On air radio personality Mike Claiborne recently wrote in the St. Louis American (a publication aimed at the black community) about Norm Stewart "(i)f you couldn't guard or be 6'10", get to the back of the bus and shut up. The issue of race only comes up by this crowd when it is to their advantage." Claiborne also pointed to Sundvold's one sentence comment regarding the hiring of Mike Anderson as evidence of his racism.

And so it continues in St. Louis. Ironically, Claiborne's words regarding race working for "their advantage" couldn't be more true, except the "they" is him, Demetrious Johnson, Onion Horton and the other usual suspects that make up St. Louis' Race Taliban.

Most folks have long gotten over the issue of race in sports. Claiborne's complete lack of support of his position makes it evident he's simply desperate to keep his industry alive and therefore protect his position in the sports community. And it's a good thing, Claiborne is one of the most sour, uninteresting on air personalities in St. Louis. His perpetual indifference makes me wonder why he's even in the business.

Those outside of St. Louis might remember Claiborne's name as the guy who called 86 year old hall of fame pitcher Bob Feller a racist during an interview in response to Heller commenting that "(a) lot of the players coming from the Caribbean, they don’t even know the rules.”

Which part of Feller's comments referred to race? The Caribbean isn't a race, it is a region that is inhabited by many nationalities and races. And yes, Mike, it is possible to speak generally about people without being a racist. It's called truth and if the words are true, then that is what matters. It sounded to me like Feller was indicting the Carribean baseball leagues as not doing a good job of teaching the rules rather than indicting Caribbean players because of their race. I'm not advocating Feller's position, I've never paid attention to this, but his comments are no more racist than speaking generally of the style of basketball play in Europe versus the United States or Canadian hockey versus U.S. hockey.

But back to Mizzou, we at Missouri have our favorite sons. Few have been as loved as Lamont Frazier, Melvin Booker, Brad Smith, Corby Jones, et al. In fact, the list would go on for pages. Being a minority myself (I'm Mexican), I take exception to the abuse of cries of racism because it detracts from legitimate racial issues. Nowhere in Claiborne's column does he support his charges of racism with facts. But then again, facts wouldn't serve him. The issue of race hasn't come up, Mike, except by people like you desperate to keep your industry alive and well.