Sports reporting is colorblind.(My Turn)

By now, you likely have read and heard all you care to regarding Rush Limbaugh's ill-advised comments on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown several weeks ago. If so, count me among you. But there is an aspect of this episode that hasn't really been addressed.

A friend asked me if, in the aftermath of the Rush frenzy, I believe black coaches and players receive different treatment in the media--be it either too harsh or too gentle.

In a word, no.

I believe something Rush didn't tune into. The fact is, there is not a more colorblind group in America today than sports reporters. Athletics is one of the few arenas in which people are judged on merit and performance.

The pressing issue the NFL and NCAA need to be concerned with is not the treatment of black coaches and players in the media, but getting more black coaches on the sidelines.

Right now, there are precious few black head coaches, and it saddens me to see how the NFL coaching carousel recycles the same, old names again and again. Unfortunately, this carousel has not stopped for Art Shell, who had a winning record (54-38) with the Raiders but hasn't gotten a sniff at another head coaching job since being canned by Al Davis nine years ago. This, in spite of the fact that Shell's winning percentage with the team (.587) was not much lower than Jon Gruden's (.594).

There are strides to be made when it comes to diversity in coaching. But as far as the media are concerned, I'm convinced they carry no social agenda or racial bias in their reporting.