The Department of Sports is the agency of the BlackState that
examines the role of sports and athletics in the black world. The role and influence sports has in the black world- politically, economically and socially is among the issues featured.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has allot to be excited about. Just a few years ago critics were predicting the demise of the NBA,
with thugged out high schoolers going straight to the NBA, the media in constant search for the next Michael Jordan, and the boring yet sound
San Antonio Spurs winning championships. However, this year the NBA feels different, the NBA's Western Conference is so good top to bottom any
of the top six teams could make its case for the NBA title. In the east, the Boston Celtics with the additions of Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen along with Paul Pierce has made the Celtics a must see team like the Bulls of Jordan or the Shaq and Kobe show. Coupled with the fundamentally sound Detroit Pistons, the top two teams in the East may be better than all those top teams in the west.
Story lines abound in this years NBA. Kobe Bryant may win his first NBA MVP award with steady and when needed spectacular performances after a
difficult offseason where he was frustrated with the Lakers for going nowhere and making bad moves while in the prime of his career. CONTINUE
No One Should Watch Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds sucks. He could be the last great African American baseball player for a generation as many African American youth turn to basketball
and football as their sport of choice but he still sucks. The decline in African American interest in baseball varies but the interest in Barry Bonds is lacking primarily because of the steroids issue. This article takes a look at African American interest in the American pastime and a look at the most prominent African American player and the games most controversial player Barry Bonds.
The reasons why African Americans are not watching baseball vary. Barriers to play the game, the marketing of the game and socio-economic factors
have all played a role in the decline in interest. Unlike basketball for instance there are barriers to play baseball, costs of bats helmets,
uniforms places to play, while many cities have cut recreational park funding.
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A Historical First: Two African American Coaches in the Super Bowl by Matthew Lynch
In the 86-year history of the NFL, there has never been an African American head coach to lead his team to the Super Bowl, well until now. Ironically, we will not only see a black coach in the Super Bowl, we will see two. Lovie Smith of the NFC Champion Bears and Tony Dungy of the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts.
Growing up, I can remember the NFL coaches club being lily white. It was not until 1989 when the NFL got its first African American Coach. I was proud and shocked to see Art Shell on the sidelines leading The LA Raiders to victory, proudly sporting a silver and white jacket. By the same token, it was 1988 before we saw a black quarterback start in and win a Super Bowl. Doug Williams, a former Grambling State University standout, led the Washington Redskins to victory in the 1987 Super Bowl. I was beguiled by his awe inspiring athletic skill and the fact that he played with incomparable equanimity. He was like poetry in motion and watching him enabled me to envision a day when deeper-seated stereotypes about the intelligence of African Americans would be refuted. To me it seemed as though African American football players were relegated to playing positions that required brute strength or speed/agility,
and only a few were given the chance to play quarterback. In my mind, all this only perpetuated the notion of white intellectual superiority.
Fast forward to 2007, and you will see that barriers are made to be demolished. This nation is moving closer to the blessed community that Martin Luther King envisioned in his “I Have a Dream Speech.” Both coaches are accomplished managers of the game of football and have labored arduously to attain their current level of success. They have been discriminated against, criticized, and tarred and feathered by the media; Dungy for not winning the big game and Smith for not yanking quarterback Rex Grossman when he was performing atrociously during the second half of the season.
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No One Should Watch Barry Bonds 
A Historical First: Two African American Coaches in the Super Bowl by Matthew Lynch