This week my column will highlight five important accomplishments in prep sports for the year 2016. This includes a Minneapolis City Conference school that captured state basketball and football titles; another winning a championship in a St. Paul City Conference school making its first-ever state tournament appearance; a traditional Class 4A power capturing another state […]
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.
Posted inSports
2016 was the year of the upset
These events in sports were covered by me this year. I was there and saw it with my own eyes. The Timberwolves finished 29-53, missing the playoffs for the 12th straight season. They fired Sam Mitchell as interim coach even though the team improved from just 16-66 the previous year under the late Flip Saunders. […]
Posted inSports
History of Blacks in NFL escapes young players
“Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” a traveling exhibit, opened at St. Paul’s Minnesota History Center in September. Over 200 artifacts, photos, film footage and interactive displays are featured. One of the exhibit’s 10 sections, “Pro Football’s Road to Equality,” uniquely caught my attention. It is billed as “an inspirational […]
Posted inSports, Timberwolves/NBA
Christmas Day NBA games preview
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Since its second season in 1947, the NBA has played on Christmas Day. The 1998 lockout was the last time without league games scheduled or played. Over a decade later in 1983, NBA Christmas Day telecasts became traditional as NFL Thanksgiving Day games and New Years’ Day college bowl games. Five […]
Posted inSports
Black-White graduation gaps among college bowl teams ‘shameful’
Gaps between all student-athletes and non-athletes ‘scandalous’ First of a two-part column If academic success, especially by Black football players, were the prime criterion for post-season bowl consideration, there probably would be a lot fewer schools playing than the 80 schools selected for 40 bowls. The 2016-17 Bowl-bound College Football Teams report by The Institute […]
Posted inSports
Two busy weeks in prep hoops
The past two weeks have been quite eventful in prep basketball. There were outstanding performances by three St. Paul City Conference teams; a former St. Paul City Conference great coach led her girls’ basketball team to victory; three metro-area alums played in an important collegiate match-up; and two Minneapolis City Conference rivals played a game […]
Posted inSports
Draymond Green plays rough and offers no apologies
Now in his fifth NBA season, Draymond Green has his name forever linked with some of the game’s all-time greats. The 6’-7” Golden State Warriors forward earlier this season recorded his second-straight triple-double performance in a game against Sacramento, becoming the first Warrior since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 to do so. Last season Green joined […]
Posted inSports
Playoffs? Forget about it!
The end is near. The Vikings are now 7-7 with two games left on this injured season. Adrian Peterson returned Sunday, and what many thought would be a much-needed, no-excuses spark turned into a reality check. It’s not likely going to happen in 2016. The Vikings are alive for the playoffs but need a respirator, divine intervention, […]
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Black head coach grateful for his big break
The percentage of Black head college basketball coaches, whether women or men, has never equaled or remotely come close to the percentages of Black players. For instance, Black females comprise 47 percent of women basketball players, but under eight percent of women’s basketball head coaches are Black. Only four percent are Black males. Bernard Scott […]
Posted inSports
The Adventures of Flashman: Memoirs of a Photojournalist 1977-2016
Remembering Dennis Green “The Adventures of Flashman” is a photographic exhibition with written commentary selected from the accumulated works of one of St. Paul Rondo’s adopted sons, Gayle “Flashman” Anderson. Spanning the years 1977 to the present with an emphasis on life at the close of the last century, it chronicles events, people and life […]
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
A rarity: Two sets of Black twin sisters compete at the Barn
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: freshmen basketball players Kehinde and Taiye Bello Conclusion of a two-part column There are 11 […]
Posted inSports, Vikings/NFL
Vikings stay alive with 25-16 win
It ain’t over until the fat lady sings, and so goes the Vikings’ season. With three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Vikings are still in the playoff chase. After losing six of seven games, the Vikings got Head Coach Mike Zimmer back on the sidelines. Zimmer missed the Dallas game and returned Sunday. He […]
Posted inSports, Vikings/NFL
Worshiping at the Church of Football
The cost to attend a Minnesota Vikings game is, in a word, costly. One ticket is equivalent to a couple of car notes or cable bills, or for some of us at least a month’s worth of groceries. Our front-page story this week on the affordability of attending Vikings games (part of our “People’s Stadium” […]
Posted inSports
Como Park defeats North in OT
Autumn Tucker sent the game into overtime. Makayla Van Nett started it. Elaina Jones took over, and Raiyne Adams ended it, leading the St. Paul Como Park girls’ basketball team to a 69-67 nonconference victory over Minneapolis last week. North took control early behind the outstanding play of Monique Wooten, Alani Pettis and Serena Ballard. […]
Posted inSports, Twins/MLB
Three of four new Twins’ hires Black
Is this the beginning of greater team diversity? A non-shopping “Black Friday” took place at the Minnesota Twins ballpark last week when it was announced that three of four new hires are Black. This comes on the heels of our criticism of the Twins’ on-field and off-field diversity efforts, or lack thereof, a couple of […]
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Three newcomers to Gophers women’s hoops score big
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, three women’s basketball players: sophomore Kenisha Bell and freshmen Gadiva Hubbard and Jasmine Brunson First […]
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Coach Richard Pitino on his Gophers
Truth in disclosure: Since Tubby Smith was fired unfairly three years ago by Norwood Teague, the ex-Gophers athletic director, I felt so strongly about how bad that decision was that I stopped covering men’s Gophers basketball. Last year was the worst year in school history at 8-22. Two weeks ago I ended my protest by […]
Posted inSports
State’s lost Black baseball legends remembered
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Blacks historically had as much to do with Minnesota’s rich baseball legacy as anybody, but this story oftentimes remains in the dark. “I want to increase awareness of African American history in Minnesota,” declares Frank White, whose book, They Played for the Love of the Game, came out earlier this […]
Posted inSports
Would-be Black female coaches face major obstacles
Two generations removed from the passage of Title IX in 1972, women college coaches are near an all-time low. But historically, if you are Black or another woman of color, these numbers have always been low. According to the latest NCAA demographics data (2015), 49 percent of Division I head and assistant coaches of women […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
WNBA Season Roundup | League must clean up subpar officiating
On the surface, the 2016 WNBA Finals can be classified as a classic. The dramatic final three minutes of the final game alone, with neither team conceding, along with two-buzzer beaters, easily gave it the necessary qualifications. “I hope that we gained a lot of fans from around the world, around this country, and they […]