It has been nearly two weeks since I had surgery to repair my left knee. Originally, they doctor thought it was an isolated ACL tear. After an initial look at the MRI, he noticed a small tear in my medial meniscus. On the morning of the surgery, he informed me they found another tear in my lateral meniscus. So my walking time line went from 7-10 days after surgery to 3-4 weeks. I knew that I would not be able to come to class the first week (week of Feb. 2), but the second week of missing class came as a little bit of a surprise. Luckily, the knee has been getting better every day, and I will be able to make it to class on Monday, February 16.
As far as the Super Bowl is concerned, one piece of information stuck out to me. Looking back to the Super Bowl the featured the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, one theme really controlled the media attention. This theme was that each head coach, Tony Dungy for the Colts and Lovie Smith for the Bears, happened to be African-American. This obviously meant that a black head coach would finally have the title of head coach for a Super Bowl champion.
After the completion of this year's game and a Pittsburgh Steeler victory, Mike Tomlin became the second black coach to win a Super Bowl as a head coach. Almost instantly after the game, I thought about when Tony Dungy made history just a few years ago. The more amazing thought I had, was that I did not remember a single time that the media made a big deal about the color of Tomlin's skin. Now, this could be attributed to me not watching enough Super Bowl coverage, but I really feel that it just was not an important piece of information this year. I also do not remember anyone saying much about his race after the game.
To me this could mean a few things. First, the possibility is there that the media just had more important or interesting story lines this season. From Larry Fitzgerald's father in the media, to Ben Roethlisberger's injury, to Anquan Boldin's antics, this is a very real possibility. The other, and more hopeful, possibility is that race has become more of a non-issue in society. While I do not believe that to be the case (race always plays a part in perceptions, whether people realize it or not), I believe there may be another reason. Maybe the novelty of a black head coach winning a Super Bowl just wore off, so people did not care anymore. I was not around when Jackie Robinson broke the race barrier in baseball or Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the Olympics, but I would imagine that the second time an African-American performed these feats people did not make nearly as big of a deal about it. Can anyone name the SECOND black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball? I highly doubt that most people can.
While I would like to think that society has changed and does not notice race, it has only been a short few years. Change takes way more time than that.
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Steven,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I’m really sorry to hear about your knee injury. Any injury is bad enough as it is, but to need surgery and immobilization for 3-4 weeks would be horrible. On the bright side, at least the doctor was able to locate the lateral tear at the same time as the ACL. Perhaps that find might prevent another injury down the road and reduce possible discomfort in future activity. Keep your head up. Hopefully rehab will go well and your knee will heal quickly without any problems.
On to the topic of the Super Bowl and the comments you made. Honestly, your blog was very insightful. Although I would consider myself an avid football fan; unfortunately, the Super Bowl hasn’t been one of my favorite events or even one of my most watched. Honestly, over the years, I have tuned in more for the commercials rather than for the actual football. For me, the Super Bowl has always been a lot of hype and not much action. All of the media hype and anticipation leading up the game actually seemed to deflate the actual playing. By the time the Super Bowl was finally played, I was pretty much over it. In my opinion, it just doesn’t seem right that a football championship game receives more publicity and attention than other significant events in the news. It’s a football game for crying out aloud. It’s even more disheartening that society views and/or categorizes the Super Bowl as a type of religious event.
Anyhow, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Onto a different topic surrounding the Super Bowl, that being race. Aside from this year’s game, my memory fails me. I can’t recall the Super Bowl’s history of winners and teams. Also, important facts like scores and player statistics aren’t really that important to me. What is important is the topic of African American coaches. With several African American players now in the NFL, I guess I never stopped to realize that coaching was a little behind the curve. At the time, it never occurred to me that Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith were two African-American coaches competing to be the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl champion. In the midst of hating on Super Bowl publicity, I missed a crucial event surrounding that game. It’s sad that I was so close minded towards the Super Bowl that I neglected to recognize that moment in history. This year I unfortunately fell into the same negative attitude towards the Super Bowl; and, because of that, I missed Mike Tomlin’s racial victory.
Yes, Tomlin was the second African American coach to win the Super Bowl, but in my opinion, the second almost speaks louder than the first. Interestingly, one African American coach winning the Super Bowl is great, but two proves that the game of football is steadily progressing. One event is like a spot on the timeline, but two events show movement. I don’t feel like the media had other storylines or that the “novelty of a black head coach winning a Super Bowl had worn off.” The media might not have made a big deal of it, but then again, do networks always get it right? Do the media always highlight the best story or cover every significant event?
I can’t recall the second black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball, but then again I can’t recall a lot of other statistics either. I don’t think it’s about remembering the name; rather, more about remembering that it happened. By having two African American coaches win the Super Bowl, it makes others, including myself, more aware of the first. Without a second, I would probably have never thought back to the Super Bowl with the Colts and the Bears.
Maybe the media failed to hype Tomlin's race and Super Bowl win because it was tired of highlighting a person's skin color. With our nation's recent election, it's obvious that topic of race is still coverage worthy; however, Obama did not win the presidency because of his skin color. Similarly, Tomlin didn't win the Super Bowl because of his. In my opinion, to point out Tomlin's race deflects attention from his coaching abilities. Why shouldn't an African American coach win the Super Bowl? A good coach helps his team to win Super Bowl, not his skin color.
Although I am a bit belated on this conversation, I wanted to reflect on the question about who was the second black player in baseball. Actually, Jackie Robinson was second. What is often overlooked about Robinson's crossing the color barrier in 1947 is that baseball was integrated between 1884 and 1887. Therefore, the first black player to play in the American Association was Moses Fleetwood Walker, who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings. He played until 1887, when Cap Anson mobilized players to agree (a so-called "Gentleman's Agreement") to segregate baseball. Walker's brother Welday also played, but in the minors, and there have been reports that another black player may have played before Moses Fleetwood Walker, but Walker is still the first African American player, according to most historians.
ReplyDeleteThe third player was a member of the Cleveland Indians--i.e., Larry Doby, whose career was not quite as distinguished as Jackie Robinson's, but he was important nonetheless. Larry Doby died several years ago, and here is a tribute to him on MLB.com: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/tributes/obit_larry_doby.jsp