In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote while diversity among coaches in the NBA has "never really been an issue, the same can’t be said of front office positions." Privately, there were "several GM hopefuls of color who shook their heads" at the Nets' hiring of Spurs Assistant GM Sean Marks, who is white, as their new GM. There have been "rumblings for years that African-American GM candidates are being passed over for younger counterparts." Those counterparts have "more of a background in analytics, which is becoming a sticking point." Four of 30 NBA teams "have GMs or presidents of basketball operations who are African-American or African." It "may be up to the NBA to step in ... and mandate teams interview at least one GM candidate of color" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/21).
BEST BUDS: NBC golf analyst David Feherty said of the state of the PGA Tour, “I've been a professional for 41 years and this is the most fun, I think, to watch, that I can remember. We've got a great bunch of kids out there, with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day. The thing about these guys is they actually like each other. They're fond of each other, they root for each other. When I played, the best players in the world, they didn't even know each other. Tiger and Phil didn't know each other” (“Today,” NBC, 2/22).
LEAGUE OF ITS OWN: In Boston, Michael Whitmer wrote an upstart football league is "attempting to launch" and has Pro Football HOFer Marshall Faulk "championing its cause as a developmental league." Faulk: "There really is nowhere a player can go today to continue developing his football skills in hopes of making an NFL roster." Whitmer noted the latest iteration of the USFL "hopes to field eight teams, all owned by the league, and will have a 14-game regular season that spans the spring and summer, ending with a championship game before NFL teams report for training camp." The new USFL "views itself as a proving station for players who aspire to make the NFL, and says it will allow players to move to the NFL at any time" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/21).
