Two college basketball classics were played Thursday night. On the women's side, #2 Tennessee held off #3 UConn, 83-80, in Knoxville, avenging an earlier loss to the Huskies. In men's hoops, #4 North Carolina went into Cameron and knocked off #2 Duke, 85-83, in a game that went down to the wire. We can only hope both tournaments are this exciting.
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
THE NFL BLACK-BALL
The NFL continued its disgraceful record of appointing black head coaches when the Buffalo Bills selected Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as their next coach. Williams, who is white, beat out Marvin Lewis, a black, who led the record-setting Baltimore Raven defense to the Super Bowl. Lewis absolutely deserves to be a head coach, but of the eight new hires (including two interim coaches made permanent) for 2001, seven are white, including retreads Dick Vermeil and Marty Schottenheimer. In a league where more than 70% of the players are black, only 3 of 31 coaches are. The Good Old (White) Boys' Network lives. There are more people of color in the Bush cabinet.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
IVERSON SAYS
`FAGGOT' AND PAYS
Allen Iverson was caught on tape Sunday yelling, ``Go home, faggot'' to a fan at the Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers game. The NBA on Friday fined Iverson $5,000, a decision we applaud.
But the 76ers don't seem to get it. General manager Billy King told ESPN: ``"I think there were things that were said to Allen on the court, and I think Allen responded. And I think a lot of players respond. I don't think Allen was being derogatory to any group or anything like that. I think it was taunting back and forth between a fan. The fan didn't complain. I think it's a story that's being made out of nothing."
Get a clue, Billy. If a player had used an offensive slur about any ethnic or religious group you wouldn't be so quick to say it's nothing. This is the same Iverson who was reprimanded for his rap lyrics that were derogatory to gays and women. Wonder if someone has issues with their sexuality?
Iverson and his defenders claim he was the target of racial slurs during the game, something the Pacers said they could not verify. Even if we believe Iverson, this still gives him no right to spew hatred toward gays as a response.
Iverson's track record is not encouraging. As Bloomberg News reported: Iverson’s image was further tarnished at the beginning of this season, when NBA Commissioner David Stern criticized him for making a rap music album laced with derogatory terms about homosexuals and women. Stern called the lyrics ‘‘coarse, offensive and anti-social.’’
BIRDS OF PREY We were watching the Super Bowl and the World Cup broke out: A record 21 punts. Punters Kyle Richardson and Brad Maynard lifted their legs so much you would have thought they were filming a porn video. Ravens 34, Giants 7, Sets Clicking Off in the Third Quarter, 50 million.
Let's give major props to the Ravens, with a defense for the ages and an offense that doesn't screw it up. Baltimore won its last 11 and won outscored its postseason opponents, 95-23. The defense allowed one touchdown (to Tennessee) in the playoffs and exposed the Giants as a nice little team that had no right being there. New York will be remembered as the Atlanta Falcons of the new millennium.
The game was dull, the commercials weren't much better and the halftime show was, as usual, embarrassing. But we did have a blast with a dozen friends, laughed a lot and ate too much. Isn't that what Super Sunday is really about?
GOLF An obnoxious and rude fan almost knocked Tiger Woods out of this weekend's Pebble Beach tournament. Woods sprained a ligament in his left knee Wednesday when he stepped awkwardly on a man's ankle while leaving the 18th green at Pebble Beach, AP reported. The man was in a crush of fans surrounding Woods and had been hounding him for an autograph. The man never did get his autograph and ``he yelled at me for not signing,'' Woods told AP. Woods did manage to play.