By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Over the last week the Nashville Predators have made news on three fronts. One continues the revamping of the roster, the second announced which players would be protected in the upcoming draft. But the third was the biggest from a cultural standpoint, with the announcement by their third-round draft choice Luke Prokop that he is gay. That makes him the NHL’s first openly gay player. That announcement made international news. Prokop, 19-year-old from Edmonton, was drafted last year. He’s a defenseman. Both Predators President/CEO Sean Henry and President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile…
Author: Ron Wynn
The Summer Olympics are arguably the world’s greatest sporting event. Only the World Cup rivals it in terms of international participation and interest. It also makes millions of dollars for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), though it frequently also puts host countries in debt due to the amount of temporary infrastructure that must be created, and the amount of lodging required for the thousands of athletes coming from all over the globe. Last year’s Tokyo Olympics were canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic raging at its worst. The IOC was steadfast in its determination that they would be…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — CBS has tabbed the star of “The Neighborhood” as host for the upcoming Emmy Awards telecast. Cedric the Entertainer will assume those duties for the 73rd Primetime Emmys. The next night most likely will be the start of a new season for his show“The Neighborhood,” which will also help launch CBS’ fall season. Also returning for their second consecutive year are Hudlin Entertainment and Done+Dusted. That production company has been involved with the telecast four straight years. Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart are executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton will be director of the…
The NBA has apparently taken notice of a previous shortcoming and taken steps to address it, or at least owners have seen the success this year in the playoffs of Black coaches because they suddenly are hot commodities. The official announcement of Jamahl Mosley as the new head coach of the Orlando Magic Monday made it four new Blacks added to the roster of NBA head coaches. Mosley follows the hiring of Ime Udoka in Boston, Chauncy Billups in Portland, and Jason Kidd in Dallas. One could even say technically it’s five as Nate McMillan had the interim taken off…
NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville SC has made a major player addition while preparing for their next game on the road against Columbus. They announed last week the signing of CF Monterrey striker Aké Loba as their third designated player. Loba’s transfer was first reported by MLSsoccer.com. Loba joins Hany Mukhtar and on-loan striker Jhonder Cádiz as the club’s DP’s. The signing of the Ivory Coast native was reported as being for a club-record $6.8 million. Since joining Mexico’s Liga MX from San Martín in Peru two years ago, Loba has scored 18 goals – 11 on loan with Querétaro F.C.…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — For all the critical slings and arrows aimed its way, “Black Widow” has accomplished exactly what the folks at Disney hoped it would. It’s not only been a big hit on its Disney + streaming service, but it’s helped the entire cinematic box office market tremendously. The film earned $80 million in its first weekend, crushing the benchmark for the biggest box office debut since the pandemic. It stars Scarlett Johansson and is the first from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to open simultaneously in movie theaters and on Disney Plus. Subscribers there can…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — CBS has tabbed the star of “The Neighborhood” as host for the upcoming Emmy Awards telecast. Cedric the Entertainer will assume those duties for the 73rd Primetime Emmys. The next night most likely will be the start of a new season for his show“The Neighborhood,” which will also help launch CBS’ fall season. Also returning for their second consecutive year are Hudlin Entertainment and Done+Dusted. That production company has been involved with the telecast four straight years. Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart are executive producers, and Hamish Hamilton will be director of the…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Contrary to some accounts that have been written, there are many folks out here who’ve heard about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. It was covered extensively in the Black press at the time, even as mainstream outlets WERE ignoring it. It was held over six consecutive Sundays through the summer and it attracted some of the top stars in Black music across multiple idioms. But unfortunately, despite the fact that the entire series was filmed by a professional crew, that footage sat unreleased for five decades. Finally Ahmir Thompson, AKA Questlove, has put together a…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — After completing another homestand, the Nashville Sounds hope to take the bulk of a six-game road series against Gwinett that began Tuesday night. Nashville began the week with a 33-19 record, good for second place in Triple A East’s Southeast Division, two and a half games behind first place Durham. They have won six of their last 10 games, and they concluded their last six game home stand against Louisville Sunday with a 9-3 victory. The July 4 game attracted the sixth largest crowd in Sounds’ history at First Horizon Park, as 11, 686…
Former NBA and University of Las Vegas star Reggie Theus last week became the latest big name Black athletic personality to take over an HBCU program. Theus agreed to become both the athletic director and head basketball coach at Bethune-Cookman University, with the appointment reportedly taking effect this week. He replaces Ryan Ridder as basketball coach. Ridder left for a similar position at the University of Tennessee-Martin. Theus’ previous coaching jobs included stints at New Mexico State, Cal State Northridge, the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and G-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders. He’s also been a coach in the Big 3 and said…