Sports

Some say sports and Christianity don’t mix. When an athlete says, “Thank God” after a score or a big win, some question their sincerity. But not the following locals. “We all share a mutual best friend — Jesus,” says Lynx guard Candice Wiggins. She, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Maya Moore spoke last month to fans after […]

While local reporters and others openly lobby for Lindsay Whalen as this year’s WNBA most valuable player, the MSR last week asked Chicago Sky Coach-General Manager Pokey Chatman her opinion on the subject. “Seimone,” she said simply as she referred to Minnesota Lynx guard Seimone Augustus, Whalen’s teammate. While she recognized point guard Whalen’s accomplishments […]

Now it’s time for what we’ve been waiting for: The NFL regular season starts this week, along with the 10th anniversary of that horrific day 10 years ago, September 11. The NFC North looks like the strongest Division in the NFL. The defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, a wild card team with Aaron […]

Everything I’ve read these days about the state of Minnesota sports has come mainly from the media know-it-alls. For a change of perspective, “View” recently heard from two local “experts” on the local sports scene, Bernard and Rose: Black fans. Bernard Walters is a barber at TNT Barbershop on the corner of 38th and Nicollet. […]

The Minnesota Lynx soon will be in unfamiliar territory — the post-season. They have home court advantage throughout this year’s WNBA playoffs, but it won’t mean squat unless the Lynx do take full advantage of it. “You’re measured by what you do in the playoffs,” explained Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve. Now that Minnesota is there […]

When SCOTT HOWELL took over St. Paul Central’s football program in 2000 after legendary coach FLOYD SMALLER retired, he wanted the Minutemen to be competitive and remain in contention for the City title every year. After coming so close for several years, it all came together when Central won the championship in 2008 and then […]

It’s easy to say it’s just the preseason, but the Dallas Cowboys, an NFC team, took advantage of two costly turnovers that led to touchdowns in beating the Vikings 23-17 in preseason game number three. It was the first game back at the renovated new roof-new turf Mall of America Field. The place looked good, […]

Championship teams, no matter what level, aren’t formed in the season in which they are crowned — oftentimes the pieces come together before that. “We were more talented [in 1998],” admits Tony Johnson, then DeLaSalle High School head football coach. He remembers running into Derreck Robinson and Dominique Sims shortly after their basketball season concluded; […]

It is nearly a year away, but the 2012 Summer Olympics will impact the 2012 WNBA regular season. “The WNBA traditionally stops the season to allow the players to play in [the Olympics],” notes USA Basketball Women’s National Team Director Carol Callan on the fact that the start of next year’s WNBA season will coincide […]

The WNBA is the diversity leader among America’s professional sports leagues, according to the Institute for Diversity in Sports’ (TIDES) latest racial and gender report card. This is the eighth time that Richard Lapchick’s group has awarded the WNBA at least an A grade for race (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006-07, 2008, 2009, 2010 and now […]

Last year the Vikings missed the playoffs, winning just six games. After beating Seattle 20-7 Saturday on the road, the team took a big step towards establishing that 2011 is not a rebuilding year. When you are in the division of the defending Super Bowl champion that includes two playoff teams and NFC runner-up Chicago, […]

By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Calling all Black Minnesota Golden Gopher alumni! The second annual African American student-athletes reunion will be held September 16-17. Around 80 Black former players attended last year’s inaugural get-together, recalls U of M Special Events Director Linda Roberts. She hopes to double that attendance this year. The theme this year […]

The prep football season has arrived as schools across the state begin their second week of practice in preparation for their first games next week. The publication of this picture featuring St. Paul Central’s Gabriel Williams (28) blocking for Malik Glass (25) signifies the beginning of the high school football season. Central won the St. […]

Now that football is back, what have we learned? In the Vikings’ case, we’ve learned that they are not ready — they need work. After losing 14-3 at Tennessee, the Vikings are far from ready. That includes their offensive line, secondary and passing game. Against the Titans, the offensive line protection was not good, the […]

By Charles Hallman Staff Writer The big-league Minnesota Twins probably won’t play in any championship games this season, but they recently played host to a slewful of young ball players from across the country and the Caribbean in the 2011 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series. “You could see the looks on their […]

Instead of heading back home, several out-of-state Minnesota Golden Gophers football players spent their summer working with local high school players. Up to eight U of M players, including junior MarQueis Gray (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Christyn Lewis (Fontana, Calif.), were involved in the summer-long leadership academy at DeLaSalle High School. “We worked with students during […]

Isaac Anderson David Gilreath -Photos courtesy of University of Wisconsin Athletics ISAAC ANDERSON and DAVID GILREATH were high school football phenoms in their own right during the middle of the decade. Now, after stellar careers at the University of Wisconsin as receivers, both are trying to realize their dream of playing in the NFL. Gilreath, […]

Despite the fact that it is just a few miles away from the University of Minnesota’s main campus, North Minneapolis was too often seen by former Gopher football coaches as a remote wasteland. It took a tornado on a Sunday afternoon in May to finally bring the head gridiron coach of the state’s largest university […]

By Charles Hallman Staff Writer PHILADELPHIA — Although the 2011-12 NBA regular season schedule was recently released, it looks more like an exercise in futility as the current lockout, imposed by the owners on July 1, remains intact. Last week, three NBA insiders at the 2011 National Association of Black Journalists convention in Philadelphia shared […]

The North Tartan 14-and-under AAU ninth-grade girls’ basketball team recently captured the National Championship held in Orlando, Florida during the first week of July. North Tartan, under the direction of RICO ALEXANDER (head coach), CHRIS McMORRIS (assistant coach) and JOHN NOGA (assistant coach), compiled a 30-4 record while remaining undefeated in ninth-grade competition. According to […]