the system, but now they are being used to exclude us.
A couple of years ago, there seemed to be a sense of urgency and a sense of social consciousness to at least adjust the scales of justice in the hiring process, but with the apparent death of affirmative action, that is no longer a concern of athletics directors and college presidents. In 1997, 23 or 24 Division I schools with head coaching vacancies passed on the opportunity to hire an African-American football coach. Many chose not to even give a credible interview. This past season, eight of 112 Division I-A head football coaches were black and two of the eight are no longer at Division I-A schools. Nobody has hired an African-American coach so far this year. For the record, the numbers are as follows:
Many athletics directors still use the age-old excuse that they can't find qualified minorities. Then they turn around and hire a .500 or below .500 coach and, in some cases, a coach who has been trained by an African-American coach. If you were honest with yourself, you would acknowledge that comfort is the common denominator in most hires. I receive calls all year long on minority candidates, and I know that some of this is just to cover administrators in the hiring process. When is enough enough? Is this the time to stop college football or make a very dramatic gesture to get the country's attention? Or should we start identifying schools that are insensitive to African-Americans? Or maybe the government should get involved? African-American coaches have become victims of an intellectual violence, where words and philosophies have become bullets, where the old boys' network is alive and well, and where short lists are passed from friend to friend. Who is capable of changing the process? I'll tell you who: Joe Paterno, Don Nehlen, Hayden Fry, John Cooper, Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier and the likes. Mike Price of Washington State University made a commitment to hire a minority last year, and he found himself at the one place where there are plenty of qualified candidates, the Black Coaches Association national convention. I'm sure that same conviction was one of the reasons he was in the Rose Bowl this year. The Black Coaches Association has always prepared -- and will continue to prepare -- our coaches for success. The following is a small sample of seminars that take place at our conventions:
In February, a coaching-in-excellence seminar produced by the Black Coaches Association and hosted by Bill Walsh and Jimmy Johnson will take place in the Miami Dolphins training camp. Last year, the San Francisco 49ers hosted the seminar at their training facility. Our coaches take their football seriously; if only they were taken seriously. Let's be candid about this. We know that every decision against African-Americans is not a racist one, but many of our colleagues feel intimidated by the thought of the accusation. Here is a common thought: "If I hire an African-American, I'll never be able to fire him without some serious repercussions. It could even hurt my career if he alleges racism." This may surprise some of you, but we are intelligent, socially responsible individuals and we are very capable of making a rational decision if we are given an honest opportunity to evaluate the situation. You would be surprised what an open and honest conversation would do to ease tensions. But many times, covert activities seem to prevail in these situations. In the very near future, a group of African-American football coaches will convene to discuss the situation and set in place a strategy to balance the scales of justice. We can't wait any longer for the athletics powers to do the right thing; they must be forced to act right. I have always preferred the direct approach. In fact, that's the beauty of bluntness. It engages the strong and intimidates the weak. If I have overestimated you, I apologize. Rudy Washington is executive director of the Black Coaches Association. Letter to the Editor -- Doctors should assign minimum weightAs a former collegiate wrestler, I have become both appalled and angered at the recent news of the deaths of three collegiate wrestlers. These tragic incidents have given our fine sport a black eye and one that is deserved. Dangerous weight loss must be stopped -- now. Each year, it seems that the NCAA comes up with some new controls of weight loss for wrestling. All of these so-called controls are useless except one the NCAA has yet to institute: mandating that all wrestlers have their body fat calibrated and by using a proven medical formula establishing a minimum weight at which a particular wrestler is allowed to compete. This is really the only solution. Each wrestler would be given a standard form that would be completed by a medical doctor establishing his minimum weight. These forms, which could be completed only during September and October (right before the start of the wrestling season) would be required to be on file in the athletics director's office before the start of each season. The forms also would be available for public inspection. Take the necessary action. The great sport of wrestling deserves it.
Greg Sirb Opinions -- Wrestling community looks toward long-term answers
Evans Celestin, wrestler "There's going to be a lot more pure wrestling now. The difference is you (won't have time to) worry about getting your strength back. You'll have to be ready to wrestle, basically, when you step on the scale."
Stephen Papadopoulos, neurosurgeon "Cutting weight is a long-term cultural problem with wrestling that has gone on for decades. The NCAA rules are a short-term fix, but we need to change the culture through education."
Greg Strobel, wrestling coach "Education is the key to the problem. Otherwise, guys are still going to cut weight and they're still going to do it wrong."
Chris Taylor, wrestling coach "One of the things you try to do as a coach is to build that self-discipline. Wrestling is an endurance sport and there is the need for mental preparation to push yourself when you are fatigued. "There are two things involved. One is trying to lose weight by pushing yourself to extreme dehydration. The other is pushing your body to an extreme level of fatigue. One is OK because you can rehydrate. The other is OK. Together, they are not OK."
Tom Ryan, wrestling coach "People have been cutting weight like this for years. These deaths obviously were unfortunate but they brought light to something that's been taken for granted for many years.... This really forces people to concentrate on the sport year-round from a nutrition standpoint.... It takes crash dieting out of the sport. You have to be at the weight that you're at maximum strength and the lowest safe body weight you can be."
Tim Neumann, wrestling coach "They wanted to take away any incentive to cut water through dehydration, but 90 percent of wrestlers cut more than seven pounds anyway. The NCAA felt they had to do something real quick. It was a knee-jerk reaction.... The NCAA has allowed weight cutting for 75 years. And now they say don't do it. It's kind of like what we did 25 years ago in wrestling. We've gone in a great big circle, and it's frustrating."
Americans With Disabilities ActDiscussing Casey Martin, the professional golfer who is suing the PGA to use an electric cart because of a circulatory condition that makes it too painful for him to walk and compete:
Raymond J. Keating, chief economist "It's easy to sympathize with Martin. But his case shouldn't be resolved in a courtroom. It's based on a rotten law. "The ADA, passed in 1990, had the seemingly innocent purpose of banning discrimination against the disabled in employment and 'public accommodation.' Businesses would be forced only to make 'reasonable accommodations' for disabled workers without 'undue burden.' "But ADA is surprisingly vague and overly broad, leaving regulators and courts with near-total discretion to decide how the law should be enforced. "In practice, state and local governments and especially businesses have borne a heavy burden under ADA. Tales of frivolous and costly lawsuits abound. "Sports certainly haven't been excluded from ADA's reach. But until now, the law had been limited to issues such as wheelchair access in arenas and stadiums and whether NCAA eligibility rules discriminated against students with 'learning disabilities.' "Six years ago, a man won an ADA suit against Little League Baseball over its safety ban against coaches in wheelchairs in the first- and third-base coaching boxes. "But Casey Martin's case goes farther than that by challenging the fundamental rules of how a sport is played. "Anyone cherishing limited government and the game of golf must hope that Martin fails in his quest to ride. For once in the realm of government, sound reasoning must prevail over feel-good laws."
Greg Stoda, sportswriter "You get the feeling that if (PGA Commissioner Tim) Finchem eventually wins in court, he'd like nothing better than to take the Lakeland win and $40,500 away from Martin and award the title and difference in earnings to runner-up Steve Lamontagne. "The irony in all of this, of course, is that the PGA Tour makes outstanding financial and personal contributions to charity every year. As a corporation, the PGA Tour is proud of Martin and his success in golf. As a corporation, it wishes Martin all the best ... as long as he pursues some other job within the industry. "The message is clear: You can play, kid. We just don't want you playing with us. "Never mind that Martin started playing golf in the first place primarily because it was a game his disability allowed him to play. One of the most wonderful aspects of the game and something that made it so appealing to Martin is now being used against him. " 'He wouldn't be what he is without golf,' said Martin's father, King, a stockbroker in Eugene, Oregon. "Is there a reply for that one, commissioner? "Those people opposed to allowing Martin the use of a cart are careful to point out that they harbor no personal animosity toward him. They ask, instead, where to draw the line on assistance. "Easy. You draw it here. Not at Rocco Mediate's bad back or Bill Glasson's sore legs or Jose Maria Olazabal's tender feet. You draw it and give Martin a chance to show others the way. To give others hope. "Finchem, though, wants to avoid having to draw any line. "During the Mercedes Championships on the PGA Tour last week, Finchem opined that professional golf is an athletic sport. "That's a matter of debate, quite frankly. (If you can smoke while you play, is it really an athletic endeavor?) But accepting Finchem's premise and contrasting it with the PGA Tour policy on carts leads to other issues. "Let's eliminate caddies aligning players before shots. Let's allow only the contestant to read the line of a putt. Let's ban yardage books and pin-location sheets. "Heck, let's make the guys carry their own bags. "And if the PGA Tour forces Martin out of his cart, then it should do the same to competitors on the Senior PGA Tour, where players are allowed to ride. There are a lot of men among the 50-and-older set who are far more capable than Martin when it comes to walking a golf course."
Women's basketball
Carol Ross, women's basketball coach Discussing the effect of women's professional basketball leagues on women's college basketball: "It has drawn a lot of interest to our sport that, hopefully, we will be able to benefit from. The educated fans will watch the sport on TV. Also, I think it motivates our players. I think players are much more in tune to having a career after college ball, which makes them more fun to coach, because they're more inspired and motivated. Certainly, athletes are goal-oriented and competitive anyway, and it gives them something new to try and achieve."
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African-American football coaches were locked out from Division I-A head coaching positions again this year. But you and I know it's nothing new. African-Americans never have constituted as much as 10 percent of Division I-A coaches.