The White Sox Win and more[Sports Week]
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Jermaine Dye becomes MVP, a pioneer in the NFL dies, and the greatest coach in pro sports wins the Gerald R. Ford Award. Stephen Brandt writes.  Is anyone sensing a theme here? First the Red Sox break a curse and win the World Series, and now the White Sox do it. For now though, the Windy City can celebrate the White Sox, the team from the South Side who hadn't won a series since 1917 and hadn't been in one since 1959. No longer will they be remembered for Shoeless Joe Jackson's Black Sox – the ones who threw the 1919 series against Cincinnati. Rather, they'll be known as champions. The Sox won 1-0 over the Houston Astros on Wednesday, with Jermaine Dye as MVP of the World Series.During the season, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said that he might retire if his team went on to win the series. Though it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen after Jermaine Dye's RBI single in the eighth and a five-hit shutout by 4 pitchers. Gullien wants to stick around to manage the American League in next summer's All-Star Game. Wellington Mara Dies at 89 Every NFL fan owes a huge debt to Wellington Mara, who died Tuesday October 25, at 89. Had it not been for him, the league wouldn’t be around today. Mara, joined the New York Giants as a ball boy the day his father purchased the team eighty years ago. Think about that – eighty years in one industry. By today’s standards, that’s incredible. On top of that, he became co-owner as a teenager and was the face of the franchise for more than a half century. While I’m not a Giants fan – they beat my Bills in a Super Bowl – his contributions to the sport rivals no one. He was also the patriarch of the NFL, willing to split the millions in television revenues with the Green Bays and Pittsburgh’s of the league. Now baseball has to do the same thing, but that’s another story for another time. ”He shaped nearly every rule and philosophy we have in our league today,” said Ernie Accorsi, the Giants general manager. “Most of all, he was the moral conscience of the National Football League. He now joins the pantheon of incredible men who made this league what it has become.” Said commissioner Paul Tagliabue: “Wellington Mara represented the heart and soul of the National Football League. He was a man of deep conviction who stood as a beacon of integrity. When Well Mara stood to speak at a league meeting, the room would become silent with anticipation because all of us knew we were going to hear profound insights born of eight decades of league experience.” Fisher DeBerry's Racist Comments Why is it that there’s one person each year making a racist comment in football? I thought we’d be past that by now. Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry met the academy's new superintendent for the first time Wednesday, and found himself being reprimanded, but not fired. He should have been canned for statements he made about black athletes and recruiting. The 67-year-old coach, who is known for his folksy, disarming charm and homespun sayings, found himself in a mess over political correctness for the second time in less than a year. Last time, it was about religion in the locker room. This time, it was about the lack of black football players at the academy. After his meeting with Lt. Gen. John Regni, following the event, DeBerry, who is suffering through a 3-5 season this year, issued an apology at a news conference. “I realize the things I said might have been hurtful to many people and I want everyone to understand that I never intended to offend anyone.” On Tuesday, in discussing last weekend's 48-10 loss to TCU, DeBerry said it was clear TCU “had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did.” Gee, that’s a smart comment from someone who leads our young men. Why is it that the older the coach, the dumber the quotes? |
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