By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Less than a month after taking over as new head coach of the Predators, Andrew Brunette has made his first major move. He chose Derek MacKenzie as his new assistant, with the team making the official announcement last Thursday. MacKenzie spent three seasons coaching with Brunette with the Florida Panthers. Last season the 42-year-old MacKenzie was coach of the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL. Like Brunette, he also has a sizable track record as a player. MacKenzie spent 16 years in the NHL with three teams. One was the Atlanta Thrashers. The others were…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The vast majority of NBA fans were sleeping last Wednesday night when the Memphis Grizzlies landed one of the league’s best defensive players. The Grizzlies were part of a three-team deal with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards. When the dust settled on a deal that had to be completed before 12 midnight Eastern time, the Grizzlies had acquired longtime Celtics guard Marcus Smart. The Grizzlies sent the Celtics their first round pick in this year’s draft (the 25th overall selection), plus the Golden State Warriors top-four protected pick in 2024. They also sent…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Samuel L. Jackson has portrayed Nick Fury, head of the spy agency SHIELD, through so many Marvel films and television shows that only longtime comic book readers remember the original character was a white World War II veteran who later switched over to the world of espionage. But in the new Disney+ series “Secret invasion,” which debuted last Wednesday, viewers will see a very different version of Nick Fury. Fury and his allies are trying to prevent an invasion of Earth by the shape-shifting Skrulls. It’s the ninth TV series in the Marvel Cinemstic Universe…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — A longtime musical legend and a contemporary performer who has excelled in both hip-hop and acting circles were among the list of distinguished artists named to receive 2023 Kennedy Center Honors last Thursday The great Dionne Warwick and Queen Latifah, currently star of the CBS show “The Equalizer,” will join Barry Gibb, longtime actor and comedian Billy Crystal and multi-Grammy Award winning opera singer Renee Fleming as this year’s recipents of the 46th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievement. The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes artists who have made profound contributions to the cultural…
There are many angles and ramifications in Michael Jordan’s decision to sell his majority ownership in the Charlotte Hornets. It was announced last Friday that Jordan was finalizing a deal to sell the majority share to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. From a strictly monetary aspect, the deal is a huge success for Jordan. If the reported sale price of $3 billion is accurate, it is more than twice the value of the team estimated by Forbes. It is also more than 20 times what Jordan paid former owner Robert Johnson when he purchased the then…
NASHVILLE, TN — The NBA finally announced its decision on Memphis Grizzlies’ guard Ja Morant last Friday. Commissioner Adam Silver said Morant would be suspended 25 games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league. The suspension went into effect immediately, and comes on top of the indefinite suspension that the team had placed him on since May, when a second video of Morant flashing a gun was widely released. The first incident had gotten Morant only an eight game suspension, something several NBA writers and commentators felt was too light. A similar criticism has been leveled in some circles, …
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Vols’ offense and defense both faltered Tuesday night as they were eliminated 5-0 by LSU at the College World Series in Omaha. Tennessee had rallied Monday from a 4-0 deficit against Stanford and had gotten a 6-4 victory to extend their season. But there would be no late rally against LSU. The Tigers started Nate Ackenhausen, who had previously been exclusively a reliever. He gave LSU six shutout innings, while Riley Cooper finished off Tennessee. The Vols twice left two runners stranded and once left the bases loaded. Defensively, they gave up…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Jazz Workshop is continuing to expand its series of community outreach events. Their latest is a new concert series titled “Jazz In The Park.” This will be a monthly series featuring three events held at the Hadley Park Bandshell. The series begins Friday with celebrated trumpeter and photographer Rod McGaha. McGaha has been a fixture on the Nashville music scene for decades. He also has a long and distinguished list of credits and collaborations. Initially discovered at a festival by legendary trumpet icon Clark Terry, McGaha has played with legendary jazz drummer…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — It made $6 million while appearing in 1,775 theaters nationwide. This is the latest film to offer a different, definitely African American spin on the horror genre. It takes a comedic approach and is co-written by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins, and produced by Story, Olivet and Sharle Sam. “The Blackening” is based on a 2018 short film of the same name created by the comedy troupe 3Peat. The original productuon, as well as the 2023 version, tells the story of seven friends on a holiday retreat who suddenly find themselves trapped in a…
The University of Missouri made history last week on the baseball front. They hired former MLB pitcher, scout and coach Kerrick Jackson as their new head baseball coach. He joins a select group. At the start of this past season only 12 Blacks were head coaches in Division 1 baseball. That was out of 299 head coaching positions. Jackson is the first Black head baseball coach in SEC history. The ACC has never had one, while the Big 10, Pac-12 and Big 12 have each only had one. This is a reflection of the lack of Black athletes playing college…