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: Gopher freshmen Alexis Hart (volleyball) and Tyler Johnson (football) It’s becoming commonplace that college freshmen […]
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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Looking ahead, WNBA league pres says, ‘The work is not over.’
For 20 weeks, to commemorate the WNBA’s 20th season (the MSR having covered each season), the MSR sports section will feature a column or article on the W in our “20 in 20” series. This week: the next 20 years. History was made earlier this year when for the first time a Black individual pro […]
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WNBA Finals | The league’s best square off for championship glory
Nicole LaVoi, the University of Minnesota Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport’s co-director, was very relieved that her one-hour talk at the Tucker Center was scheduled for last night and not today. LaVoi, a loyal Minnesota Lynx fan, wouldn’t have missed Game 5 of this year’s WNBA finals for the world. “We are going […]
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Student athlete makes my day
He doesn’t know it. He probably doesn’t even remember meeting me, but Minneapolis North student athlete Marquise Holloman made my day last month during the Empower Me Tour sponsored by the United Negro College Fund and Minneapolis Public Schools. The event, which was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, provided high school and middle school […]
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Lynx keep dream alive
One of the greatest joys over my 38 years as a journalist who has weathered the test of time has been watching the growth of the WNBA and locally covering the Minnesota Lynx. I have a great appreciation for the business of sports, and believe me it’s a business in which you find out who […]
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Opportunities and challenges of aging explored
Head of AARP shared insights from senior group’s research Jo Ann Jenkins, the president/CEO of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and author of the bestselling book Disrupt Aging, sat down in a conference room filled with close to 200 people at the Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis for a conversation about aging, […]
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WNBA Finals | Maya Moore powers Lynx to Game 5
The Los Angeles Sparks’ California dreams turned into a nightmare as the defending champs Minnesota Lynx powered through a thrilling, must-win Game 4 against in Los Angeles to bring the series back home. When recently asked if she was to start a WNBA team using only Minnesota and Los Angeles players, ESPN’s LaChina Robinson didn’t […]
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WNBA Finals | Lynx vs Sparks Game 3 Preview
The 2016 WNBA Finals, featuring the league’s two best teams — each with a win under their belt — now shifts to the West Coast. “It was probably one of our best games as far as energy in the Playoffs,” said Lynx forward Maya Moore after her team’s Game 2 win. Lynx Assistant Coach Jim […]
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Pension woes plague retired ABA player
It was recently reported that the NBA and its players union are nearing a new collective bargaining agreement that would avert a players’ strike or an owners’ lockout. But Arvesta Kelly doesn’t see it resolving his long-standing battle with the league. “I wait[ed] 30-some years to receive my pension,” says Kelly, a longtime St. […]
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Overseas play can improve developing WNBA players
For 20 weeks, to commemorate the WNBA’s 20th season (the MSR having covered each season), the MSR sports section is featuring a column or article on the W in our “20 in 20” series. This week: Overseas we go. Unless you are a WNBA player on the rosters of the final two teams still competing […]
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Impressive volleyball game sparks curiosity
A couple of weeks ago I went to watch the University of Minnesota volleyball team in action against Ohio State. It had been a while since I’ve been to a game, but MSR columnist Charles Hallman — after watching the Gophers football team defeat Colorado State — convinced me to check out the number-two-ranked Gophers […]
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Vikings fly high into the bye 5-0!
Could 2016 be the year of the Vikings? U.S. Bank Stadium seems to have cast an iron will with focus and determination on this team. This in a season in which no fewer than five starters have been lost to injury; quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (season), Adrian Peterson (eight weeks), left tackle Matt Kalil (season), defensive […]
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Lynx players encourage and coach kids in North Mpls
The Minnesota Lynx starters — Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles and Lindsay Whalen — hosted nearly 50 local boys and girls from a North Minneapolis elementary school, and taught them game fundamentals and values on the day after their Game 1 buzzer-beater defeat. WNBA President Lisa Borders sat in her workout gear […]
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WNBA Finals | Lynx take Game 2 with commanding win
At least one person among the reported sellout crowd of 12,832 knew the host Minnesota Lynx would win Tuesday night by at least double figures. “I had predicted [earlier that day] that we would win by 12,” noted Tonyus Chavers to the MSR after the Lynx’s 79-60 victory over Los Angeles to even the series […]
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WNBA Finals Preview | Lynx vs Sparks — match up of league’s best
League officials realigned the post-season over the off-season so that the two best teams, regardless of conference, play for the WNBA championship. As a result, top-seeded Minnesota and second-seeded Los Angeles are meeting Sunday in Minneapolis for the best-of-five league championship, the first time in WNBA history that a Western Conference club is assured to […]
Posted inVikings/NFL
Vikings stadium: Boosters see clear benefits where skeptics see more empty promises
Fourth of a multi-series Half the cost of the newly opened Vikings Stadium, known as the “People’s Stadium” before its corporate branding, has come from the people’s money — taxes and related public subsidies totaling more than half a billion dollars. Now is the time to assess just what the people, especially Black people, have received for […]
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Tales of an Only One | Alone at the Ryder Cup
This column continues the Only One series in which this reporter shares his experiences as the only African American journalist on the scene. Golf is as White as the ball. That was clearly evident to the Only One as we walked around the grounds during the six-day historically prestigious Ryder Cup 2016 at Hazeltine in […]
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Timberwolves players weigh in on protesting police violence
Since NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s non-standing statement during the playing of the national anthem in late August, more talk seems to have been centered on what he did rather than why he did it. Dave Zirin, who writes for The Nation and his own Edge of Sports blog, succinctly wrote last week, “Kaepernick is on […]
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Key victories for North and Johnson
Minneapolis North and St. Paul Johnson earned important football victories last weekend. North is quietly picking up where it left off last year — finishing runner-up in Class 1A —sitting at 5-0 after a 36-29 victory over St. Paul Central. Johnson defeated Harding 16-7 for bragging rights on St. Paul’s Eastside in what is traditionally […]
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WNBA’s Cooper has coached many of the best
For 20 weeks, to commemorate the WNBA’s 20th season (the MSR having covered each season), the MSR sports section is featuring a column or article on the W in our “20 in 20” series. This week: best seat in the house Michael Cooper’s place in W history is well secured and most deserved. He is […]