White Folks Guilt & Tiger

[Bill Murphy]

re: NY Times Editorial today.

Boy, white people[esp. sportswriters] just LURV to show how tolerant, caring, etc., they are by saying/writing how Tiger should do this n' that. If Duval, The Fold, or Receed-gio were #1 & defending champ, nobody'd say boo to a kitten 'bout the Masters "controversy". El's'd mebbe get some apartheid-type grief, but that's about it.

I've also noticed that the 'wealthier' & 'Easterner' the writer's background & market, the more strident they are about it. Funny how 38 years ago, when they woulda had to really have shown some sack, only one of 'em[guess who] started using "Muhammad Ali" in their stories.

Where was all the tired doggerel 'bout Jackie Robinson & Arthur Ashe then?

Bill "Procol Harum-boy" Murphy

[John Cole]

When Jim Brown finished, I believe, 5th in the Heisman voting, Dick Schaap, educated at Cornell, boycotted the voting for over twenty years. Perhaps he was the exception.

John

[Bill Murphy]

I thought Brown finished 2nd to Paul Hornung, but your point is well taken and I've heard that story about Schaap. I was actually thinking about Howard Cosell, although he 'recognized' Ali primarily for his own self-promoting purposes. Ali & Cosell had a unique relationship that is fascinating to watch on ESPN Classic shows; the movie didn't even scratch the surface.

As for black athletes and polls, didn't Bill Russell once finish behind Bird, Yaz, Cousy, Orr, & Hondo in a Greatest Boston Athlete poll?

[B-Man]

Anything is possible, and I am not sure what poll you are referring to, but I think you may have your facts slightly mixed up.

The Boston Globe, at the turn of the century, printed a list of the 100 greatest sports figures in Boston history. Ted Williams was #1, followed by Bill Russell, then Bobby Orr and Larry Bird (who I believe were tied, though it may have been Orr then Bird).

It's tough to argue with the Splendid Splinter being #1. Russell was the most valuable player in the history of team sports, in my opinion, but Ted Williams was larger than life in Boston, where the Red Sox were always number 1, and the Celtics were a distant 3rd or 4th until Larry Bird came along. (I'm not saying this is the way it should have been, just noting the way it was).

Yaz, Hondo and the others you mentioned were not in the top 4.