The late great Buck O'Neil
Tha Artstorian Reports…
When I heard about the passing of Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt one of American Sports greatest pioneers and ambassadors in general and football in particular, one thought immediately came to mind…Buck O'Neil should have gotten into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame…Although both men came from different backgrounds and circumstances their passion for their sports made them more alike than unalike...
Both men made their names in the Kansas City Sports scene which is hollowed and sacred ground in terms of American Sports history…Many of America's sports pioneers and legends such as Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Satchel Paige and yes Mr. Buck O'Neil got their breaks and earned their fame playing for the legendary Kansas City Monarchs of the great Negro Leagues…By the way the Negro Leagues as we now know it today was officially started during February 13 and 14, 1920 in meetings headed by legendary Negro Leagues player, businessman and visionary Mr. Rube Foster in you guess it Kansas City (which is the official home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum)…J.L. Wilkinson owner of the Kansas City Monarchs and the only white owner in Negro Leagues baseball was the first person to use lights in a baseball night game…Other Kansas City sports greats and illuminaries include Len Dawson, Bo Jackson, George Brett, the late great Derrick Thomas, the late great Coach Hank Stram who won Mr. Hunt's beloved Kansas City Chiefs' only Superbowl championship, and Marty Schottenheimer among many others too numerous to mention in this article…
Both Buck O'Neil and Lamar Hunt advocated integration and giving Black ball players of their respective sports their proper chances and due…Buck O' Neil became the first black coach and talent scout (Chicago Cubs) in Major League Baseball history and was responsible for discovering future baseball greats and hall of famers such as Lou Brock and Ernie Banks…Lamar Hunt was among the first football owners in either league (American Football League and National Football League) to pursue and sign black football players…As a matter of fact Lamar Hunt was the first to actively pursue black football players at historically Black colleges such as Eddie Robinson's Grambling University…
Both men demanded through their goodwill and persistence that their respective leagues be recognized as equals by their peers and rivals…One of the main reasons why there are a significant number of Negro League Ball Players as well as the only woman and other contributors in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is because of the true singular and Herculean efforts of one Mr. Buck O'Neil who basically barnstormed the country for many years telling stories about his playing days as well as well known and not so well known facts about some of baseball's in general and Negro Leagues' in particular greatest players and contributors to audiences totally unaware or eager to learn more…Mr. O'Neil's master storytelling and sagery was immortalized for all times through documentary film maker Ken Burns' Baseball…That was when I first witnessed the magic of Mr. Buck O'Neil as a 15 year old teenager on public broadcasting television almost twelve years ago…Lamar it could be argued was just as instrumental in getting the American Football League (now the American Football Conmference or AFC of the NFL) recognized by the NFL just as Joe Namath's guaranteed and eventual win against the Baltimore Colts or the dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s...Lamar Hunt, a proud Dallas,Texas native is also responsible in creating the opportunities for the creation of the Dallas Cowboys, one of the most loved and hated football franchises of all times (which oddly and quiet as it kept, the NFL did not initially want a team in Dallas)…He was also instrumental in the formation of the Chicago Bulls NBA franchise, Major League Soccer and popularizing tennis throughout the U.S….Lamar Hunt's beloved Kansas City Chiefs played the first Superbowl against the legendary Vince Lombardi and the Greenbay Packers…Mr. Hunt with his uncanny ability to create and seize the moment even coined the phrase "Superbowl"…Eventually the Chiefs won their first and so far only Superbowl against the Minnesota Vikings in 1970…
Both men were considered father figures by fans, players, and everybody else they encountered…When people speak of Buck O' Neil or Lamar Hunt they often speak about their accessibility or willingness to be available to people they cared about and vice versa...Although I never met these men I know by those that they influenced that their virtues far outweighed their vices…
I also feel whereas Mr. Hunt died of natural causes that Mr. Buck O'Neil died from a broken heart…Lamar Hunt's vision was a dream fulfilled while Buck O'Neil's was a dream deferred…
There's really no excuse why the late great Mr. O'Neil (who was just honored Friday December 15,2006, by President Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously, the highest honor that a U.S. civilian can be awarded) isn't enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame…In a game where greatness is measured by number and stats, his contributions were and are immeasurable much like Mr. Hunt's… Many would argue that he wasn't a standout baseball player, but what he was more importantly than that was a standout humanitarian whose generosity knew no boundaries or limitations…Mr. O' Neil didn't play or promote baseball he was baseball…Mr. Lamar Hunt who never played a down of professional football let alone college football was able to be inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame just twelve years after he start getting involved with the NFL based on his overall innovative contributions and promotion of the now most popular sport in America…
America owes a debt to men and women with uncompromising vision and passion…Thank GOD for Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Hunt.
To learn more about Mr. Buck O'Neil click on the following link:
http://www.answers.com/buck%20o
To learn more about Mr. Lamar Hunt click on the following link:
http://www.answers.com/lamar%20hunt
No comments:
Post a Comment