Sports Eye
The National Association of Black Journalists national convention is right up the road in Indianapolis next month and one of its plenary sessions is “Black Sports Reporters..Black Athletes and Coaches… Friends or Foes?
It will be “an examination of a relationship between black reporters and black athletes in the aftermath of the media fiascoes between Philadelphia Eagle stars Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens and Los Angeles Times reporter Jason Reid, who had a dispute with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Milton Bradley.
Bradley called Reid an Uncle Tom last season after he had been critical of the sometimes-crazed outfielder.
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bryan Burwell might be there. He can certainly add a thing or two to the discussion.
Burwell completely lost his mind last Thursday – and nearly his job at KFNS as co-host of the Press Box – when a caller accused him of being an Uncle Tom in connection with his negative comments on Barry Bonds.
Yelling, screaming, profanity and the longest commercial break in KFNS history followed.
Many minutes later, Burwell and co-host Frank Cusumano returned to the airwaves. Burwell said he had just had a discussion with station authorities and he apologized for his tirade. While the on-air cursing is certainly not acceptable, his outrage is understandable.
As for the caller, who is black, the comment was out of line.
But the frustration of Barry Bonds coverage by national and local media members is also understandable. While Burwell is not being asked to stand up for Bonds because both men are black, he and others could point out whether they think there would be an extended grand jury or even a “steroid scandal” if Bonds were white or if the target were another star player who was white.
As Newsday columnist Les Payne accurately points out in a column this week, “…Barry Bonds operated in an environment where questionable behavior had long been practiced and tolerated.” Payne goes on to accuse Commissioner Bud Selig of “turn(ing) a blind eye toward performance-enhancing drugs.”
He adds that Bonds “is under the scope of Major League Baseball and the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California that has overlooked such candidates as Rafael Palmeiro, Ken Caminiti, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.”
Too many black sports reporters and columnists have been riding the waves of Bonds bashing so tough that they are now afraid to point out facts such as those exposed by Payne.
You can rip on Bonds all you want, folks, he deserves it.
But understand that the entire situation is playing out like so many others in American history. Color does count. Even for Uncle Toms.
Heard it here first
A Sports Eye tip of the cap goes to American Sports Editor Earl Austin Jr. for breaking the story regarding former Hazelwood Central basketball standout Alex Tyus giving a verbal commitment to 2006 national champion Florida. Austin broke the story in the June 22 edition of the American, nearly three weeks before any other sports page of Internet recruiting service in the country had the story. Tyus attended Hazelwood Central for his first three years of high school before transferring to Harmony Prep Academy in Cincinnati.