Sports and Race 12.17.07: Part 1 - One of the Most Integrated Areas of U.S. Life Sheds Light on Racism in the U.S.

Posted by ikabod Crane on 12.17.2007

Serena and Venus Williams, Tubby Smith, and Ty Willingham have faced criticisms that seem overblown if not unfounded. Barry Bonds is vilified for using HGH, but will Roger Clemens get the same treatment? Yao Ming has received a lot of marketing due to the over 1 billion consumers in China. What are we to make of any of this?

The World of Sports Is the Most Integrated Aspect of U.S. Society

Sports, whether we look at participants or fans, are an incredibly integrated aspect of U.S. society. With the influx of international athletes into college and professional basketball and baseball, many U.S. sports are diverse beyond simple issues of black and white and include geographic, linguistic and ethnic variety. I can speak from experience and note that talking about sports is an easy way for most men to always have something to talk about even if they have just met. Sports give men of all ethnicities and economic classes some common ground.

Sports: The Frontier of an Integrated Society

Sports serve as a barometer on racial tensions because sports put people of different ethnicities and backgrounds into contact with one another. Like any frontier there are rough spots and areas where racial tensions and prejudice can at least be considered a factor in some ugly occurrences. I want to look at a few instances where I believe race contributed to the perception that certain figures underachieved.

Serena and Venus Williams are a true phenomenon in sports. Despite the prolific contributions of Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, tennis is unfortunately viewed as a largely white and well to do sport in the U.S. Given Spain, Argentina and to a lesser extent Chile's dominance in tennis, it seems the USTA should at least be trying to grow the sport among Spanish speakers in the U.S., but I digress. The Williams Sisters have broken the mold of many of the expectations of what a tennis player ought to be and where a tennis player normally originates. The Williams sisters did not play junior tennis, did not head to a tennis academy in Florida, and proved that the conventional wisdom on how to succeed in tennis is in need of revision.

Serena Williams has won 3 Australian Open titles, 2 U.S. Open titles, 2 Wimbledon titles and 1 French Open title. Serena has won 6 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, and an Olympic Gold Medal in women's doubles in 2000. Throw in over $18 million in prize money and the number 1 ranking and Serena Williams has had an awesome career by all counts. Venus Williams has won 4 Wimbledon titles, 2 U.S. Open titles, 6 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (with Serena), 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, and Olympic Gold Medals in both singles and doubles (with Serena) in 2000. Venus has also held the #1 ranking and has won over $18 million in prize money. Once again Venus cannot be declared anything but a success if one just looks at the numbers.

However, the whispers that the Williams sisters waste their talent and are unfocused or disrespectful to the sport by being unprepared have little to do with numbers. Chris "America" Evert called out Serena one year ago in Tennis Magazine for wasting her talent. The criticism might have some legs so long as that critic also lambastes Marat Safin, Mark Philippoussis, and even Boris Becker for not fully maximizing their gifts. John McEnroe's post 1984 implosion would also have to be thrown under the same scrutiny. McEnroe's autobiography at least owned up to some substance abuse problems and family problems negatively impacting his tennis. The Williams sisters had an older sister killed, should such tragedy be taken into account? It is certainly a better excuse for spotty play than Bjorn Borg's cocaine problems leading to an early burnout.

Most egregious is the example of Jennifer Capriati. Chris Evert, whose family was involved in the grooming and marketing of Jennifer Capriati, never called out her protégée in the fashion she called out Serena. Still, Capriati who won a Gold Medal in 1992, won 3 Grand Slam titles and held the #1 ranking basically wasted 1993-2000 in her career. Measured as such Capriati is still a Hall of Fame player. However, beating Steffi Graf in the 1992 Gold Medal round and then beating Martina Hingis in the 2001 Australian Open final raises questions as to what Capriati could have achieved in those lost years. Why is Capriati given a pass for facing personal demons and the Williams sisters are blistered for losing focus after someone murdered one of their siblings? I have no doubt race is a factor in this double standard because if a single standard was applied Capriati would be judged by far the worst waste of talent among the three.

Orlando "Tubby" Smith became the first African American coach at the University of Kentucky in the spring of 1997. In his first season, Smith led UK to the NCAA title along with an SEC regular season and SEC tournament crown. It was the first time in UK history that the wildcats won all three honors in a single season. Smith coached UK to 3 more elite 8 appearances, 2 sweet 16 appearances, 5 SEC tournament titles, and 5 SEC regular season titles in 10 seasons. Still, Tubby Smith received poor treatment from a sector of UK's fans from the outset of his tenure. I can personally recall in his second season when Tubby was coaching the defending national champions being called an idiot by a co-worker in Louisville. If winning 63 games, 2 SEC tournament titles, 1 SEC regular season title, 1 elite 8 and 1 NCAA title in his first two seasons had people calling him an "idiot" it is no wonder Tubby is now 7-1 as head coach at Minnesota. Tubby was loved on a whole by many UK fans and some fans had legitimate concerns about trends in his recruiting later in his tenure, but race likely contributed to a nasty small minority of loud complainers throughout his 10 season in Lexington.

Ty Willingham was bowl eligible twice in 3 seasons at Notre Dame. At his firing, Willingham was praised for having Notre Dame Football as strong as it had ever been Sunday through Friday. Somehow bowl games, good grades and good behavior were not enough and Willingham was canned. Willingham did not post great results but they are not much different than Charlie Weis' results over 3 seasons. One thing that has struck me as a similarity between Willingham and Tubby's detractors is the use of the complaint that each man was "lazy." Some Notre Dame fans complain that Willingham played too much golf and some UK fans complained Tubby spent too much time fishing. I know for a fact Bobby Knight, the all-time wins leader in college basketball, is an avid fishermen and hunter. I wonder if Indiana and Texas Tech fans ever cried about Knight's fishing. Many, many coaches play golf. The idea that a coach having hobbies makes him lazy at least suggests selective application of the term lazy to hobbies. Is it racial? I would answer with a strong maybe.

Part 2: Next week will focus on Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Yao Ming and attempt to draw some Conclusions: Until then, any thoughts?