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Joe Pa: "Black athlete has made a big difference"

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StooGrimson

StooGrimson

He drives around, all over the town...
http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/osu/daily/1102osufb.html

Paterno: 'Black athlete has made a big difference'

By Doug Harris
Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS | Scoring among Big Ten teams has increased by about a touchdown per game this year, and Penn State coach Joe Paterno gives part of the credit to an infusion of black athletes.
<!--endtext-->"You've got to be careful how you say things because (Air Force coach) Fisher DeBerry got in trouble," the 78-year-old Paterno said on the Big Ten teleconference Tuesday, "but the black athlete has made a big difference. They've changed the whole tempo of the game.
"The black athlete has done a great job as athletes and people of turning the game around. Say what you want to say about it, but it's a different game because of them."
DeBerry, 67, created a media frenzy with comments he made Oct. 24 about black athletes after a 48-10 loss to TCU.
DeBerry said it was clear the Horned Frogs "had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did."
"Afro-American kids can run very well," DeBerry said. "That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well. The black athlete, statistically, from program to program, seems to have an edge as far as speed is concerned."
DeBerry was reprimanded by Air Force and later issued an apology.
Penn State (8-1, 5-1) will host Wisconsin (8-1, 5-1) with first place in the Big Ten on the line Saturday. Ohio State, which hosts Illinois, is the only other team with just one conference loss.
The Nittany Lions can assure themselves of their first Big Ten title since 1994 and first BCS bowl berth with two more wins. After a bye next week, they conclude the season at Michigan State.
The Badgers also would earn an automatic BCS berth with two more victories. They host Iowa Nov. 12 in their season finale.
 
I think that people make too much of a fuss over comments like these and especially those from DeBerry. Everyone knows that alot of what he said is pretty true and people get all tight-assed anytime someone mentions race even when its not being denigratory.
 
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buckeyefool said:
What I want to know is what exactly was the question that he was asked. I doubt he would have gone on about this out of the blue. So what did the reporter ask him?
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I'm assuming he had some kind of bizarre, Geritol-induced flashback to the late sixties and early seventies. To state this out of thin air is pretty strange. Considering that African Americans have been a huge part of football for a few decades now this really isn't an issue that comes up anymore except on ESPN Classic's retrospectives. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't follow up his answer by chasing down a reporter and grabbing him/her.
 
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buckeyefool said:
What I want to know is what exactly was the question that he was asked. I doubt he would have gone on about this out of the blue. So what did the reporter ask him?
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Exactly. Another baiting question from the media.

Think Tibs made it to JoePa's presser this week? He's a master baiter.
 
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