Boycott Auburn Football?

Boycott Auburn Football?

Ok, that sounds foolish, you can’t boycott a university can you?

Maybe.

I realize many times we go overboard on things we think are important, while others may not see it that way. I agree to that, but I also believe that there are times you have to speak your mind, and address issues that seemed to be worth addressing.

If you read my last blog, I made a comment about how Auburn University has been under fire by noted alum Charles Barkley, as he accused his alma mater of using race to pick their new head coach. Charles Barkley said that Auburn had just as equal a chance to hire Buffalo head coach, Turner Gill, but refused, going for Gene Chizik, who has won only 5 games in two years with Iowa State.

He was not the only person to speak out against the move, many other people, some in the professional world of sports, have given a strong opinion of Auburn and the decision they made. In my last blog, I talked about how people can make a strong voice of opinion against this university, but before I do, let me do this:

There was a question of how Auburn could “spin” this story to get as much damage off them as they could, some folks said there is nothing Auburn could have said, because there was no argument that Turner Gill SHOULD have been that coach. I will play devil’s advocate because in truth, there is some credibility in the hire.

If Auburn wanted to (and perhaps what they should have done), they could have explained to the press that even though Turner Gill would have been an excellent hire, the reason why they went for Gene Chizik was because he actually does have a history with Auburn in the past. Gene Chizik was the defensive coordinator for Auburn back in 2002 to 2004, and in that time accomplished many goals, including going to the Capital One Bowl, the Music City Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. For two years his defense was amongst the best in the nation, and he received Broyles Award in 2004, given to the best assistant coach in the nation. In 2004 that same Auburn team went 13-0, won the SEC, and beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl and finished #2 in the polls.

See folks, if Auburn had come out and shared this with the public, and people like noted alum Charles Barkley, THEN I could not argue that in truth, they may have gotten the best man for the job. Yes, Turner Gill won the MAC Championship this year, while Gene ends a second season of losing, but if you are looking for a spark to keep the Auburn alum and rich boosters happy, sometimes you have to hire “in the family” to keep some happy.

And I will be honest, I would not argue with that IF that is what they did, or if this was the reasoning of their hire…but that isn’t what we heard, was it? In fact, Auburn never said anything, as if hiding in shame for closing another door of opportunity to another African American coach.

Now I say this in light of also finding out that Ron English will become the 5th head coach in the NCAA Division I because Eastern Michigan recently hired him….

Hmmm, same old formula… team in the gutters, desperate so they hire an African American to help them. How many winning seasons EMU had since 1989...one? Two?

I wish Ron English well, but it clearly is an uphill battle, but at least the MAC recognizes that man should not be judged on color, but rather merit.

But back to Auburn…

I would have been willing to buy the background of Chizik if Auburn chose to justify that, but that by saying nothing, it seems that Auburn had shown their “true colors”…and that is truer than it seems.

So how do you change the attitudes of universities that clearly do not want to give an African American or any minority a chance? Schools like Auburn have NO problem recruiting black kids from high school, and in fact take them in great abundance. You sit there and cheer for them in the stands while swearing by your team colors every Saturday, and every Fall season becomes a holy time to you when your Tigers take to the field.

But deep inside, you don’t care one bit about the person that plays for you, especially if he is black. Once he has played his years and moves on, you look for the next black kid to uphold your sacred sport. After all, they were chosen only to play for you, never to coach or lead…they are not smart enough (as a fool would say).

So how do you change this kinda attitude? I mentioned before, the way to do it is to hit them in the place the most covet. In this case, Auburn University covets football more than anything else. Rich alum give millions of dollars to Auburn to support football, and most of them hide like cowards behind a racist cloth, making puppets of the Athletic Director and heads of the university.

So I say make them aware that these kinda “cloak and dagger” methods cannot be tolerated. I say, boycott Auburn University.

You say that’s just stupid and it will never work? I disagree, in fact, if put in motion, it would put the fear of God in Auburn University.

I say again, if you want to make a REAL statement on colleges who refuse to hire black coaches, hit them in recruiting. For example, I know some read my blogs, but if for some strange reason a national media got hold of this and ran it, or if somebody spread the word to boycott Auburn University, that would create a major fear that Auburn would lose the ONE thing that would embarrass even the cowards that hid behind closed doors…recruits.

I guarantee you, if the word got out to high school kids playing football that Auburn does not recognize equality, do you think they would play for that school? If parents with prospective children got word that Auburn does not care about black kids, do you think they would send their children to such a “school of higher learning”?

Charles Barkley was asked what could be done about it. Coach Mike Tomlin was asked what to do about it, the answer is right there. Sometimes talking to people that see color of skin first is not productive, because they will not listen. Charles and Mike both understood that just talking about it is only a start, but unless Auburn University starts to really look at the mirror and see that they should have hired the best man for the job instead of what the “good ole boys” wanted, this could have been avoided.

I promise you this…if Charles Barkley said “boycott Auburn Football” , I guarantee you that inside of a week, there would be some major changes in the entire university. If some of those sports celebrities even uttered that idea, I promise you Auburn University would have to have a crisis meeting to fix the problem.

If you want to make Auburn listen, and I say this also to all those other teams in the SEC, since they are incredibly slow to hire black coaches in football anyway, I say press the word to boycott the school, and especially the football program. Let Auburn football fall apart while the Tigers go 3-9 or 2-10 or a few very bad seasons, I promise you they will hire more fairly next time. That does not mean they HAVE to hire a black head coach, because next year, or 3 years from now, or 5 years from now, there may be a great candidate that isn’t black. But I bet you they’ll go the extra mile to show the nation that they did take all the steps necessary to give a black candidate a fair shot.

While I’m at it, some thumbs down to some other schools. Kansas State fired Ron Prince, a black head coach, and rehired Bill Snyder…now, I know he was a good coach, but you STILL should have interviewed other candidates. Thumbs down to Florida State, naming a coach for the future, and thus ignoring a chance to even interview anybody else. And shame on you Texas, for naming a guy EIGHT YEARS in the future. Way to dodge the idea of interviewing or even giving a shot to African American prospects.

I can’t get mad at Washington, but to me it seems like the standards for a black head coach are much shorter than those that are white. Today Arizona is in a bowl, and Mike Stoops is the head coach…somebody tell me, how does he keep his job for what, five years, with a losing record every year, and they run out Tyrone Willingham after what, 15 minutes? How about Sylvester Crooms, who was kicked out this year. I guarantee you they would have fired him last year, after only 3 years, were it not for the fact that they did win 8 games.

There is a way to change this…hit these football programs right where it hurts… recruits. If the word got out to boycott Auburn for unfair hiring practices, or schools like Notre Dame that didn’t give Willingham a fair shot like everybody else in Notre Dame Football HISTORY, and schools like that, you would force schools to become more aggressive to give African Americans a chance.

Boycott Auburn Football? In 2008? Sure, why not, it might as well be today, since Auburn seems to continue to live in 1968, or 1958, what’s 40 or 50 years to people that refuse to change?