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SPORTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2006
Business 8C
C. Jemal
Horton
NFL
jobs for
whites
only?
What will you do now, NFL
owners?
Now that there are, as my
grandmother would say,
“fifly-leven” head-coaching
jobs available at the moment,
what exactly do you plan to
do?
Will you do what most of
you have done since Fritz
Pollard stopped coadiing in
the 1920s, and ignore the
many qualified
African-
American can
didates out
there?
Or will you,
having seen
what black
men such as
Tbny Dungy
and Marvin
Lewis can do, give another
black man the opportunity to
prove he can successfully lead
a team?
Granted, the sports media
aren’t always on top of things,
but if the latest reports are
anywhere dose to accurate,
then all the current vacandes
likely will go to white men.
And that would be a crying
shame.
Let’s see, as of mid-week,
there were head-coaching
vacandes in Detroit, St.
Louis, Kansas City, Green
Bay, New Orleans, Houston,
Oakland and Minnesota.
That’s “eight and a possible,”
if you count the fact that
Dallas Cowboys coach Bill
Parcells didn’t seem certain
he would return next season.
That’s a lot of openings by
NFL standards, which has
had an average of 5.9 head
coaching jobs open up per
year, since the merger with
the AFL in 1970.
Nonethdess, only eight black
head coaches have been hired
during that 35-year span.
So, yeah, Pm skeptical this
year about what NFL owners
will do, even with so many
vacandes out there.
Tim on ESPN. Read or lis
ten to analyses fiom the top
so-called NFL experts across
the country They’re barking
unoffidal lists of people who
“deserve” head-coaching jobs
in the NFL, and it’s hard to
find an Afiican-American on
any of them.
And virtually all of the so-
called experts are waxing
poetic about how Washington
defensive coordinator Gre^
Williams, who is white, just
HAS to get a head-coaching
job this season. This senti
ment is prevalent among peo
ple who cover the NFL,
despite the fact that, when
Williams was head coadi of
the Buffalo Bills, he posted a
three-year record of 17-31.
But, really, my beef isn’t
with white coaches such as
Williams
Hey Pm sure Williams is an
honest, hard-working man
who gives ev^ything he has
to the coaching profession.
Heck, maybe he does deserve
anoth^ shot at a head-coach
ing jch.
What does bother me,
though^ is short-sifted own
ers who continually ignore
equally qualified Uack coach
es yeeir after year.
Earlier in this column, I
sang the praises of
Indianapolis’ Dungy and
Cincinnati’s Lewis, who are
two finntrunners for coach of
the year, along with Chicago
Bears head coach Lovie
Smith, who also is black.
While their accomplishments
this season are noteworthy —
they are a comHned 36-12
heading into this weekend's
See BLACK/3C
'®Ol
AP PHOTO/JOHN AMIS
Carolina Panthers running back DeShaun Foster breaks away from Atlanta’s Keion Carpenter for a
70-yard touchdown against the Falcons Sunday.
Running with
the big cats
Foster hasplayojf stage. Panthers' hopes to himself
By Jenna Fryer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DeShaun Foster helped
Carolina get into the playofls
with his best running perfor
mance of the season. If the
Panthers plan to make it past
the first round, theyll need a lot
more of that out of him.
Foster ran for 165 yards and a
firanchise-best 70-yard touch
down to lead the Panthers to a
44-11 victory against Atlanta
that locked up an NFC wild
card bid. Carolina (11-5) plays
the New Yoik Giants (11-5) on
Sunday in the first round of the
playoffs.
Foster’s totals jump-started a
running game that has sput
tered most of this season, but
broke open against the Falcons
for a team-record 229 yards.
“We’re peaking at the rift
time,” Foster
said. “That’s
what we’re try
ing to do.
Hopefully, every
thing is going to
woric out for us.”
Carolina will
depend on Foster
to make sure it
does.
Panthers coach John Fox is a
firm bdiever that the offense
must revolve around the run-
I-1
Foster
ning game, but the team strug-
^ed when former Pro Bowler
Stephen Davis failed to fully
recover from major knee
surgery last year and managed
jijst 549 yards rushing in 13
games before the Panthers
placed him on the injured
reserve list Dec. 17.
Foster had watched and wait
ed behind Davis, failing to get
enouf consistent carries to
find a rhythm.
That changed against Atlanta
in early December, when Fox
gave Foster the bulk of the car
ries. He converted his chance
into 131 yards rushing - the
See PANTHERS/2C
Carolina in New York frame of mind
By Chens F. HcxJges
chenshodges^ thecharloOepostxxm
The Carolina Panthers finally
won a game they absolutely had to
have.
By beating Atlanta 44-11, the
Panthers snagged a wild card spot
and erased the bitterness of miss
ing the playoffs last year in a last
minute loss to the New Orleans
Saints.
“We’re fortunate that the game
played out the way it did,” head
coach John Fox said.
Now Carolina is looking toward
New York where they will face the
See PLAYOFFS/2C
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith reaches for the goal
line against Atlanta in the season finale.
110111112
fOrCIAA
dhiision
favoiiies
J.C. Smith, Va. Union
clash at Brayboy Sat.
By Herbert L. White
herb.whue®thecharlottepo5t.com
Ten days and 3,000 later, Johnson C.
Smith will try to get even with Virginia
Union.
The Bulls, who lost to top-ranked Virginia
Union 66-51 in the Black College Classic
Dec. 28 in Los Angeles, will take another
crack at the Panthers Saturday at Brayboy
Gym. Although Union (7-1) is
the No. 1 team in Division II,
Smith coach Steve Joyner is
approaching the game with an
even-handed attitude.
“I don’t want to turn our
bunch into an emotional
team,” he said. “We’re concen
trating on winning the
(CIAA) Western Division.
(VUU is) certainly going to be
one of the best teams (in the East), so for us
to beat them would certainly go a long way
for us winning the Western Division.”
Smith and Union were tied at 26 at half
time in the first meeting, but a 10-2
Panthers run - all scored by guard Darius
Hargrove — over the final four minutes
helped VUU pull away.
“It got away from us the last five minutes
of the game when Hargrove scored 10
points,” Joyner said. “We’ve got to hold him
. See GOLDEN/2C
Joyner
PACK ‘EM ON
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON '
N.C. State running back Andre Brown cele
brates a touchdown in the Wolfpack’s 14-0
win over South Florida in the Meineke Car
Care Bowl Saturday at Bank of America
Stadium.
Five-game
streteh eould
define Wizards’
NBA season
By Joseph While
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Early in the season, the
feeling among the Washington Wizards was
the team would eventually get its act
together, that the team would return to last
year’s playoff form once the new players
had adjusted to their surroimdings and got
a handle on coach Eddie Jordan’s system.
Well, it’s January already. It’s not now-or-
never time, but it’s getting close. If the
Wizards (12-17) are going to make a move,
now would be a good time to do it. Their
next five games are against teams with los-
See FIVE-GAME/3C