LESAProject

I completely understand how important it is for minorities be given an equal chance for head coaching jobs (or anything else for that matter), but from their point of view, are they appreciative for the help or do they feel like it’s demeaning? In the Seattle Seahawks situation right now, where they fired Jim Mora Jr. with the sole intention of hiring Pete Carroll, do they really need to interview a black coach? Seattle has no intention of hiring Leslie Frazier, or anyone for that matter, so why go through the condescending formality of an awkward interview? The Rooney Rule is basically saying we ...

It’s no secret that people are attracted to celebrity. That’s why brands and mega-corporations hire athletes, actors and hot women to promote their products: people often blindly emulate and imitate the stars they idolize. Michael Jordan built Nike, George Foreman became known more his grills than his boxing career, and Peyton Manning, well, he’ll endorse just about anything. Celebrity endorsements can work on a national scale if the celebrity’s star power is strong enough, but in some cases, it can be more efficient to target local icons where the entire community will get behind just about everything they say. Case in point: The ...

Normally, highlight videos are reserved for athletes. Very rarely will you see one for a pudgy 40-year-old, with graying hair and a nasally voice that resembles a cross between Fran Drescher and SpongeBob SquarePants. But then there’s Bill Simmons, the man who became famous by writing two columns a month relating sports to pop culture and recording an hour-long conversations with his friends three times a week. When Bill Simmons announced he was coming to Portland as a stop on the tour for the release of his latest book, “The Book of Basketball”, I knew I had to go. There was no ...