There isn’t much parity in the world of college football. The “Power 5” conferences dominate in terms of attention and impact, and the small colleges have to struggle to even keep their doors open, particularly when it comes to every other sport except football. While HBCU schools have a glorious legacy of their own that they strive to maintain, integration forever ended the days when a Grambling, TSU, or FAMU could have gone head to head with any team in the nation and held their own. In fact a couple of years ago the New York Times ran a commentary…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn The preseason is supposed to be a time for teams to hone and prepare for the regular season, so the results are usually discounted, no matter the record. That’s why the Tennessee Titans, the consensus pick to end a long playoff drought and win the AFC South title in 2017, are dismissing the ugly preseason that ended last Thursday with an awful 30-6 loss in Kansas City. The Titans ended the preseason with a 1-3 mark, and two games where they scored fewer than 10 points. Since they held the regulars out of the final contest, it’s…
The National Football League just can’t seem to avoid controversy. But the newest event that is generating national negative response and reaction speaks to a pair of larger issues, while also underscoring what definitely looks like at best hypocrisy and at worse just continued collusion against a player. Last week Fox Sports announced the hiring of former QB Michael Vick as a new studio analyst for the show “Fox NFL Sunday.” That program airs on their cable outlet Fox Sports 1, but also serves as the lead in program to their flagship studio show “Fox NFL Sunday.” They also announced…
By Ron Wynn For the first time in over two years there is a boxing match that is drawing attention across the board, not just from boxing fans. But it is so bizarre that many wonder whether it is the spectacle that is attracting interest rather than the actual fight, and others think it may hurt rather than help the sport despite the massive publicity coming its way. The fight matches undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather against UFC fighter Conor McGregor. Mayweather is 49-0, and has a chance to become the first boxer to finish his career with a 50-0 record,…
It’s hard to remember a time when the National Football League took more hits to its image and was suffering more public relations damage than this year. In fact, during what should have been a time to celebrate last week, instead the league found itself embroiled in new controversy over something that won’t even come into play for another four years, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). It took a lockout and many heated discussions and sessions before the players and owners agreed in 2011 to the current 10-year agreement. A major part of that deal revolved around the players ultimately…
By Ron Wynn Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, widely regarded as the greatest sprinter in history due to his domination in both the Olympics and World Championships, didn’t end his final races in the accustomed manner last week. First, Bolt lost his final 100-meter solo race in stunning fashion, finishing third while longtime rival Justin Gatlin finally defeated his nemesis in a championship final. Then last Saturday Bolt suffered an injury while running the anchor leg for his Jamaican team in the 4 X100 meter relay. He was trying to make up ground when he just suddenly stumbled, somersaulted onto the track…
By Ron Wynn Teresa Phillips has already been a trailblazer as both an athlete and administrator. Now she can add to her impressive resume Hall of Famer. Phillips was among 10 people named last week who comprise this year’s inductees into the Vanderbilt Hall of Fame. While Phillips is well known today for her role as one of the rare women to lead an athletic department, prior to coming to Tennessee State, she earned national acclaim and recognition as a Vanderbilt athlete Phillips was the first Black woman athlete in Vanderbilt history. She finished her career as a three-year basketball…
By Ron Wynn The Nashville Predators will need a new captain for a second straight year as last week Mike Fisher did what many thought he would: he retired after a distinguished 17-year career. Fisher, who had been named captain in 2016, helped lead the Predators to their first Western Conference title and Stanley Cup Final berth. But at 37, he had been battling injuries and wasn’t at 100 percent during much of the playoffs. Still, Predators’ management wanted him back, and had been holding out hope he would return. He had 18 goals and 24 assists in his final…
Just when it seemed that the ongoing Colin Kapernick story couldn’t get any stranger, it took a more bizarre turn last week in Baltimore. First it seemed that the Ravens were going to be the team the finally broke the embargo against signing him. The Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh had said some positive things about Kaepernick, and also indicated that he’d had conversations with him throughout the summer. He added that he’d gotten good reports from his brother Jim, who coached Kaepernick in San Francisco, and that he thought it might be a good thing, especially in light of…
By Ron Wynn The Nashville Predators solved the biggest piece of their off-season puzzle last Friday, signing center Ryan Johansen to an eight-year, $64 million dollar contract. They had obtained him in January of 2016 from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a trade for defensemen Seth Jones, hoping he could finally give them the number one center they had been seeking most of their existence. Off his performance this past season, and up until his injury in the playoffs that prevented him from appearing in the Stanley Cup Final, he had given them exactly what they wanted. In fact the…