By Ron Wynn Things started well for Mississippi State as they took an early 14-point lead, but everything turned sour in the second half as they were defeated 38-28 in the 22nd annual Music City Bowl Monday at Nissan Stadium. Louisville would score 31 unanswered points. and eventually post their eighth win of the year. It was an impressive turnaround after last season’s 10 losses that resulted in the hiring of a new head coach, Scott Satterfield. He was voted Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year prior to the Music City Bowl. The Cardinals’ QB Micale Cunningham completed 16…
Author: Ron Wynn
Seldom has the hypocrisy that’s at the foundation of bigtime college sports been more evident than in a couple of events that occurred last week. One involved a former college freshman leaving school, the other the upcoming new television contract for one of the Power Five conferences. While not seemingly related, when viewed within the total lens of NCAA issues they are illustrative of just how totally ridiculous the NCAA’s organizational stance has been for many years, and how completely at odds what they say is in terms of how they operate. James Wiseman, an 18-year-old seven-foot center who moved…
By Ron Wynn Depending on how one views things, the recent list of the decade’s top films published last week by the Hollywood Reporter represents either real progress or a tacit acknowledgement great improvement in the areas of diversity and inclusion was necessary. A trio of Black films made the Top 10, and this list is a lot different from a fan poll. It was done by 3,500 industry professionals. These were actors, writers, producers, directors and technical people who actually worked on films throughout the decade, not journalists or fans. Leading the way was Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” from…
The 2020 Pro Bowl on January 26 in Orlando will be an historic one for several reasons. First, it will be the latest celebration of the NFL’s centennial season, the topper to a host of other events that have been happening the entire year. Second, it’s the first time since 2008 that the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady wasn’t selected as either a starter or alternate, a reflection of the team’s struggling offense and his less than impressive (certainly be his past standards) offensive statistics. But most importantly, it marks a historic occasion for Black NFL quarterbacks. All three of…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik and Billy “Pride of Ohio” Lyell both achieved impressive success as professional boxers. Pavlik had a 40-2 record with 34 knockouts and won middleweight titles from Ring Magazine, the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA). Lyell competed for both the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the WBC middleweight crowns on the way to a 25-11 record with five knockouts. Now they’re utilizing their experiences outside the ring. They are business partners and recently launched the mobile app “Sweet Science+,” currently available for IOS devices. “We wanted to…
By Ron Wynn It’s not a superhero fantasy, romantic comedy or particularly holiday-oriented production. But one film anyone with an interest in either history, politics or Black culture should see as soon as possible is “Just Mercy,” a film that chronicles the life of an extraordinary individual and freedom fighter. Attorney Bryan Stevenson has spent decades fighting for those oppressed and wrongly imprisoned. His best-selling book “Just Mercy” detailed some amazing true stories. But given how few people even read what qualifies as a best seller, there’s a very good chance many folks still aren’t aware of who he is…
The exceptional vocalist Dionne Warwick has enjoyed the kind of success in 2019 that would be impressive for someone whose career was just beginning to explode, let alone a legend with six Grammy awards, 80 singles that have made various Billboard charts since she became a star in the 60s (56 of them on the Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998), and among many other honors there’s the Dionne Warwick Institute, a school of economics and entrepreneurship located in her home state of New Jersey. But Warwick is hardly resting on her laurels. This year she’s received a Lifetime Grammy…
The NFL took two vastly different stances last week on controversial issues and people, in the process once more showing what really matters to its ownership and management. Letting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell act as the voice of the league in both matters, the NFL stood tall against criticism on one matter and seemed to bow to it on the other, though they tried to use the crux of behavior as justifications for their decision in the latter case. Despite a trio of nationwide online petitions with 1.2 million signatures, Goodell said the NFL wasn’t changing its mind regarding former…
The past few years have largely been good ones for the NBA. They had a glamour team in the Golden State Warriors, one that won frequent championships, changed the way teams played the game with their long range shooting style, and alternately thrilled and angered fans nationwide while helping the league get big viewing audiences on ESPN and TNT. The NBA announced plans to create an African league, expanded its operations in Asia and Latin America, added more European stars, saw its social media profiles keep growing, and emerged as the nation’s number two sports league behind the NFL. They…
By Ron Wynn Earth, Wind and Fire has been a prolific ensemble for nearly five decades, created by the late Maurice White to represent all the various idioms of Black music that he loved and performed. Over their lengthy career they’ve won a number of honors, but last weekend they made history once more, becoming the first Black group to earn Kennedy Center honors. While an impressive array of individual Black performers in multiple categories and genres have previously been recognized, self-contained groups have largely been absent, and in particular Black bands. The group’s original members Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson…