By comparison, whites grew by 6 percent and blacks by 16 percent during the same decade. Of course, U.S. professional sports started becoming more ethnically diverse years ago. Players have come from Mexico, South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. Their fans have shown that, in addition to appreciating great athletic ability, they'll root for players who share similar ethnic backgrounds and ancestry. I hope NBC, with its America-centric thinking, remembers that lesson the next time it broadcasts the Olympics.
Sports draw different people for different reasons.
In the end, we're all rooting for the home team. Ken Yamada is a former senior editor at Red Herring. He has worked as a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Newsday and The Los Angeles Times. He also worked in Silicon Valley for several years as a writer and editor for computer publications, primarily Computer Reseller News and Solutions Integrator Magazine.