The Tennessee State University Tigers face some tough issues ahead as a new football season approaches. Head coach Eddie George begins his third season and will open the year on national television as the Tigers go to South Bend for their opener against Notre Dame Sept. 2. Many on the Notre Dame side questioned why they would even invite the school, given the mismatches in school size and roster quality. But the game raises a point. TSU wants to elevate its position within the NCAA hierarchy. Football by far is the greatest revenue creator for Power 5 Conferences. TSU has…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t get the ultimate penalties of a bowl ban or program suspension, but they received some of the stiffest penalties possible from the NCAA for recruiting violations. The announcement was made last week. The NCAA is vacating all 11 wins from the 2019 and 2020 seasons accumulated during the tenure of Jeremy Pruitt. The school was hit with a record $8 million fine. They were also placed on five years probation and also have scholarships reduced by 28 players. An ESPN report says the NCAA deemed that UT used 16 ineligible…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — There will be fewer Black performers honored at the 2023 Emmy Awards. The full list of nominees, which was read last week, does contain some prominent Black artists. It just isn’t in bulk like last season. The biggest names earning nominations included Dominique Fishback, Tyler James Williams and Quinta Brunson. Fishback was nominated in the category Lead Actress on a Limited Anthology Series or Movie for her work in Donald Glover’s “Swarm.” Brunson received two nominations, one as the lead actress of a category for her work on “Abbott Elementary. “ The second is…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Building an audience and expanding a fan base remains an ongoing task for most musicians, and even more so for those working in styles outside the pop or Top 40 worlds. Jazz, blues and classic pop vocalist Brauninger McDaniel has steadily attracted more fans throughout middle Tennessee with her bright, melodically striking brand of 21st century jazz flavored vocals. McDaniel has played several different area venues, and this week she will be appearing Thursday and Saturday at the Doubletree Hotel by the airport. McDaniel has also expanded her profile by having a couple of…
It’s been a productive, if at times turbulent, 12-year run for DeMaurice Smith as executive director of the NFL Players Association. Smith’s term ends later this month, and he had already informed the union and league that he would step down after it ended. Smith had several notable triumphs. These included getting the minimum salary increased from $300,000 to a minimum. He teamed with the union to stop the owners from expanding the schedule without additional player compensation. But the one failure that Smith acknowledged last week still bothers him was the lack of progress the league has made in…
Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Star Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. was the first Commodore chosen in Sunday’s MLB draft. He was taken 17th by the Baltimore Orioles. Though he did not have the offensive year last season he anticipated, Bradfield still completed his Vanderbilt career with a .311 batting average and .426 on base percentage. A leadoff hitter all three seasons, he never hit a lot of home runs, his best power year being eight in 2022. He had six this past season. Defensively Bradfield was arguably the nation’s finest. He won two Rawlings Gold Glove awards, the…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Predators are striving to remake their squad after missing the playoffs last season for the first time in eight years. Last week they completed a flurry of off-season free agent signings, while also bringing back some young veterans. Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn, Gustav Nyquist, Anthony Angello and Troy Grosenick were all free agent acquisitions. They also re-signed Cody Glass and Alexandre Carrier. They were both restricted free agents. New general manager Barry Trotz told the media last week that these moves were only part of the makeover. “We have to get more…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Guitarist Jean-Paul Lilliston considers the greatest influence on his playing not the soulful sounds of Motown he heard in his Native Detroit, but the powerhouse ensemble approach and defiant lyric messages contained in the Chicago blues. “The Blues are the music that I really gravitate towards as a player,” Lilliston told the Tribune last week. “Now as a group we mix lots of things, but the blues for me are the prime influence.” However the power of the groove and the ability of the band to hook listeners and get them on the dance…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — A Hip-Hop giant and one of the genre’s founding members is coming to Nashville this weekend as part of an effort to save a historic building. Grandmaster Flash is the headliner for a benefit concert at the Ryman that is part of efforts to convert the currently vacated Morris Memorial building into a Civil Rights museum. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and was designed by a Black architectural firm. A press conference was held last Friday during which coalition members discussed their goals and talked about…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The reshaping of the Nashville Predators continued last Friday as the team placed forward Matt Duchene on unconditional waivers. This move was followed by a buyout of his contract, a decision that made him a free agent. Duchene had signed a seven-year, $56 million dollar deal back in 2019. By doing this the Predators will take cap hits of $2.56 million next season, $5.56 in 2024-25, $6.56 million in 2025-26 and $1.57 million from 2026-2029. It follows a decision to trade center Ryan Johansen to Colorado June 24 for Alex Galchenyuk, another deal that…