If the Real Story Is Race, We Must Put It in Its Place

Although I don’t know Johnnie Cochran, I doubt he enjoys turning over every rock to see if there’s racial prejudice underneath.

It’s a cynical job, but somebody’s got to do it.

So I welcomed his presence near Latrell Sprewell’s side during a news conference Tuesday in Oakland.

I don’t believe the controversy surrounding Sprewell’s attack on Coach P.J. Carlesimo is a black-vs.-white issue. It is, however, at the very least a gray area in some minds and should be explored.

Would the reaction to Sprewell have been so harsh if he were white?

Would he have assaulted Carlesimo if the coach were African American?

It was easier to identify a black-white issue in 1940, when UCLA met Texas A&M; in football for the first time.

I spoke to a friend here this week who recalls that the Aggies weren’t happy about playing a team that included African Americans, including running back Jackie Robinson.

In a 1991 book by Steve Springer and Mike Arkush, “60 Years of USC-UCLA Football,” one player, Ray Bartlett, said Robinson felt particularly targeted because of his race in games that season against Southern Methodist and Texas A&M.;

According to the authors, “When Robinson would be tackled and several other players would leap on, the opportunity would be used to pummel the helpless Robinson underneath the mass of bodies, beyond the view of the officials.”

Ironically, the effect on Robinson might have changed America. It certainly changed baseball because Bartlett said such incidents on the football field probably played a role in Robinson’s decision to concentrate on the sport in which he eventually broke the color barrier.

Thirty years after that 1940 game between UCLA and Texas A&M;, Hugh McElroy broke the Aggies’ color barrier.

On Jan. 1, when the Bruins and Aggies meet for the fourth time, Texas A&M; will bring a team to Dallas’ Cotton Bowl that includes numerous African Americans.

The university’s sports information assistants didn’t have the number at their fingertips Tuesday because it’s no longer a significant statistic.

As some of the discussion in Sprewell vs. Carlesimo indicates, we haven’t become a colorblind society. But we have made progress.

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If the Pacific 10, the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl were allied with the alliance this season, as they will be next season, Michigan wouldn’t be playing in Pasadena on Jan. 1. . . .

The No. 1 Wolverines would be committed to a Jan. 2 game in Miami against No. 2 Nebraska. . . .

So who would play in the Rose Bowl against Washington State? . . .

According to a tentative plan, the Rose Bowl would have the first choice of other eligible teams by virtue of having lost No. 1 Michigan to the Orange Bowl. . . .

Would the Tournament of Roses committee respond to the rankings and select No. 3 Tennessee, setting up a marquee match between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf? . . .

Would the choice be Ohio State, honoring the Pac-10 vs. Big Ten tradition? . . .

Or would it be UCLA, the local favorite that no doubt would leap at a rematch with Washington State? . . .

I doubt Washington State Coach Mike Price would be as enthusiastic. . . .

Although it might be assumed the Cougars are just happy to be here considering it’s their first Rose Bowl berth since 1931, Price says we should get used to it. . . .

“Whether you like it or not, the Cougars are going to be in the Rose Bowl at least once every 67 years,” he says. . . .

Price says Washington State has received more than 300,000 requests for tickets. . . .

Front-runners. A total of only 199,000 attended their six home games this season. . . .

USC fans are dreaming of a dream backfield that would include Santa Ana Mater Dei’s Mike McNair and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Justin Fargas. . . .

McNair, who has narrowed his choices to USC and Notre Dame, and Fargas, who is seriously considering USC, UCLA and Michigan, are both involved in high school championship games this weekend. . . .

So is Tustin’s DeShaun Foster, considered by some at least as good a prospect as McNair and Fargas. . . .

Overshadowed has been Herman Ho-Ching, the tenacious Long Beach Poly running back who has a chance to test himself against Mater Dei in Saturday’s Southern Section Division I title game at the Coliseum.

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While wondering what Robert Horry is advising Sprewell, I was thinking: Life was easier when the coach was named Wimp, throw a towel and get traded to the Lakers, Cedric Ceballos knows a good spot for water skiing.