It almost seems redundant to hold Martin Luther King Day in the middle of all this hoopla over the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama.Well, I guess if if that's what the people want...
Our own reflections on these matters are turning towards some intensely local leaders, whom perhaps we should start calling modern-day abolitionists.
Too much?
From Wikipedia:The Rooney Rule, established in 2003, requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for a head coaching opportunity. The rule is named for Dan Rooney*, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chairman of the league's diversity committee, and is often cited as an example of affirmative action.
Since the Rooney Rule was established, several NFL franchises have hired minority head coaches (including the Steelers themselves, who hired Mike Tomlin before their 2007 season). At the start of the 2006 season, the overall percentage of African American coaches had jumped to 22%, up from 6% prior to the Rooney Rule. Even so, the policy is still debated and no team has stated whether the Rooney Rule contributed to the hiring of a minority.
* - I'm actually unsure whether the Rooney Rule wasn't also named in recognition of Art Rooney Sr. and his own legacy in regards to race relations and pro football.
At any rate, it's all seeming to work out okay.
"They did it tonight the way they've done it all year. This has been a very humble group, a very grounded group, and a very selfless group. And because of that, we're opportunistic." [evankel3]
Sounds like somebody's been hanging out with Troy Polumalu.
Have a happy and inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, everybody, and maybe mark this on your calendar.
Go Steelers!
ReplyDeleteBlack and gold!
ReplyDeleteBram, what is the comment policy on posting about the Steelers?
ReplyDeleteCurrently, everything from Pittsblog 2.0 to PghIsACity is ok.
ReplyDeleteBram, I love you. I am sorry you are taken.
ReplyDeleteLadies and gentlemen, with that final Matt + Bram joke, we have finally reached the point at which the Comet is destined to be overrun by anonymous trolls if it does not start banning boorish users.
ReplyDeleteIf they are willing to terrorize a Steelers and MLK day thread, they cannot be allowed to exist. Nothing gold can stay.
Research will commence immediately towards the goal of storing our commentary on Haloscan, which (as you will recall from the Burgh Report) has the ability to ban abusers. Please excuse the inconvenience of an occasional closed comment thread until we execute the changeover.
So long as we are talking to tech folk, you never know what else might happen...