12/03/24
May 06, 2003
SI ranks the top 101 most influential minorities: in sports today. Bob Johnson, BET Founder and recipient of Charlotte NBA expansion team, is #1. 4 athletes in top 10--Tiger, S. Williams, Jordan, Yao. All in all a pretty comprehensive list of athletes and execs.
Agreed. Johnson may have a lot of clout, but if it didn't also say "founder of BET and recipient of Charlotte NBA expansion team" I would have had to think long and hard to know who he was... and if he hadn't been in the news with the Jordan thing lately I don't know if I'd come up with it at all. So I definitely think that influnce could have used a better definition.
posted by Bernreuther at 04:00 PM on May 06, 2003
damn, where's the edit post thing when you need it. Also, Johnson technically hasn't done much of anything yet, since the team doesn't even exist. As of 6 months ago, he wasn't even in sports. Influential or clout-holding minority, yes, but I'd still give the nod to Tiger or Jordan. Most likely Tiger, as I think that he has created new groups of golf players and fans moreso than Jordan did.
posted by Bernreuther at 04:03 PM on May 06, 2003
I have major issues with Jordan being number one because given the opportunity to effect change for the better he declined to get involved. Tiger chose not to get involved with the Martha Burk flap but did have an opinion about Casey Martin when his disability case was at issue. Jordan has influenced television ratings...but so did Dennis Rodman. Jordan has caused millions to pick up a basketball...but so did Dr. J, Larry, and Magic. They all had influence in their own right, but it doesn't measure up to the all-time contributors.
posted by vito90 at 04:13 PM on May 06, 2003
I kind of have mixed feelings about this list. I think it's because I'm being a naive idealist. Whenever I see the term "influential minorities", I think of minority figures that have somehow impacted the game in a way that positively benefits minorities. Either they have made the game accessible, or made sacrafices to effect change, or something along those lines. Now, this is a list of "today's" contributors...so you would not expect to see Arthur Ashe, Jackie, Curt Flood, Muhammed Ali, Tommie Smith, Jesse Owens, etc. etc. But they are the standard bearers, in my mind, when I think of influential minorities. Okay...so when I take a look at this list, I see the following names. Michael Jordan, Se Ri Pak, Aaron Goodwin, Shaq, Lennox Lewis, Alex Rodriguez. I also see Don King, who IS influential (as are many, many of the others on the list. I guess my point is, I would like to see a distinction made between people who truly impact and influence the game in a way that takes it forward, versus those who wield alot of clout. And if you're going to specify a list of "influential minorites", then I would hope their positive impact on the game would reach their fellow minorities (by which standards Tiger, Venus, and Serena belong because they brought their respective games to the inner city where it never would have taken hold without their success). In other words, just because Aaron Goodwin is Gary Payton's agent, and soon to be LeBron James' agent, does in no way suggest that he is moving the game forward or having a positive impact on anybody other than himself, Lebron, and Lebron's coterie. But when David Robinson buys 10,000 Thanksgiving turkeys and reads books to kids, he is having an influence.