Remember Dianne Durham, the first elite black gymnast?
Contributed By:Tommy Williams
I'm not going to lie to you; I'm really not into the Summer Olympics this time around. Why, you ask? Well, don't get me wrong, I feel bad that Gabby Douglass will not get a chance to win a gold in gymnastics (although she got a gold medal in being classy when she hugged her American teammate directly after said teammate's performance officially eliminated Douglass from any medal consideration) but outside of that, there is nothing new that we will see in this:
The U.S. men's and women's basketball teams will dominate, ditto the women's soccer team, Usian Bolt will blow every one out in the speed events, Michael Phelps will cross more finish lines than anybody else, and half the Russians who win gold medals will have to give them back because they were doped up. Been there, done that.
OK, I will admit, I didn't see the early demise of the Williams sisters in women's tennis coming (Serena is must see-TV, so again, why watch?) but there is one thing Olympic-related that was worth the time to enjoy.
Former gymnast Dominique Dawes was interviewed on "Good Morning, America" and was credited with being a pioneer for Black female gymnasts who are expected to do quite nicely in these Olympics. Dawes, the first African American to win a gold medal in gymnastics responded by giving credit to Gary-born Dianne Durham as being the true pioneer.
And for that, we give Ms. Dawes a 10; because it's about time Durham got credit for opening a few doors for those like her.
For you who don't remember Durham, here's a quickee resume: Durham was an elite gymnast to the point that she was all but penciled in to make the 1984 U.S. Olympic team before an injury forced her to miss the games. The first elite Black gymnast (elite enough to be coached by the legendary Bela Karolyi), Durham now teaches gymnastics and judges meets. And it's good to see Dawes, who followed in Durham's footsteps give credit where credit is due.
-- Kudos to the Northwest Indiana Oilmen on overcoming a slow start this season to win the Midwest Collegiate League championship. And they did it thanks to the heroics of a catcher who batted .200 during the regular season and because of that, got very little playing time.
But because the regular catcher Zach Forney injured himself during game one of the opening series against Joliet (he fouled off a pitch that would hit him in the face and end his season), Jake Perreira got a second chance and made the most of it.
To the Oilmen's post season opponents, the catcher was Jake from State Harm because he put a hurting on Joliet and DuPage County, being the tournament MVP after hitting .438 in the playoffs including picking up two hits in the deciding game of the finals against the Hounds.
-- Is high school football dying in the city of Gary? Sometimes I wonder. Last week during my sports talk show, we threw out a football subject, and for the next 30 minutes, we got callers who wanted to talk high school basketball, past and present. We also had my go-to-guy, Lighthouse girls basketball coach Thomas Smith talk football (he was a DB for Horace Mann in his high school days), and he even admits that football has lost a lot of luster in the city.
I asked him if he picked up the newspaper and saw that a Gary prep football team was ranked in the top 10, what would be his response?
"Misprint," he said.
Can't say I disagree with him. But as always, I invite at least one Gary team to prove me wrong.
Story Posted:08/10/2016
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