By Ron Wynn The interim tag was officially removed last week as the Memphis Grizzlies reached agreement with J.B.Bickerstaff on a three -year deal to become their head coach. Despite a woeful 15-48 record compiled over his 63 game stint as interim head coach following the firing of David Fizdale, Grizzlies’ management felt Bickerstaff communicated well with a very young team, and kept them competitive most of the time. It also helped that team veterans and cornerstone players Mike Conley and Marc Gasol were solidly in his corner, expressing public support for Bickerstaff to be named the next coach. The…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn The Predators finally flashed the consistent 60-minute form that made them the NHL’s dominant regular season team in Game 6 Sunday night against the Colorado Avalanche. By eliminating them 5-0 the Predators avoided a Game 7 back in Nashville, and earned a couple of days rest. Now they and their second round opponent the Winnipeg Jets wait until all the other first round series are completed before the Stanley Cup Playoffs move into the next phase. It is quite possible that this will be the toughest opponent the Predators face in their bid to once again play…
By Ron Wynn, Sports View For decades the strategy in professional team sports has been for clubs to build championships through savvy drafting, coupled with either trades or free agency. In baseball and hockey, it is also important to have a good farm system, but in all four of America’s major pro sports the draft is a prime ingredient in team success. The NFL draft, which begins Thursday, has become such a spectacle that now it is carried on two different networks, and cities vie for the opportunity to host it. Even the NBA and NHL drafts now have specialists…
By Ron Wynn Sports View Last Sunday was Jackie Robinson Day across Major League Baseball, as the sport celebrated the 71st anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier in modern day pro baseball. But what should have been a special national day of commemoration instead became one where MLB’s continual problems in the areas of diversity and inclusion were again on display. For openers, Robinson’s daughter Sharon spoke about the fact only one professional baseball player, Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell, joined NFL protestors in speaking out about racial injustice issues. She linked that unwillingness to the fact African Americans…
By Ron Wynn New Tennessee State head basketball coach Brian “Penny” Collins has made a key addition to his staff. Jerry Nichols, previously the head coach of Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis as well as Motlow State Community College, is joining the Tigers staff as their new assistant. Nichols was also a court coach for USA Basketball Under 18’s Junior National Team two years ago. “Jerry Nichols is a coach that I have the utmost respect for,” Collins said on the TSU website. “We got to know each other as rivals in Region 7 of the Tennessee JUCO League.…
By Ron Wynn The Nashville Predators avoided getting behind early, and then withstood a furious third period rally to edge the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 Wednesday night in Denver. That win put them ahead in the best of seven series 3-1. It also marked a turnaround in form from the earlier games in which the Predators had to shake off slow starts. This time the Predators had a first period shots advantage of 18-8 while taking the early 1-0 lead. They expanded it to 3-0 with a pair of second period goals. But Colorado stormed back in the third period to…
By Ron Wynn Sports View Etan Thomas played 11 years in the National Basketball Association, but he was always much more than just an athlete. An accomplished poet, author and activist, as far back as 2005 Thomas was among the few athletes in any sport to openly voice opposition to US foreign policy, most notably in regards to Iran. He was a 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation Legacy Award winner, and the 2010 recipient of the NBA Players Association Community Contribution Award. Since his retirement Thomas has written three books, become a weekly radio talk show host on…
By Ron Wynn On a night when their best (and arguably the nation’s finest) player was in foul trouble and had an awful game, Villanova still romped to an easy 79-62 victory over Michigan Monday to take their second NCAA title in three years. Jalen Brunson, voted by the Associated Press as Player of the Year and the team leader in scoring and assists, had maybe his worse game of the season. Brunson hit only four of 11 shots, scored nine points, and spent most of the second half on the bench after picking up an early fourth foul. But…
By Ron Wynn Major League Baseball opened its new season last week with a novel approach: it actually had all 30 teams open the season on the same day. There had been past experiments with international openers and some teams getting a jump on others, but this time the sport decided to try a return to something that previously worked: a genuine opening day. MLB might also think about trying some other tried and true things to help it solve some perennial problems. The first concerns possibly returning to a 154 game schedule rather than the current 162, which came…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee State University Tigers have given a former staffer his first chance at a Division 1 head coaching job. They announced Monday the hiring of Brian “Penny” Collins as the new men’s head coach, replacing Dana Ford, who left for a similar position at Missouri State. Collins was formerly a member of the TSU staff, serving as Director of Basketball Operations in 2008-09. He becomes the school’s 18th men’s head coach, and begins the job at 34. Collins spent last season as an assistant coach at Illinois State under Dan Muller. There he…