Lehigh: Filled With White Men?

Imagine my surprise when the following post from Deadspin was called to my attention. Apparently, not only did a "couple of Ivy Leaguers" determine that white referees call a disproportionately high number of fouls on black NBA players, apparently Bob Fortune ('70) was Deadspin's poster child for the article.

Why Bob, though, to represent the "white" NBA? Last I heard, Bob never even sniffed the NBA. As a matter of fact, no Lehigh player, white or otherwise, has even even made it to the NBA. Sure we've had a couple coaches (Pete Carril and Bob Hill) make NBA coaching staffs, but even arguably our best-ever player, Darren Queenan ('87) only made it to the CBA.

Okay, so you could call it a case of white "racial profiling", right? Lehigh's filled with great white players that get favorable calls, is that the argument? Well, fast forward to the Lehigh Athletics Convocation, where two of our men's basketball players won awards, senior Jose Olivero and freshman Marquis Hall. Both are not white. And we certainly can't say we got our fair share of calls - our season was lost after Army was credited a lay-up after the buzzer sounded in the Patriot League tournament.

My phone lines are open - I'll be waiting for calls, emails, and voices of support from Reverend DeSoares on this issue - this blatant case of racial stereotyping.

(Or maybe it was just a bad joke by Deadspin, and maybe I have a sense of humor about it.)

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