More Food For Thought
This was in today's NY Post, since you have to sign up to read the article I'm including the text in this post:
DIVERSE TO PERVERSE
By JOEL SHERMAN
PEOPLE are gathering in the dark this month to cheer the message of inclusion at the heart of the film "Glory Road," which celebrates the 40th anniversary of Texas Western becoming the first team to win an NCAA tournament with an all black starting five.
Yet in the light of day - four decades after this seminal event - the subject obsessing sports New York this week is whether Omar Minaya has oversaturated the Mets' roster with Latino players. And, if my e-mail is any window into the soul of Mets fans, I fear we have veered off the Glory Road toward a bigoted Gory Path.
Instead of responding individually to these fine folks, I will let this column stand for my collective response:
1. Were you as outraged about the composition of the 2005 NL champion Astros, whose clubhouse was more Caucasian than a Neil Diamond audience? Houston had no black players on its postseason roster, 19 whites and just one Latino (Willy Tavares), who played a seminal role on the team. This representing a city that, according to the last census, was 42.7 percent Hispanic.
2. Are you as outraged that in a league that is 69.2 percent black, according to the last survey taken by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, the NFL has seen seven first-time head coaches hired and all are white?
3. Are you as worried about what it means for the future of baseball that Cliff Floyd might be the only black on the Met roster this year?
4. Are you proud of where you are from? I'm from Brooklyn and wouldn't want anyone to say I am from Queens, even though both are part of New York City. Then why are so many willing to lump Venezuelans (Jorge Julio, Victor Zambrano), Puerto Ricans (Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Ramon Castro, Jose Valentin) and Dominicans (Pedro Martinez, Jose Reyes, Victor Diaz, Duaner Sanchez) into one category based on what their native language is? Would anyone lump the team-oriented Derek Jeter and self-involved Randy Johnson into the same category simply because they both speak English?
5. Are you aware there are 2,218,633 New Yorkers listed as Hispanic/Latino in the last census? The New York Times did a story in Thursday's edition about a Washington Heights restaurant that was teeming with passionate fans watching the Dominican World Series - in January. As Mets executive vice president/business operations Dave Howard said, "One-third of New York is Latino. It is a substantial part of our fan base. Ethnic diversity in New York City is good business."
6. Have you noticed that an allure of the World Baseball Classic is that it will not be a layup for the United States? Teams from the Dominican, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico, in particular, will be strong. In other words, the Mets are not exactly making up about half their roster with players from Yemen. These are players from baseball hotbeds.
7. Did you know that 29 percent of MLB players last year were Latino and that 45.4 percent of minor leaguers were foreign-born (most from Latin countries)? So if you do not like the composition of your team now, just wait.
8. If you are a Yankee fan, did you care that the team's last World Series victory was closed out by Panamanian Mariano Rivera and the clinching hit was produced by Luis Sojo of Venezuela? For Met fans, when Jesse Orosco heaved his glove after striking out Marty Barrett to finish the 1986 World Series, did you care that he was a Californian of Mexican decent?
And if Martinez wins the decisive game in October this year after a go-ahead hit by Delgado that scores Beltran, will you go to a confetti-strewn Mets parade and feel anything but joy? Maybe on that day the Canyon of Heroes will be, of all things, Glory Road.
DIVERSE TO PERVERSE
By JOEL SHERMAN
PEOPLE are gathering in the dark this month to cheer the message of inclusion at the heart of the film "Glory Road," which celebrates the 40th anniversary of Texas Western becoming the first team to win an NCAA tournament with an all black starting five.
Yet in the light of day - four decades after this seminal event - the subject obsessing sports New York this week is whether Omar Minaya has oversaturated the Mets' roster with Latino players. And, if my e-mail is any window into the soul of Mets fans, I fear we have veered off the Glory Road toward a bigoted Gory Path.
Instead of responding individually to these fine folks, I will let this column stand for my collective response:
1. Were you as outraged about the composition of the 2005 NL champion Astros, whose clubhouse was more Caucasian than a Neil Diamond audience? Houston had no black players on its postseason roster, 19 whites and just one Latino (Willy Tavares), who played a seminal role on the team. This representing a city that, according to the last census, was 42.7 percent Hispanic.
2. Are you as outraged that in a league that is 69.2 percent black, according to the last survey taken by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, the NFL has seen seven first-time head coaches hired and all are white?
3. Are you as worried about what it means for the future of baseball that Cliff Floyd might be the only black on the Met roster this year?
4. Are you proud of where you are from? I'm from Brooklyn and wouldn't want anyone to say I am from Queens, even though both are part of New York City. Then why are so many willing to lump Venezuelans (Jorge Julio, Victor Zambrano), Puerto Ricans (Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Ramon Castro, Jose Valentin) and Dominicans (Pedro Martinez, Jose Reyes, Victor Diaz, Duaner Sanchez) into one category based on what their native language is? Would anyone lump the team-oriented Derek Jeter and self-involved Randy Johnson into the same category simply because they both speak English?
5. Are you aware there are 2,218,633 New Yorkers listed as Hispanic/Latino in the last census? The New York Times did a story in Thursday's edition about a Washington Heights restaurant that was teeming with passionate fans watching the Dominican World Series - in January. As Mets executive vice president/business operations Dave Howard said, "One-third of New York is Latino. It is a substantial part of our fan base. Ethnic diversity in New York City is good business."
6. Have you noticed that an allure of the World Baseball Classic is that it will not be a layup for the United States? Teams from the Dominican, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico, in particular, will be strong. In other words, the Mets are not exactly making up about half their roster with players from Yemen. These are players from baseball hotbeds.
7. Did you know that 29 percent of MLB players last year were Latino and that 45.4 percent of minor leaguers were foreign-born (most from Latin countries)? So if you do not like the composition of your team now, just wait.
8. If you are a Yankee fan, did you care that the team's last World Series victory was closed out by Panamanian Mariano Rivera and the clinching hit was produced by Luis Sojo of Venezuela? For Met fans, when Jesse Orosco heaved his glove after striking out Marty Barrett to finish the 1986 World Series, did you care that he was a Californian of Mexican decent?
And if Martinez wins the decisive game in October this year after a go-ahead hit by Delgado that scores Beltran, will you go to a confetti-strewn Mets parade and feel anything but joy? Maybe on that day the Canyon of Heroes will be, of all things, Glory Road.
posted by R at 3:01 PM
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