Major League Baseball found itself in another extremely thorny and complex cultural situation last week following their decision to suspend White Sox infielder Tim Anderson for one game in the wake of a near brawl between the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals. The initial story that got released was Anderson’s bat flip following his home run caused a scuffle which escalated into something worse, and the actions of Anderson and White Sox manager Rick Renteria were partly responsible. Royals pitcher Brad Keller hit Anderson on his next at-bat, and tensions quickly erupted. When news was announced Keller had…
Author: Ron Wynn
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — For many weeks it’s been widely assumed that the Titans’ first priority in the upcoming draft would be defensive help, in particular either a defensive lineman or a linebacker whose specialty was rushing the passer off the edge. But a majority of draft analysts who are projecting their first round selection for Thursday’s draft, which is being held in Nashville for the first time, are saying that the team will be looking first at offensive line help, with two names in particular appearing on many lists. At press time the Titans were slated to…
There was some overlooked history made at this year’s NCAA Final Four. It wasn’t just that Virginia finally won an NCAA men’s title, or that they went from being the first number one seed to lose to a 16th seed one season and then the next year become a champion. No, the real history came at the top of the ladder for the respective schools. Both Virginia and Auburn, who played a thrilling one-point semifinal game decided on a controversial call, had Black athletic directors. Allen Greene is Auburn’s AD. Carla Williams is Virginia’s, and she became the first Black…
By Ron Wynn The Dallas Stars took advantage of a penalty-filled first period to score a quick pair of power play goals and never look back Wednesday night, defeating the Nashville Predators 5-1 and evening their first round Stanley Cup playoff series at 2-2 in Dallas. Pekka Rinne had displayed his Vezina Trophy form of last year in Games 2 and 3, but found the going rough in Game 4. He allowed four goals on eight shots in less than 14 minutes and was replaced by Juuse Saros, However the consensus was he didn’t get a lot of help from…
Sports Halls of Fame often forget about pioneers in the rush to celebrate contemporary players and achievements. That’s especially the case as the ages of its electors get younger. But this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame deserves praise for its selection of two different and often overlooked trailblazers. Their choices included Chuck Cooper and the late 1950s Tennessee State Tigers team that set college records, but for too long were simply ignored when folks talked about the exploits of collegiate basketball players. Chuck Cooper wasn’t the first Black player in the NBA, but he was the first to…
There aren’t many places, especially in major college football and basketball, where women’s programs get the same attention and exposure as men’s. But at Tennessee the Lady Vols have been in the spotlight for decades, thanks to the exploits of the late Pat Summit. Few would even dare follow someone as prolific or successful as Summit, but one person who was certainly qualified to do so was Holly Warlick. Warlick was an All-American guard on Summit title teams. She served on her staff for 27 years, seven as an associate head coach. As a player she was good enough to…
For the next two weeks and into the early part of April, college basketball’s “March Madness” will dominate headlines and multiple television networks. Millions will be bet on these games, various conferences will get their share of fiscal rewards from various broadcasting outlets, and coaches whose teams advance, especially the ones that make the Final Four as well as the ultimate winner, will reap the harvest. But there’s a downside to “March Madness,” and that’s not just the ongoing question of whether it’s fair for coaches and schools to be getting major bucks while players get scholarships and little else.…
Auburn University was in a double spotlight Sunday, only the NCAA hopes most of the public’s attention stays focused on the positive rather than the negative one. The Tigers completed a brilliant four-day run by blowing out the Tennessee Volunteers 84-64, winning their first SEC Tournament title since 1985. The win gave their current coach Bruce Pearl a victory over the team that previously hired him, then dumped him in 201, after it was proven he lied to NCAA investigators about a cookout he hosted for recruits. Pearl was very gracious in his post game comments, and thanked SEC Commissioner…
Whenever highly touted teams have disappointing seasons in any sport, college or professional, there are calls for change. Usually that means firing a coach or manager, because it’s much easier to do that than turn over an entire roster. It’s also harder to can athletic directors, general managers, team presidents or player personnel directors, because those folks often claim the coaches and/or managers aren’t properly developing or getting maximum results out of premium talent. Athletic directors at Vanderbilt (Malcom Turner) and Tennessee (Phillip Fulmer) face tough decisions as the Commodores’ men’s team and Lady Vols recently completed historically bad seasons.…
For much of this season it’s been a dream year for the Tennessee men’s basketball team. In a period when football remains down and the usually championship level Lady Vols have had rough sailing, the men’s squad for much of the season has been ranked number one. They even accomplished something no previous UT men’s group had ever done, winning 19 straight games. The great teams featuring Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld never did that. Neither did last year’s team that tied for the SEC regular season title and won the SEC Tournament. Not even the 2009-10 team, the only…