By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Vanderbilt Commodores continued the second leg of their current SEC road trip Wednesday seeking a victory at South Carolina. They also hoped to correct problems that have caused them to lose four of their first six SEC games (10-8 overall). Against Tennessee at home Jan. 18 they rallied to trim a 14-point deficit to two, but then key fouls and missed shots led to a 68-60 loss. Saturday they had one of the season’s most dismal performances to date, losing at Florida 61-42. Vanderbilt won’t win many games when their leading scorer and…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — For months the popular game show “Jeopardy” was in hosting flux following the death of Alex Trebek, who’d hosted the program for more than three decades. Trebek’s personal choice for a replacement was CNN anchor, author and Sirius XM radio host Laura Coates. But she didn’t appear during the period when various guest hosts were auditioning before the duo of actress Mayim Bialik and previous champion Ken Jennings were announced as the hosts of season 38’s remaining episodes. Sony later announced there would be no plans to select a permanent host before season 39.…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of Music City’s finest pianists and bandleaders, as well as beloved personalities, passed Sunday. Bobbe “Beegie” Long Adair, 84 died at her home in Franklin. A wonderful melodic stylist, Adair was also extremely versatile. While jazz was her favorite music, she operated easily in multiple idioms and her list of collaborations and associations was extensive. Adair also worked as an educator and session musician. Her formal musical training occurred at Western Kentucky, where she earned a B.S. in Music Education. She was already playing in jazz bands before and after graduation, and was…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN —The Tennessee State Tigers got two victories at home Saturday, as both the men and women won their OVC games against Southeast Missouri State (SEMO). The TSU Lady Tigers got things started with an 83-64 victory that extended their OVC winning streak to four and their overall streak to six. Saniah Parker finished with a season-best 18 points, while Tatyana Davis also had 18 points and Sierra McCullough contributed nine points and seven rebounds, hitting nine of 10 free throws in 26 minutes. The Lady Tigers controlled the boards 34-29 and blew the game open…
Last Friday current Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich interviewed for the head coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. It marked a return of sorts for Leftwich, who spent his first four years as the QB of the Jaguars during his playing career. He led them to a 24-20 mark and one playoff appearance. Those aren’t gaudy stats, but they’re great compared to what the team’s been doing for much of the last decade. If Leftwich is hired, he would become the fourth Black NFL head coach in a 32-team league whose playing rosters are approximately 70 percent African…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Fox series “9-1-1” starring Angela Bassett has become one of that network’s prime hits. It’s spawned a spin-off and now fans who may have missed the earlier episodes can catch them on cable. USA Network has nabbed the rights to the show following an agreement between NBCUniversal Television and Streaming and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. USA hopes that this show can do for them what the various Dick Wolf shows have for such networks as ION and Sundance. Under this new deal, USA will air all previous four seasons of 9-1-1 as…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Will Smith was a big winner at The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s (HFPA) 2022 Golden Globe Awards session Sunday night, an event that was not televised or live-streamed, and the audience mainly limited to select HFPA members and philanthropy grantees. The HFPA was exposed last year for alleged improprieties in its voting process and not having a single Black voting member. The HFPA consists of journalists who cover Hollywood and the entertainment industry for outlets primarily outside the United States. On October 21, the HFPA added 21 new members to diversify its ranks —…
There aren’t many coaching jobs, college or pro, more high profile than that at Notre Dame. Today many conferences have their own networks, but Notre Dame was the first to convince a national broadcast network (NBC) to carry its home games. They remain the nation’s most prominent independent school (at least in football) and this past season only a home loss to Cincinnati kept them from making the College Football Playoffs. Yet at the end of the season, with his team still bound for a bowl game, head coach Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU. Left unsaid, at least…
NASHVILLE, TN — While most of the OVC’s men’s teams were sidelined due to COVID-19 issues, the Lady Tigers were making some early headway in conference play. They took a 58-34 victory at Morehead State to get their second conference win. They were led by Tatyana Davis who scored 17 points in 23 minutes, including hitting three of six three-pointers. Sierra McCullough led the Lady Tigers in rebounds with a season-high 12. They are now 7-6 overall, and at 2-0 in the OVC for their first time since the 2014-15 season, the last time the Lady Tigers made the NCAA…
NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Titans have placed themselves in position to get the top spot in the AFC, a first-round bye, and have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They clinched their second straight AFC South title Sunday with an impressive 34-3 blowout victory over the Miami Dolphins. That victory eliminated the Dolphins from any playoff possibilities and ended their seven-game winning streak. While the Titans certainly would love to get Derrick Henry back for the playoffs, D’Onta Foreman continues to provide excellent contributions on the ground. He had 132 yards on 26 carries with a touchdown. Ryan Tannehill…