Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Book examines demographics behind sports
Snyder simply said what many sports fans had long suspected but wouldn't dare say: that slave owners had bred their slaves selectively to produce the best physical specimens, a practice that Snyder thought responsible for the domination of black athletes in the NFL.
Snyder, a former Las Vegas bookie with a sharp, if sometimes misguided, wit, was made to disappear from the media faster than a canceled sitcom star. Sportswriters hurried to distance themselves from Snyder's comments in fear that they too would find themselves in the unemployment lines.
But a new book by Jon Entine, an award-winning ABC and NBC news producer and journalist, presents some fascinating facts about why Snyder's remarks caused such an outrage and why discussing the subject of race and sports remains off-limits. Entine's book, "Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It" looks at the culture of professional sports with the thoroughness of an anthropology textbook and offers some convincing arguments for the demographics behind professional sports.
For example, consider these other observations about black athletes: "On the plantation, a strong black man was mated to a strong black woman. Blacks were simply bred for physical qualities."
"The Negro was brought to this country as a physical specimen to work the land. This started a pattern of physical excellence that has continued through the years."
Both of these comments were made by black athletes (the first attributed to Dallas Cowboys star Calvin Hill, father of NBA all-star Grant Hill; the second by Olympic medalist and runner Lee Evans.) Both men are easily familiar with the genetic lineage that made them sports standouts. Unfortunately, talking about such things remains a no-go among sports commentators and everyday fans in the bleachers.
Some 55 years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, pro baseball is 40 percent black, the NBA is 85 percent black and the NFL's African-American involvement hovers around 80 percent. Entine asks an obvious question: Could this all be an accident?
By comparing achievement levels in pro baseball rookies of varying ethnic backgrounds and taking readers to Kenya's mountainous Rift Valley, a tiny region that has produced a wildly disproportionate number of world-class runners, Entine shows that, clearly, nothing about this is accidental. Dozens of contributing factors, from geographical climates, traditions in labor and even genetic predispositions to certain physical activities, all play a part in creating a professional athlete.
The writer is aware of how delicate a subject this is; racists have long attempted to discredit black sports achievement with stereotypes about "animalistic black physical prowess" and "brawn vs. brains," while even researching race-based physical attributes can label a writer a "Nazi" or worse.
But Entine is careful to point out that black skin does not automatically translate into athletic excellence, any more than an Asian heritage instantly means academic prowess. If you've ever wondered how one region of the world produces so many amazing sports heroes, "Taboo" is about the best explanation you're likely to find.
