The Darker Shade of Sports

As the world cup has reached its version of the final four with Uruguay, Netherlands, Spain and Germany all vying for a shot at the Championship match held in Cape Town, South Africa.   I could not help but wonder if the games really made much of an impact here in the USA, sure the TV screens were tuned in at the local bars, taverns and restaurants across the country as team USA tried to advance on the big stage and the media blitz of snapshots we experienced of the often talked about but never really appreciated melting pot of fans rooting for the team , while I expect a few secretly enjoyed watching the demise of the team as there is still a hint of anti American sentiment that was prevalent in the last World cup games. Unfortunately for team USA their hopes and aspiration were once again dashed, as they were defeated for the 2^nd time in 4 years by Ghana and with it went the viewership.  The pundits will point to the increase of Patriotic pride and overall revenue as a direct result of the world’s largest sporting event, but let’s take a closer look and examine this phenomena, I find it hypocritical that we saw so many images of fans Black, White, and Hispanic sitting together with a rooting interest, when after the camera’s lights turn off and the hoopla fades these same individuals will travel back to their segregated neighborhoods and blame the others for their roles in the decline of the moral fabric and economic downturn. This country has a real challenge with race, yet for some reason it seems there is at least one thing that can pull us together at least for 2-3 hours and that is our common interest in rooting for our favorite team to win.  Secondly despite all of the hype surrounding the world cup I believe it will do little to elevate the status of soccer as a primary sport in the US, joining the family of baseball, football, hockey and basketball.

Soccer in this country is still regarded as an affluent suburban sport; the word suburban is just another clever marketing term for white middle and upper class, in the same way as the word Urban is used to represent the Black population of inner cities. You don’t believe me? Quick what image comes to your mind when you hear the word soccer mom? See what I mean, I doubt many of you thought about the Ethiopian mom driving a caravan of youths eager to get to the soccer field. How many caravan commercials on television re-enforce this stereotype? One of the attractions of the world cup for the average fan is that you get to witness many of the teams from what are considered third world and under developed countries perform and compete at a high level while admiring the diversity of their rosters.  However when we think of the sport of soccer in this country, rarely do you think of the Salvadorian, African, Caribbean, and Asian athletes playing at the local dilapidated fields. Maybe it’s because it’ s a rare site indeed to see a group of youths just pick up and go to soccer field in the same manner you can watch a group of teens play pick- up basketball.

 I’m sure some of you are thinking, if the men’s team had gone further maybe it could have added some infusion of the sport in the same way the women did a few years back, with Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain who became an overnight sensation after taking off her shirt, much to the delight of males everywhere, funny how this was exalted as pure passion, yet when the Williams sisters wear revealing outfits they are maligned, but that’s another story for another time, also does anyone remember Briana Scurry she was the African American goal keeper on that championship team who never received the same adulation and endorsement deals as her white counterparts another missed opportunity to grow the appeal of the sport and embrace the diversity.

The energy and momentum of the women’s victory was short lived, including the now defunct professional women’s’ soccer league that soon followed sure there was an increase in girls youth programs, but the overall feeling and imagery of soccer has not changed.  Soccer has a long way to go to really be accepted in this country and join the Big Four, and that’s too bad, because it’s the one sport that actually cuts across many demographics and truly represents the face of America as we know it today.

Lessons to be learned from the 2010 NBA Finals

As I sit inside listening to the thunder and rain that is pounding against the pavement of my front steps I’ve decided to reflect on a couple of questions that have arisen and how to connect them to the upcoming NBA finals. Why do people find it necessary to search outside of their circle for the talents and resources they need to get ahead? Why is it that so many don’t recognize or appreciate the talented people that are within their reach? I like so many others stand guilty as charged in acknowledging that for some reason it is hard to see those people, places and things that can help us achieve success because they are so close and people tend to overlook or take things we see on a regular basis for granted.  When it comes to contemplating what is needed to achieve success there is a broad mentality that somehow what we need is “Out there” if we can just connect with the right person place or thing then somehow all of the stars will align and we’ll be on our way. The problem with this philosophy is that it induces us to look beyond those valuable resources that sit right under our nose. There’s a proclivity to look toward the horizon for that superstar or something special that will lead us to the Promised Land.

As I prepare to watch the 2010 NBA finals between two of the most storied and successful programs in the history of team sports, compete for the right to be crowned champion, one of the traits I admire about them both is their ability to appreciate every person on the roster including the coaches and trainers and the strengths and talents each brings. A great example of looking within your circle occurs when a head coach goes to the bench to find that player, who can make things happen, give the team a spark and change the tempo of the game, hence Nate Robinson’s performance in the pivotal game 6 of the Eastern Conference Championship.  This is why theCeltics and Lakers are consistently vying for championships and not sitting home.  These two teams understand that every person has a job to do and the team that maximizes and receives the best output from their respective units will bring home the title complete with a parade. Championship teams master living in the moment, they don’t waste valuable time and energy looking beyond their current circumstances, or gazing into the future for answers. At the conclusion of the season they will address any shortcomings and make moves to correct them, but while they are at the doorstep of greatness they have learned to appreciate the individuals within their circle and live or die with that.  I think we as individuals should take a page out of their playbooks and begin to appreciate those individuals within our grasp, stop looking past your bench players who may already possess the talents you seek. Tap into the treasures in your backyard and begin to recognize the unlimited potential of others; the answers you seek to help you achieve victory in life may stand just a few feet away.

Last week I served as a moderator for a panel on how to use the athletic skills you’ve obtained as a college athlete to land a job in the real world.  The panel was made up of 3 former college athletes who were more than willing to share their experiences and success strategies with the current student-athletes in the room who were hanging on their every word.  I asked them a series of questions and as I listened intently to their answers a few common themes emerged on the benefits of athletics and how they transfer:

1.       Healthy Lifestyle

2.       Leadership

3.       Discipline

4.       Teamwork

5.       Networking

I thought these were all great qualities and traits along with the importance of finding mentors.  It was on the subject of mentoring that I really pressed the panel, as this is an area that people often mention as a key to success, but I wondered how many of us really know how to choose a mentor? What makes a good mentor? I asked for specific strategies to identify mentors or approach them especially if your personality is one of quietness and shyness?  The panel had some great suggestions from developing relationships with professors, utilizing the career center on campus, getting involved on campus beyond sports, exchange business cards, having the courage to step out of your comfort zone to send a massive e-blast asking for Help! Etc. These were great strategies for contacting and networking with possible mentors, but the question still remained; what makes a good mentor? Is it someone who is older, wealthy, better educated, similar career paths, shared ethnicity and demographics? If mentoring is a key to success, why then are so few people willing to become one?  

In my book “An Unsung Coach” I advise that a mentor should be someone you respect as a person, their morals, ethics and values should all line up, a mentor doesn’t have to be someone who has a lot of wealth, college education, or hold a powerful position. A mentor should be someone you admire respect and trust, they should posses qualities that you can emulate, but not to the point where you morph into a carbon copy.  One of the most influential mentors in my life was a man named Hollywood (not his real name), he never attended college, though it was an aspiration; fact is he never got past middle school, before dropping out, but even in his forties he was working and studying for his GED; he believed in education and often encouraged the young people he came in contact with to finish school, Hollywood received his education from the school of hard knocks, he obtained a Masters Degree in street hustling.  

 Although Hollywood didn’t have a lot of book knowledge he knew the art of survival. He often read materials on finance and real estate and learned the game well enough to purchase a condo, nice ride and put food on his table before he lost his battle with the Demons and relapsed. Unfortunately he lost everything and eventually passed away. Hollywood and I would spend hours engaged in long conversations on creating wealth and laughing at the so called playa’s, he explained to me that real “Playa’s and hustler’s were gifted in holding their own in the corporate boardroom and on the street corner, they knew how to straddle the line, without losing credibility on either side.  Hollywood didn’t realize it at the time, but the impact of his wisdom left an everlasting impression on me that resonates to this day and I miss him, it’s funny as much as he thought he was getting out of our conversations he had no idea that he gave me so much.  Hollywood was very instrumental in pushing me to purchase my first home. He stressed the importance of establishing a foundation for wealth through owning not renting; imagine that a former street hustler schooled me on the value of building wealth.  As you can see identifying a mentor is tougher than it appears the traits and background of potential candidates vary, be careful not to have a prototype in mind as some of the best mentors may not come in the ideal package.

A couple of days ago a good friend from the state of Texas called to get my opinion on the double standard of punishment for violent acts between male and female athletes. He started the conversation by referencing the 2 game suspension of Baylor women’s basketball phenom Brittney Griner for punching a player from Texas Tech in the face and breaking her nose,Griner Punch, he asked if that were a guy from Kentucky do you think he would have just received a 2 game suspension?  I easily answered the question with an emphatic “NO” and used the example of Lagerrette Blount the Oregon football player who punched a player from Boise State in the face at the conclusion of the gameBlount punch . Blount’s season was virtually ruined and he was vilified across the country by everyone from the media to the common fan. The question becomes why the double standard ? there is no clear or easy answer, however what I find interesting about both cases is that both perpetrators were African American athletes who punched white athletes, how would this have played differently if the white athletes assaulted the black athletes? especially in the arena of football and basketball where African Americans are thought to dominate and not be challenged by their white counterparts, after all sports is the one area where many blacks feel superior to whites or at least feel that if all things being equal they can beat them unlike corporate America.  Secondly the fact that male athletes receive harsher sentences is counter intuitive to a culture that breeds competition and winning at all costs, raking in huge profits while encouraging a “Swag”or macho attitude of earning respect. Lastly  I think there is a severe back lash when the assailant is an African American male as oppose to a female as in this case with Griner, because of the negative stereotype that is associated with the black male athlete of being nothing more than a glorified “Thug”.  I doubt the purists of women sports who championed and fought for title IX were looking for preferential treatment when it came to holding female athletes equally accountable for their actions on and off the playing surfaces. However to date to the best of my knowledge none of the feminists groups, coaches or advocates have come out and made a statement on the minor suspension of Griner and how the NCAA and universities unfairly punish male athletes more harshly for the same offenses. I am not attacking Griner, I chalk up her actions to a young person who simply lost her composure, which does not make it right, however I’m not naive to forget what its like to be young and have your emotions get the best of you and override common sense, but I am questioning how the cases differ? how can she get a slap on the wrist for breaking a players nose while male athletes lose their seasons and reputations. Maybe its because men sports impact the bottom line of a university in a greater way and negative publicity upsets the fan base, and corporate sponsors or perhaps because they are simply more visible, whatever the reasons the NCAA needs to carefully examine these occurrences as violence in sports is becoming increasingly common especially in women sports and we can no longer turn the other CHEEK!

With the recent completion of the NBA All Star game held in Dallas, TX in which the East edged the West squad 141-139 and Dwyane Wade being named the MVP and the upcoming Frenzy aka March Madness, I thought it was fitting to remember the first African American that broke the color barrier in the sport of Basketball.                                                        

Harry Haskell “Bucky” Lew (January 4, 1884 in Lowell, Massachusetts - 1963) was the first African American to play in a professional basketball game. Lew played in a New England League game for Lowell against Marlborough on November 2, 1902, the first documented instance of an African-American playing in a professional basketball game. Harry Lew was born in Lowell in 1884 to an African-American family with a long and illustrious history in Massachusetts. His great-great-grandfather, Barzillai Lew, was a free black man who purchased the freedom of his future wife for $400. A gifted musician, he served in the Revolutionary War. He played the fife at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and years later at General Burgoyne’s surrender after the Battle of Saratoga. Henry Lew’s grandparents’ home in Lowell was a stop on the Underground Railroad. His father, William, was a delegate to the 1891 Equal Rights Convention in Boston.

He came of age in the Jim Crow era when “separate but equal” kept blacks and whites in different worlds, in the North as well as the South. Breaking the color barrier on a Lowell basketball court was not easy. Bucky Lew was a talented musician—he played a violin solo at his graduation from Lowell High School — an excellent student, and an extraordinary basketball player. According to one of his teammates, he was “the best double dribbler he had ever seen” (double dribbling was legal at the time). A brilliant defensive player, he was always chosen to guard the best player on any opposing team. But when Lew first took the court against white men, his skillful play was met with jeers and racial slurs.

After leading the local YMCA team to a Merrimack Valley championship, he played defense for the Pawtucketville Athletic Club in the New England Basketball League. When the League folded, Lew stayed in the game, working as a player and general manager for his own Lowell-based teams. In 1928, he moved to Springfield. One of the pioneers of basketball, he has never been inducted into the Hall of Fame, located just a few miles from where he spent the last 35 years of his life. Years later “Bucky” Lew reminisced about that first game. On November 2, 1902, his team, Lowell’s Pawtucketville Athletic Club, faced a team from Marlborough. He remembered that his manager was reluctant to let him play against white boys. But Lew was a hometown boy, and “some of the local papers put the pressure on by demanding that they give this little Negro from around the corner a chance to play. Well, at first the team just ignored the publicity. But a series of injuries forced the manager to take me on for the Marlborough game.”

Lew was supposed to be the extra man, and to spend the game sitting on the bench, but then one of the starting players was injured. At first the manager refused to put him in. “He let them play us five on four,” Lew remembered, “but the fans got real mad and almost started a riot, screaming to let me play. That did it. I went in there and you know… all those things you read about Jackie Robinson, the abuse, the name-calling, extra effort to put him down … they’re all true. I got the same treatment and even worse … I took the bumps, the elbows in the gut, knees here and everything else that went with it. But I gave it right back. It was rough but worth it. Once they knew I could take it, I had it made.” This was only the first of Lew’s encounters with racist opponents and fans. “Nobody ever voiced an objection to playing against him as a black player until they played him and he would shut down their best player… Then all of a sudden, they would say, we don’t want to play against a Negro player. They just used that tactic to get him off the court for the next game.”

After Lew played one year with the Lowell team and two years for a Haverhill team, the New England League disbanded. Lew formed and traveled with his own team, playing and coaching, for another 20 years.

Photo and story courtesy of hoopedia.com

Isaac Murphy’s grave at the Kentucky Horse Park

Most famous of the black jockeys by far is Isaac Murphy who is considered one of the greatest riders in American history. He was the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derbys and won an astonishing 44% of all races he rode. That record has not been approached by any other jockey since. He was the first jockey to be inducted into the Jockey Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Racing. Sadly, his career was cut short at the age of 34 when he died of pneumonia. He always had trouble staying at the light weight demanded of a jockey and was known to binge and purge. It has been speculated that it was vomit backing up in his lungs that caused the pneumonia which led to his death. He is buried next to Man O’ War in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington

Willie Simms was a superb rider of the late 19th century. He brought winning mounts to the wire 24.8% of the time.Simms was born in 1870 in Augusta, GA, and began riding at East Coast tracks in 1887. During his career he rode for the most prominent owners of the era, including Mike and Phil Dwyer, Richard Croker, Pierre Lorillard, August Belmont, and James R. Keene.Simms won back-to-back Belmont Stakes in 1893-94 aboard Commanche and Henry of Navarre. He also was a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby aboard Ben Brush and Plaudit and was the only African-American jockey to win the Preakness, aboard Sly Fox in 1898. One of Simms’ most dramatic races was a match between Dobbin and Domino in 1893. Simms and Dobbin finished in a dead heat with the previously unbeaten Domino.Simms found great success riding the New York circuit in the 1890’s. He also briefly rode in England in 1895. Many sources credit Simms with introducing the British to the short stirrup style of riding later popularized by Tod Sloan.Willie Simms was the nation’s leading jockey in 1894. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1977.

Swaps and Shoemaker in the San Vicente, © 1955 Santa Anita Photo; Willie Simms © Keeneland Library

In keeping with the theme of “Black History” Month the shortest month of the year to acknowledge the important contributions of the Black Race. Over the next few weeks I will profile some “Unsung Sports Heroes” individuals that many of you may have forgotten or never heard of. Enjoy

Willie Thrower
Ht/Wt: 5-11/182,Team(s): Chicago Bears, Toronto Argonauts (CFL), and Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) (Signed as F\A in 1952 by Chicago Bears)
College: Michigan State 
Chicago Bears QB Willie Thrower became the first African-American quarterback to solely play quarterback in an NFL game on October 18, 1953 against the San Francisco 49ers. He played under center and received the snap directly, making him the first African American QB since Pollard in 1923. Thrower a native of New Kensington, Pennsylvania had already been the first African American QB in the Big 10 conference, playing for Michigan State from 1950 to 1952, helping them win the National Championship in 1952. In his historical game, Thrower went 3 for 8 for 27 yards in a 35 to 28 loss. What was unfortunate about the game was George Blanda, who had struggled was reinserted into the game at the 5 yard line to complete a drive Thrower had started. After his debut against the 49ers, Thrower never appeared in another NFL game. Before the next season Thrower, who made the Bears team in 1953 as basically a “walk-on” was cut the following year in 1954. Thrower wanting to play QB and without any other takers in the NFL decided to go to the Canadian Football League, playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and semi pro in Toronto for four years before injuries shortened his career. He retired at age 27. His feat of a black man playing quarterback was considered such an oddity for the time that “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” featured him in a story. Thrower had a good outlook on his brief time at QB in the NFL and told The Valley News Dispatch of Tarentum, Pa., before he passed away in 2002. “I look at it like this: I was like the Jackie Robinson of football. A Black quarterback was unheard of before I hit the pros,”

 Photo and info Courtesy of bqb-site.com  The African American Quaterback Website

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2 Corinthians 8:10-11

“and in this, I give advice it is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago, but now you also must complete the doing of it!

What is it about the start of a new year that brings about a renewed sense of hope and causes people to stop and reflect on their life or current situation, why is it that we wait until the start of a new year to set resolutions or goals. Question is it really a new goal if you keep rehashing the same ones over and over again? You know the ones I’m referring to lose weight, save money, better relationships, new job or career, etc.  Maybe it has something to do with the season as many parts of the country are experiencing a deep freeze that forces us indoors where we have time to reflect on our success and shortcomings from the previous year.  I to was among the masses who rode the new year’s resolution merry go round, until 2009 when I shifted my focus and tried a new approach, one that would help me actually achieve some of my goals including the publishing of “An Unsung Coach”

This year if you really want to see a difference in your life and actually accomplish some of the goals you set forth , instead of just  broadly writing your goals down on a piece of paper that eventually ends up in your sock drawer or the trash receptacle make your goals specific how many pounds will you lose by June 30th, how much money will you have saved at the end of 3 months, what type of training or certification do you need to get ahead in your present occupation, then  mentally condition yourself to embrace the philosophy of finishing what you start.  If you make this simple strategic change, you will be well ahead of over 90 Plus percent of the population in reaching your goals.

Transitioning to this philosophy will not be easy, in fact it will require lots of practice and discipline to become a habit, habits are those things we do so often that that they become a part of our normal routine without much thought like driving the same route to work each day, brushing your teeth, watching your favorite television show, but if the goals you desire are worth having they are worth putting in the time and effort to make them a reality. Everyone of us is guilty of starting something we never saw to completion perhaps a new business venture, piecing together your family tree, writing a  new song, going back to school,  and we had every intention of completing it, we were filled with passion and enthusiasm, we researched every detail to the point we experienced sensory overload, then after a few months, we lose steam and eventually move on to something else, often times at the expense of never seeing the benefits of bringing the current project into fruition. In this country we love to boast about how we can multi-task however most successful people, people that have built multi-million dollar corporations or head large corporations will tell you the key to their success were in focusing on one task at a time and seeing it through despite the distractions and excuses.

So as you review your New Year’s list of resolutions and prepare to embark on the journey of making 2010 the year you can’t lose, adopt the principle that has helped me and countless others establish a new definition of success, finish whatever you start and next year at this time when you reflect on the year, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come and how talented you truly are!

Recently I was the featured speaker for a fund-raising event to help raise money for a youth center. When I accepted the invitation, I immediately began to think of what I would say to the large gathering and the spirit led me to share 2 words, Exceptional and Expectations and how they can impact the next generation.  When we think of things that are exceptional we tend to focus on  feats that are rare, outstanding, exemplary in other words things we don’t expect to see often. An example is watching a pitcher throw a complete game, a game in which he or she allow no hits, walks or runs, those are rarities indeed for the sport, in fact not many people go to the ball park expecting to witness this feat. On the other hand when it comes to our expectations we tend to be more flexible in this area often times we set the bar or standards very low, today we don’t place much emphasis on high expectations and having people meet them, we allow room for negotiations or excuses, we settle for an average attempt and then walk away feeling that as long as some progress was made then our jobs are done, please understand that I’m not condemning anyone for taking that approach, as someone who has spent a great deal of my life working with and on behalf of youth, I understand the importance of making progress but I don’t believe you have to compromise high expectations in the process.

 To wrap up my presentation I shared with the crowd a real life example from my own family, I told of a story of how my youngest daughter scored a 92 on a geometry test and how excited she was to share the good news with her family. Now I was no math genius so I would have done just about anything for that kind of score and I imagine some of you feel the same. I shared how she first went to my wife and without missing a beat her mom did what many mothers do when their child comes home excited she made a big deal out of the moment and my daughter felt 10 feet tall, then she came to me and I told her that her score was nice, she did a good job (notice my words nice, good job), then I informed her that scores like that are what her mother and I expect from her, because she is brilliant, talented and has greatness within.  Unfortunately her countenance changed  it was like ” Gee  Dad”, thanks for raining on my parade, now my intentions were not to damper her spirits , no it was to inform her that she is capable of achieving those kind of grades every time especially if she applies herself.  A few weeks go by and I picked her up from her friends house as we were driving home she says dad did I tell you about my recent math test and I said no , she turns towards me with the kind of confidence you have when you have a winning hand at cards, and says  I got a 98,  immediately I acknowledge her efforts and let her know that I could not be more proud of her than at that moment, then I turned to her and said , do you remember our conversation a couple of weeks ago and what I said to you and she gave me a wry smile and said yeah , you said that’s an expectation.

Now what if I made a really huge deal about the 92 do you think she would have challenged herself to reach even higher, or is it possible she would have been contempt with that level of success, lets not forget a 92 is a good grade, but a 98 is closer to perfection.  See I believe if you raise the expectations of a person or perhaps even yourself, they will give you an exceptional effort to accomplish their Dreams & Goals and that’s something we all can feel good about!

Great Brothers of Soul Magazine (GBOS) names “An Unsung Coach” Inspirational book of the year for 2009. Author Tony Price to receive an award at the 40^th Annual GBOS Image Awards on November 7, 2009 @ The John Hancock Hall, Boston, MA.

GBOS magazine is a New England based publication that recognizes the important contributions of Everyday people who are doing extraordinary things within the community.