By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — CBS News is hoping to get the same boost from having an athlete in a non-sports role as ABC did when it plucked Michael Strahan from the set of Fox’s NFL studio show and turned him into a major personality who currently co-hosts “Good Morning America” and also hosts the latest version of “The 100,000 Pyramid.” CBS announced last week that Nate Burleson would be joining their weekday broadcast “CBS This Morning” in September. Burleson becomes the third member of the on-air team along with Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil. Burleson had previously gotten…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The most heavily anticipated Tennessee Titans season in many years gets underway Friday night in Atlanta. Coming off an 11-5 year that saw the Titans win the AFC South only to suffer a hugely disappointing home playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the team is the consensus pick among the national sports media to at minimum repeat as division title winners and have at least one more home playoff game. While no one has uttered the words “Super Bowl or bust,” the addition of heralded wide receiver Julio Jones to what was one of…
In the end, despite the prevalent threat of COVID-19 and constant controversy reverberating over whether the Tokyo Olympics should have been cancelled a second time, several amazing stories made these Games memorable in spite of all the problems. But none were more compelling than those of USA women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley and track star Allyson Felix. Their victories were part of an overall impressive showing by American women, but they also represented very special personal achievements for Staley and Felix. Staley became the first Black woman to coach an Olympic team, and (shockingly) only the third African American…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — It’s hard to categorize the music of “Yola,” an exciting vocalist who’s arrived in Nashville by way of Portishead, England. Her latest LP “Stand For Myself” (Easy Eye) has a little bit of everything from an idiomatic standpoint. Rich, exuberant lead vocals, heavy doses of country and blues influences, even bits of a rock and/or disco/dance music influence. This is her second LP, and all 12 tunes are expertly performed and produced. “Stand For Myself” was released July 30. Her LP is the latest in an impressive string of releases from Black women artists…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The season didn’t end in the manner that they would have liked, but last week Tennessee basketball did enjoy a historic moment. For the first time in 44 years the Volunteers had two players selected in the NBA’s first round. Keon Johnson ended as the number 21 pick after being traded by the New York Knicks to the Los Angeles Clippers. Jaden Springer was the number 28 pick of the Philadelphia 76ers. While these weren’t quite as high as Bernard King (number seven) and Ernie Grunfeld (number 11) in 1977. But still, Tennessee and…
Even though the current Summer Olympic Games are occurring in 2021, they’re still being called the 2020 Olympics. That’s just one of several things that make these current Games very different from any of their predecessors. For one, they’re being conducted in a city where a large segment of the population doesn’t feel they should be happening with Japan in general and Tokyo in particular still under emergency COVID-19 precautions. Those precautions have prevented friends, family and fans from attending, turning these Games into strictly a television show. But more importantly, these games are another indicator that athletic talent exists…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Will Smith has portrayed famous fathers before, most notably Muhammad Ali. But it’s still somewhat of a surprise that he’ll soon be portraying one of the most famous fathers in sports history and particularly in the tennis world. Last week Warner Bros. presented the first trailer for the upcoming film “King Richard,” which stars Smith as Richard Williams, the father of the great Venus and Serena Williams. The film also stars Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton as Venus and Serena Williams, Aunjanue Ellis as Oracene “Brandi” Williams, Jon Bernthal as coach Rick Macci, and…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are expanding their joint activities into the book world. They’re already been partners on a podcast, and that is now being converted into a book. Penquin Random House is joining forces with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company to publish “Renegades: Born in the USA,” a collection of conversations that Obama and Springsteen began in their Spotify co-produced podcast of the same name. The book will chronicle the candid conversations Obama and Springsteen began in their Spotify co-produced podcast. The two sat down and…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Despite having a solid season that returned them to the playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies are reportedly planning a major trade prior to Thursday’s NBA draft. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Grizzlies will trade their starting center Jonas Valanciunas and the 17th overall pick to New Orleans in exchange for Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe and two future first-round picks, one of them being the number 10 pick in this year’s draft. By moving up to the number 10 position this year and also getting extra picks the Grizzlies might wind up with three first…
For more Olympics than anyone can remember, basketball was considered a sport that the USA was deemed unbeatable, particularly on the men’s side. Even before NBA players became regular participants, USA teams comprised of collegians were usually dominant. The team has won 15 gold medals in the previous 18 Olympics it has entered, and prior to Tokyo the U.S, team had amassed a 25-game winning streak. But there were already signs that things might not be so easy this time around. America lost twice in exhibition play to Nigeria and Australia, and the globalization of the NBA has become so…