Sports: Football: USA pro-fb climaxes today in the SuperBowl championship game between Colts and Bears

UPDATE: 10:14 pm ...
Indianapolis Colts beat Chicago Bears 29-17 to win Super Bowl

Since I may not get a chance to blog on American pro-football's premier game today, tho I will be watching it on TV, I thawt some prep piece was more than appropriate. And I think I found a gem in Philadelphia Inquirer's Bob Ford column a couple days back--"A big name fit for Super Bowl" (Jan29,2k7).

Sometimes a sporting event, particularly one as publicized and fervently followed as the National Football League's Super Bowl, can become more than just another game on the schedule, another contest to be watched, dissected and then catalogued in the endless agate world of the record book.

This Sunday's championship game is just that kind of event, because along with the importance that sports fans will naturally give it, the game also carries a deep social significance, a meaningful milestone being passed on a long road toward equality in this country.

When the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears take the field and stand at attention on their sidelines for the national anthem, that song might mean a little more this time around for the coaches who brought their teams this far.

As the cameras focus in, particularly on the Chicago sideline, it will be hard to ignore the fact that, after all these years, there is finally a coach in the Super Bowl named "Lovie."

In the days leading up to the big game, Lovie Smith, the Bears' head coach for three seasons, has tried to downplay this story line, just as throughout his coaching career he has been loath to play the name card.

Smith said he looks forward to the day when a coach is judged only on his coaching ability and not what name he happens to have. That will be a good day for all of us, Smith indicated, and who can deny that?

But although Smith, and, to a lesser extent, Tony Dungy [Colts head coach], would like to focus solely on the football game, that is hardly possible this year. (There has never been a head coach named "Tony" to reach the Super Bowl, either. And in the history of the four major professional sports, only Tony La Russa has preceded Dungy to the championship round as either a head coach or manager.)

The walls are much higher out there for little boys named "Lovie," however, and Smith's ability to scale them puts a large dent in the insidious nameism that haunts our country even after all these years. With his success, little Lovies everywhere can dare to imagine big things for themselves, and know that there is no goal too outlandish, no dream too big and no impediment too daunting for those willing to work hard and believe in themselves.

While there is rejoicing in all parts of the country over Smith's breakthrough, there is particular pride in Dallas at the Love Field headquarters of L.O.V.I.E. (Lovie Overcomes Vicious Inequality Everywhere), about 100 miles west of Smith's hometown of Big Sandy, Texas.

Sports, by Sportikos

According to Jeremy "Lovie" McFarlin, the organization's president, the success of Smith is just the shot in the arm needed by the movement.

"It's been a long time to wait for some attention since Lovey Howell was on TV," McFarlin said. "And what people fail to realize is that not only does Smith's success break down the barriers for those named Lovie, but also for others. He is out there as well representing the possibilities for those named Lovey, Lovee, Luvie and Luvee, and we have also heard from people named Huggie, Squeezie and Smoochie who feel similarly empowered."

Lovey Howell, a character played by actress Natalie Schafer on the Gilligan's Island situation comedy more than 40 years ago, has long been the standard bearer for the name and its various permutations. Even while marooned on a barren island, she was able to maintain her dignity and wardrobe, undaunted by the circumstance, unbowed by the indignity of her surroundings, and unfazed by the knowledge that for all eternity men would never sit together in bars and ask one another, "Ginger, Mary Ann or Lovey?"

With Sunday's Super Bowl, however, the rescue ship will finally reach the island and few can doubt that one of the last major hurdles in name equality will have been surmounted.

The NFL deserves some credit in all this. Advances in the fight against nameism don't just happen. The league, which for too long saw its teams choose head coaches from what seemed to be an old-name network, encouraged the franchises to expand their thinking.

Certainly, there is still a revolving door for the Toms, Chucks, Bills and Daves, but NFL teams must demonstrate an openness in their hiring policies now. Teams must be willing to break preconceived notions and develop an interview process that is inclusive for those whose mere names might have disqualified them in the past.

The jobs obtained recently by Marvin Lewis, Brad Childress and Lane Kiffin are testament to the change, but nothing has had the impact of the success enjoyed by Lovie Smith, particularly as he climbs atop the largest stage in all of American sports.

While Sunday will be a day to enjoy the ultimate football game of the 2006 season, it will also provide an opportunity to reflect on just far we have come as a society.

Because there is nothing quite like an easy story line to convince us that some significant progress has been made, even if the facts out in the wider world don't agree. We eat it up like a halftime snack and it goes down very easily.
Contact columnist Bob Ford at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/bobford.

Okay, enuff of the ethical reflection on America's lead sport, and now to the batle-prep stuff for today's game.



First, check out Bears and Colts Get Ready to Battle (Feb4,2k7): "The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears are the combatants in Super Bowl XLI, and both teams have suffered through considerable enough periods without success that a win on Sunday night will rank as an especially celebratory moment. Sunday, February 4, 2007" It's got tbe win/lose/stats history of the two teams in the context of Amrican football history. It also gives some of the h+l+ts of the current season, including that fabulous seesaw game between the Colts and the New England Patriots, a game I watched but never found time to blog about. Maybe blog-thinking about a game undermines the pleasures of viewing the game itself. I'm just wondering. But to head off the post-game fatigue, this blog-entry. And a good time to all!