The post-Pat Summitt era at Tennessee has finally begun. Some 12 years and two coaches later, UT athletics director Danny White acknowledged it was time to begin a new era for the Lady Vols. After firing Kellie Harper, a great former Lady Vol player who couldn’t get the team to an Elite Eight or Final Four in her five year coaching tenure, over the weekend, Marshall Women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell was named new Lady Vols head coach Sunday. Caldwell was the Spalding Maggie Dixon Division 1 Rookie Coach of the Year this past season. Her first and only…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Comedian and actress Maya Rudolph’s Apple TV+ show “Loot” is taking a new approach. The long delayed second season is now underway Wednesdays and Rudolph says things have moved in a different direction as her character struggled to give away every penny of a $120 billion divorce settlement from tech tycoon John Novak (Adam Scott). She made that dramatic announcement in the season one finale which aired back on August 12, 2022. “We wanted to let the audience know that, although Molly is giving her money away, she’s still a little bit clueless about…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Former First Lady Michelle Obama and current CBS News anchor and CNN talk show host Gayle King are among the list of distinguished individuals who were named last week winners of the 49th annual Gracie Awards. These are presented by The Alliance For Women in Media Foundation. They recognize outstanding achievements by women in news, entertainment and digital media. Others on the 2024 list include Glennon Doyle, Selena Gomez, Sydney Sweeney, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nicole Kidman and Angela Yee. The winners will receive their awards at a gala event May 21 at the Beverly Wilshire…
For very different reasons, North Carolina State’s Kevin Keatts and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley are the headline names at this week’s NCAA’s Tournaments. Sunday Keatts’ NC State team won its ninth straight game, defeating ACC rival Duke 76-64. The win put NC State in the Final Four for the first time in 41 years. They will play Purdue Saturday in Phoenix. It also further helped Keatts financially. This run has triggered a host of bonuses in his current contract, most notably a two-year extension. Just a few weeks ago there were people calling for his job. After finishing 17-14, NC…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — After being voted the best organization in minor leage baseball last season, the Nashville Sounds opened their home schedule this week at the new and improved First Horizon Park. Several upgrades have been introduced, notably extended netting down each line to increase fan safety and a new state of the art LED field lighting system. The Sounds also upgraded the Band Box, a special lounge with new furniture and enhanced gaming options. The Sounds’ first home series began Tuesday and continues through April 7. Manager Rick Sweet is back for his fifth season. Jemy…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of Nashville’s most popular comedians is enjoying a personal first this week. Renard Hirsch will make his first appearance at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem Thursday night at 9 p.m. Hirsch, who says the date was 15 years in the making, acknowledges feeling proud but nervous as well. ““Exciting! It was surreal!,” Hirsch told the Tribune. “The history of the Apollo alone is just something amazing. The crowd, the log, the entertainers! The comics that have performed there are some of the most iconic comics in history.” “Harlem already had a…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — James Brown has long been a familiar face to sports fans as the longtime host of CBS’ “The NFL Today.” Last week The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced he will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s 45th Sports Emmys ceremony. It will take place Tuesday, May 21, at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall in New York. In addition to CBS Sports’ “The NFL Today,” Brown has been host of “NFL on Fox” and “Inside the NFL.” He has also been Super Bowl host a record-setting 12 times, and…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — After the past weekend’s NCAA Tournament games one Tennessee team looked ahead, while another’s season is over. Tennessee’s men’s team hopes their offense will catch up to their defense as they face Creighton, a number three seed Friday night. After two games Tennessee has held its opponents to season lows of 49 (Saint Peter’s) and 58 points (Texas). But after scoring 83 in the opener, the Vols onky shot 34 percent and scored 62 points in game 2 against Texas. Creighton is coming off a double overtime win over Oregon. They are 25-9 as…
There are some things that you would think are perfect as they currently exist and don’t need changing. Granted in today’s world virtually everything has changed, but there remain a handful of things that should be left alone. One would seem to be the NCAA Tournament, otherwise known as March Madness. Now granted it has already expanded twice over the years and now is at 68 teams. But despite some tremendous early round games and the usual surprise upsets (Kentucky being the biggest), reports are circulating in multiple places that the Tournament will expand soon. The only question seems to…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Regina King, an award-winning actress and director, is better known than her actress sister Reina. But both are happy they have finally gotten the opportunity to work together. They’ve joined forces on the acclaimed Netflix biopic “Shirley,” which debuted Friday night, and is now streaming. It’s the first time the sisters have ever worked together on any project. “We chose Shirley because we realized there were far too many people who didn’t even know her name. We felt it was important that people not only know her name, but why she was important, relevant,…