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Poll: If Woody were Black would he have been fired?

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If Woody were black

  • yes

    Votes: 17 77.3%

  • no

    Votes: 5 22.7%
  • Total voters
    22
  • Poll closed .
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ManInBlack

ManInBlack

Banned
With the John Chaney situation getting so much attention, I started thinking about this.

If Woody were black, would he have been able to finish his coaching career or would he have been fired anyways.
 
ManInBlack said:
With the John Chaney situation getting so much attention, I started thinking about this.

If Woody were black, would he have been able to finish his coaching career or would he have been fired anyways.
Click to expand...
I would argue that if Chaney was white, he'd have been fired before now.
 
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What do we win if we guess this one right?

Anyway, the correct answer is that he wouldn't have been hired. How many black head coaches had been hired before, say, 1960? Make it even tougher, by limiting it to what is now division one. Make it impossible, and limit it to football coaches. I don't know for sure, but would guess zero.
 
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He would look like Marvin Lewis. Seriously, there is no way he would have been hired in 1953 if he were black. Back then, opportunities were so limited to blacks that it would have been impossible to find a black football coach legitimately qualified to take over a program the stature of OSU, prejudice set aside. When he went on road trips to the South, Woody would eat w/ the black players in the kitchen or wherever, while the rest of the team ate in the main dining room. I know a colleauge of mine who actually gave up his season tickets in protest when they fired Woody-I disagree obviously, it had to be done, and would have, whether he was black, white, Puerto Rican, or Martian.
 
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Well, the answers were/are along the lines I had expected. And I can't say that I disagree with anyone.

Both are/were coaches that broke down racial barriers and truly cared about the lives/futures of the kids that played for them.

Both had/have their flaws. What I am perplexed about is why Chaney is being afforded a much longer leash than Woody was ever afforded.
 
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ManInBlack said:
What I am perplexed about is why Chaney is being afforded a much longer leash than Woody was ever afforded.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if he has been offered a longer leash or not...but I do have an explanation to why I think Chaney gets by with more than a white coach could under the exact same circumstances.

Now more than ever, the perception of racism supercedes reality. Just look at all the fuss at Notre Dame over the Willingham firing. If it was a white coach, it would be just another guy that couldn't win at Notre Dame feeling the boosters wrath. I actually heard several people suggesting that he should have had more of a chance BECAUSE he was black.

Not to turn this into an affirmative action discussion, but the idea of giving someone a greater opportunity because of the color of their skin is racism no matter which race gets the benefits. Maybe there aren't enough black coaches getting an equal shot these days, but I think a lot of organizations and universities aren't willing to deal with the headaches, media circus and Jesse Jackson speeches.

Maybe it's because I'm young and I don't know better, maybe it's because I have a black family members and friends...but I just don't think this should be such a big issue. If I were black, I would be offended that people wanted to give me an advantage or more chances because they didn't think I could do it without their help.
 
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ManInBlack said:
With the John Chaney situation getting so much attention, I started thinking about this.

If Woody were black, would he have been able to finish his coaching career or would he have been fired anyways.
Click to expand...
In 1978, he would've been fired.

Today? He probably still would've been fired, although he would get a lot more support from the media/special interest groups. That would be a shame, because - unfortunately - he had to be fired. There's no excuse for what he did. He's human, he just lost it for a moment.

For those of us who know what he was about, though, that one act does NOT tarnish his legacy, both as a coach and as a man.

RIP, Woody.
 
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