Soldier
not redeemed with gold but with His Blood
Exactly this. Black head coaches in basketball are ubiquitous. We have been accustomed to see black men in upper management and coaching in basketball for decades. In the basketball world(both college and professional) it is not shocking to see black men in positions of authority.
Now in the rest of the sports world, it is rare to see black head coaches in college football, black general managers/head coaches in the NFL, black general managers and managers in Major League Baseball and black managers in European soccer. And so far, we haven’t seen a black head coach in the NHL. And Mike Grier became the first ever black man to be promoted General Manager of a NHL franchise in July 2, 2022, two years ago.
The exclusive monopoly and stranglehold of these coveted high-profile management/coaching jobs by the good old boys club in the sports is tough to break. And when qualified, experienced,passionate and knowledgeable black men break through that wall of nepotism and racial bias, and finally succeed, it’s noteworthy and inspiring. That’s why we root for Deion harder than Penny. It’s harder for a black man to be promoted head coach in football than in basketball. On the field/court, Black players dominate both sports. But black men struggle to dominate management positions in football compared to basketball.
Gridiron football, baseball, and basketball are followed by both white and black folks, but football is more ingrained in mainstream American culture than basketball. And Basketball is more popular among American Black people and other non-white minorities than among cacs. Politically and culturally, football and baseball skew rural, suburban, republican and conservative while basketball leans liberal, democrat, progressive and urban. Most Basketball fans watch and follow football as well, but the reverse is not always true. Many football fans don’t care about the NBA or basketball in general. The basketball /football fan overlap is one-sided in favor of football.
In conclusion, White boys probably feel the same way when they see white men dominating in the NBA and in boxing. They feel the same way when they see white wide receivers/running backs excelling in football. They are accustomed to see white men at the quarterback position in football, in hockey, in golf, in the UFC/MMA, in auto-racing and in baseball. They know that most of the general managers and head coaches in most sports except basketball look like them. People are drawn to the exceptional and the unexpected because it’s a rare sight. They also want to prove stereotypes wrong.
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