It was just over a week ago, at the opening of the Torino Winter Olympics, that HBO’s Bryant Gumbel, another sportscaster with more mouth than brains, denounced them, for their lack of black participants, and the fact that “the ancient Greeks never heard of skating of skiing.”

Well, as for the latter, the ancient Greeks also never heard of basketball, but…

And as for the former…

AP Photo: Shani Davis of the United States competes against Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada (not seen)…

TURIN, Italy – Say what you want about Shani Davis. Call him a trailblazer. Accuse him of selfishness. Snicker at him for being a momma’s boy.

Just don’t forget this: He’s also an Olympic champion.

Davis became the first black athlete to claim an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history Saturday, winning the 1,000-meter speedskating race and justifying his decision to focus on himself first, his team second.

There’s always got to be a beginning. Every sport has to have its Jackie Robinson. Instead of promoting black participation in winter sports, it seems Gumbel would prefer to just write them of. I don’t see how that serves people of color at all.