St. Paul Highland Park student athletes are learning valuable lessons from two who walked in their shoes during the 1990s. Johnny Allen Jr. and Marc Brown — who played football for the Scots during the mid-1990s — are getting them ready for the up-and-coming season through a Speed, Agility and Quickness (SAQ) program they developed […]
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
Vikings have spectacular new home
If you have not had the opportunity yet to see the fabulous new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, you are in for a treat. The remarkable new home for Vikings football is finished. The historic ribbon cutting ceremony was Friday, July 22. “It’s a special day, said Vikings COO Kevin Warren. “A lot of work […]
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Doby still overlooked
If baseball were compared to old car rental company ads, then when it comes to historic recognition Jackie Robinson would be Hertz and Larry Doby would be Avis, according to St. Paul Saints Co-Owner Mike Veeck. His St. Paul minor league club annually honors Doby, who was signed in 1947 out of the Negro Leagues […]
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Matadi headed to the Olympics
En route to his membership on the Liberian track team that will compete in the Olympics at Rio de Janeiro in a couple of weeks, Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU) sprinter Emmanuel Matadi pulled one of the greatest magical acts ever performed by a Minnesota athlete. More on that in a moment. Matadi, 25, who […]
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From a sportswriter’s notebook
Reform needed in Baseball Hall of Fame selections The Ken Griffey Jr.-Mike Piazza two-person Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF) class of 2016 induction is this weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Unfortunately, again there still are persons — Tony Oliva, Dick Allen and Buck O’Neil, just to name a few — who deserve a plaque there […]
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The ABL blazed the trail for the WNBA
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: Remember the ABL. With nearly a third of the season completed, the American Basketball League (ABL) unexpectedly called off […]
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Trials of an Only One | 2016 Central Regional Tournament
This column continues the Only One series in which this reporter shares his experiences as the only African American journalist on the scene. In August, Cincinnati will host the 2016 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series. The Minnesota Twins RBI program last weekend hosted this year’s RBI Central Regional tournament in both Minneapolis […]
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Torii Hunter stands tall, stresses unity at Hall of Fame speech
Baseball, unlike football and basketball, doesn’t have a fast track to the majors. Torii Hunter was fresh out of high school when the Minnesota Twins drafted him in 1993. After about three years in the minor league, he remembered hitting the frustration wall. He wanted to give up baseball and perhaps head to college and […]
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Community comes out for Lynx after T-shirt dust-up
Philando Castile’s would have turned 33 years old Saturday, July 16. Instead, family, friends and thousands of community members attended his funeral two days before. “It was a beautiful moment,” said Antonio Johnson on his cousin’s funeral Thursday in St. Paul, He was one of the pallbearers. “We were like brothers and best friends as well.” He and […]
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From a sportswriter’s notebook — robots taking over!
We recently found this Associated Press (AP) post-game story: “STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Dylan Tice was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded with one out in the 11th inning, giving the State College Spikes a 9-8 victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones…” This is part of AP’s new minor league baseball coverage, but with […]
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I finally understand the phrase ‘Be safe’
Editor’s note: Last week’s national and local incidents of violence have compelled this sportswriter to submit a column unrelated to prep sports. “Be safe.” My mother would say those words to me from early childhood and adolescence well into my adulthood. I admit that I didn’t pay attention to those words. The moment I heard […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
Growing up with WNBA role models
WNBA ‘astounding woman’ calls it quits The New York Liberty on Friday makes its final visit of the season to face the host Minnesota Lynx. It also will be Swin Cash’s final visit of her illustrious career. Cash, whose first name, Swintayla, means “astounding woman,” announced earlier this season her plan to retire after 15 […]
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Growing up with WNBA role models
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: Being in awe. It wasn’t that long ago when the only choice for professional employment for women basketball players […]
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Youth in North Mpls celebrate baseball and Jackie Robinson
On the first day of the annual three-day Major League Baseball All-Star break, six 10-and-under baseball teams honored the late Jackie Robinson, and all players wore his number 42 at North Commons Park in North Minneapolis Monday evening. The number is permanently retired except for one day each season when every MLB player wears the legendary […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
UPDATED: Lynx players wear shirts to honor victims of violence and raise awareness
UPDATE: After this story was published, it was reported that four off-duty police officers walked out of the Lynx game on Saturday, July 9, to protest Lynx players who held a pregame press conference to speak about racial profiling and the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and five Dallas police officers last week. On Tuesday, July […]
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Athlete gives back to African American youth
Donnell Gibson’s dream has become a reality. The former St. Paul Johnson boys’ basketball standout recently created the Gibson Foundation. The organization was developed last year by Gibson — who currently serves as a behavior intervention specialist at St. Paul Como Park High School — to inspire, nurture and support African youth. Through a partnership […]
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The rise of the D-League
This column continues the Only One series in which this reporter shares his experiences as the only African American journalist on the scene. We wholeheartedly in 2001 endorsed the idea for an NBA-sponsored minor league. Then-NBA commissioner David Stern boldly predicted that it would become “a true minor league farm system” for his league. The […]
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Test your knowledge of Lynx diversity
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 Lynx’s winningest Black coach and other team diversity firsts Diversity in the Minnesota Lynx organization for most of […]
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From a sportswriter’s notebook
More tributes are still rolling in for the late Pat Summitt (1952-2016), who died June 28, 14 days after her 64th birthday. The legendary Hall of Fame coach was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in the spring of 2011 but continued coaching for one more season before retiring in April 2012 after 38 seasons at Tennessee. […]
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Sisters lead among WNBA’s greatest
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: Sisters rule Black women have been uniquely instrumental in almost every aspect of the WNBA from its beginning through […]