Former Minnesota Lynx player Candice Wiggins last week dropped a bomb on the WNBA, and the Lynx organization took a direct hit as a result. Wiggins, the Lynx’s 2008 top draft choice and third overall, played here five seasons before she was traded to Tulsa in 2013 and retired in 2016 after eight seasons. She […]
Sports
Local and national sports reporting and commentary by the state’s leading African American sportswriters, including award-winning columnists Charles Hallman and Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald, with a special emphasis on the local prep scene and disparities in sports administration and media coverage.
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Surveying the Big Ten Women’s basketball tournament
March Madness is here at last. If the ever-present RPI, the usual strength-of-schedule measurement tool used to decide who ultimately gets in the NCAA tournament after automatic bids are locked in, it appears the bids of the five Big Ten schools — regular season champs Maryland and Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana — […]
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Former coach honored at Minneapolis North
Cliff Brown made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I knew that he was to be honored for his career as an assistant coach at Minneapolis North with Head Coach Robin Ingram in the 1990s, during which the duo led the Polars to three consecutive state championships from 1995-97. The event was to take place […]
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ESPN sports talk host may have been ahead of his time
Inspired by TV One’s Unsung series, this multi-part MSR series shines a well-deserved spotlight on individual or group accomplishments that unfortunately have been overlooked, or perhaps even “forgotten.” This week the spotlight is on veteran sports journalist Mark Gray. ESPN Radio last month celebrated its 25th year anniversary. It was launched on January 1, 1992 […]
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Gopher swimmers focus on upcoming tournaments
There are approximately 100 African American and other student-athletes of color this school year at the University of Minnesota. In an occasional series throughout the 2016-17 school and sports year, the MSR will highlight many of these players This week: swimmers Rachel Munson and Daryl Turner The swim season is shorter than other wintertime sports. […]
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66th NBA All-Star Game — for better or worse?
The NBA All-Star Game is wide open, and in my view it’s difficult to determine the level of intensity when one player with that much talent on the West All-Star team takes 39 shots. West All-Stars 192, East 182 made it the highest scoring NBA All-Star Game ever with 374 combined points. We should not […]
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Ice madness: WCHA playoffs preview
This column continues the Only One series in which this reporter shares his experiences as the only African American journalist on the scene. Wisconsin and Minnesota in their final regular season match-up opener played nearly 40 minutes of scoreless hockey. Both goalies did head stands, impressively making saves as shots fired at them in close […]
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Thirteen from Minneapolis sign National Letters of Intent
The Minneapolis Public School District (MSP) has plenty to be proud of as 13 student-athletes signed National Letters of Intent at the Davis Service Center Café a couple of weeks ago to continue their scholastic and athletic endeavors at the collegiate level. When all was said and done, student-athletes from six of the seven high […]
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NBA family takes on Donald Trump
Times are changing and the NBA, as we approach the 66th All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, had taken a strong stand. The game was moved a year ago, remember, to New Orleans from Charlotte because of the controversial House Bill 2, the law known as the bathroom bill of North Carolina. It’s no secret that […]
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DeLaSalle volleyball prep is A&M-bound
Paris Smith as a youngster literally shopped around before she found volleyball. Now the local high school senior will play the sport at Alabama A&M later this year. Smith, who will graduate this year from Minneapolis DeLaSalle, was one of 27 Minnesota prep athletes who signed a letter of intent to play college volleyball, but […]
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Men still coach majority of women’s collegiate teams
It’s second semester on most college campuses. What better time to check and assess NCAA Division I institutions in hiring female coaches of women’s collegiate teams? The U of M Tucker Center’s fifth report that grades each institution, sport and conference based on the percentage of women head coaches of women’s teams is now out. […]
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Historian: Black athletes should use their numbers as political leverage
Historically, sports and entertainment have been the two readily acceptable areas of society where Blacks could show their expertise and excellence, stated Hoberman, the University of Texas at Austin professor. He is the author of several books and articles in the fields of sports studies, race studies, and medical history, including his 1997 controversial book […]
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DeLaSalle’s Baker signs with Cornell
Ivy League, here he comes. It’s a destination JT Baker first pledged for his choice of college one day. Cornell, a school in upstate New York, is where he will continue his academic and athletic experience this fall. Baker formally signed his letter of intent to play football February 1, National Signing Day, in front […]
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Adrienne Richardson signs with Florida State
Tartan senior will play soccer for Seminoles The first Wednesday in February, today known as National Signing Day, is quite a milestone for student athletes. For some it’s a rite of passage. For others it is a reward for the hard work and dedication culminating in a dream fulfilled with opportunity. Student athletes across the […]
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Patriots devour Falcons
HOUSTON — I’m on such a high! I can’t tell you what it means being from Chicago to cover the Super Bowl and see your son, Larry Jr, share the greatest honor the NFL has, the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award shared with Eli Manning. They were in the same Draft […]
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‘New’ student-athletes having an impact on NCAA
This year’s recently concluded NCAA Convention “was probably the fastest voting convention” in recent memory, states Augsburg College Assistant Athletic Director Jennifer Jacobs. Jacobs, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (MIAC) only Black female athletic administrator, just returned from this year’s annual convention in Nashville (Jan. 18-21). “A lot of discussion on the floor, she said […]
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An ode to unadulterated sports talk
The Sports Reporters, the long-running ESPN weekly series, will leave the air in May after nearly 30 years, reports Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch. It premiered in 1988, but the show seemingly took off once the late Dick Schaap became host in 1989. The late John Saunders replaced Schaap in 2001 after the host’s death and […]
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City conference races heating up
The basketball races in the Minneapolis City and St. Paul City conferences are heating up. Minneapolis South, Minneapolis North, St. Paul Central and St. Paul Como are chasing City Conference championships in basketball. As of press time, South and Como Park are currently leading their conferences in girls’ basketball while North and Central are trying […]
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New WBB rules assessed
This season’s top 10 Division I women’s basketball teams, led by Baylor (90.7 ppg) and Maryland (90.5), are all averaging between 82 and 91 points a contest. UConn last season led the nation with 88 points a game. Many argue that this is the result of the changes to the women’s game last season, including […]
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(Updated) Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. a finalist for NFL Man of the Year
UPDATE: Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. and New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning were selected as co-winners of the”Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year” award. When things don’t go your way you simply hope for the best. The Arizona Cardinals were pre-season 8-1 favorites to reach Super Bowl LI. So were the Green Bay Packers after winning eight […]