Sports

WILLIE ROLLER III (Cretin-Derham Hall) and MAI RICHARDS (Highland Park) were selected as the 2011 winners at the 35th annual Winfield Student-Athlete Awards Banquet held at the Crown Plaza St. Paul-Riverfront Hotel last Sunday evening. Roller, who will attend Alabama State University in the fall, was an all-state football player for the Raiders, while Richards […]

Shelley Patterson has sat on the bench as a coach for almost two decades. But when the WNBA last season passed a cost-cutting rule to limit the number of coaches on each team, she and other assistants found themselves on the outs. Cheryl Reeve last year hired Patterson as manager of player development and advance […]

Two of my all-time favorite TV series growing up were Dallas with J.R. Ewing and Miami Vice with slick Sonny Crockett. You remember how everybody hated J.R.? Well, LeBron James is the J.R. Ewing of these Finals. If you are a connoisseur of NBA basketball, this 2011 season has kept you full with excitement. The […]

MIKE FAVOR, the former Minneapolis North offensive lineman who went on to become an All-American and lead North Dakota State to three NCAA Division II championships during the mid-1980s, will be inducted into 2011 Divisional Hall of Fame this month. The announcement was made last week by former NFL and University of Mississippi quarterback ARCHIE […]

The University of Minnesota’s spring sports don’t get the same media attention as others usually do. As a result and in the interest of seasonal balance, this week’s AV spotlights four springtime participants. Hassan Mead: back on track health-wise As a freshman and sophomore, Hassan Mead was virtually unbeatable as a runner. However, beginning with […]

Major League Baseball’s average attendance has been on a gradual decline over the last couple of years. The economy obviously gets its share of the blame, but is it possible that since Major League Baseball has turned its back on the Black athlete, that is a factor? Today, less than nine percent of MLB players […]

-Photos courtesy of the Lynx A combination of good draft picks, healthy returning players, and an experienced coaching staff promises to give the Minnesota Lynx a better shot at the crown in the 2011 professional women’s basketball circuit. A veteran and highly respected coaching staff welcomes the best Women’s National Basketball Association players to ever […]

[Editor’s note: last week’s “Prep Scene” on the 17th Annual Inner City All-Star Classic included some inaccurate information. This week’s column corrects those errors. Our apologies for any confusion.] Mr. Basketball winner JOE COLEMAN (Hopkins), Pioneer Press Player of the Year ESTAN TYLER, Miss Basketball winner RACHEL BANHAM (Lakeville North), and all-metro guard BRIANNA WILLIAMS […]

When the Great South Athletic Conference announced its 2011 women’s basketball All-Conference and All-Freshman awards, Spelman guard/forward Amanda Alexander (Edina, MN, daughter of retired Judge Pamela Alexander) was named to the All-Freshman Team. As a freshman, Alexander appeared in 23 of the Jaguars’ 25 contests. She averaged 9.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per […]

The Minnesota Lynx, despite a nearly all-Black roster, continue failing to attract Black fans. Now the question is no longer why, but do they really care? Minnesota next week will hold its only home preseason game at Concordia College’s Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul — at noon on May 24, a school day. I guess […]

This has been one of the most exciting NBA seasons I can remember. It’s the first time since 1991 that the NBA Finals will not have a team with Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal or Tim Duncan on it. The playoffs have been really exciting with surprising Memphis, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Chicago. Last […]

ANGEL ROBINSON and KACHINE ALEXANDER have signed with the Minnesota Lynx, of the Women’s National Basketball Association. They will play in the team’s first exhibition game against Indiana on Tuesday, May 24, at Concordia University’s Gangelhof Center at the corner of Hamline and Marshall in St. Paul. The game will start at 12 noon. In […]

Mr. Basketball winner JOE COLEMAN (Hopkins), Pioneer Press Player of the Year ESTAN TYLER, Ms. Basketball winner RACHEL BANHAM (Lakeville North), and all-metro guard BRIANNA WILLIAMS (Hopkins) are among the players who will participate in the 17th Annual Inner City All-Star Classic to be held at the University of St. Thomas Sunday, June 20. The […]

There are no creampuffs in the NBA Western Conference, not in the playoffs, no sir, no Minnesota Timberwolves running around. You’d better stand tall mentally and physically or you won’t advance. We have seen it happen twice already, and the NBA playoffs are only halfway finished. The 61-21 San Antonio Spurs, winners four times of […]

The Minnesota Lynx, as expected, chose Maya Moore with this year’s top pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft in April. But what about Amber Harris, who the Lynx selected three picks later as the fourth overall pick? Harris, an Indianapolis, Indiana native, once was considered the country’s number-one high school player by one hoops publication […]

By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Laurel J. Richie on May 16 becomes the first Black woman to head a professional sports league as she assumes her new duties as WNBA president. She formerly was senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Girl Scouts of the USA. When asked about her historic new role during […]

The Twins are 9-18 in last place in the American League Central, losers of six straight as of May 2. They are a complete mess: The Vikings are locked out again after drafting a quarterback, number-one Florida State’s Christian Ponder, with the 12th pick. Boy, it’s been a rough stretch after a 45-day NFL owner […]

Despite efforts to change this, baseball remains the least chosen sport among Blacks. Richard Lapchick’s 2011 Major League Baseball Racial and Gender Report Card recently shows that the percentage of Black MLB players has decreased to 8.5 percent, the lowest since 2007 and third lowest in decades. Furthermore, only 5.6 percent of Division I college […]

With the state track meet nearly a month away, there are some outstanding performers who hope to participate in the big show in June. Here are five outstanding track-and-field athletes who could have an impact on the event, to be held next month at Hamline University in St. Paul. DEVIN CRAWFORD TUFTS (Edina) has been […]

Blacks have had a rich swimming history dating back to pre-slavery days in Africa, but in this country fear and racism have played a huge historical part in keeping them away from it. There was Jim Crow in the South, and de facto Jim Crow in the North kept Blacks from public swimming pools during […]