ERIN JACKSON won the Gold medal for Team USA in speed skating.
by Bill Neal, For New Pittsburgh Courier
:10—OK, let’s get a few things out of the way first. And trust me when I tell ya a few of these pills are gonna be hard to swallow. #1. You had better believe me when I tell you Coach Mike Tomlin made the call to bring Coach Brian Flores in from the cold. If he doesn’t pull the trigger it just doesn’t happen. (All due respect to Mr. Rooney) #2. You just might be looking at the next Steelers head coach… I’m just sayin’!
:09—Now here’s the one you have to take the big gulp on… For all the guys out there who never wanted a Black coach to begin with, well, welcome to the Rooney Rule. And yes, they’re out there. Granted I know they don’t read the Courier because our readers are better than that, but they’re out there… I’m just sayin’!
:08—However, the shame of it all is that the Steelers had to come to the rescue again. In 32 head coach positions there are now three Black Head Coaches, Mike Tomlin of our Pittsburgh Steelers, Lovie Smith now of the Houston Texans and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. C’mon man!!!
:07—Which now begs the question about other Black coaches who are long overdue for their shot versus the continued recycling of the same ole same ole. Such as Eric Bieniemy, Byron Leftwich, Jim Caldwell, Leslie Frazier, Vance Joseph, Marvin Lewis and Rakeem Morris just to name a few.
:06—Elena Meyers Taylor, a name you didn’t know until now but should never forget. She is currently the Black woman that has won the most medals for an African American athlete in Winter Olympics history with a Bronze in the Two Women Bobsled and Silver in the Women’s Monobob. And, befitting her stature, she was voted by her USA teammates to carry the flag in the closing ceremonies after missing out on carrying the flag in the opening ceremonies due to COVID protocol. Kudos to Elena on another superb Olympics.
:05—Speaking of the Winter Olympics… Great job Team USA, after all you train to compete in events the rest of the competitors have been doing all their lives. And congratulations to Erin Jackson, a Black woman who captured the Gold medal in speedskating. Hoo-Rah!
:04—Oh, this just in… Your Pittsburgh Penguins are in first place in the Metropolitan Division and are in search of their fourth Stanley Cup under the superstar status of Sidney Crosby, who by the way just scored his 500th goal against… you guessed it, the hated Philadelphia Flyers, whooooo, by the way, he has scored the most goals on. Whew, that’s all the hockey stuff I’ve ever known.
:03—Everybody! Everybody! Everybody, stand up and cheer because your Pittsburgh Pirates baseball season is here. Yeah, I know it feels like the season just ended a couple weeks ago but pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training now!!! Thus begins our journey to win 80, no… 75, no… 70, no… okay, 65 games. But that’s as low as I go.
:02—NBA All-Star Weekend this past weekend was in Cleveland. Is it over yet? Whew. And I am a basketball guy but talk about an event that needs an overhaul!
:01—Let me leave you with this nugget. For all you Steph Curry fans, and I’m not mad at ya – but before you crown him the greatest shooter, scorer, ballhandler and passer of all-time, you might want to Google Pete Maravich, who by the way, hails from Aliquippa. Still holds the NCAA all-time scoring record he set in 1967 with 3,667 points at an average of 44.2 per game at LSU before the adoption of the three-point line and the shot clock and did not play as a freshman due to archaic NCAA rules at the time… C’mon man!
:00—GAME OVER.
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