European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday february 1, 1988 the stars and stripes pag8 23 commentary the fabric of the old boy network by Ira Berkow san Diego some in the so called news Media have come to refer 10 Pete Rozelle s annual super bowl news conference no. Xxii was held Here on Friday As n stale of the Union address. That s the last thing ii is. H is in fact a slate of management address. Rozelle the suave Champion of the National foot Ball league for nearly 30 Yean is a spokesman for the owners if not in actual icbms a Well tailored apologist. Pc said at one Point in the news conference it s been called by some a racist league. I Don t like that. Bui with All the attention to hire Black coaches and to have other businesses hire minorities it probably is. A Good thing if in brings results the reason for that designation of racist league he acknowledges is that other than in inc earliest Yean of inc i Cage some 6i years ago there have been no Black head coaches. There have been hundreds of head coaches. All while. The color line for players in the nil was broken shortly after world War ii and inc first Black assist ant coach in the memory of several football people was Emlyn Tunnell of the giants in ii Early 1960s. The reason thai Black assistant coaches Are significant according to to Zulic is that he sees the first Black head coach in the nil coming from the Pool of Black assistant  the attention and pressure today from social forces As Well As tie news Media he said has can Iri Fulcd to his encouraging the owners to seek to Hirt a Black head coach. Why has t one been hired before or Why presumably has t the league encouraged one to be hired before he gave a few reasons before he gave what appears the most plausible reason. Roil la said that previously Many of inc nil coaches came from the College ranks and currently there Are very few of them he mentioned Only three Black head coaches in inc major College ranks. Later however. Art Modill owner of the Cleveland Browns said thai he believe about 98 percent of the head pro coaches have come from inc nil and from the Pool of assistant pro coaches to Nellc said there have been until tvs cantly very few Black assistant coaches. In i960, he said there were Only 14 Black assistants while today there Are 41. And if he Pool is not or has not been wide or deep enough among Black assistants about 1q percent of inc some 400 assistant pro coaches arc Black com pared with More than so percent of the 1,600 players in the league being Black then Why had i there been a greater Pool before this for the same reason to Zulic responded to the question that your newspaper had t hired More  and that reason asked the reporter is .,.7" whatever that reason is came Roc Lac s retort. Could you venture a guess commissioner to his credit he did. I guess there has been an old boy network be said. Most head coaches picked assistants who they  sniper s won. Remark. On Buck becoming  had coached with or played with As tar Back As High school and College. But the More there is pressure and attention on that old boy network the More Likely it is to  he added that for the head coaching vacancy in Green Bay five or six Black assistant coaches in the nil were interviewed though he could name Only three Johnny Roland of the bears Dennis Green of the 49ers, and Tony Dungy of the steel cars. Dungy by the Way is the Only Black assistant who is a coordinator either on defense or offence. In the stratification of coaches. Dungy is a kind of head coach of inc defense and in fact has under him a Black assistant Joe Greene a line coach. Meanwhile inc Packer Job was offered to George Perles the head coach of Michigan slate who is White and he turned in Down. So the position re Mains open. Aslo the head coaching vacancy with Al Davis raiders speculation continue As to the successor of Tom Flores. I d like to s it be a Black Rcd Lac said. Full the league can t Force any learn to hire or fire a coach he continued. Thai s not inc role of the league office. The teams Are 23 autonomous organization. All the league office can do in league meetings is Point out the pressure and attention that s been focused on this situation and encourage a  the shame certainly is that there has nol been enough encouragement from All appearances in inc past the old boy network or cronyism or racism it s hard to make the distinction said Gene up Shaw the executive director of the players Union and a Black Man has by ils very nature excluded a segment of american society Fram advancement simply because of the color of ils ski n. Rozelle added that Hie nil has been no different in this from the rest of society. He has a Point though increasingly swifter in some cases slower in Colliers in is changing. Difficult to believe though that with a Black on the supreme court and Blacks in inc Federal Judic iary and Blacks in the Cabinet and Congress and Black brain surgeons and Black astronauts and Black College professors and Blacks who head big businesses and even Black quarterbacks one of whom was in the super bowl quarterback being the ultimate  or decision making Posi Tion once considered the sole province of whiles hat there is nol and has nol been k in la Black Man qualified to be a professional head coach and this in a game in which the single most crucial activity is for one Man to jump on top of another. 1h� a a wac Tim dodgers offer too Good Gibson says by Harry Atkins Grosse Pointe Park Mich. A Kirk Gib son wearing a dodger Blue Warmup suit said Farewell to the Detroit tigers and nine years Worth of Mem ories saturday the dodgers announced late Friday night that Gib son will sign a three year contract in los Angeles on monday just 10 Days after he was granted free Agency in a collusion ruling and the outfielder wanted his fans to know Why he was leaving Detroit. This was probably inc most difficult decision i be Ever made in my life Gibson said sitting in the Home of realtor Jim Sarrus a business associate. Some of my greatest memories Are in a Tiger uniform. Michi Gan is Stilt my Home. I la live Here in the off season and raise my family  Gibson said he wanted More than anything to slay with inc tigers his boyhood learn but the dodgers simply made him an offer he could t refuse. It was something 1 fell was Best for my family and myself Gibson said. In was t what i wanted to do. There was just such a Gap i fell 1 had no Choice reportedly the Deal Calls for Gibson 30, to be paid $4.5 million Over the three Yean including a ii million Iran teed pro fhe tigers had offered to Emend Gibson s contract for one year beyond the 1988 season at slightly More than the 11.3 million he would have earned with de troit this season. The tigers also offered a no Trade clause but in was t enough. Still Gibson said he held no hard feelings toward either the tigers or general manager Bill Lajoie. Let me Tell you something Gibson did. "1 respect them Tor what they Are. They were As hard line As they always Are and 1 respect them for that. They be won Many championships their Way. La j not like people Waul Oul of Detroit. I simply did what was Best for  Sparky Anderson said by Telephone from hit Home in thousand Oaks calif., ii would be difficult to measure Gibson s loss we be got rookies Billy bean and Scott Lusader. We be got people Anderson Laid. Lusader had the to Arm on the club. I m going to platoon that Posi Tion no matter what i  last year upon the defection of free agent Catcher Lance Fairish the tigers turned to Rookie Matt Mokes who blossomed into an All Star player. Anderson hesitated to predict How Gibson s replacements might fare. That you Don t know until you do it he said. You Wail until the year s Over. In weakens us Proba Bly sure but so did losing Parrish. I be Learned never to cry about these things. I Don t have Kirk. It s like they were never Iacre. When you Don t have pm you Don t have  Gibson said such a move might have been unthinkable until ibis recent Winter meetings when he nearly was traded to the dodgers for Pedro Guerrero. From thai Point on 1 thought it was Only a matter of time before i was gone Gibson said. You can t predict those things. Of pc always got to be ready for inc unexpected in this  Gibson despite Only average statistical totals has Beta one of baseball s most charismatic player from the very  Wai an Aji am Ricon wide receiver in football at Michigan state University and brought a rare combi nation of Power and Speed to the Diamond sport. Just the Way he rounded first base like a freight train barely under control was Gibson trademark