Free Republic

The NBA has the best record in professional sports in hiring black coaches. But the New York Times got that record wrong late last month in a 2,200-word front-page story. The Times' study of the past 15 years found evidence of discrimination against black coaches. A white coach, the paper claimed, typically gets to coach "50 percent longer [than a black coach] and has most of an extra season to prove himself." Discrimination is abhorrent, and the Times' evidence of discrimination caused real, understandable anger in sports pages across the nation.

If you believe in equal opportunity in sport, Tuesday might have been the saddest day in the history of American college football. I was in a state of disbelief when Dr. Fritz Polite, my colleague at the University of Central Florida, emailed me that Ty Willingham had been fired from the University of Notre Dame. I thought he was joking. Dr. Polite knows how closely I follow the situation of the dearth of African-American head coaches in Division I-A football. I have been so involved that when Fitz Hill resigned from San Jose State just over a week ago, we...

<p>COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The NCAA said Tuesday it will continue its ban on awarding championships to South Carolina because of the Confederate flag flying on Statehouse grounds.</p> <p>In August 2001, the NCAA executive committee voted for a two-year moratorium on selecting sites in South Carolina for things like basketball championships. NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard says the August 2001 decision called for "significant change" from the state of South Carolina. That has not occurred, he said.</p>

Edwards, Dungy unhappy that race is still an issue      The hallways are fairly empty when coach Herman Edwards arrives at the New York Jets' training complex every morning. He enjoys the solitude because it allows him to hit the weight room, do a little workout and occasionally be alone with his thoughts before the day picks up its normal hectic pace. That and this report from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bryan Burwell Monday was one of those peaceful mornings, made even more pleasurable by a phone call from Indianapolis. It was his good friend and coaching mentor Tony...