Sports stars are best seen and not heard. They express themselves through action better than speech. However, that need not always be.
NBC (on Wharf Cable) recently aired a show called Meet the Press in which a trio of sporting superstars proved their proficiency in debate. And it wasn't just in-depth analysis of the essentially trivial details of a game.
The show came from the Gund Arena in Cleveland on the weekend of the NBA's All-Star game. Host Tim Russert, who earlier in the programme had been verbally jousting with failed presidential running mate Jack Kemp, opened a discussion with sports broadcaster Bob Costas, NBA Commissioner David Stern and superstar players Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Grant Hill.
The man who stole the limelight was Barkley. Although Jordan and Hill were both articulate and interesting they were also diplomatic. Barkley got right to the heart of the matter. 'We as black people keep going on about racism,' said Barkley on the problem of single parent families among African-Americans. 'But we can't keep using that as a crutch. We have to stop births out of wedlock, we have to stop teenage pregnancies.
'White people owe us nothing but an opportunity. We have to stop all the gang-banging, get ourselves educated and take control of our lives. Racism is no excuse.' It sounded like a campaign speech from the stump.
'I would like to run for governor of Alabama,' he added. 'The blacks are obviously disadvantaged because of the way the south is. That's why I want to get on television every day to tell black people they can push themselves harder.