By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The expectations are quite different this season for the Tennessee Titans, assuming of course that there will be a complete NFL year. Last Friday the league gave the green light to teams for reporting to training camps last week. Rookies and undrafted free agents were allowed to report last Thursday, while veterans were expected to be in camp Tuesday. After a run of consecutive 9-7 seasons topped by last year’s unexpected advance to the AFC title game, the Titans will no longer be regarded as a surprise team. They’re the highest rated AFC South…
Author: Ron Wynn
By most measurements, 2020 is going to be the biggest and best year ever for the WNBA. As the league celebrates its 24th season, for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the women are playing at the same time as the men. They have their own bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where the abbreviated 22-game season began Saturday. More than half of their games are being nationally televised on ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2 or the CBS Sports Network. The league is also coming off a new collective bargaining agreement that guaranteed at minimum six-figure salaries for…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Since losing a closely contested race in Georgia for the governor’s office, Stacey Abrams has become a national voice fighting against voter suppression, particularly efforts to minimize Black voter turnout and impact. Since that election, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, an organization that’s taken this fight across the country. Now her efforts are about to be chronicled on film. Amazon Studios announced Monday that the documentary “All In: The Fight For Democracy” will have both a theatrical and a video debut in September. Select theaters will get the production first on Sept. 9. Then…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The NHL is moving ahead with plans to resume the season in August, and the Predators now not only know who their opponent is and when they’ll play, but also that all the opening games will be in the afternoon. They will face the Arizona Coyotes in Edmonton beginning Aug. 2. The games Aug. 2-5 are all slated for the afternoon. The Predators head for training camp July 26. But the biggest question regarding the team remains who will be the number one goalie once the playoffs begin? When the season was suspended in…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Many observers anticipated that star Vanderbilt shortstop Austin Martin was going to be one of the top two or three players taken in the recent MLB. draft. Instead he dropped to the number five slot, where he was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays. However things have worked out nicely for Martin, who last week signed with the Blue Jays for just over seven million dollars ($7,000,825) according to MLB.com. It’s the second highest figure for any prospect this year, and for a higher figure than either the number two, three or four pics.…
Nashville’s bid to get a Major League Baseball team is getting national attention and exposure, as well as generating for the sport some much needed favorable publicity. USA Today national baseball writer Bob NIghtengale put them in his column last week, with the teaser being that the Nashville team might also become MLB’s first Black-owned franchise. The board of directors and advisory committee of the Music City Baseball group includes three-time World Series champion and former MLB general manager Dave Stewart, who was also a topflight starting pitcher during his playing days. Stewart is one of only five Black men…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Predators have known for weeks who they will face in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But last Friday they learned when they will be playing the Arizona Coyotes and where the games will be held. The Predators/Coyotes series will begin Aug. 2 in Edmonton, Alberta. Edmonton is serving as hub city for all the Western Conference games. The second and third games in the best-of-five series will be Aug. 4 and 5. If it goes the full series, games 4 and 5 are set for Aug. 7 and 9.…
By Ron Wynn NASHVIILE, TN — While the entire music world mourned the recent passing of legendary singer/songwriter John Prine, the death hit his brother Billy even harder. Billy had only recently completed his first recording since 2013, a six-song EP titled “A Place I Used To Know (Memphis International)” It includes two of John’s tunes Billy had often performed in concert, but never put on any album. The EP, which was produced by guitarist Michael Dinallo, will be released Friday. “The release kind of lifts my spirits,” Billy Prine told the Tribune last week. “I’d been talking about doing…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Philadelphia vocalist and songwriter Ashley Scott has been involved with music nearly his entire life. Not only did he begin singing as a three-year-old, but he grew up immersed in the classic sounds of soul and funk. in addition, his aunt Helen Scott is a member of the Three Degrees, and Scott remembers watching her perform at shows both across America and overseas. He also cites the legendary songwriter Kenneth Gamble as a mentor and friend. But while Scott’s very aware of the long and impressive history of soul and R&B, he’s careful in…
This is supposed to be the month sports makes a big return to the playing fields. Major League Baseball teams reported to training camp last Friday. The NBA will soon have players report to Orlando. while the NHL is relocating to Canada, using the cities of Toronto and Edmonton as hub sites. Major League Soccer has games scheduled in their opening round tournament this week, which is also being held ini Orlando. Nashville SC was scheduled to play Chicago FC July 8. So on the surface it looks like things may slowly be getting back to normal. Only if you…