HOUSTON -- The 2012 Urban Invitational achieved its primary goal over the weekend at Minute Maid Park by giving several HBCU programs national exposure while promoting the value of education.
Alabama State, Grambling State, Southern, Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern represented the HBCU participants this year. Also, No. 24 UC Irvine played in the tournament.
Although the tournament was scheduled to take place at the Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park for two of the days (Friday and Sunday), inclement weather caused the event to take place entirely at Minute Maid Park for the weekend.
The games on Saturday aired on MLB Network and MLB.com, with analysis from Greg Amsinger and two-time All-Star Harold Reynolds.
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NOTE: It's great to see how HBCU are continually linked by family members...
If you didn't know, Vince Coleman Sr. played college baseball at Florida A&M. His cousin Greg Coleman also played on the Rattlers football team and ran the sprints, and hurdles on the FAMU Track and Field Teams. Greg was drafted into the NFL as a punter in the 14 round in 1976 by the Cincinnati Bengals, but ended up at Cleveland in 1977, and had a nice 12 year career in the NFL -- playing for Cleveland, Minnesota and the Washington Redskins. Greg was noted for his coffin corner kicks, and his fake punts, as he had great speed, like Vince Sr.
Last I read, Greg was a sideline reporter for Minneapolis/St. Paul radio station that covered the Minnesota Vikings, and was working as an ordained minister. He has served as an associate pastor in the Twin Cities for a number of years. Greg is enshrined in the FAMU Football Hall of Fame and the State of Florida Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Vince was also a two-sports star at FAMU in football and baseball. In 1981 he set the single season stolen base record for the Rattlers, stealing 65 bases in 69 attempts. But, his football kicking abilities--like his cousin Greg, is what made him legendary in Rattlers' lore. Vince is remembered for kicking the game winning 34 yard field goal in Florida A&M's upset of the University of Miami in 1979. The final score, 16-13, giving the Division I-AA Rattlers its first win over one of Florida's Division I-A Big 3.
The NFL was also interested in drafting Vince as a punter, but he chose to go the baseball route. He was drafted in the 10th round of the '82 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. In a nutshell, Vince had a stellar 12 year career managing to become a two-time all-star and 6th in MLB history in stolen bases (752). The former NL Rookie of the year ('85) was signed by seven teams during his productive career. He ended with a .264 batting average, 1425 hits, and 752 stolen bases. Not bad for an athlete that played in the SIAC.
I remember that Vince Sr. and Greg were both products of William Raines High School in Jacksonville, Florida -- the same school that Dr. Julian White had built into a musical powerhouse ('61-'71), before returning to FAMU in 1972 as the associate director of bands for the FAMU Marching 100.
Back in those days, Jacksonville high schools like Raines, Matthew Gilbert, and New Stanton, among others were major feeders to FAMU, SU and TSU; and fueled the Florida A&M rivalry with Southern University and Tennessee State in every competition imaginable, including ping-pong.
Vince Coleman Jr. will have the opportunity to write his own legacy at Southern without looking over his shoulders and being reminded of his dad's record setting accomplishments at FAMU.
It's funny how we are all connected. Rattlers, and Tigers, and Jaguars. Oh My!
It's funny how we are all connected. Rattlers, and Tigers, and Jaguars. Oh My!
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