Happy Jackie Robinson day!

We all know who Jackie Robinson is.  He is legendary in both the sports world, and the civil rights movement.  We over use the word courage when we speak about athletes, but he had true courage and lots of it.  He went in to ball parks day in and a day out in the 40s and was insulted threatened, and shunned even by his own teammates.   But his great accomplishments stretch beyond the baseball diamond and it's once heavily enforced color line.

 One of my favorite Jackie Robinson accomplishments is lettering in four sports at a Division I university.  Robinson lettered in baseball, football, basketball, and track at UCLA.  His athletic ability knew no bounds.  Robinson even went on to chase a professional football with the Los Angeles Bulldogs, a small football team in a small west coast league.  That dream was short lived as he was drafted by the U.S Army in 1942.  After a brief struggle Robinson was let into the Commissioned Officers training along with legendary boxer Joe Louis.   During his two years in the Army Robinson was court marshaled for insubordination after an incident on a bus.  He was later acquitted and honorably discharged.  After his Army career Robinson took a job as a basketball coach at Sam Huston University, a historically black college in Austin, Texas. 

Jackie Robinson then in early 1945 started playing in the Negro League and in the minor leagues, until he historically joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.  After baseball Robinson founded the Freedom Bank in Harlem and did extensive work with the NAACP.  He also endorsed political candidates with progressive civil rights agendas.  Jackie Robinson's iconic status stretches far beyond his courage on the baseball field.  His goal, he often stated, was to see a black manager in Major League Baseball.  There are five black managers serving this year in the MLB.  Jackie Robinson was a pioneer and a courageous man.  Live like no one is watching and tip your hat to the greats.