By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Vanderbilt Commodores completed a season-long quest Sunday with an impressive 13-2 victory over Duke to win the Nashville Super Regional at Hawkins Field. The win put them back in the College World Series. It’s the fourth time in school history, but first since 2015. It also saw them overcome a Friday night blowout to post two straight wins over Duke. Kumar Rocker had a spectacular Saturday game, pitching a complete game no-hitter and striking out a record 19 hitters to lead Vanderbilt to a series-tying 3-0 victory. But there was very little suspense…
Author: Ron Wynn
These are interesting times for the NBA. The Finals, which continue this week with games Wednesday and Friday, have proven far more compelling than many predicted at the start of the season. At that time there were lots of folks maintaining it was unfair the Golden State Warriors had added DeMarcus Cousins to their roster. They were a sure thing to waltz to their third straight title and fourth in five years was the party line. With Lebron James headed west, the only question regarding the season was which team would win the Eastern Conference. Well, a funny thing happened…
When former Michigan star and longtime NBA player Juwan Howard finally got his shot at a head coaching job last week, it wasn’t exactly what many anticipated. Howard played over 1200 NBA (1,208 to be exact) games and had been a member of two NBA title teams with the Miami Heat. After spending 19 years as a player, Howard worked six years as an assistant in the league, and interviewed for multiple openings. It was widely assumed he’d land at least one of them. Instead, Howard ended up accepting the job as new head coach of his alma mater Michigan.…
Until a few days ago it’s doubtful anyone except the most hardcore boxing fan had any idea who Deontay Wilder was, or that he has been the reigning WBC heavyweight champion for the past four years. Wilder has an impressive record, entered Saturday night’s title fight against Dominic Breazeale undefeated, and had ended a record drought for Americans to hold any heavyweight crown when he initially won his title in 2015. He stopped Breazeale in the first round with a pair of devastating right hands, the second of which knocked his challenger not just down, but literally out for several…
One of the silliest rules ever devised by any major sports organization is coming to an end, and it couldn’t come soon enough. Last Thursday NBA Commissioner Adam Silver publicly said what pretty much everyone has been saying for many years, that it makes no sense to require people who have no interest in either going to college or being students to attend a university for one year and pretend they care about academics or college life. “There are a bunch of issues that need to be worked through between us and the players association, so it’s (the rule) something…
Steve Smith became the latest college basketball assistant last week to take a hit in the ongoing probe into college basketball corruption. Clemson announced they were firing him after seven years due to the comments heard on a federal wiretap that involves Christian Dawkins and Marty Blazer. Head coach Brad Brownell said he supported the decision to terminate Smith, with the implication being he had no knowledge of what Smith was doing, nor did he support it. This continues a pattern that’s occurred at places like Auburn, where former star player and longtime assistant Chuck Person is headed for federal…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — New Vanderbilt head basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse added the second son of a former top NBA player to his incoming roster Sunday, with the announcement that Kenyon Martin Jr. was committing to the Commodores. He made the announcement on Twitter, which has become the go-to social media of choice for this generation. He will reunite with Scotty Pippen, who is the son of NBA Hall of Famer and multiple champion Scottie Pippen. They previously played together in Chatsworth, California at Sierra Canyon School. The addition of Martin sets aside some fears that he might…
One thing that repeatedly happens in these days of constant outrage and manufactured spectacle is folks love to oversimplify and equate situations and cases that are far from identical. That happened last week when the Titans drafted former Mississippi State defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons, and new information surfaced about Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill. The only thing similar about the two situations is both happened in 2016. But one involved someone who was in high school at the time (Simmons), while the other concerns an adult who is quite possibly guilty of spousal and child abuse. By now pretty much anyone…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Titans addressed primary defensive needs during last week’s NFL draft, which was held in Nashville. They chose a defensive lineman with their first pick, the 19th overall. Then they drafted defensive help with picks four through six, while adding some offensive depth with their second and third picks. However the bulk of the attention and scrutiny is coming regarding their first selection, former Mississippi State defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons. At six feet, four inchdes and 301 pounds, there are no questions regarding his size. But there are multiple questions regarding his past and…
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…