Has there been anything more uncomfortable in this postseason than watching Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith deal with this "first black head coach" business? Clearly, they take some pride in the accomplishment, but you can tell that neither man thinks it should be something in the spotlight. When Dungy (looking happy, right) was asked about it on CBS in the postgame celebration, he nodded knowingly: OK, I knew this was coming, I guess I better get used to it.
I mean, Lovie already has a Coach of the Year Award (not a Super Bowl ring with the Rams, as I previously wrote) and Dungy has a lifetime winning percentage of .635. I think that we're all aware that black head coaches can be successful in the NFL, and it's borderline racist to even bring it up. Maybe in 1994 this would have been a nice story (with music by Pearl Jam in the background), but now?
The fact that the "first black coach" angle is in the general media's top 2 or 3 (behind "Manning In the Big Game" and "Grossman Kinda Sucks" is embarrassing. This should have been a well-buried subplot, not a main attraction. Thank God for shut-ins like us, who spend countless hours in our unfinished basements turning out info like this.
The biggest culprits, of course, are the TV people, who have never met an obvious angle they didn't like, but there are print offenders as well.
Click for one idiot's take.
And, for balance, a non-idiot: Michael Smith.
Anyway, good luck to all in the big game.
May the best African American-coached team win.
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