By “Nunnie” Robinson, Westside Gazette Sports Editor
Of particular note: the interim tag was removed from Lavas Vegas Raider football coach Antonio Pierce, making him the fifth Black Head Coach in the NFL, joining recently named Jerod Mayo of New England, DeMeco Ryans of Houston, Todd Bowles of Tampa Bay and sage 15-year veteran Mike Tomlin of Pittsburgh. Before the playoffs began Saturday, 4 of the 8 remaining teams featured starting Black quarterbacks – Lamar Jackson, Ravens; C. J. Stroud, Texans; Pat Mahomes, Chiefs; and Jordon Love, Packers. Since Baltimore and Houston were playing, it was assured that one Black QB would be eliminated; however, if Green Bay could somehow upset San Fran we’d still have three. Baltimore defeated Houston handily and Jordon Love’s inexplicable pass over the middle into coverage while scrambling right, eliminated the second of the three remaining. Based on Sunday’s results, we will have one Black quarterback in the Super Bowl, Lamar Jackson or Pat Mahomes after the Chiefs’ thrilling 27-24 victory over the Bills in Buffalo. In the other divisional final, the Detroit Lions overcame a game Tampa Bay Bucs team with hard fought 31-23 win in Detroit. Now it’s on to the conference finals to determine Super Bowl matchup. My prediction is the Baltimore Ravens will defeat the Chiefs in a nail biter while the talented 49ers will end Detroit’s magical season. I’ll withhold my Super Bowl prediction until next week.
In other sports news, Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara Vanderveer became the winningest coach in college basketball, surpassing former Duke HOF coach Mike Przyzewski.
