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…
Author: Ron Wynn
The National Football League may soon find itself in another ugly public relations situation, and this time ownership may be at odds with the Commissioner’s office. That’s because the investigation into whether star running back Ezekiel Elliott has finished, but the results are such that, depending on whom you choose to believe, one can either claim he is guilty and deserving of an extensive suspension, or innocent and being railroaded. Making matters potentially worse is the fact that the woman who initially made the accusations is threatening to take her case far more public, and even file a possible civil…
By Ron Wynn The Stanley Cup runner-up Nashville Predators made several announcements last week, signing both players and coaches even though training camp is still several weeks away. They rewarded one of the main stars responsible for their unprecedented playoff push, while also hiring a replacement coach in a key position, and promoting another coach up the ladder. Viktor Arvidsson had a spectacular and unexpected season in 2016-17, jumping up from an occasional contributor to a premier first line member and major scoring threat. Though he did go to arbitration, Arvidsson and the Predators reached an agreement before the judge…
By Ron Wynn Football season won’t be here for another month and a half. Preseason practices don’t even start for NFL teams until later this month, while the colleges don’t kick off until late August. But expectations couldn’t be higher for both the Tennessee State Tigers and Nashville’s NFL entry the Titans, especially after two prestigious publications gave both teams high marks before their respective seasons begin. Street & Smith, long one of the premier college and pro football and basketball publications, had two Ohio Valley Conference teams highly ranked in their preseason issue that is now available on newsstands.…
There aren’t that many Black coaches at high profile programs, but the ones who are there find themselves facing the same high-octane pressures and often unrealistic fan expectations as their white predecessors and co-horts. That is certainly the case at four high profile programs across the country with Black coaches, all of whom have experienced a degree of success either at their current or past locale, but will still be under great pressure to keep things going in their new jobs. The first and the one facing the greatest amount of heat is Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin. Earlier this year…
By Ron Wynn “Nashville Baseball History: From Sulphur Dell To The Sounds” by Bill Traughber Nashville journalist and sports historian Bill Traughber has enjoyed a prolific and distinguished career that extends nearly two decades. In addition to having won multiple awards for feature writing, he has the added distinction of being the oldest former Brentwood High football player, having played on three of the earliest squads led by legendary coach Carlton Flatt. Traughber has interviewed many famous people in sports and politics while doing numerous stories and articles on the Nashville Sounds, Tennessee Titans and Vanderbilt sports among other subjects. His fifth book “Nashville Baseball…
Venus Williams has overcome many things on her way to being one of tennis’ all-time great champions. She has excelled as a Black woman in a white-dominated, country club sport. She’s battled recurring illness, and she’s also been a stalwart in fighting for and winning pay equity for women players at Wimbledon. Yet nothing she’s previously experienced, even enduring racist heckling several years ago at Indian Wells, compares to what she’s encountered over the last couple of weeks. That’s because Williams was initially, and as it now turns out wrongly, accused of causing the death of a 78-year-old man in…
A cursory look this week at headlines and sports coverage in various publications both print and online underscored the biggest problem currently facing Major League Baseball. It is simply getting the attention of many sports fans. What was once the unquestioned national pastime now finds itself being bumped off the front pages by the NBA, NHL, NFL, even boxing, despite the fact that it is now July, and Sunday marked the halfway point of the season for many teams. Instead, the sports pages and talk shows were dominated by discussions about Steph Curry’s record contract, the firing of Phil Jackson…
It’s been over a decade now since the NBA Players Association made arguably its worst decision ever. They negotiated a change that dictated a player had to attend college for at least a year prior to becoming eligible for the draft. This was supposedly done to prevent high school players who weren’t ready for the pros from making a mistake by declaring too early, thereby forfeiting an opportunity to develop in college. It was also going to eliminate the necessity for NBA teams to have scouts and general managers going to high school games and having to include looking at…
Even though there are far more Black players in the NHL than in the PGA or NASCAR, the myth still persists that it is an all-white league and that Blacks don’t play the sport. Many people don’t realize there was an all-Black professional hockey league in Canada decades before the NHL. The Coloured Hockey League was formed in Nova Scotia in 1895, and lasted until 1930. It featured 12 teams and some 400 players, and is credited with such innovations as allowing the goaltender to leave the net and play the puck, and helping establish the slap shot. Still, from…