By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Although she has won almost every honor imaginable in her spectacular career, until last week there was one award the legendary Gladys Knight had not received. But that is no longer the case. She is now among the select group of artists to be given a National Medal Of Arts Award. Knight joined Bruce Springsteen and others last week in a White House ceremony, receiving the honor from President Biden. This follows her receiving last year the Kennedy Center Honors, and these two prestigious awards only provide more luster to one of the greatest…
Author: Ron Wynn
Pro sports is always more about business than anything else, despite all the rhetoric you hear about the importance of winning and championships. Sure, teams want to win, and both players and owners delight in titles, but the bottom line is always about money. That is especially true in the National Football League. Despite being the nation’s most successful and lucrative pro sports league, it is also one that does not guarantee player contracts. While no one can credibly claim pro football players are underpaid, the NFL operates a curious system that combines a salary cap with a structure that…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Predators remain in the playoff hunt despite suffering a wave of injuries and a roster shakeup. Over the past month the Predators have traded away four regulars and seen six others injured. The latest and arguably the most critical was Saturday’s loss of team captain and leading scorer Roman Josi Josi, leading the team in points, assists and ice time, went out after the first period Saturday against Winnipeg. Nashville lost a tough 3-2 overtime game at home to the Jets Saturday. Then they had to go to New York and play…
NASHVILLE, TN — Last Friday’s sudden and unexpected passing of actor Lance Reddick at 60 has saddened and shocked the acting world. Reddick was celebrated earlier this week at the Los Angeles premiere of “John Wick-Chapter 4.” Reddick played the character Charon in all four films, and both star Keanu Reeves and others in the cast and crew cited his work ethic and personality as vital to the success of the franchise. The Baltimore native had a very successful career. He was probably best known for his long running role in the HBO series “The Wire,” but he also starred…
NASHVILLE, TN — Country music star Kane Brown will co-host next Sunday’s 57th edition of the CMT Awards. It will be the first time the ceremony will be aired from Austin, TX. It is being shown on CBS (locally on Channel 5) at 7 pm. Brown, a past winner of the CMT Artist of the Year Award, is being joined by Kelsea Ballerini in hosting the event. Unlike some other country industry awards, the CMTs refect fan choices. Brown is among several artists with multiple nominations. But it is Lainey Wilson who has earned the most nominations with four. Both…
Ran Carthon is certainly a trailblazer and a role model as the first Black general manager in Tennessee Titans history. He is one of a record nine Blacks in that position throughout the NFL. But as the holder of arguably the most high profile upper management sports job in Nashville, he also has an enormous task ahead and he will ultimately be judged by one yardstick, wins and losses. Right now Carthon heads a team that has gone steadily downhill since losing the opening game of last years playoffs at home to the Cincinnati Bengals. They were horrible in the…
Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Volunteers earned a number four seed in the NCAA Tournament East Regional Sunday. They will play 13th seed Louisiana Thursday in Orlando with a possible second round game against Duke looming if they win. But the Volunteers know that their prospects to advance aren’t that great. With their top point guard out for the rest of the season, all three analysts on the CBS selection show picked Louisiana to upset Tennessee. The other thing folks are weighing is Tennessee hasn’t fared well in recent NCAAs. Last year they were a number three seed…
NASHVILLE, TN — Perhaps the boldest move on the HBO reimaging of the classic series “Perry Mason” involves the casting of North Carolina actor Chris Chalk as detective Paul Drake. The series, now in its second season, airs Sunday nights at 8 pm central on HBO. Given that in the original series the iconic character portrayed by Raymond Burr never had any Black clients, giving him a Black investigator is just one of several new touches as the producers seek to totally transform the character and show. First, it is set in the 30s rather than the present day. This…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of the greatest guitarists and bandleaders in blues history returns to Nashville this weekend. Buddy Guy makes his annual visit to the Ryman Auditorium Saturday night. Guy hails back to the early days of the Chicago blues revolution, having served as a session guitarist with Chess and played with many of its legends. Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Otis Spann were just a few of the people he backed. But Guy was always anxious to blaze his own trail, and often angered label head Leonard Chess with his desire to experiment…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The last two weeks have been ones where the only constant has been change for the Nashville Predators. Not only at the top with the impending retirement of longtime general manager David Poile, but with a flurry of trades as Poile acknowledged that the team was “taking a step backward to move forward. “ However the interesting thing has been their play in the wake of all the trades. Saturday they won their fourth straight road game and sixth in the last eight overall with a 3-1 victory I’m Chicago. That upped their record…