By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Chocolate City was full of Howard University students and alumni of all ages as the Washington, D.C.-based HBCU marked its 100th homecoming. However, its perhaps most consequential alumnus – Vice President Kamala Harris, who is poised to make history in her current run for the presidency – was a no-show.

The 2024 Democratic Party presidential nominee was originally scheduled to come to the homecoming with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Instead, she penned a letter to her alma mater in recognition of the centennial homecoming celebration. 

“I am honored to extend my warmest greetings to all the students, faculty, staff and fellow alumni of Howard University gathered to celebrate our 100th homecoming,” said Harris in the letter sent to the Hilltop on Oct. 19. 

Entertainment headliners for the centennial celebration included singers Leon Thomas and Coco Jones and rapper Real Boston Richey. But, of course, the marquee attraction was the football game on Oct. 19.

“Homecoming is so welcoming. Whether you’re a current student, former student, alum, or just visiting, Howard finds a way to say hello to you. You really have access to whatever you want in terms of food, party environments, service opportunities and HBCU culture at large,” said 2022 Howard graduate and former student-athlete Michael Codrington.

Alumni from Tennessee State University and Howard came to the capital city to show support for their football teams in a sold out homecoming matchup between the Tigers and the Bison.

The visiting Tennessee State Tigers would defeat the Howard Bison in the matchup, 27-14. At the end of the third quarter, the Bison only trailed by six points after running back Eden James ran in for a 2-yard touchdown. However, on the ensuing kickoff, return man CJ Evans ran back a 99-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up 27-14. Neither team scored points in the fourth quarter and that would end up being the final score.

Junior wide receiver Karate Brenson led the way with 153 receiving yards for the Tigers, and Howard running back Jarrett Hunter had 102 yards and a touchdown for the Bison. Defensively, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason defensive player of the year Kenny Gallop Jr. finished the game with a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. For Tennessee State, defensive backs Jalen McClendon and Tyler Jones both had an interception.

With the loss, the Bison fall to 3-4 on the season. Tennessee State improves to 6-2 on the season, with a 3-1 conference record. This is the Tigers’ best start under head coach Eddie George. Howard will begin MEAC conference play on Oct. 26 against Norfolk State.

“Homecoming was full of celebration and a sense of community.  The events, from the game to spending time on the yard, felt like home as an alum,” said Rhonda Biscette, a 1990 graduate of Howard. “The 100th homecoming made it even more special. The environment represented a sense of pride and the reputation we hold as ‘The Mecca.’”

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By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

From Staten Island, N.Y., to Hampton, Va.; Washington, D.C., to North Carolina and now Atlanta, Baltimore native Dylan Beard’s track journey has taken him all over the Atlantic seaboard. Now, he is on a mission to make sure that he is not just a feel-good story, but a force to be reckoned with. 

Beard’s name has been trending in the track world lately. His surprise upset victory at the 2024 Millrose Games in February combined with his recent appearance on the “Today” show has gotten him a little bit more public attention. As NBC Sports reporter Lewis Johnson said to Beard in a post-race interview, “Dylan, you’re on the map. Hurdles.”

Prior to the 60-meter hurdle race at “the world’s most prestigious indoor track and field competition,” Beard wasn’t included in the camera shot until a few seconds before the starting gun went off. Division II superstar Cordell Tinch, 2022 World Championships runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles, and Trey Cunningham,  2019 USA Outdoor World Champion in the 110-meter hurdles, were highlighted prior to the race. When the man from lane one shocked the field and crossed the line victorious, NBC’s announcer asked, “And on the inside, is that Dylan Beard?”

Yes, that is Dylan Beard, the man who virtually led the race from wire to wire.

The Baltimore native graduated high school in 2016, originally committing to Wagner University. At Wagner, Beard was named the Northeast Conference’s (NEC) Most Outstanding Rookie Performer his freshman year at the NEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. He still holds the record in both the 60-meter hurdles and the 110-meter hurdles for the Wagner Seahawks. After three years, Beard made the decision to transfer to Hampton University. 

“[Historically Black colleges and universities] were the only schools that showed me love. When I was transferring from Wagner, the goal was to get that full scholarship. The Hampton head coach at the time offered me a 75 percent scholarship and I was cool with that because that is pretty much what I was getting at Wagner. Then just one day during the summer he reached out and he’s like, ‘Hey man, I just adjusted your scholarship to a full scholarship. Congratulations,’” said Beard.

After being both a Big South conference team champion and an individual champion in the 60-meter hurdles at Hampton, Beard obtained his bachelor’s degree. Beard still had two spring seasons of eligibility left from the spring 2020 season being canceled and the blanket year of eligibility granted to all NCAA athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beard decided to utilize the rest of his eligibility at Howard University in the nation’s capital. This presented Beard a unique opportunity to further his education and gain the tutelage of Olympic medalist and world champion David Oliver. 

“Think about it, right? You’ve got this guy who’s never broken 14 seconds in the 110 [hurdles] and has a good indoor time but only has two outdoor seasons,” said Beard, draped in his Team USA gear from the USA Outdoor Championships. “Coach Oliver offered me 80 percent, and I mean, they just showed the most love. I had one conversation with the coaches and I already liked what they were saying.” 

The next two years would result in Beard shattering his head coach’s 110-meter record at the school with a time of 13.29, which was the second fastest time in the nation that year. He also left Howard with two individual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles in the 110-meter hurdles and his master’s in public health. 

Transition to the Pros

After originally being torn on pursuing track professionally, Beard ultimately made the decision to move down south and embark on a dream that he had set for himself at a young age. 

“I said I wanted to be a professional athlete when I was like… 5 years old. I thought it’d be football or baseball or something. Track and field kind of snuck up on me and stuck. I genuinely do this because I love it… Honestly and realistically, if I had to set a goal, it would be to enter that 12 second club. That sub-13 second [110-meter hurdle] race club,” said Beard. 

Beard’s former head coach and the director of track and field at Howard University David Oliver, whose name is in the record books for running the second fastest 110-meter race, was on a similar journey when he graduated from Howard and wanted to pursue a career in track and field. Oliver moved down to Florida, worked at the Nike store and trained in his free time. Beard moved to North Carolina and worked at the deli at Walmart full time, all while training professionally alongside fellow Olympic hopeful Cameron Murray and coach Rueben McCoy. 

“Beard has all the talent in the world,” said Oliver. “He puts in the work and he’s already shown what he can do at the collegiate level. He’s off to a good start, now he just has to continue to show up when it matters. That’s what the greats do.”

For the Love of the Sport

All-Americans, national champions and American record holders alike, there are many athletes today that are competing in the sport of track and field at a professional level but not receiving much compensation from it. In track and field, you don’t have many athletes that continue to pursue the sport post-collegiately that aren’t either indebted or in love. 

Beard, currently the 10th-fastest man in the world in the 110-meter hurdles, received a very interesting sponsorship that will allow him to continue to compete professionally while also being able to continue to work at Walmart as a deli associate. He is believed to be the first track and field athlete to be sponsored by Walmart. 

“It was a lot of behind the scenes stuff but my agent and Walmart worked together and they got me a deal that I am pretty happy with. I like the base salary and I am satisfied with it,” said Beard.

Although Beard was shooting to make Team USA for the Paris Olympics, he was still excited to watch the Games and his season did not end at the US Olympic Trials. 

“After the Olympics, the rest of my meets are overseas, mostly in Europe. I am trying to compete in more Diamond League meets and just run as much as possible because that is the name of the game. We don’t stop in June or July. I am trying to make it to August or September and get a feel for that because that is what all the other pros do,” said Beard. 

He was also surprised on the “Today” Show with a $20,000 check from Walmart to support his Olympic dream and professional track endeavors. 

“Perseverance. I mean, it always just seems to work out when you keep pushing forward,” said Beard. “When I was growing up, my dad would always say, ‘Three things define you: Your character. Your integrity. Your word.’ So that kind of stuck with me. When you’re 95 [years old], you want to look back on your life and say I gave it my all…. What I’ve noticed is when you put your best foot forward in everything you do, you’re planting seeds. And I always somehow reap the benefits of my work ethic and efforts when I put my best foot forward.” 

The post Dylan Beard: Overcoming obstacles and embracing his journey appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Stephen Whyno
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 323 yards and a touchdown to outshine rookie Jayden Daniels in a showdown between two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks this season, Derrick Henry ran for two TDs and the Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Oct. 13 for their fourth consecutive victory.

Jackson found Mark Andrews for the tight end’s first touchdown of the season and completed nine passes to Zay Flowers for 132 yards — all in the first half. Henry had 132 yards and his NFL-leading eighth and ninth TDs as the Ravens (4-2) mixed and matched the pass and run to near perfection.

Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin on two TD passes, but did not get nearly enough help from the backfield in a matchup of the two top rushing offenses in the league. With Brian Robinson Jr. out because of a knee injury, Washington (4-2) got just 52 yards on the ground.

The Commanders’ defense struggled to contain Jackson and Henry, allowing Baltimore to rack up 484 yards, and their winning streak ended at four with a loss at the hands of an opponent that is starting to look like the legitimate Super Bowl contender it was expected to be.

The masterclass by the Ravens included scoring drives of 93 and 94 yards, three sacks of Daniels and enough to overcome an early interception by Jackson when the ball went off Andrews’ hands and was caught by rookie Mike Sainristil for Washington’s first pick of the season. 

Struggles defending against the pass continued, with Daniels going 24 of 35 for 269 yards, but again Baltimore was able to outscore its problems.

Henry became the first player to rush for a TD in each of his first six games since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005. Andrews tied Todd Heap for the most catches since the team moved to Baltimore with the 41st of his career.

Injuries

Ravens: LB Malik Harrison (groin), CB Arthur Maulet (knee and hamstring) and DE Broderick Washington (knee) were inactive.

Commanders: DT Jonathan Allen was ruled out early in the fourth quarter with a pectoral injury. … DE Dorance Armstrong left in the second with a rib injury. … DE Clelin Ferrell missed a fourth consecutive game with a knee injury.

Up next

Commanders: Host the Carolina Panthers Oct. 20.

Ravens: Visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, Oct. 21.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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By Megan Sayles
AFRO Business Writer
msayles@afro.com

Teachers and aides at Ward 8’s Moten Elementary School just received more than $15,000 in classroom gifts from Washington Mystics guard Ariel Atkins. The WNBA player teamed up with the Lids Foundation, a philanthropic organization that provides direct support to local communities and other charitable nonprofits, to surprise the educators during an assembly on Sept. 16. 

This is Atkin’s second time organizing a teacher appreciation celebration in the District. 

“Our goal is to show gratitude to teachers and their aides by providing them with essential classroom items that could enhance their classroom environment, as well as the student’s experience,” said Atkins, in a statement. “We want them to feel appreciated and valued for the undeniable impact they make every day on their students.” 

The classroom gifts included general school supplies, decor, bean bag chairs, twinkle lights and interactive rugs. Teachers and aides also received Visa gift cards to splurge on themselves and Lids store gift cards to give out to students as classroom prizes. 

Moten Elementary Principal Akela Dogbe, who covertly retrieved wishlists from the educators, said the celebration came at the perfect time. 

“My teachers deserve to feel special,” said Dogbe. “It was great to be able to celebrate them now because this is about the fourth week of school for us. People start counting down to Thanksgiving break, and the excitement of a new school year has kind of worn off.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 94 percent of teachers dip into their pockets to purchase classroom supplies. On average, educators in urban communities spend $529 each school year. 

Dogbe said the school provides basic materials, like paper, pens and pencils. But, other personalized items that foster a warm, welcoming environment are left to the teachers to buy. Cultivating a comfortable environment in the classroom is important for students, according to the principal. 

“We always operate under the impression that the classroom is the second teacher,” said Dogbe. “Kids want to be in pretty spaces just like adults do. Infusing more colors, more places where they can lounge around and do their work and more flexible seating makes the experience better for them.” 

Dogbe disguised the assembly as a celebration for Moten Elementary’s performance on the 2023 D.C. Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE). The school climbed 12 points in mathematics and eight points in English language arts. 

Dogbe said it has not made gains like that since before the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in learning loss for elementary and other students across the country. 

“We’re going to keep soaring and doing the things we know work. We’re going to keep having amazing tier-one instruction in our classrooms that are now so beautifully decorated,” said Dogbe. “We’re going to keep offering high-impact tutoring for every student in the building, and we’re going to keep climbing.” 

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By Tim Reynolds
The Associated Press

Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Sept.30 from brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58.

His family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta for a brain tumor. The NBA said he died surrounded by his family.

“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”

Mutombo was distinctive in so many ways — the playful finger wag at opponents after blocking their shots, his height, his deep and gravelly voice, his massive smile. Players of this generation were always drawn to him and Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon, looked to Mutombo as an inspiration.

“It’s a sad day, especially for us Africans, and really the whole world,” Embiid said Monday. “Other than what he’s accomplished on the basketball court, I think he was even better off the court. He’s one of the guys that I look up to, as far as having an impact, not just on the court, but off the court. He’s done a lot of great things. He did a lot of great things for a lot of people. He was a role model of mine. It is a sad day.”

Mutombo spent 18 seasons in the NBA, playing for Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, New York and the then-New Jersey Nets. The 7-foot-2 center out of Georgetown was an eight-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA selection and went into the Hall of Fame in 2015 after averaging 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for his career.

He also was part of one of the league’s most iconic playoff moments, helping eighth-seeded Denver oust top-seeded Seattle in the first round of the 1994 Western Conference playoffs. That best-of-five series marked the first time a No. 8 beat a No. 1 in NBA history.

“It’s really hard to believe,” Toronto President Masai Ujiri said Monday, pausing several times because he was overcome with emotion shortly after hearing the news of Mutombo’s death. “It’s hard for us to be without that guy. You have no idea what Dikembe Mutombo meant to me. … That guy, he made us who we are. That guy is a giant, an incredible person.”

Mutombo last played during the 2008-09 season, devoting his time after retirement to charitable and humanitarian causes. He spoke nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, concentrating on improving health, education and quality of life for the people in the Congo.

And on occasion, LeBron James pointed out with a laugh on Monday, Mutombo didn’t necessarily improve the health of others.

“My fondest memory of Dikembe Mutombo? He fractured my face on my birthday in Cleveland with an elbow,” James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star, said while taking several minutes Monday to pay tribute to Mutombo’s life. “I never even got an opportunity to tell him about that. But yeah. I don’t remember how old … I was in Cleveland, my first stint, and I think I was turning 22 maybe?

“I went to the hole and caught one of those Dikembe elbows, and if anybody know about the Dikembe elbows, they do not feel good. He fractured my face, and I went to the hospital that night, and I wore a mask for a little bit. That is my memory of Dikembe,” James said.

James was close on the details: Dec. 29, 2004, was when that play happened, late in the first half, one day before his 20th birthday.

Mutombo told reporters that night he wasn’t sure how James got hurt. “He was laying there and I was like, ‘What happened, what happened?’” Mutombo told the Houston Chronicle after that game. “All I know, I was running to the basket. … LeBron turned around to stop me going to the basket. The collision happened.”

Ryan Mutombo, the Hall of Famer’s son, said in a tribute posted on social media that his father “loved others with every ounce of his being.”

“My dad is my hero because he simply cared,” Ryan Mutombo wrote. “He remains the purest heart I have ever known.”

Mutombo served on the boards of many organizations, including Special Olympics International, the CDC Foundation and the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

“There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador,” Silver said. “He was a humanitarian at his core. He loved what the game of basketball could do to make a positive impact on communities, especially in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo and across the continent of Africa.”

Mutombo is one of three players to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year four times. The others: reigning DPOY winner Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Hall of Famer Ben Wallace.

“He was always there to talk to me and advise me on how to approach the season and take care of my body and icing after games and stretching and trying different things like yoga,” Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “He will be always remembered and may his soul rest in peace.”

This article was originally published by The Associated Press. 

AP Sports Writers Steve Megargee in Milwaukee, Greg Beacham in Los Angeles and Dan Gelston in Camden, New Jersey, and Associated Press writer Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this report.

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By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO

A free clinic open to basketball coaches of all levels in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area will be sponsored by the Washington Wizards on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, home of the Washington Mystics and Capital City Go-Go, in Southeast, Washington, D.C. 

The clinic will be led by Coach Brian Keefe, head coach of the Wizards, with special guest coaches Ed Cooley of Georgetown, Kenny Blakeney of Howard, and Duane Simpkins, a coach for American University. 

According to a Wizards spokesperson, the clinic aims to strengthen the local coaching community and provide valuable insights that can be taken back to schools and teams across the region. The clinic represents the Wizards’ longtime commitment to empowering local talent. 

John Thompson III, former head coach, Georgetown University, now entering his second season as senior vice president of Monumental Basketball, continues to focus on exploring and implementing best practices for the Wizards, Mystics and Go-Go while ensuring accountability for excellence across the organization. 

He spoke with the AFRO about the upcoming clinic and noted why he thinks it’s a “win-win opportunity.” 

“This is for coaches from all levels – college, high school, summer leagues– you name it,” said Thompson, who has long been an ardent supporter of the Greater Washington Area and who, in 2007, established the John Thompson III Foundation to create a positive and lasting impact on the city that he cherishes. 

“This is about coaches helping coaches,” he said. “I’ve said many times that the basketball players in the DMV are among the best in the country – part of that is because of the outstanding coaching in this area. We have some great coaches leading the clinic. But this is only the beginning.” 

“Next year, we’ll rotate with other coaches,” Thompson continue. “The bottom line is the talented group of coaches in this region will be able to share with one another, to teach one another and to learn from one another.” 

Thompson said the credit for the clinic goes to Wizards Head Coach Brian Keefe. 

“Coach Keefe walked up to me and said he wanted to hold a clinic for local coaches and asked me if we could put something together,” Thompson said. “I told him of course. This is his first year as head coach but he’s been in the NBA for a long time. He understands every position on the bench and he’s built to help players and others in the profession.”

Thompson said he feels fortunate to be part of the Monumental Basketball family. 

“I loved coaching at Georgetown but I am also really enjoying the journey that I am on today. I still have daily interactions with players and coaches and I’m involved in most aspects of the game. But I am also learning and contributing to the business side of the sport,” he said. “It’s complex for sure. But above all, it’s a people business. This clinic is another opportunity for us to bring people out, get them involved and unify them.”

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By D. Kevin McNeir 
Special to the AFRO

A panel of current and former Black college athletes and legal experts addressed the economic impact of the historic House v. NCAA $2.8 billion settlement and what it could mean in terms of annual revenue sharing for Black student-athletes in the future during the recent Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, D.C. 

The panel also considered policy implications of the case and the potential responses from Congress, which can protect and maximize the economic interests of athletes as they consider the NCAA’s efforts to secure antitrust safeguards from future litigation initiated by college athletes. 

The panel discussion, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas-03), was moderated by Rob Robertson, a former fullback with the Baltimore Ravens who was reelected in 2023 as the D.C. chapter president of the National Football League Players Association. 

Joining Robertson on the panel were: Gabby Anderson, a young artist whose business endeavors include a custom shoe company, Graffiti by Gabby, and who is also a college junior and member of the Harvard University women’s basketball team; Donovan Porter, an attorney specializing in business, sports and entertainment law and a former Division I college football player at Miami University (Ohio); Robert Griffin III (nicknamed RG3), a former standout quarterback at Baylor University, currently a sports broadcaster, who played nine seasons in the National Football League, most notably with the Washington Commanders and retired as a Baltimore Raven; and Shakeel Rashad, a former linebacker for the University of North Carolina and currently the director of membership at athletes.org, a players’ association dedicated to ensuring that college athletes have access to essential resources and the ability to voice their concerns.  

Backdrop for the panel’s insightful discussion 

On May 23, 2024, the NCAA reached an historic $2.8 billion settlement with former college athletes who had filed an antitrust class action demanding billions in potential earnings allegedly denied to them for decades. The landmark settlement represents a major turning point in college athletics and falls in line with previous rulings in federal courts that have chipped away at the NCAA’s long-standing prohibition against student-athletes monetizing their athletic abilities. 

But while the NCAA, in conjunction with five major conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast, Pac-12 and Southeastern) and plaintiffs in three antitrust lawsuits related to athlete compensation, has agreed to the settlement, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken declined to grant preliminary approval. Wilken, who expressed dismay with a plan to regulate and potentially restrict third-party name, image and likeness (NIL) payments to athletes from booster-funded organizations called collectives, has set a Sept. 26 deadline for attorneys on both sides to report back to her with certain parts of the settlement agreement reworked.

According to comments from Rep. Veasey and Robertson, shared before the panelists were allowed to weigh in, Black football and men’s and women’s basketball athletes at the Division I Power 5 Conference level have lost approximately $17 billion to $21 billion in compensation from 2005 to 2019, roughly $1.2 – $1.4 billion per year. 

Additional estimates suggest that in 2017–2020 alone, $10 billion was funneled to Power 5 coaches and administrators that could have been shared by football and men’s and women’s basketball players who are disproportionately Black. 

However, with revenue sharing in collegiate athletics now a reality because of the House v. NCAA settlement, Black college athletes stand to benefit most from the approximately $2.8 billion settlement and annual revenue sharing moving forward. 

“Athletes have lost billions in compensation for their NIL with a lot of that money going to coaches and staff but not to the players, many of whom look like us (Black),” Robertson said. “And for most of them, college will be their last opportunity to receive any financial compensation as athletes as only a very small percentage of college athletes will move on and secure financial stability in professional sports.” 

Robertson said he felt fortunate that he moved on to the pros, especially coming from humble beginnings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and being able to provide for his family, particularly the matriarch of his family – his grandmother. 

“People see the success that teams achieve but they don’t see the sacrifices made by the athletes,” Robertson said. 

What’s at stake for college athletes

Porter said he believes that the attorneys on both sides will find a way to resolve the judge’s reluctance to approve the settlement. 

“In a case like this, the judge must approve a settlement but if not, the case must go to trial, and I cannot see the NCAA being willing to let that happen because of the financial impact it could have on them,” Porter said. 

The settlement allows Division I college athletes to receive pay directly from the universities they compete for — a complete departure from the NCAA’s long-standing system of “amateurism” – and includes, but is not limited to, the NCAA agreeing to pay upward of $2.75 billion in back-pay damages to former Division I athletes who were unable to profit on their NIL rights, as well as a future revenue sharing model between the Power Five conference schools and athletes.

What’s at stake for college athletic departments

If the settlement becomes final, the financial impact for athletic departments, especially among major conferences, will be significant. While the NCAA can absorb the main share of the cost via its reserves, insurance and budget cuts, the schools themselves do not possess that same benefit. Some schools have suggested that they could lose as much as $30 million per year over the next 10 years to cover revenue-sharing distribution, back damages and expanded scholarship costs. 

But as Rashad noted, the real losers have long been college athletes – something that the settlement will help to rectify. 

“As an advocate for college athletes and part of an organization that brings them up to speed on financial literacy, I am always amazed to hear people complain about the possibility of them receiving revenue for their name, image and likeness,” Rashad said. 

“College athletes collectively help generate the billions of dollars that athletic departments receive. Schools are racking in the dollars but, beyond room and board, players do not receive any additional compensation,” Rashad continued. “I know of many cases in which players’ families have never even seen them play because they couldn’t afford to get them to their games. Those are the kinds of stories that don’t make the headlines but are just as real and just as frequent in college sports.” 

Griffin described some of the hardships that he faced, even as one of the nation’s best college quarterbacks during his years at Baylor. 

“When I arrived on campus, I learned about the ‘Baylor bubble,’ which was the innermost portion of campus – miles and miles of beautiful, green grass and beautiful homes,” he said. “But outside of the bubble, it was a very different city both for players who were living in Waco, Texas, temporarily and especially for the city’s residents. Our football team, given our success, fought to expand that bubble and that’s something I’m very proud of.”

As a student-athlete living outside that bubble, life was a daily battle, Griffin said.

“People don’t realize that college athletes work from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., rushing to practice, rushing to find something to eat, rushing to get to class and then doing it all over again, day after day. There’s no time for fraternities or sororities or parties,” he said. “I received both an athletic and academic scholarship at Baylor but the University took my academic scholarship back. I struggled to pay rent and I ate at Subway almost every day because that’s all I could afford.” 

To add insult to mental, physical and financial injury, he added, many student athletes find their sport dreams cut short after college.

“Only about 2 percent (1.6 percent, according to the NCAA as of March 16, 2024) of NCAA football players go on to the NFL,” said Griffin, who was known as RGIII during his eight seasons in the league. “The rest limp out of college with injuries, some without receiving a degree, and many leave behind cheering crowds only to find a far more mundane reality. It’s a shock and a tough reality to accept.”

Anderson has already cemented her future financially with a graffiti business that she started at the age of 16. She has since signed contracts to design shoes for athletes and friends and has collaborated with Fortune 500 companies like Nike and Walmart. Still, she said, being a student-athlete is difficult. 

“We don’t sleep much and we work very hard,” she said. “People often think that we have it easy but that’s just not the case. I appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given at Harvard but it’s a job and we are expected to perform at the highest level possible.” 

Griffin said he’s glad to see that change is finally coming. 

“You always hear about coaches like Nick Sabine or Bear Bryant who built legacies,” he said, “but remember, they built those legacies on the backs of talented players – players who deserve to have a seat at the table and a fair percentage of the revenue that has long been funneled into university war chests.”

The post Current, former Black college athletes discuss impact of historic $2.8B NCAA settlement appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

The Howard Bison remain undefeated in the HBCU NY Classic as they overpowered the Morehouse Tigers, 35-21. The neutral site game was held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sept. 14. 

The reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champions controlled all three facets of the game, proving to be especially dominant on special teams and in the run game. 

New Jersey native and freshman running back Anthony Reagan Jr. ran the opening kickoff back close to midfield and the Bison took advantage of the field position. Wide receiver Se’Quan Osbourne and freshman tight end Ke’Untae Mosley each scored the first touchdowns of their collegiate careers, and the Bison went into halftime with a 21-7 lead. 

“The Classic is a great experience for the fans and also us as athletes to come together and celebrate Black culture and also be on a big platform where we have more exposure to showcase our talent,” said starting senior cornerback Xavier Robiou, who has played in the HBCU NY Classic all three years.

Coming out of halftime, the Bison would score another touchdown, giving the D.C. team a 28-7 lead. The Bison’s lead ballooned up to 28 points before the Tigers responded by scoring two touchdown passes late in the fourth quarter. 

Redshirt senior quarterback Jaylen Tolbert started his first game of the season for the Bison and finished with four touchdown passes and one interception. Sophomore quarterback Ja’Shawn Scruggins started the first two games of the season against Rutgers University and Mercyhurst, finishing those first two games with 280 passing yards, 189 rushing yards, one touchdown and one interception. He led the Bison to a 1-1 record. 

“The HBCU Classic was a great experience the first time I went and it was even better this year. The tailgate is always a great time–good food, music, and the overall vibe just from being around current students and alumni. I think it is a great tradition for these two HBCUs to play and clearly the competition gets better and better every year,” said Joshua Pemberton, who attended the game twice as a fan.

In addition to a thrilling game, attendees were treated to a scintillating Battle of the Bands during half time, which was presented by Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. 

And following the game, Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul performed some of his chart-topping hits. 

“The ‘fifth quarter’ ended up being a surprise performance from Sean Paul and that ended the night perfectly,” said Pemberton. “All in all I think it’s a great event for everyone of all ages and I’ll be back again next year.” 

With the newest victory, the Bison improve to 2-1 while the Tigers drop to 0-3. The Bison will travel back to the nation’s capital to face their rival Hampton Pirates in the Truth and Service Classic on Sept. 21 at Audi Field. The Maroon Tigers will fly to Chicago to play the Kentucky State Thorobreds. The Morehouse Maroon Tigers are expected to join Howard in the MEAC in the near future, according to associate athletic director for operations at Howard University, Nicholas Latham.

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Tryouts to begin at 9 a.m. at New Town High School in Owings Mills 

Baltimore’s new pro football team, the Baltimore Lightning, will have open tryouts for its 2025 season beginning 9 a.m. this Saturday at New Town High School in Owings Mills, Md. 

Tryouts will serve as an incredible opportunity for young people who have long chased the dream of playing professional football to realize those dreams by becoming a member of the Baltimore Lightning, a new professional football team that recently became a part of the International Football Alliance (IFA) in its inaugural season. A new pro league, the IFA is bridging the gap in international professional football by delivering the highest level of American Football within the strategic locations of Mexico and the United States.

“This is an incredible opportunity for talented football players to come out, try out and be considered for a spot on one of the most exciting teams in professional football,” says Will Hanna, the team’s General Manager. “We have a talented roster of team members who have already been signed to the team, however we do have a few spots available for a few special players.” 

Members of the team will receive salaries of undisclosed amounts when the season kicks off in May of 2025. Players chosen at tryouts will join a roster of team members who will be ready to start training camp May 15 – 30, 2025. The league has issued Baltimore’s first 30 signed camp invites, which include an impressive group of pro football talent to include former Michigan Panther (USFL) Ray Bolden, former Jackson State and Chicago Bears Defensive back, De’Jahn “Nugget” Warren, and Todd Simmons, who recently attended camp for The Baltimore Ravens. 

Simmons received a camp invite this summer and is excited to play for the Baltimore Lightning and to continue his football career. The Washington D.C. native who now resides in Frederick, Md is a wide receiver who has played in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 as well as junior college throughout his football career.  

“Just getting in the door is huge, but being able to keep your foot in the door is very hard,” he says. A former star of the Netflix Show, Last Chance U, which chronicles the lives of elite athletes with difficult pasts turn to junior college football for a last shot at turning their lives around and achieving their dreams, Simmons says he has sacrificed a lot for his love of football. He was also invited to join the Las Vegas Raiders and the Chicago Bears. 

Linebacker and Baltimore native, Joshua Holley, has also been invited to be a part of the team, and has been able to come back to football after a serious car accident a few months ago. Coming out of college at Morgan State University, he played1 year semi-pro, with that film, went to the spring league before it turned into the USFL.

“This is a huge moment for me,” Holley says. “It just shows that you can go through adversity and come back from it. To have that determination and perseverance to keep going – it shows that anything can happen.” 

“I really want to encourage the City to come out and support,” Holley adds. “This new pro team is a big deal for the City of Baltimore and beyond.”

Tryouts are being sponsored by The Greene Turtle, Weary Arts Group, M4 Security and HMG Sports.

For more information about the Baltimore Lightning Football Team, visit LightningFootball.net, or call 301-971-BOLT.

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By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Fight For Children, an organization focused on using sports to improve the lives of youths, sent students in the Washington D.C. area back to school in style this year. Offering free backpacks, school supplies and haircuts, the organization held their Youth Sports Day held on Aug. 24. The event highlighted the importance of youth participation in physical activity, while showcasing the teams and programs in the area that families can put their children in for educational and recreational purposes. 

Youth Sports Day was held at the Fields at Robert F. Kennedy Campus in Anacostia Park. Sponsors and partners for the event included Gatorade, Under Armour, 37 nonprofit organizations from Fight For Children Youth Development Institute and all of the D.C.-based professional sports organizations. 

“Unfortunately, youth sports have become out of reach for a lot of families. If you want to put your kid into a quality soccer program, you’ve got to have $300 in disposable income for maybe six to eight weeks of play,” said James Kallusky, president of Fight For Children. “It’s become a business and unfortunately, it left a lot of families out that just can’t afford that. What we’ve done is assembled nearly 40 nonprofit organizations that are high quality youth sports programs that puts kids first. They focus on the whole child.”

Although the event was catered towards showcasing the sport and recreational activities that Fight For Children and other organizations in the D.C. area have available for free or low costs, Kallusky also wanted to make sure that children are being given the opportunity to have access to resources that improve their performance in the classroom as well as their overall livelihood. 

“We focus on the development of the child, not just the athlete. We have tutoring programs, college readiness programs and mentorship programs,” aid Kallusky. “After school, if kids don’t have any programs or teams available to them, they can be out getting in trouble. These programs keep kids in school, out of trouble and keep kids healthy physically and mentally. We are just trying to bring awareness to these programs.”

Youth Sports Day 2024 marks the second year that the event was put on by Fight For Children. In its inaugural year, attendance was at about 500 people, according to program coordinator Marc Shapiro. This year, that number grew to almost 2,000. 

Gatorade, one of the biggest sponsors at the event, provided water, a dunk tank, a cooling station and plenty of free merchandise. Under Armour provided 500 free backpacks and food vendors such as La Raza and DC Mexicano Grill provided free food for the community from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST. 

“We are about to start a program called E.A.T.S., which stands for ‘early access to sports’. We will be utilizing our 37 youth sports organizations and connecting the community to them by either bringing the programs into D.C. public schools or bringing the first through third graders to sites where our programs or organizations operate… We really want to eliminate the transportation barrier,” said Shapiro. 

Also provided at Youth Sports Day were physicians for youth eye exams, physicals and wellness checks. Games and activities included flag football, rock climbing and soccer. Shapiro said that Fight For Children hopes to continue to make Youth Sports Day an annual event and “something that is a D.C. staple for the end of the summer” with kids going back to school.

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

(NNPA Newswire) – In a visit to PBS-TV’s The Chavis Chronicles in Washington, D.C., Gloria James and other relatives of NBA superstar LeBron James highlighted the extraordinary impact of the LeBron James Family Foundation (LJFF) and its ongoing mission to uplift and empower communities. The foundation’s efforts, which began in Akron, Ohio, where LeBron was raised, have become a national model for athletes, entertainers and politicians alike.

Gloria, LeBron’s mother, expressed immense pride in her son’s accomplishments both on and off the court. 

“I’m very honored to be LeBron’s mother. He has done so much for our community and for people across the world. He’s so unselfish,” Gloria said, emphasizing that LeBron’s greatness extends beyond his athletic achievements. “He’s not only the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) on the court, but off the court. He’s a humanitarian, a great father and husband, and a great advocate for his community, people of color, and the underdog.”

The LJFF, through its flagship I PROMISE program, serves over 1,400 students in the Akron area, offering comprehensive support that extends far beyond academics. The foundation’s work, as Gloria described, is about more than just raising graduation rates; it’s about redefining the concepts of family and community.

“What we learned was that you can’t just help one person in the family and expect it to be of great significance,” Gloria explained. “Even when it comes to housing or food, we address those issues as well. We know that a lot of our families can’t provide meals for themselves for a full family throughout the entire month so we have pantries.”

The holistic approach to community support has become the cornerstone of the LJFF’s mission. “Unfortunately, some kids don’t have that in their lives,” Gloria noted, referring to the love, compassion, and support she said true family offers. “They deserve that, and that way it’ll also help them as they grow into adulthood. Family, we take that very seriously.”

Curtis James, LeBron’s uncle and an assistant at the foundation, echoed Gloria’s sentiments, highlighting the foundation’s recent projects, including a documentary. 

“We just launched a documentary, and my job is to inspire people through my podcast. We want people to do the right thing. It’s not just through our music. Family keeps me in the community, and Akron will always need inspiration, so I try to be a model for people to do better and be better,” Curtis said.

The LJFF’s influence has extended to the University of Akron, where the LeBron James Family Foundation School of Education operates with selective admission criteria to nurture future educators who will continue the foundation’s legacy of community upliftment.

“What I’ve learned through our foundation is that helping your community is probably one of the most important jobs you can have,” said Gloria James, who works as a third-grade teacher’s aide at the I PROMISE school. “Especially if you’re on a platform that allows you to help, not just talk about it, but be about it. Put your money up. Our city has been so responsive positively that it makes us want to do even more.”

The family’s commitment to Akron and its residents is unwavering. As Gloria noted, they are not just making a difference but setting a precedent for others to follow. “We also have blueprints for other athletes, actors, mayors of other cities, and we’re willing to share the blueprint so others in other cities can build up their communities,” she said. “We’ve been able to change lives.”

Reflecting on LeBron’s journey to superstardom, Gloria expressed pride not just in his athletic success, but in his dedication to his community. “I’ve always been very proud of him,” she said. “He’s such a giving and caring and compassionate person. What’s most important to LeBron is the work that he does off the court. That’s the changes that he makes in the lives of the people in our community.”

Gloria also shared her emotions during one of LeBron’s most iconic moments—carrying the Olympic flag. “Every time LeBron exceeds expectations, which is often, I feel he’s given more than he’s received. But seeing him carrying the Olympic flag made me feel even more special; that was almost surreal,” she noted. “Think back years ago when Blacks and people of color had such a hard time being chosen for something so honorable, so to see that made it even more special. To see them with medals around their necks, it just confirms that he’s done all the right things and he’s deserving.”

The excitement continues for the James family, as LeBron’s son Bronny is expected to join him on the Los Angeles Lakers for the upcoming season. “That will be very special. I know LeBron is extremely excited about playing with his son,” Gloria said, beaming with pride at the prospect of the father-son duo making history together on the court.

Sean Jones, a Cleveland native and Curtis’ music partner, accompanied the family to D.C. and reflected on his journey. “When I released my first record, I was called the LeBron James of rap, but who would ever have thought I’d be sitting here today with LeBron’s mother, Gloria, and Curtis,” he remarked, acknowledging the deep connections that the James family has fostered within their community.

Despite the success, Gloria said the family maintains a close circle. “We’ve been really blessed,” Gloria said. “Our family has been respectful. No one has really felt like they want a place in the center circle that we have, so things have worked out really well.”

In reflecting on the foundation’s broad impact, Gloria James summed up their mission with heartfelt pride: “What’s most important to LeBron is the work that he does off the court, that’s the changes that he makes in the lives of the people in our community. Coming from this same community at a time when we also needed this same help, he’s only done what he promised to do.”

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By Reginald Williams
Special to the AFRO

The pitch arrived just about waist-high. It caught the corner of the plate and had a little heat on it based on the pop of Washington Nationals pitcher Joe La Sorsa’s glove.

Nick Arrington, a Woodbridge, Va. native and prominent cast member on Bravo network’s “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard,” threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Nationals versus Chicago Cubs game on Aug. 30, the evening the Nationals honored the legacy of historically Black colleges and universities and the National Pan-Hellenic Council, an umbrella organization for Black sororities and fraternities, which are colloquially known as the Divine Nine.

“I’m throwing out the first pitch to celebrate my fraternity and my HBCU,” explained Arrington, a 2008 graduate of Tuskegee University in Alabama.

As part of HBCU/Divine Nine Night, the Nationals also welcomed Howard University’s Army Bison Battalion & Air Force Detachment 130 to serve as Color Guard for the game. Additionally, hundreds of fans who attended the special event received a commemorative majorette bobblehead. Proceeds from the special ticket sales will be donated to the D.C. Metro HBCU Alumni Alliance, which works to raise awareness, provide resources and offer programs aimed at supporting at-risk individuals and the communities where they live.

Arrington, a standout player at Gar-Field High School and a four-year player at Tuskegee, stood atop the mound and demonstrated a pitching form that suggested he hadn’t lost any skills from his past playing days as a catcher and relief pitcher. 

“Nick threw an awesome pitch. It was awesome to be a part of it,” said Ryan Stowers, a fan from Utah. “I told him I heard some serious snap on his pitch. I loved being a part of it, and I love the mission of HBCUs. I love what he was doing here. We need more of it.”

Surrounded by his mother, Linda Arrington, and his brother, Norman, a North Carolina A&T University graduate, Arrington lived out a childhood dream of one day throwing a baseball on a Major League Baseball diamond. Norman Arrington had the honor of helping his brother warm up before the first pitch and handing him the ceremonial ball.

A rising star in the entertainment space, Arrington was humbled by the opportunity to participate in the Nationals’ annual HBCU/Divine Nine Day.

“I’m here for a number of reasons,” explained Arrington. “We are celebrating historically Black colleges—so if you know, you know. It’s HBCU Night here at National Park and I’m super excited about that. I’m a proud graduate of Tuskegee University. We’re also celebrating tonight the Divine Nine—Black fraternities and sororities.” 

In the spring of 2007, Arrington pledged with the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity at Tuskegee.

Throughout the game, which the Nationals lost 7-6, the scoreboard showed scores of HBCU alumni (Howard, Bowie State, Jackson State, Virginia State) throughout the park, rocking their school’s merch, and the sororities Alpha Kappa Alphas and the Delta Sigma Theta represented well.  

Fred Watson, a 1997 A&T graduate and Cubs fan, arrived at the game wearing a Cubs fitted cap and N.C.A&T shirt but had no idea that the Nationals was celebrating HBCU/Divine Nine Day.

“I came out because I’m a Cubs fan,” explained Watson, who is not part of a fraternity. “My guy who went to FAMU got the tickets. Hey, this is perfect, I get to celebrate HBCUs, and my team is winning.”  

In the top of the second inning, the Cubs scored seven runs and never relinquished their lead. 

Evolving from a kid growing up in Woodbridge playing baseball to a growing television personality on the Bravo network and a brand ambassador for Fortune 500 organizations occurred because of what Arrington describes as “one random phone call.” 

“Now we’re (his team) juggling entertainment. We pivoted from corporate America to TV and entertainment,” Arrington said. “It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things when you get a random phone call for casting, and it’s like, hey, let’s do this. And the thing is, I’m blessed enough to have a strong support system behind me, so why not take a risk? It’s been fruitful. Now I’m here throwing out the first pitch. I go from a corporate office and a suit to lacing them up and being on the mound.”

In addition to being a reality star, Arrington models and styles A-list celebrities. He fancies himself “as a style savant who opine on menswear, lifestyle, travel, and culture to elevate everyday life.”

Arrington’s journey from Woodbridge to Tuskegee to New York and Martha’s Vineyard has been life-changing for the marathon runner, but it was his journey from the sideline to the pitcher’s mound at Nationals Park that fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“It was exhilarating. Can you imagine a Major League stadium? You dreamed of it as a kid, and I have the jersey on. It’s incredible,” Arrington said. “Once in a lifetime.”

Reginald Williams, the author of “A Marginalized Voice: Devalued, Dismissed, Disenfranchised & Demonized” writes on Black men and holistic health concerns. Please email bookreggie@reginaldwilliams.org or visit amvonlinestore.com for more information.

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By Ariyana Griffin 
AFRO Staff Writer 
agriffin@afro.com

The Baltimore Orioles will celebrate historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs/Divine Nine) on Sept. 6 at Camden Yards, 333 W Camden St, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Five dollars from every ticket purchased will be used to support an HBCU initiative. The school with the most ticket sales will be honored by having their president take part in the ceremonial first pitch.

The game on Sept. 6 will be against the Tampa Bay Rays. It will give students, alumni, faculty, staff and supporters the opportunity to pay homage to historical institutions and celebrate HBCU culture. 

There will be special performances from Morgan State University’s marching band, The Magnificent Marching Machine, and Bowie State’s marching band, Symphony of Soul. 

Students from other HBCUs in the area, including Coppin State University, Howard University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, are invited to join the Orioles for a special night.

To purchase tickets please visit Orioles.com/HBCU.

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By Noreem Nasir
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — From the Australian b-girl with the meme-worthy “kangaroo” dance move to the silver-medal winning Lithuanian in a durag, breaking’s Olympic debut had a few moments that raised questions from viewers about whether the essence of the hip-hop art form was captured at the Paris Games.

Rachael Gunn, or “b-girl Raygun,” a 36-year-old professor from Sydney, Australia, quickly achieved internet fame, but not necessarily for Olympic-level skill. Competing against some b-girls half her age, she was swept out of the round-robin stage without earning a single point, and her unconventional moves landed flat while failing to match the skill level of her foes.

At one point, Gunn raised one leg while standing and leaned back with her arms bent toward her ears. At another, while laying on her side, she reached for her toes, flipped over and did it again in a move dubbed “the kangaroo.”

Gunn has a Ph.D. in cultural studies, and her LinkedIn page notes she is “interested in the cultural politics of breaking.”

“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best — their power moves,” said Gunn. “What I bring is creativity.”

Clips of her routine have gone viral on TikTok and elsewhere, and many cringed at her moves platformed on the Olympic stage as a representation of hip-hop and breaking culture.

“It’s almost like they are mocking the genre,” wrote one user on X.

Some of it was ‘weird to see’

Many Black viewers, in particular, called out Lithuania’s silver medalist b-girl Nicka, (legally named Dominika Banevič) for donning a durag during each of her battles. Durags, once worn by enslaved Africans to tie up their hair for work, are still worn by Black people to protect and style their hair. They became a fashionable symbol of Black pride in the 1960s and 1970s and, in the 1990s and early 2000s, also became a popular element of hip-hop style. 

But when worn by those who aren’t Black, durags can be seen as cultural appropriation. Banevič is White.

Actor Kevin Fredericks responded on Instagram to Banevič donning the headwear by saying it looked “weird to see somebody who don’t need it for protective style or waves to be rocking the durag.”

The 17-year-old breaker ultimately won the silver medal after losing in the final to Japan’s b-girl Ami (Ami Yuasa).

For her part, Banevič has credited the breakers from the 1970s in the Bronx — the OGs — or “original gangsters” in hip-hop who created the dance — for her own success and breaking style.

“It’s a huge responsibility to represent and raise the bar every time for breaking because they did an amazing job. Big respect for the OGs and the pioneers that invented all those moves. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible,” she said. “Without them, breaking wouldn’t be where it is today. So I’m grateful for them.”

Concerns over losing breaking’s roots

The slips “may have alienated too many new viewers to garner the anticipated response from our Olympic premiere,” said Zack Slusser, vice president of Breaking for Gold USA and USA Dance, in a text message to the Associated Press.

“We need to change the narrative from yesterday’s first impression of breaking as Olympic sport. There were significant organizational and governance shortcomings that could have been easily reconciled but, unfortunately, negatively impacted Breaking’s first touching point to a new global audience.”

The challenge for Olympic organizers was to bring breaking and hip-hop culture to a mass audience, including many viewers who were skeptical about the dance form’s addition to the Olympic roster. Others feared the subculture being co-opted by officials, commercialized and put through a rigid judging structure, when the spirit of breaking has been rooted in local communities, centered around street battles, cyphers and block parties. Hip-hop was born as a youth culture within Black and Brown communities in the Bronx as a way to escape strife and socio-economic struggles and make a statement of empowerment at a time when they were labeled as lost, lawless kids by New York politicians.

Refugee breaker Manizha Talash, or “b-girl Talash,” channeled that rebellious vibe by donning a “Free Afghan Women” cape during her pre-qualifier battle — a defiant and personal statement for a 21-year-old who fled her native Afghanistan to escape Taliban rule. Talash was quickly disqualified for violating the Olympics’ ban on political statements on the field of play.

Both American b-girls were eliminated in the Aug. 9 round-robin phase, a blow to the country representing the birthplace of hip-hop in what could be the discipline’s only Games appearance. B-girl Logistx (legal name Logan Edra) and b-girl Sunny (Sunny Choi) both ranked in the top 12 internationally but came up short of the quarterfinals.

“Breaking for the Olympics has changed the way that some people are dancing,” said Choi, referring to some of the flashier moves and jam-packed routines. “Breaking changes over time. And maybe I’m just old-school and I don’t want to change. … I think a lot of people in our community were a little bit afraid of that happening.”

___

Associated Press Race & Ethnicity Editor Aaron Morrison contributed to this report from New York.

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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By John Leicester
The Associated Press

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Paris is closing out two-and-a-half extraordinary weeks of Olympic sports and emotion with a boisterous, star-studded show in France’s national stadium, handing over hosting duties for the Summer Games to the next city in line: Los Angeles in 2028.

Speculation was rife that Hollywood star Tom Cruise — seen around town during the final weekend — would feature in the closing ceremony that unlike the rain-drenched July 26 opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games, basked in hot weather.

Shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach had taken their seats, the ceremony opened with a singer belting out “Under the skies of Paris” — sung in the past by Edith Piaf and others.

The stadium crowd roared as French swimmer Léon Marchand, dressed in a suit and tie instead of the swim trunks he wore to win four golds, was shown on the giant screens collecting the Olympic flame from the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. There, the Olympic cauldron — powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels — had lit up the French capital for the duration of the Games, thrilling crowds by rising into the skies on a balloon every night.

For Los Angeles, topping Paris could be mission impossible. The French capital made spectacular use of its cityscape for its first Games in 100 years. The Eiffel Tower and other iconic monuments became Olympic stars in their own right, serving as backdrops and in some cases venues for competitions.

But Los Angeles was bringing star power of its own: singer Billie Eilish, rapper and Paris Olympics mainstay Snoop Dogg, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are scheduled to perform Aug. 11 as part of the handover from the City of Light to the City of Angels.

Each of the music artists is a California native, including H.E.R., who is expected to sing the U.S. national anthem live at the Stade de France, which hosted Olympic track and field and rugby sevens. The audience was expected to top 70,000 people.

As night fell, athletes marched into the stadium waving the flags of their 205 countries and territories — a display of global unity in a world gripped by global tensions and conflicts, including in Ukraine and Gaza. The stadium screens carried the words, “Together, united for peace.” With the 329 medal events finished, the expected 9,000 athletes — many wearing their shiny medals — and team staffers who filled the arena danced and cheered to the thumping beats.

The stadium, France’s largest, was one of the targets of Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers who killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. The joy and celebrations that swept Paris during the Games as Marchand and other French athletes racked up 64 medals — 16 of them gold — marked a major watershed in the city’s recovery from that night of terror.

The closing ceremony also will see the last medals — each embedded with a chunk of the Eiffel Tower — hung around athletes’ necks.
Fittingly for the first Olympics that aimed for gender parity, they’ll all be women — the gold, silver and bronze winners from the women’s marathon earlier Aug. 11.

The race — won by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands — took the spot of the men’s race that traditionally closed out previous Games. In Paris, the men were bumped to the final Aug. 10, with Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola taking gold.

The switch was part of efforts in Paris to make the Olympic spotlight shine more brightly on the sporting feats of women. Paris was also where women first made their Olympic debut, at the Games of 1900.

The U.S. team again topped the medal table, with 126 in all and 40 of them gold. Three were courtesy of gymnast Simone Biles, who made a resounding return to the top of the Olympic podium after prioritizing her mental health instead of competition in Tokyo in 2021.

Following controversy that enveloped the opening ceremony — assailed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, French bishops and others over segments they felt poked fun at Christianity — the closing ceremony was being closely watched to see whether artistic director Thomas Jolly had any more surprises in store.

Jolly and other members of his creative team filed police complaints over death threats and online vitriol targeting them and some of opening show’s performers.

Critics jumped to the conclusion that a segment featuring drag queens and a DJ who is also an LGBTQ+ icon had parodied “The Last Supper,” Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting showing Jesus Christ.

Jolly and his team repeatedly insisted that was never their intention and got backing from Macron, who described himself as “outraged and sad” by the backlash against them.

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By Tales Azzoni
AP Sports Writer

PARIS (AP) — There is the table tennis player who didn’t get enough financial support back home. The discus thrower who couldn’t make rent. The badminton player who needed help to continue her journey to Paris.

Several dozen athletes have used crowdfunding to help pay for their costs to prepare for the 2024 Olympics and compete in France, with GoFundMe saying more than $2 million was raised worldwide in the run-up to the Games.

American discus thrower Veronica Fraley raised more than $23,000 on GoFundMe, with most of the donations coming after she posted on X that she couldn’t pay her rent and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian and rapper Flavor Flav decided to help, attracting more attention — and more funds — to her cause.

Badminton player Jennie Gai got nearly $22,000 to help in the preparations for her mixed doubles participation in Paris.

“This absolutely wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s support,” Gai said on her GoFundMe page. “Your donations relieved a lot of financial burden in planning our tournaments and training, which allowed me to focus fully on the Olympic race. I am incredibly grateful for each and every one of your contributions.”

American table tennis player Kanak Jha raised more than $30,000 to help cover the costs for training, travel, accommodation and hiring a private coach.

“I started to GoFundMe just to participate in these Games. And I’m really grateful for everyone who supported,” Jha told The Associated Press. “Everything given there was spent solely on the preparation for here, so just really grateful to have that support.”

Jha, who trains and competes mostly in Germany because he said it’s “financially impossible” to be a professional table tennis player in the United States, secured the U.S. its best Olympic run in the men’s tournament by reaching the last 16 at the Paris Games.

“The idea came solely for the purpose of preparation for the Paris Olympics and then for the Games,” he said. “Table tennis is a very global sport. We’re traveling a lot. We’re going to many tournaments, many training camps. So financially it’s not so cheap at times.”

Among the international athletes who sought crowdfunding support was 16-year-old Australian break dancer Jeff Dunne, who raised more than $20,000 for his preparations, and Tonga’s first female Olympic boxer, Feofaaki Epenisa, who got more than $10,000 in the run-up to Paris.

Former U.S. hurdler Lashinda Demus raised $21,700 to bring her family to Paris to watch her receive a gold medal she was denied 12 years ago. Demus originally won the silver medal in the 400 meter hurdles in London 2012, but she was upgraded to gold retroactively after the Russian hurdler who finished first was found guilty of doping.

“The thought of having my mom, Yolanda, by my side in Paris fills me with joy. She was my coach in London, and now she’ll be there to witness this momentous occasion. The same with my dad who has been with me every step of the way,” she said on her GoFundMe page. “Your kindness has turned a personal achievement into a family celebration. The idea of receiving my gold medal in Paris, surrounded by the people I love most, is becoming a beautiful reality.”

Among the family members trying to make it to Paris to watch their loved ones compete were the parents of U.S. hurdler Freddie Crittenden, who raised more than $20,000 to help with the costs of their trip. Some $6,000 was raised so the mom and younger sister of American wrestler Aaron Brooks, could make it to France. About the same amount was raised for the parents of U.S. swimmer Hunter Armstrong, who won silver in the 4×100-meter men’s relay.

“Help aunt Tiff make it to the Paris Olympics,” said the headline of the GoFundMe page set up by Tiffany Martin, who said she is the aunt of American swimmer Keaton Jones, the fifth-place finisher in the 200-meter backstroke final last week. Only $520 had been raised on the page ahead of the Games.

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By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Virginia native Quincy Wilson, 16, became the youngest American male to medal at the Olympics after Team USA’s men 4×400 meter relay team won gold in at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games on Aug. 10.  The men finished with a time of 2:54.29, setting a new Olympic record.

Wilson, currently a rising junior at the Bullis School in Potomac, Md., had already made history when he was officially selected by the U.S. Olympic committee to be a part of Team USA’s 4×400-meter relay pool. On Aug. 8, it was announced that Wilson would officially run the opening leg on the 4×400-meter relay, which was run on Aug. 9. 

“I was out there running for a team purpose. It’s amazing. Having the Bullis family and everyone supporting me is the reason why I was able to finish around the track today. 100 percent, I’ll be back next ,” said Wilson to Lewis Johnson after Team USA finished third in the qualifying round and moved onto the final. 

Although Wilson did not run in the final, he will still be awarded a gold medal for his participation in helping Team USA qualify for the final that was run on Aug. 10. With the victory by Team USA, Quincy also became the youngest male Olympic medal winner in the history of track and field.

Wilson performed impressively at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, in June. His multiple sub-45 second performances at Hayward Field weren’t enough put him in the top three in the 400-meter dash, but they ended up being enough for the Team USA selection committee to call Quincy’s coach, Joe Lee, welcoming Wilson as a member of Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Lee is also the head coach of track and field at the Bullis School.

“It was surreal,” said Lee. “I was filled with gratitude, happy for him, happy for his family. Happy for the school as well because we try to do it the right way. We’re not just building athletes, but student-athletes with character, and he exemplifies all of that. He’s a straight-A student.”

The prodigy has been a buzzing name in the track and field world since running under 50 seconds in the 400-meter dash at AAU Track and Field Indoor Nationals over two years ago. More recently, Wilson ran an otherworldly 44.37 second anchor leg at Penn Relays and won the 400-meter dash at indoor New Balance Nationals in record-breaking fashion. 

“I’d say what makes him special is that he is very disciplined,” said Lee. “As a high school sophomore he is the indoor and outdoor national record holder . He just finished the 10th grade. People finish their whole high school career and some even take fifth years; none have done what Quincy has been able to do.”

Going into the Paris Olympics, there was speculation that Wilson would also run on the mixed 4×400-meter relay. Although Team USA broke the world record in the event during the semi-final round, indoor world record holder Femke Bol of the Netherlands ran a blazing anchor leg for her team during the final, catching USA before the line and claiming the gold for her home country. Wilson ended up not being a part of the mixed 4×400-meter relay in the semi-final round nor in the final. 

“I got the opportunity to watch Quincy run at Penn Relays. What makes Quincy special is his relentless effort in every race. I’ve seen him run 44 seconds in the 400-meter dash and one minute and 50 seconds in the 800 meters. Every time he steps on the line it is much-watch TV. He is box office and is making significant contributions to the sport,” said 800-meter runner and graduate student at the University of Maryland Mojuba Shonekan. 

Leading up to the Olympics, Coach Lee told the AFRO that he did not change much regarding Quincy’s training. They continued to train four times a week. And, prior to flying to Paris, Wilson broke the 400-meter World U18 (under 18) Record for the third time this year at the Holloway Pro Classic meet with a time of 44.20 seconds on July 20.

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By Dana Peck
Special to the AFRO

My tenure with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) extended from November 1995 through August 1996 and beyond. This period was not only professionally enriching but also personally rewarding, as it allowed me to forge lasting friendships and gain two godparents for my children. The experience significantly enhanced my skills in language, negotiation, administration and supervision, and undoubtedly advanced my career.

Joining the ACOG National Olympic Committee (NOC) accreditation team under the guidance of senior policy advisor Claire Potvin marked a pivotal moment in my career. After graduating from graduate school and managing NOC accreditation for the 1993 World University Games (WUG) in Buffalo, N.Y., I relocated to Atlanta with aspirations of eventually working for President Carter at his center. The fast-paced, international environment of the WUG had ignited my passion for special international events, where I could leverage my language and program management skills.

As the NOC accreditation project coordinator, I served as the primary liaison between ACOG’s Accreditation Department and the 197 participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs). My responsibilities included managing the distribution, receipt and verification of registration materials in three languages for over 20,000 constituents. I was tasked with hiring, training and overseeing a team of eight paid staff members and more than 300 volunteers. Additionally, I prepared and delivered presentations on NOC accreditation procedures. The long hours often meant working around the clock during peak times, grabbing brief naps at our desks or in the conference room. But our team’s efforts led to the implementation of policies and procedures that set a new record for the highest accreditation form receipt in Olympic history up to the 1996 Games. 

One of my fondest memories is reconnecting with NOC leaders and athletes from the WUG in Buffalo. We stayed in touch over the holidays, and I was thrilled to see them again in Atlanta. Many of these relationships continued as pen pal connections long after the Games. 

This experience taught me a valuable life lesson: the importance of listening and building rapport. Negotiating with delegation heads required a deep understanding of their needs while firmly managing what we could deliver. This role honed my skills as an active listener, which is crucial for effective negotiation and mediation.

As a person of color, I often felt a sense of representation on the global stage of the Olympics. In my role, I interacted directly with chefs de mission (heads of delegations) to negotiate their rights, accreditation levels, and access to the Olympic Village. I took pride in representing the competence of people of color and showcasing our capabilities to international leadership.

Transitioning to a traditional 9-to-5 role was challenging. After my time with ACOG, I worked with a temp agency for several months before securing a position at The Carter Center. The shift was difficult as employers were hesitant to match the “inflated” salaries from the Olympics, and the job market in Atlanta was flooded with unemployed individuals. Many of us had to start over, but despite this obstacle, I would gladly re-live my Olympic experience.

I cherished working with a dynamic team of young, talented individuals and utilizing my communication and technical skills. Over the years, I have celebrated weddings, births, and mourned losses with the many friends I made during my time with ACOG. Staying in Atlanta allowed me to continue working with some of these incredibly talented individuals in other organizations. The camaraderie, energy, and fast-paced environment I experienced with ACOG continue to inspire my approach to all my subsequent roles.

I am grateful to the “Just Us Friends” group for their commitment to keeping the ACOG staff of color connected and engaged. Thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences from the 1996 Games.

Dana Trammell Peck is The AFRO’s digital solutions director. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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By Andrew Dampf
AP Sports Writer

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Sometimes, all it takes is one athlete.

In March, triple jumper Thea LaFond was the only representative of her tiny Caribbean nation, Dominica, at world indoors.

She won the gold medal.

Now at the Paris Olympics, LaFond is the only woman from her country competing in track and field.

Again, she won gold.

Only it was more than gold. It was the very first Olympic medal for Dominica.

“It’s an understatement to say it’s a really big deal,” LaFond said after her victory Aug. 3 at the Stade de France. “Sometimes you wonder if being from a small country means that you have less accessibility to resources. … But we’ve been really big on (prioritizing) quality and just executing it.”

LaFond left Dominica for the United States when she was 5 and now lives in Maryland. But she’s still ambassador for her birth nation.

“My country’s name is Dominica (dah-min-EE-ka). We’re not Dominican Republic, so it’s pronounced differently,” LaFond said. “We are about roughly 70,000 people. Not 7 million. Not 70 million. Seventy thousand. And it is a gorgeous, gorgeous gem in the Caribbean near to Martinique and Guadeloupe. … Our neighbors also include St. Lucia, Barbados and, further south, Trinidad and Tobago. Our primary language is English. And now they have a gold medal.”

Dominica wasn’t the only Caribbean island to earn its first Olympic medal on Aug. 3. Julien Alfred of St. Lucia won the 100-meter title.

In 2017, 90 percent of the homes on Dominica were damaged by Hurricane Maria and 31 people died.

There are virtually no facilities for track and field on the island. Plans to build a track have been stalled for years, LaFond said.

“The biggest issue has been getting the land allocation for this track. Give us the land and there will be a track,” LaFond said. “I’m really hoping this medal kind of lights a fire under all government officials to get that done. I want a place where the next generation doesn’t necessarily have to go overseas.”

After her move to the U.S., LaFond developed into a classically trained dancer. She gave up dance at 13 when her family couldn’t afford lessons anymore and discovered track and field at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and went on to compete at the University of Maryland.

When she made her Olympic debut in 2016, she was introduced to Aaron Gadson, who became her coach and then her husband. Gadson’s first big advice for LaFond involved a big change to her jumping technique.

LaFond had leaped off her right leg since she was a teenager. Gadson thought she was stronger jumping off her left leg, though, so they made the change.

“It’s basically teaching your body how to jump again,” LaFond said. “There were some very frustrating days.”

Gadson had some more invaluable advice in Paris after LaFond leaped 14.32 meters on her first jump: “He came to me and he said, ‘Listen, there is torrential downpour coming in 20 minutes. You have to do something big now because the weather is not going to be on your side.'”

LaFond leaped 15.02 on her second attempt, which was the winning jump. As Gadson predicted, the storm then came and nobody else could come close in the wet conditions.

“We had to put it together right then and there,” LaFond said.

Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica took silver at 14.87 and Jasmine Moore of the U.S. got bronze at 14.67.

Missing from the competition was world-record holder and defending Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, who was out with an Achilles tendon injury.

Besides celebrations on Dominica, LaFond’s victory sparked jubilation at a Navy football preseason practice session when the news was communicated to Chreign LaFond, Thea’s younger brother and a junior defensive end with the Midshipmen.

Navy shared on social media a video of his teammates jumping all over Chreign.

The post Triple jump champion Thea LaFond on winning Dominica’s first Olympic medal: ‘It’s a really big deal’ appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Eddie Pells
AP National Writer

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Noah Lyles won the Olympic 100 meters by .005 seconds Aug. 4, waiting some 30 seconds after the finish of an excruciatingly close sprint to find out he’d edged out Kishane Thompson of Jamaica.

The word “Photo” popped up on the scoreboard after Lyles and Thompson dashed to the line. Lyles paced the track with his hands draped over his head. Finally, the numbers came up. Lyles won in 9.784 seconds to edge out the Jamaican by five-thousandths of a tick of the clock.

America’s Fred Kerley came in third at 9.81 and defending champion Marcell Jacobs finished fifth.

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By Eddie Pells
AP National Writer

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — There were small signs for anyone willing to look that the sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson might not quite match the person she has become.

The wobbly starts. The little details. The meek exit from the Olympic trials earlier this summer after such a promising start.

All the hype aside, Richardson was never a sure thing to win an Olympic gold medal Aug. 3 in the 100 meters. On a rainy and odd evening at the Stade de France, 23-year-old Julien Alfred from St. Lucia showed there’s more than one inspirational story, and more than one great sprinter, at this Olympic track meet.

Alfred romped through the puddles and past Richardson and the rest of a largely depleted field, finishing in 10.72 seconds to throw a brick wall in front of what was supposed to be one of the best stories in Paris.

She beat Richardson by .15 seconds — the biggest margin in the Olympic 100 since 2008 — to bring home the first medal of any color to the small eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Alfred’s victory completed a journey that included her father’s death in 2013 and a move to Jamaica as a teenager, alone, in hopes of training to become a great sprinter.

“He believed I could do it,” Alfred said, crying as she talked about her dad. “He couldn’t get to see me on the biggest stage of my career.”

Richardson was left with silver — a nice color but certainly not the point of all this after what she’s been through the last three years. 

Her training partner, Melissa Jefferson, finished third in 10.92 seconds.

Richardson came in as the favorite even though she has hardly been flawless this summer. Her opening race on the road to Paris included a terrible start at Olympic trials in an event she won with an untied shoelace.

Those starts got marginally better, but after she won the U.S. title in the 100, it was a bit of a shock when she failed to qualify for the 200, thus denying herself a chance at double gold in Paris.

On the gold-medal day in the 100, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce abruptly withdrew from the event before the semifinal, leaving all three Jamaicans who swept the podium at the Tokyo Games on the sideline for what, at one point, had been billed as the marquee race of the Olympics.

All of which seemed to set up perfectly for Richardson — only when she lined up in the semifinal, she was right next to Alfred, the only other woman in the Olympic field to crack 10.8 this year.

Richardson lumbered out of the blocks and lost that race by .05 seconds. It was a harbinger of things to come, though Alfred said she barely noticed who was in the lane next to her — it was Richardson again — when the final rolled around 90 minutes later.

“Sometimes when I do, I tend to panic,” Alfred said. “So far this year (not paying attention) has been such a good strategy.”

Neither the specter of Richardson on her right again nor the downpour that started about 10 minutes before the race began could slow down Alfred in the final.

Alfred’s opening burst played big when she won the world indoor title earlier this year at 60 meters, and she started strong in this one, with two steps on the entire field at the 40-meter mark. Richardson, as has happened before this summer, labored to get to full speed.

The American, her arms pumping wide in Lane 7, looked to be making up a bit of ground when Alfred leaned into the finish line. But there was too big a gap between them, and the real contest was the one between Richardson and Jefferson for second.

“I’m a baby in this sport,” said the 23-year-old Jefferson, who won the 2022 U.S. title while Richardson was still fashioning her comeback. “I have a lot of learning and growth to do.”

A centerpiece of NBC’s pre-Games’ coverage and the star of a Netflix documentary about track, Richardson did not show up for interviews after her second-place finish. It was a rarely seen breach of Olympic protocol and a move destined to keep the world guessing about a star who has stayed very much on message since her luck started changing this time last year.

In the few interviews she did in the leadup to the Games, she leaned into personal growth, and how she had become a more thoughtful, mindful person since her lowest point in 2021, shortly after she learned of the death of her biological mother.

That triggered a bout with depression, which left her alone in her hotel room in 2021 at Olympic trials, which is where she said she used marijuana. That cost her the trip to Tokyo. It took two years for her to climb back to the pinnacle, and it turns out, the high point came last year at worlds in Hungary, when she won the 100-meter title.

Given where she was at the last Olympics, a silver medal at these ones, with a chance for more next week in the 4×100 relays, isn’t bad.

But hardly anyone had her playing second fiddle to the sprinter from St. Lucia.

Alfred said on race days, she usually wakes up early on to jot down thoughts in her journal.

On Aug. 3, she kept it simple. “I wrote down ‘Julien Alfred: Olympic champion,'” she said.

Short. Simple. And 100 percent on target, a lot like the race she ran to become one.

The post Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback halted by Julien Alfred, who brings 1st Olympic medal to St. Lucia appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Sports Intern
mabbott@afro.com

Every four years, athletes from around the world meet up to test their strength and skill on the world stage. This year, the Olympic Summer Games are back with athletes of all ethnicities and backgrounds going head to head in competition in athletic disciplines both popular and lesser known.

“The best way to describe [the feeling of being at the Olympics] is almost like a magical ambiance,” said Chantae McMillan, a 2012 London Olympian in the heptathlon. “You’re surrounded by the best of the best in the world, all there to do what they love!”

The world watched on July 26 as the 2024 opening ceremony took place at locations across Paris. Since that time, Black athletes have once again moved into the spotlight. 

Lauren Scruggs, a 21-year-old fencer, and street skateboarding superstar Nyjah Huston headline the list of Black Olympic athletes who have earned a medal so far at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. 

Simone Manuel has contributed to Team USA by winning a silver medal in the women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay in swimming. Fredrick Richard has also led the men’s U.S. gymnastics team to victory, clinching their first Olympic medal since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. 

Scruggs, currently a rising senior at Harvard University, made history as the first Black American woman to win an Olympic medal in foil fencing. The final bout in women’s fencing turned out to be a historic battle as two American women claimed the gold and silver medals for the first time in Olympic history. Scruggs claimed the silver medal, while Lee Kiefer took home the gold.

Huston, already regarded as the greatest street skateboarder of all time, was able to earn his first Olympic medal after finishing third in the men’s street skateboarding competition on July 29. The California native began skateboarding at age five at the request of his father, who also used to skateboard. Huston cites skating six days a week alongside his brothers and father from early childhood as the reason he has developed amazing skills in the sport. He has described skateboarding as the “family business” in an interview with NBC Sports. Huston, now 29, has vocalized his intentions to qualify and compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. 

In the first week of competition, the three-time All-American athlete, Frederick Richard, added an Olympic bronze medallist to his list of achievements. The rising junior at the University of Michigan already has an extensive list of accomplishments at only 20 years old. Richard led the way for Team USA in gymnastics, scoring the highest on the team in three of the four events he competed in: parallel bars, horizontal bars and a floor routine. 

Manuel continues to add to her already impressive Olympic résumé. She won two gold medals and two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. It was at the 2016 Rio Games where Manuel set an Olympic and American record in the 100-meter freestyle. She still holds the American record for the event. She also won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Ashleigh Johnson, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, is the goalkeeper for the women’s U.S. Olympic water polo team in Paris. Johnson is widely regarded as the greatest active goalkeeper in the sport of water polo. 

These athletic accomplishments cannot solely be attributed to the athletes proving themselves in the Olympic pools, on the courts and in the fields of competition. Anthony Nesty was named the first Black swimming head coach of Team USA. Nesty was the first Black swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Peter Westbrook, the first Black man to win an Olympic medal in fencing, at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, served as a mentor for Scruggs. 

“The atmosphere is great overall in the Olympic village. Within the Team USA building there is a lot of camaraderie and conversation between athletes of all sports and disciplines,” said Danielle Siebert, women’s head manager of U.S. track and field at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Track and field events at the 2024 Paris Olympics began on Aug. 1. Each year, the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles and the 4×400 meter relays are typically some of the most high profile and highly anticipated events at the Olympics. 

Black athletes abroad seek Olympic gold on behalf of their native lands

Naomi Osaka (Japan) 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was eliminated in the first round of the tennis competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She lost to Angelique Kerber in two rounds, 7-5, 6-3. This was Osaka’s second time competing at the Olympics. Although Osaka spent most of her childhood in America, she is of Haitian and Japanese descent, and appears in the 2024 Olympics on behalf of Japan. 

Antoine Dupont (France)

Antoine Dupont led the French’s seven-on-seven rugby team for men to the first gold medal of 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Rugby sevens first became an Olympic sport at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Fiji was the Olympic champion of both the 2016 Rio Games as well as the 2020 Tokyo Games. The French national team faced up against Fiji in the gold medal game and handed Fiji their first Olympic rugby sevens loss. 

South Sudan

South Sudan is the only male basketball team in the continent of Africa that qualified for the 2024 Summer Paris Olympic Games. On July 20, South Sudan’s participation became a national story after almost upsetting gold medal favorite Team USA in an exhibition match. 

Team USA was favored by over 30 points but narrowly defeated South Sudan, 101-100. South Sudan made history on July 28 after winning their first ever official Olympic games against Puerto Rico, 90-79. 

Joan-Benjamin Gaba (France)

Joan-Benjamin Gaba had a Cinderella-esque performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old judo practitioner made it all the way to the gold medal match before being defeated by 27-year-old Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan. 

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By Paul Newberry and Stephen Wade
AP Sports Writers

NANTERRE, France (AP) — In another disappointment for the American swim team, Simone Manuel was eliminated in the preliminaries of the 50-meter freestyle at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3.

Manuel posted the 18th-fastest time in the hectic sprint covering one length of the pool, not good enough to make it to the evening semifinals.

The first Black woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming touched in 24.87 seconds, 0.15 out of the time she needed to crack the top 16 and a whopping 1.02 behind the fastest qualifier, Sarah Sjöström of Sweden.

Manuel stormed off the deck and right past reporters. Asked to stop for a question, she replied “nope” and kept on going.

The United States went into the next-to-last day of the competition with 21 medals but only four golds, a performance that has fallen short of expectations for the world’s dominant swim nation.

Several high-profile swimmers have failed to even make the finals in some of their best events.

Caeleb Dressel, a star of the Tokyo Olympics with five gold medals, was knocked out in the semis of the 100 butterfly and broke down in tears after leaving the deck.

Ryan Murphy, a longtime stalwart in the backstroke, managed a bronze in the 100 back and was knocked out in the semis of the 200 — far short of his goal to reclaim the titles he swept at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Manuel came up short, too, in her comeback from overtraining syndrome, which plagued her preparations for the Tokyo Olympics. She won a silver in the 50 freestyle at the 2016 Rio Games, to go along with her historic gold in the 100 free.

The Americans are intent on finishing strong, with several events they are favored to win over the last two days. But it’s shaping up to be their lowest gold-medal total since they were limited to eight at the 1988 Seoul Games, which were led by an East German team that was later revealed to have a massive, state-sponsored doping operation.

“I think there’s a bit of realization of just how much the world has caught up,” said American swimmer Jack Alexy. “We’re still doing the best we can and we’re still swimming fast.”

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By Jennifer Porter Gore
Word in Black

Overview:

For years, Black Olympians dominated in sports like track and field and basketball. But a new generation is breaking through in so-called “country-club sports” that typically aren’t available to young Black athletes.

With the 2024 Olympic Games underway  in Paris, France, the powerful United States swimming team will be heavily favored — again — to win the lion’s share of medals in the pool. It holds the all-time record for gold medals with 257; second-place Australia has just 69.

While winning medals is old hat, however, the swim team will make history when it walks into the Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre in Saint-Denis. That’s because Anthony Nesty, a former Olympic swimmer, is Team USA’s first Black swimming head coach.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve done in my career, especially leading young men and women to perform at a very high level,” Nesty said in an interview with NBC 6, a local TV station in South Florida. “It’s a great honor, and with that comes a lot of pressure, too. I’m looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to representing the USA the best way I can.”

In fact, Nesty is one of several elite Black athletes from Team USA competing in events in which the competition is overwhelmingly White. Black athletes are competing in  fencing, volleyball and skateboarding, among other sports.

Besides Nesty — a U.S. resident born in Suriname who in 1988 was the first Black swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal — the U.S. swimming team includes Simone Manuel, a Black woman and gold medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

At the time, Manuel made sure she acknowledged other elite Black competitive swimmers who paved the way for her, like Cullen Jones and Maritza Correia. But she also said she carries a burden in the pool that White swimmers don’t.  

“The gold medal wasn’t just for me, it was for people who came before me and inspired me to stay in the sport,” she told Andscape Magazine just after the 2016 Games. 

“I’m super glad I can be an inspiration to others and hopefully diversify the sport,” she said. “But at the same time, I would like there to be a day where there are more of us, and it’s not ‘Simone the black swimmer.’ The title ‘black swimmer’ makes it seem like I’m not supposed to be able to win a gold medal, or I’m not supposed to be able to break records. And that’s not true.”

Lauren Scruggs, a star of the U.S. women’s fencing team, followed her brother into the sport; Nolen Scruggs is a member of Columbia University’s fencing team. “My brother did it, so I also gave it a try,” she said.  

A Harvard University junior, Lauren Scruggs is the 2022-2023 NCAA Women’s Foil Champion and before attending the university had become the youngest U.S. foil fencer to win a Junior World Championship. She also was one of just two Black Americans — male or female — to win an individual world title. 

The men’s U.S. fencing team will include returning Olympian Miles Chamley-Watson. Born in London and raised in the U.S., Chamley-Watson returned to the U.K. in 2012 to compete in the London Games. He also won a Bronze medal in Rio in 2016. 

“Tiger Woods was like my Michael Jordan. He made people want to watch golf, he made me want to watch golf, in a sport that was predominantly white,” he told the Anti-Blueprint Project website. “I could really relate to that.”

Woods’ journey “showed me that whatever your passion is, as long as you, like, put in the work and don’t care about how hard the journey is,” you can make it on your own terms, Chamley-Watson said. “What I’ve learned is, if I can get to the top, I can bring whoever the hell I want with me.”

The  U.S. women’s volleyball team has two Black members: Rachael Adams, a member of the 2016 bronze medal-winning team, and three-time Olympian Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson. 

The daughter of a former NBA player, Adams says being a Black woman in a White sport hasn’t been easy. Many of her teammates had never interacted with a Black person before.   

“Navigating my identity as a Black woman and athlete in a predominantly white sport has been difficult,” Adams told Darling magazine in a 2020 Q-and-A interview. “My (white) teammates have good intentions, but you don’t know what you don’t know. It has taken me growing up to figure out that my identity is not in people. No matter what I do, no matter what music I listen to or how I speak, I am Black.”

The Black competitors on the U.S. women’s boxing team are competing for just the fourth time in Olympic history. That’s because women weren’t allowed to box competitively at the Olympics until 2012. The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will feature a total of 13 weight divisions, six for women and seven for men. 

This year’s team members include prior winners and first-timers: NaShay Bradford, Ravven Brown, Sa’Rai Brownell, Briana Che, Zhane Crockett, Rashida Ellis, Naomi Graham, Oshae Jones, Morelle McCane and Claressa Shields.

Champion skateboarder Nyjah Huston will attempt to win his first Olympic medals in Paris. He placed seventh in the 2020 Games in Tokyo when skateboarding was first introduced as an Olympic sport.  

Huston got into the sport at age 5 through his father, a strict Rastafarian and an avid skateboarder who incorporated it into his family’s lifestyle. He even purchased an old skatepark for easy access to a practice facility. 

“Skateboarding became a family business and I skated six days a week with my father and brothers at our indoor skatepark,” Huston said in an interview with NBC Sports. “Other than riding a bike and shooting hoops with my brothers at the neighborhood park, I never played any other sports as a kid. Skateboarding was our life, so I didn’t really have a choice.”

Jennifer Porter Gore is a writer living in the Washington, D.C., area.

This article was originally published on WordinBlack.com.

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By Will Graves
AP National Writer

PARIS (AP) — The similarities were striking. Maybe fitting in the birthplace of déjà vu.

Simone Biles sitting off to the side at the Olympics. USA Gymnastics team doctor Marcia Faustin by her side. A look of concern on both their faces.

Three years ago in Tokyo, the scene ended with Biles removing herself from multiple finals to protect her safety — prompting an international discussion about mental health.

Yet Biles is determined to write a different ending to the story in Paris. The 27-year-old American star wasn’t dealing with any sort of block or trauma but something far more common to gymnasts, particularly ones who have been doing this two decades.

Just like in Tokyo, Biles and Faustin briefly disappeared. Unlike Tokyo, Biles returned not in a sweatsuit but with her left leg heavily taped after tweaking her calf during her warmup on floor exercise. She spent the rest of the afternoon walking around with a noticeable limp everywhere except the competition floor.

The woman who has been saying over and over and over that this isn’t 2021 went out and proved it on July 28 inside star-studded Bercy Arena, shaking off what U.S. coach Cecile Landi described as a minor calf issue to post the top score in the all-around and put whatever lingering ghosts there may be from Tokyo in the rearview mirror.

Biles finished at 59.566, well clear of reigning Olympic champion and teammate Sunisa Lee, saluting the crowd after her dismount on uneven bars, her final event. She hopped off the podium, danced with good friend Jordan Chiles and has no plans to stop her quest for gold in the team final on July 30 and the  individual all-around on Aug. 1.

“It was pretty amazing, 59.5,” Landi said. “Not perfect so she can improve even (but) … just really good.”

Landi said the issue popped up a couple of weeks ago and she described it as minor. There was no discussion of Biles pulling out.

Instead, Landi and her husband, Laurent — who have long served as Biles’ personal coach in Texas — encouraged her to take a breath and keep going as Laurent applied heavy doses of tape to her leg.

“We told her to remind herself, like she’s capable of doing it,” Landi said. “She knows she’s got it and it’s OK and then she did. So, really excited for her.”

The issue hardly slowed her down. Biles posted the highest score on floor and vault — both after the injury — as she tries to add to her career total of seven Olympic medals.

The only event final Biles is likely to miss is uneven bars, where she opted not to attempt a unique skill she submitted to the International Gymnastics Federation on July 26. She can still opt to do it during the team final, opening the door for it to be entered into the sport’s Code of Points with her name attached.

Yet, that appeared to be far from Biles’ mind when she finished up her bars set. Instead, there was a mixture of relief and the urge to soak in the moment following her dismount at what could be the final competition of her unparalleled career.

The same could be said of her teammates after the heavily favored Americans finished at 172.296, more than five points clear of second-place Italy (166.861) as they search for what they’re calling “redemption” following a runner-up finish to Russia three years ago.

“They’re happy and relieved,” Landi said. “Day 1, now moving on to team finals, all-around finals, a couple event finals hopefully.”

Landi said Biles’ leg was feeling better as she moved through the events and expects her to be available going forward.

The reality is the Americans — especially with Russia out of the mix due to the war in Ukraine — don’t need to rely on her as much as they have in previous Games.

Biles, Lee and Chiles went 1-2-3 in the all-around during early qualifying, though Chiles will miss the all-around final due to rules that limit countries to entering two athletes per competition.

There’s a chance Chiles will make the floor exercise final should she finish in the top eight. Lee is practically a lock for the beam and bars finals, with 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey in good position to join Biles in the vault final.

That is, of course, if Biles is healthy.

The injury added a dash of drama to an event that’s become a must-see for athletes and celebrities alike.

The stands were buzzing and filled with stars. Tom Cruise posed for selfies while waiting for Biles to emerge. Snoop Dogg had front-row seats, and Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, John Legend and Anna Wintour were also on hand.

Biles arrived in Paris as the face of the U.S. Olympic movement and maybe the Olympics themselves. The buzz around her return to the Games has been palpable, with NBC leaning heavily into her star power by splashing Biles’ face on countless promotions in the lead-up to Paris.

Her gravitational pull is real. Athletes across the Olympic spectrum have said they want to make it a point to catch the most decorated gymnast of all time put on a show that is uniquely hers. Among them: LeBron James and the U.S. men’s basketball team, which was busy July 28 with their Olympic opener.

James & Co. may have a chance to catch Biles later this week, provided her calf cooperates, hardly a given in a sport where the injury rate is nearly 100 percent.

Biles has spent the last 11 years largely avoiding the kind of physical setbacks that have ended the Olympic journeys of so many others.

Not for Biles — not yet anyway — as her chance at a golden send-off remains very much in the offing even if she literally is now forced to take it one ginger step at a time.

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By John Leicester and Megan Janetsky
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on July 26 with a rain-soaked, rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy along the Seine River.

On-and-off showers — the first rain at a Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony in more than 70 years — did not seem to hamper the enthusiasm of the athletes. Some held umbrellas as they rode boats down the river in a showcase of the city’s resilience as authorities investigated suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network.

Widespread travel disruptions triggered by what French officials called coordinated arson attacks on high-speed rail lines as well as the weather had dampened the mood ahead of the ceremony.

Still, crowds crammed the Seine’s banks and bridges and watched from balconies, “oohing” and “aahing” as Olympic teams paraded in boats down the waterway that got increasingly choppy as the weather worsened.

Undeterred from the festivities, many of the hundreds of thousands of spectators huddled under umbrellas, plastic ponchos or jackets as the rain intensified, others danced and sang, and some dashed from their seats for shelter.

“The rain can’t stop us,” said U.S. basketball star LeBron James, sporting a plastic poncho along with the other American flag bearer, tennis player Coco Gauff.

The weather made for some bizarre scenes at the show combining prerecorded and live performances: a stiff upper-lipped pianist played on even as small puddles formed on his grand piano. A breakdancer flipped her moves on the sheen of a rain-drenched platform. Some athletes in Bermuda-style colorful shirts looked dressed for the beach, not a deluge.

As global audiences tuned in, Paris put its best foot forward — quite literally, with a spectacular Olympic launch that lifted spirits and joyous French cancan dancers featured early on. A humorous short film featured soccer icon Zinedine Zidane. Plumes of French blue, white and red smoke followed.

Lady Gaga sang in a prerecorded performance, in French, with dancers shaking pink plumed pompoms, injecting a cabaret feel. To close the show, Celine Dion, standing under the Eiffel Tower, belted out her first live performance since the French-Canadian singer was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, at the end of 2022.

French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most listened-to French-speaking artist in the world, emerged from a pyrotechnic display in an all-gold out to sing her hit “Djadja” accompanied by a Republican guard band of the French army.

More than three hours into the show, French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open. In a gaffe shortly beforehand, the five-ring Olympic flag was raised upside down at the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower.

The final torch relay spanned landmarks like the Louvre and included sports legends like tennis greats Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal before French judo champ Teddy Riner and three-time Olympic champion runner Marie-Jose Perec lit the Olympic cauldron attached to a giant balloon, which floated into the Paris night.

The ceremony celebrated women, including 10 golden statues of female pioneers that rose from giant pedestals along the river. Among them was Olympe de Gouges, who drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen in 1791 during the French Revolution. She campaigned for the abolition of slavery and was guillotined in 1793.

The Paris Games aim to be the first with equal numbers of men and women competing.

With the ambitious ceremony, the stakes for France were immense. Dozens of heads of state and government were in town, and the world was watching as Paris turned itself into a giant open-air theater. Along the Seine, iconic monuments became stages for dancers, singers and other artists.

Sofia Cohen, 20, watching with her father, called the ceremony “electric.” The Nicaraguan-Americans said the roar of applause given to the Ukrainian team was their favorite part.

“Every Olympics is different, and this one was very French. The ceremony started out very majestic and regal. And as the rain started pouring down and time went on, everything got a little more hectic and fun,” she said.

The sprawling event gave organizers bigger crowds to transport, organize and safeguard than would have been the case if they’d followed the example of previous Olympic host cities that opened with stadium shows.

Still, as the show got underway, optimism soared that Paris — true to its motto that speaks of being unsinkable — might just see its gambles pay off. That’s despite the soggy weather — no other Summer Olympics opening ceremony has had rain since Helsinki in 1952.

Paris organizers said 6,800 of the 10,500 athletes would attend before they embark on the next 16 days of competition.

The boats carrying the Olympic teams started the parade by breaking through curtains of water that cascaded down from Austerlitz Bridge, the start of the 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile) route. The jetting waters were a wink at the fountains of Versailles Palace, the venue for Olympic equestrian competitions.

Per Olympic protocol, the first boat carried athletes from Greece, birthplace of the ancient Games. It was followed by the Olympic team of refugee athletes and then, the other nations in French alphabetical order.

Usually during Olympic opening ceremonies, the parade of athletes takes place during a pause in the razzmatazz. But Paris shattered that tradition by having the parade and pageantry at the same time, blending sports and artistic expression.

Some spectators who followed organizers’ advice to arrive well ahead of time along the ceremony route fumed over long waits to get to their seats.

“Paris has been great, anything to do with the Olympics and dissemination of information has been horrible,” said Tony Gawne, a 54-year-old Texan who turned up six hours in advance with his wife.

“When you spend $6,000 on two tickets, well, that’s a little frustrating,” he said.

But Paris had plenty of aces up its sleeve. The Eiffel Tower, its head visible below the clouds, Notre Dame Cathedral — restored from the ashes of its 2019 fire — the Louvre Museum and other iconic monuments starred in the opening ceremony. Award-winning theater director Thomas Jolly, the show’s creative mind, was using the signature Paris cityscape of zinc-gray rooftops as the playground for his imagination.

His task: Tell the story of France, its people, their history and essence in a way that leaves an indelible imprint on Olympic audiences. Refresh the image and self-confidence of the French capital that was repeatedly struck by deadly extremist attacks in 2015. Capture how Paris is also aiming to reboot the Olympics, with Summer Games it has worked to make more appealing and sustainable.

It’s a big ask. So Paris went big, very big. That goes for the security, too. Large fenced-off stretches of central Paris were locked down to those without passes and the skies during the ceremony were a no-fly zone for 150 kilometers (93 miles) around.

During the athletes’ waterborne adventure, they passed historic landmarks that have been temporarily transformed into arenas for Olympic sports.

Concorde Plaza, where French revolutionaries guillotined King Louis XVI and other royals, now hosting skateboarding and other sports. The golden-domed resting place of Napoléon Bonaparte, the backdrop for Olympic archery, and the Eiffel Tower, which donated chunks of iron that have been inlaid in the gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals. They’ll be won in the 32 sports’ 329 medal events.

Paris’ aim, said Estanguet, is “to show to the whole world and to all of the French that in this country, we’re capable of exceptional things.”

___

AP journalists Jerome Pugmire, Hanna Arhirova, Tales Azzoni, Jocelyn Noveck, Debora Rey and Kristie Rieken and contributed from Paris. ___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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By Alanis Thames
The Associated Press

When Naomi Osaka lifts her racket on the red clay courts at Roland Garros during the Paris Olympics later this month, it’ll represent more than a high-stakes competition for the tennis star.

For Osaka, a four-time grand slam champion, it’s an important step in her journey after returning to tennis earlier this year, after stepping away to prioritize her mental health and give birth to her daughter.

Osaka will join gymnastics icon Simone Biles and track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson on the Olympic stage. These Black women athletes at the height of their careers have been vocal about mental health, public critique and other personal struggles. Osaka and Biles needed time away from their respective sports to prioritize mental health. Richardson returned to competition after a highly scrutinized ban from track and field.

They’ve all bounced back to the world’s biggest stage while displaying different levels of vulnerability. Their stories, different yet similar, give viewers a unique image of Black women.

“I always think about this: We weren’t born playing our sport,” Osaka recently told The Associated Press. “We were born the same way as everyone else. I wasn’t born holding a racket. We’re humans first, and we’re athletes as a profession.”

That idea is often overlooked when it comes to Black female athletes, who sit in the shadowed intersection of racism and sexism, said Ketra Armstrong, a professor of sport management and director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport at the University of Michigan.

“It is critically important that they’re elevated in this way,” Armstrong said, “because I think it’s helping people to reimagine what Black women are and who they are.”

Biles, Osaka create space for women like them

Biles withdrew from the all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Games to focus on her well-being after what she described as feeling the “weight of the world” on her shoulders.

After a two-year hiatus, Biles, 27, proved to be just as dominant in her 2023 return to the international stage as she was at her first Olympics in 2016. She won the individual all-around title at the gymnastics world championships in October and breezed through last month’s U.S. Olympic trials.

“Most athletes are wired to win,” Armstrong said. “They’ve been winning all of their lives. And so oftentimes in their sport, they know how to take a day off. And I think what we’re seeing is they’re realizing that even as life intersects with sport, it’s OK to take a time out.”

Osaka and Biles returns to the Olympics is important in creating space for women who look like them to be just as vulnerable, said Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and clinical associate professor of history at Arizona State University, while “also kind of forcing broader culture to accept” them for who they are beyond what they do in their sport.

Jackson said the trio’s journeys show a leadership quality that’s innate for Black women, who are often seen as invincible. As a result, they take on added pressure and adopt missions “bigger than them.”

“They shouldn’t be in a situation where they should feel like it’s expected of them,” she said. “I think that’s a part of this, too. How many generations of Black women have to…recognize that they’re taking on something to make the world a better place for people like them and for everyone else, too?”

“It feels like there should be an endpoint. We’re still asking a lot of Black women athletes,” said Jackson.

This phenomenon isn’t limited to athletes.

“Most Black women you talk to, we all feel that similar weight on our shoulders because we feel like we are the most overlooked and disrespected people in this country,” said Shaneka Stanley, a senior human resources consultant based near Chicago.

Stanley also juggles caring for her young son, step daughter, aging parents and brother, who has a mental disability.

“I am every woman for all people in my life,” Stanley said. “I get tired, but I put that cape on every single day.”

Conditions for Brown and Black women much harder

Richardson was expected to be a breakout star in Tokyo before a positive test for marijuana at the 2021 Olympic trials. Afterward, Richardson said she smoked marijuana to cope with her mother’s recent death, but that didn’t stop the ridicule that followed the sprinter’s 30-day suspension from the sport.

Richardson’s name was suddenly mentioned in wide-ranging debates on race, fairness and longstanding anti-doping rules.

Tarlan Chahardovali, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina’s Department of Sport and Entertainment Management, said she has wondered if the criticism that Richardson faced would be applied to a White runner in her position.

“I think the condition for Brown and Black women is much harder,” Chahardovali said.

Now, Richardson gets a second chance at Olympic glory after one of the most dominant seasons in track and field this year. She’ll be a favorite in the 100 meters after winning the race in 10.71 seconds at the U.S. track trials last month.

During her comeback, Richardson has repeatedly talked about resiliency.

“The message is basically understanding and having a deeper love and a deeper care for the talent that I’ve been given,” Richardson said. “And I take advantage of it, nurture it … and that way I can compete and execute when I show up on the track.”

When Biles, Osaka and Richardson took a step back in their careers, “I was so proud of them for living in their truth,” said Marisa Tatum-Taylor, a DEI manager for a large data company. “ … I hope that women across the world receive that message that sometimes in order to show up, you have to put yourself first.”

Associated Press writer Claire Savage and AP Sports Writers Howard Fendrich and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.

This article was originally published by the Associated Press.

The post Biles, Richardson and Osaka return to spotlight, highlighting issues facing Black women appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are under way and there are multiple athletes across the 32 sports being contested at the Olympic Games that should be on your radar. Take a look at some of the events and athletes you should keep an eye out for as the 19-day event unfolds.

Track and Field – Women

Sha’Carri Richardson

Richardson is in search of redemption as she qualifies for the first Olympics of her young, accomplished career. The 2023 World Champion was ruled ineligible to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to a positive drug test after winning the 2020 U.S. Olympic trials. She admitted to smoking marijauna to help deal with the death of her mother.

Now, after repeating as the U.S. Olympic trials 100-meter dash champion, Richardson will look to claim the gold medal in Paris; something she didn’t even have a chance to do in 2021. As Richardson loves to say, “I’m not back– I’m better.”

Richardson and her two training partners, Melissa Jefferson and TeeTee Terry, made history by becoming the first female training group to sweep an event at an Olympic trial meet. The women were coached by Dennis Mitchell, who will be looking to get the same result in Paris. The only coach to successfully lead his camp in sweeping both the national trials and the Olympics was Jamaican coach Glen Mills. Headlined by track and field legend Usain Bolt, Mills led his camp in sweeping the 200-meter dash at both the Jamaican trials as well as the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The 100-meter dash event begins Aug. 2 at 4:35 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 3 at 3:20 p.m. EST. 

The 200-meter dash event begins on Aug. 4 at 4:55 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 6 at 3:40 p.m. EST. 

Gabby Thomas

Thomas will look to use her Olympic experience to her advantage as she prepares for the trip to Paris. The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medalist and 2023 World Championship silver medalist in the 200-meter dash will be looking to continue her strong 2024 outdoor campaign after dropping a world-leading time of 21.78 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials. 

Veteran Jamaican sprinter and five-time Olympic medalist Shericka Jackson will challenge Thomas for the gold as she attempts the double (winning both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash). Thomas’ teammate McKenzie Long will also be vying for a spot on the podium. The budding star has captured the hearts of America after the death of her mother. Long was able to channel her grief into motivation, winning the double at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor National Championships. She currently has the second fastest 200-meter time in the world right now at 21.83 seconds, according to World Athletics.

The 400-meter hurdles event begins on Aug. 4 at 6:35 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 8 at 3:25 p.m. EST.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

McLaughlin-Levrone looks to continue to be in a class of her own as she prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. McLaughlin-Levrone is already the world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, lowering the world record she already held to 50.65 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials. The New Jersey native is already in contention for the best track and field athlete of all time, as she is an Olympic champion and a World champion in the 400 meter hurdles before the age of 25. She also currently has the fastest 400-meter dash time and sixth fastest 200-meter dash time in the world right now, but opted to focus solely on the 400-meter hurdles in Paris. 

Vying for a podium finish is Anna Cockrell, who will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She finished seventh in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic 400-meter hurdle final, but was eventually disqualified due to a lane error. McLaughlin-Levrone’s stiffest competition will come from Dutch superstar Femke Bol. Bol is the world record holder in both the indoor 400-meter dash and the 300 meter hurdles.

The long jump event begins on Aug. 6 at 5:15 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 8 at 2:00 p.m. EST. 

Tara Davis-Woodhall

2024 World Indoor champion Davis-Woodhall, 25, looks to claim her first Olympic gold medal in Paris. Davis-Woodhall currently has the second furthest long jump distance in the world at 7.18 meters. Davis-Woodhall’s husband, Hunter Woodhall, will also be competing in 2024 at the Paralympic Games.

Former Florida Gator star Jasmine Moore, 23, made her second consecutive U.S. Olympic team and currently has the third furthest distance in the long jump at 6.98 meters (22 ft., 10.8 in.).

The 100-meter hurdle event begins Aug. 7 at 4:15 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 10 at 1:45 p.m. EST.

Masai Russell

Russell, a Maryland native, currently holds the fastest 100-meter hurdles time in the world at 12.25 seconds. The world-leading time was a breakthrough performance for the 24 year old. Russell dropped the blazing time in the 100-meter hurdle final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials, taking home the gold. 

The women’s short hurdles are one of the most competitive events in the world right now. Russell will be looking to continue her winning ways against world record holder and 2022 World Champion Tobi Amusan out of Nigeria and the reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who was born in the United States but competes for Puerto Rico. 

Track and Field – Men

Noah Lyles 

Lyles will be seeking to do something that only nine other men to grace this planet Earth have ever done – win both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash at the Olympics. The historic Olympic “sprint double” has only been achieved four times since 1984, and three of those were courtesy of one of the greatest sprinters of all time, Usian Bolt. Lyles, the reigning 200-meter World champion, is the favorite in the 200 but the 100-meter dash is very much up for grabs. 

Challenging Lyles for gold in the 100-meter dash is Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, reigning Olympic 100-meter champion Lamont Marcel Jacobs and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala. 

The 100-meter dash event begins Aug. 3 at 4:35 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 4 at 3:50 p.m. EST.

The 110-meter hurdle event begins on Aug. 4 at 5:50 a.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 8 at 3:45 p.m. EST.

Grant Holloway

Five-time world champion and currently the second fastest man to ever run the short hurdles, Holloway will look to avenge his upset defeat at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment will be in the hunt to reclaim his title, while USA’s Daniel Robert will attempt to step out of Holloway’s shadow and have his breakthrough moment in Paris.

The javelin event begins on Aug. 6 at 4:20 a.m. EST, with the event final on Aug. 8 at 2:25 p.m. EST. 

Curtis Thompson

Thompson, now a two-time Olympian, will be looking to add an Olympic medal to his résumé. Thompson is already a NCAA champion, a three-time American champion and won the Pan American Games in 2023. He was the only javelin thrower from the United States to qualify for the Olympics.

India’s Neeraj Chopra will be looking to reclaim his title as Olympic champion in the men’s javelin. Chopra was the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the javelin.

The shot put event starts on Aug. 2 at 2:10 p.m. EST, with the event final taking place on Aug. 3 at 1:35 p.m. EST.

Ryan Crouser

Already regarded as the greatest shot putter of all time, Crouser will be looking to add yet another Olympic gold medal to his illustrious career. The three-time World champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist already holds both the world and Olympic records. 

Crouser’s stiffest competition will be fellow American Joe Kovacs. Kovacs defeated Crouser at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, but finished second to Crouser at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The mixed 4×400 meter relay event begins on Aug. 2 at 1:10 p.m. EST. 

The men’s 4×400 meter relay event begins on Aug. 9 at 5:05 a.m. EST.

The event finals take place on Aug. 3 at 2:44 p.m. EST and Aug. 10 at 3:12 p.m. EST, respectively.

Quincy Wilson

Wilson will look to continue his historic season as the rising junior was named to the relay pool for Team USA. The 16-year-old phenom will have the opportunity to run for either or both the mixed 4×400 meter relay and the men’s 4×400 meter relay. That decision will not be made until the day of the event.

Men’s Olympic basketball games begin on July 27 at 5 a.m. EST.

The bronze medal and gold medal games begin on Aug. 10 at 5 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. EST, respectively.

Men’s Basketball – Team USA

The 2024 roster for Team USA Basketball appears to be one of the most talented teams in Olympic history, being challenged only by the 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 Redeem Team. Highlighted by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards, this team will look to prove to Noah Lyles and others that they are truly the best team in the world. Big additions to Team USA include Stephen Curry, who is surprisingly playing for Team USA for the first time ever, and 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid. James was awarded the honor of being Team USA’s flag bearer, making him the first male American basketball player with that distinction in Olympic history. Women’s National Basketball Association superstars Dawn Staley (currently head coach of the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks) and Sue Bird have previously been flag bearers for Team USA.

The group has a tough challenge ahead of them, however, as many believe that the basketball talent around the world is beginning to catch up with the Americans. Team USA’s biggest challenger will likely be Canada, sporting a roster that includes First Team All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillion Brooks. This is also believed to be the last Olympics for both James and Durant. 

*Derrick White has replaced Kawhi Leonard.

Men’s 3×3 Basketball – Team USA

3×3 basketball officially became an Olympic sport in 2017 and was contested for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Latvia took home the gold at the last Olympics, but Team USA will be looking for better fortune this time around. 

The 3×3 roster is led by former NBA sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette and 3×3 veteran Kareem Maddox. Maddox, a Princeton grad, won Ivy League defensive player of the year honors back in 2011 and was a part of the 2019 FIBA 3×3 World Cup team that won gold in Amsterdam. He also holds two gold medals from the Pan American Games from both 2019 and 2023. 

Men’s Olympic 3×3 basketball games begin on July 30 at 12:35 p.m. EST

The gold medal and bronze medal game will take place on Aug. 5 at 4:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. EST, respectively.

Women’s Gymnastics

The USAs Women’s Gymnastics team is set to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics where you will be able to watch the top US gymnasts like Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera. Biles is definitely someone to keep an eye on this summer as she has taken home over 30 Olympic and World medals. She is sure to make history as she makes her way to Paris. 

The women’s gymnastics event begins on July 28 at 3:30 a.m. EST. The event final will take place on Aug. 6 at 6:38 a.m. EST.

Jessica Stevens

Olympic athlete Jessica Stevens was born July 5, 2000 in Ellicott City, Md. She is in the 2024 olympics for synchronized trampoline gymnastics and has her eyes on the gold this year. Stevens has a total of four world championship medals and earned a gold medal in 2023 for synchronized gymnastics during the Pan American Games. 

Women’s Basketball

Team USA’s Women’s Basketball team is making history right now. The team has earned  seven Olympic medals back to back. Their first match up will begin July 29. In Paris, they are set to play a number of teams that are in their equal group (group C) including Germany, Japan, and Belgium. To win gold, the Americans must advance from a team of 4 groups where they will then have to take home 3 consecutive wins in the knockout round.  There is a multitude of talent on this year’s roster including A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, Kelsey Plum, Alyssa Thomas and more. 

Games begin on July 29 at 7:30 a.m. EST, with the gold medal and bronze medal games taking place on Aug. 11 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. EST, respectively.

Women’s Soccer

Team USA’s Women’s Soccer team is headed to Paris with a roster filled up with 18 talented women. The team is now led by new head coach Emma Hayes and she is ready and eager to fight for this year’s gold medal. The women’s team had a heartbreaking loss as the team had to exit the World Cup in 2023 unexpectedly. The opening ceremony took place on Friday, July 26, but the team had their first match on July 25 against Zambia. They will play against Germany on July 28, and face off against Australia on July 31. The quarter finals will begin Aug. 3. 

Games begin on July 25 at 11 a.m. EST, with the bronze medal match taking place on Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. EST and the gold medal match on Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. EST.

Tennis 

Team USA’s Olympic tennis team’s first tournament is set to begin July 27 to Aug. 4 in the Roland Garros on the red clay courts. This will be the first time Olympic tennis will be playing on the clay courts since 1992. Tennis was one of the nine original Olympic sports at the very first games in Athens 1896. The team consists of gold medalist Coco Guaff, Jessica Pegula, Dannielle Collins, and Emma Navarro in singles. Desirae Krawczyk will be participating in the doubles round. 

Games begin on July 27 at 6 a.m. EST, with the women’s single gold medal match taking place on Aug. 3. at 6 a.m. EST. The women’s double gold medal match and single bronze medal match will take place Aug. 4 at 6 a.m. EST.

Five other Olympic athletes to keep an eye on:

Jahmal Harvey – Boxing 

Jahmal Harvey, 21, was born November 19, 2002 in Oxon Hill, Md. Harvey is an olympic boxer who is looking to bring the gold in Paris, back home. This is Harvey’s first time as an Olympic athlete but has some experience with participating in the Pan American Games back in 2023 to which he won gold. Harvey will be entering the 125 weight class in the Paris 2024 Olympics and is currently ranked No. 2 in the amateur featherweight category. 

Tatiana Nazlymov – Fencing 

Tatiana Nazlymoz, 19, was born Sept. 2, 2004 in Montgomery County, Md. She currently attends Princeton University as a sophomore. Nazlymoz is competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic games for fencing and acclaims her fencing career towards her father and grandfather who were fencers as well. Nazlymov has some world championship experience as she competed with the women’s saber team in the Pan-American senior championships and won gold but, this will be her first time on an olympic team. 

Aaron Russel – Volleyball 

Aaron Russel is a two-time Olympic athlete born in Baltimore. The 6’9” volleyball player who played at Pennsylvania State University is now going for the gold in the Paris 2024 Olympic games.  Russel is pursuing to level up his bronze medal from the Rio 2016 Olympics to gold. Russel also plays club volleyball here in Maryland under former gold medalist Aldis Berzins. 

Taylor Knibb – Triathlon 

Taylor Knibb, a Washington D.C. native, is competing in the Paris 2024 triathlon Olympics. Knibbs competed in the 2020 Olympics where she won silver in the mixed relay and is now making her way to paris for the gold. 

Carl Nickolas Jr. – Taekwondo

Carl (CJ) Nickolas Jr. is 23-year-old American taekwondo practitioner hailing from Oakland, Calif. Nickolas is a three-time Pan American Games gold medallist and won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2023. Nickolas is currently ranked as the second best fighter in his weight category of 80 kilograms (176 pounds).

The post A look at the 2024 Olympic schedule and the Black athletes competing in Paris appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Intern
mabbott@afro.com

With rising temperatures and a heat wave hitting the D.C.-Maryland area youth athletes in the area are feeling the effects of the rising temperatures. 

On June 8, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced an extended heat emergency amidst a heat wave that has been plaguing the D.C.-Maryland area for the past few weeks. With temperatures over 90 degrees on most days of the past three weeks and heat indexes over 100 degrees, both Mayor Bowser and Gov. Wes Moore have advised D.C. and Maryland residents to plan for the historic heat wave appropriately. 

“The health and safety of Marylanders is our top priority. By declaring a State of Preparedness, I am directing the Department of Emergency Management to coordinate the comprehensive preparation of State government ahead of potential impacts because of the extreme heat and humidity,” said Moore in a press release. 

According to a study released by Associate Athletics Director David Klossner at the University of Maryland, the director of National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kristen L. Kucera, Ph.D. and others, over 50 high school football players have passed away due to heat stroke in the past 25 years. Women’s cross country is actually the sport whose athletes have the highest risk of being affected by heat stroke.

Although the study shows that deaths in the sport of football are “rare but tragic events,” extreme heat and added weight from the equipment such as helmets and shoulder pads can heavily impact the safety of young athletes, exposing them to heightened levels of bodily malfunctions. Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death amongst young athletes.

In January 2024, Philip and Ashanta Laster filed a lawsuit against the Rankin County School system after their son Philip “Trey” Laster died from a cardiac arrhythmia after collapsing during an afternoon football practice in Aug. 2022. 

“No child should ever be in danger of losing their life in pursuit of a passion, especially under the supervision and instruction of adults who should know when to stop pushing these young athletes,” attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Laster against the Rankin county school district, said in a news release. “Trey’s tragic death could have been, and should have been, prevented by those in charge, and shows a troubling lack of adherence to guidelines surrounding heat exhaustion prevention.”

In February, cross country runner Memphis Zabawa suffered a cardiac arrest episode while running at a meet according to heart.org. The seventh grader, who also suffers from asthma, was able to make a 100 percent recovery from the incident, thanks in part to people at the cross country meet who performed CPR. Athletes with asthma can be even more predisposed to cardiac related incidents when temperatures are high.

The post How climate change is affecting youth sports appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Sports Intern
mabbott@afro.com

and

Kelsi Jones
AFRO Sports Intern
kejon59@morgan.edu

With the July 26 opening ceremony for the 2024 summer Paris Olympics comes the need to pay attention to several athletes in each discipline. AFRO sports interns Kelsi Jones and Mekhi Abbott highlight the athletes you need to keep an eye on as the biggest sporting event across the globe is fast approaching. 

Abbott and Jones will focus on the Olympic athletes who made the United States national team. However, top global competitors will also be highlighted. 

Track and Field – Women

Event: 100-meter dash

Event Begins: Aug. 2

Event Final: Aug. 3

Sha’Carri Richardson, 24, is searching for redemption as she qualifies for the first Olympics of her young, accomplished career. The 2023 World Champion was ruled ineligible to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to testing positive for cannabis after winning the 2020 United States (U.S.) Olympic trials. Now, after repeating as the U.S. Olympic trials 100-meter dash champion, Richardson will look to claim the gold medal in Paris; something she didn’t even have a chance to do in 2021. As Richardson loves to say, “I’m not back. I’m better.”

Richardson and her two training partners Melissa Jefferson and TeeTee Terry made history by becoming the first female training group to sweep an event at an Olympic trial meet. The trio, coached by Dennis Mitchell, will be looking to get the same result in Paris. The only coach to successfully lead his camp in sweeping both the national trials and the Olympics was Jamaican coach Glen Mills. Headlined by track and field legend Usain Bolt, Mills led his camp in sweeping the 200-meter dash at both the Jamaican trials as well as the 2012 London Olympic Games. 

Event: 200-meter dash

Event Begins: Aug. 4

Event Final: Aug. 6

Gabby Thomas, 27, will look to use her Olympic experience to her advantage as she prepares for the trip to Paris. The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medalist and 2023 World Championship silver medalist in the 200-meter dash will be looking to continue her strong 2024 outdoor campaign after dropping a world-leading time of 21.78 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials. 

Veteran Jamaican sprinter and five-time Olympic medalist Shericka Jackson will challenge Thomas for the gold as she attempts the double (winning both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash). Thomas’ teammate McKenzie Long will also be vying for a spot on the podium. The budding star has captured the hearts of America after the death of her mother. Long was able to channel her grief into motivation, winning the double at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor National Championships. She currently has the second fastest 200-meter time in the world right now at 21.83 seconds, according to World Athletics.

Event: 400-meter hurdles

Event Begins: Aug. 4

Event Final: Aug. 8

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 24, looks to continue to be in a class of her own as she prepares for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. McLaughlin-Levrone is already the world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, lowering the world record she already held to 50.65 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials. The New Jersey native is already in contention for the best track and field athlete of all time, as she is an Olympic champion and a World champion in the 400 meter hurdles before the age of 25. She also currently has the fastest 400-meter dash time and sixth fastest 200-meter dash time in the world right now, but opted to focus solely on the 400-meter hurdles in Paris. 

Vying for a podium finish is Anna Cockrell, who will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She finished seventh in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic 400-meter hurdle final, but was eventually disqualified due to a lane error. McLaughlin-Levrone’s stiffest competition will come from Dutch superstar Femke Bol. Bol is the world record holder in both the indoor 400-meter dash and the 300 meter hurdles.

Event: Long jump

Event Begins: Aug. 6

Event Final: Aug. 8

2024 World Indoor Champion Tara Davis-Woodhall, 25, looks to claim her first Olympic gold medal in Paris. Davis-Woodhall currently has the second furthest long jump distance in the world at 7.18 meters. Davis-Woodhall’s husband, Hunter Woodhall, will also be competing in 2024 at the Paralympic Games.

Former Florida Gator star Jasmine Moore, 23, made her second consecutive U.S. Olympic team and currently has the third furthest distance in the long jump at 6.98 meters (22 ft, 10.8 in.). 

Event: 100-meter hurdles

Event Begins: Aug. 7

Event Final: Aug. 10

Maryland’s own Masai Russell currently holds the fastest 100-meter hurdles time in the world at 12.25 seconds. The world-leading time was a breakthrough performance for the 24 year old. Russell dropped the blazing time in the 100-meter hurdle final at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials, taking home the gold. 

The women’s short hurdles are one of the most competitive events in the world right now. Russell will be looking to continue her winning ways against world record holder and 2022 World Champion Tobi Amusan out of Nigeria and the reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who was born in the United States but competes for Puerto Rico. 

Track and Field – Men

Event: 100-meter dash

Event Begins: Aug. 3

Event Final: Aug. 4

Noah Lyles will be seeking to do something that only nine other men to grace this planet Earth have ever done – win both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash at the Olympics. The historic Olympic “sprint double” has only been achieved four times since 1984, and three of those were courtesy of one of the greatest sprinters of all time, Usian Bolt. Lyles, the reigning 200-meter World champion, is the favorite in the 200 but the 100-meter dash is very much up for grabs. 

Challenging Lyles for gold in the 100-meter dash is Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, reigning Olympic 100-meter champion Lamont Marcel Jacobs and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala. 

Event: 110-meter hurdles

Event Begins: Aug. 4

Event Final: Aug. 8

Grant Holloway, 5-time World champion and currently the second fastest man to ever run the short hurdles, will look to avenge his upset defeat at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment will be in the hunt to reclaim his title, while USA’s Daniel Robert will attempt to step out of Holloway’s shadow and have his breakthrough moment in Paris.

Event: Javelin

Event Starts: Aug. 6

Event End: Aug. 8

Two-time Olympian Curtis Thompson will be looking to add an Olympic medal to his résumé. Thompson is already a NCAA champion, a three-time American champion and won the Pan American Games in 2023. He was the only javelin thrower from the United States to qualify for the Olympics.

India’s Neeraj Chopra will be looking to reclaim his title as Olympic champion in the men’s javelin. Chopra was the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the javelin ever.

Event: Shot put

Event Starts: Aug. 2

Event End: Aug. 3

Already regarded as the greatest shot putter of all time, Ryan Crouser will be looking to add yet another Olympic gold medal to his illustrious career. The three-time World champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist already holds both the world and Olympic records. 

Crouser’s stiffest competition will be fellow American Joe Kovacs. Kovacs defeated Crouser at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, but finished second to Crouser at both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Men’s Basketball – Team USA

Begin Play: July 28

Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Game: Aug. 10

The 2024 roster for Team USA Basketball appears to be one of the most talented teams in Olympic history, being challenged only by the 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 Redeem Team. Highlighted by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards, this team will look to prove to Noah Lyles and others that they are truly the best team in the world. Big additions to Team USA include Stephen Curry, who is surprisingly playing for Team USA for the first time ever, and 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid. 

Team USA has a tough challenge ahead of them, however, as many believe that the basketball talent around the world is beginning to catch up with the Americans. Team USA’s biggest challenger will likely be Canada, sporting a roster that includes First Team All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillion Brooks. This is also believed to be the last Olympics for both James and Durant. 

Men’s 3×3 Basketball – Team USA

Begin Play: July 30

Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Game: Aug. 5

3×3 basketball officially became an Olympic sport in 2017 and was contested for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Latvia took home the gold at the last Olympics, but Team USA will be looking for better fortune this time around. 

The 3×3 roster is led by former NBA sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette and 3×3 veteran Kareem Maddox. Maddox, a Princeton grad, won Ivy League defensive player of the year honors back in 2011 and was a part of the 2019 FIBA 3×3 World Cup team that won gold in Amsterdam. He also holds two gold medals from the Pan American Games from both 2019 and 2023. 

Women’s Gymnastics

Event Begins: July 28

Event Final: Aug. 6

The USAs Women’s Gymnastics team is set to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics where you will be able to watch the top US gymnasts like Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera. Biles is definitely someone to keep an eye on this summer as she has taken home over 30 Olympic and World medals. She is sure to make history as she makes her way to Paris.  

Women’s Basketball

Begin Play: July 29

Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Game: Aug. 11

The USAs Women’s Basketball team is making history right now. The team has earned  seven Olympic medals back to back. Their first match up will begin July 29. In Paris, they are set to play a number of teams that are in their equal group (group C) including Germany, Japan, and Belgium. To win gold, the Americans must advance from a team of 4 groups where they will then have to take home 3 consecutive wins in the knockout round.  There is a multitude of talent on this year’s roster including A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, Kelsey Plum, Alyssa Thomas, and more. 

Women’s Soccer

Begin Play: July 25

Bronze Medal Match: Aug. 9

Gold Medal Match: Aug. 10

The USAs Women’s Soccer team is headed to Paris with a roster filled up with 18 talented women. The team is now led by new head coach Emma Hayes and she is ready and eager to fight for this year’s gold medal. The women’s team had a heartbreaking loss as the team had to exit the World Cup in 2023 unexpectedly. The opening ceremony is set to be Friday, July 26 but the team is scheduled to have their first match a day before as they face Zambia. After, they will then be preparing to play Germany July 28, and Australia on July 31. The quarter finals will begin Aug. 3. 

Tennis 

Begin Play: July 27

Women’s Single Gold Medal Match: Aug. 3

Women’s Double Gold Medal Match and Single Bronze Medal Match: Aug. 4

The USAs olympic tennis teams first tournament is set to begin July 27 to Aug. 4 in the Roland Garros on the red clay courts. This will be the first time Olympic tennis will be playing on the clay courts since 1992. Tennis was one of the nine original Olympic sports at the very first games in Athens 1896. The team consists of gold medalist Coco Guaff, Jessica Pegula, Dannielle Collins, and Emma Navarro in singles. Desirae Krawczyk will be participating in the doubles round. 

The post Olympic schedule and athletes to look out for appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Kelsi Jones
AFRO Intern

Baltimore Ravens officials announced the death of former wide receiver Jacoby Jones on July 14, prompting an outcry of condolences from team management, coaches, teammates and fans.

“We are completely heartbroken to learn about the passing of Jacoby Jones,” the Ravens said in a statement.

No cause of death was released for Jones, who died “peacefully” in his home in New Orleans, according to a Jones family statement released by the NFL Players Association. He was 40 years old. 

“We want to express our gratitude for all the kind thoughts and support you have shown us during this challenging time,” the NFLPA statement said. “Your ongoing support and respecting our privacy means a lot to us.”

Hundreds of well-wishers online expressed their grief and called for a celebration of life. Many of them played with the charismatic receiver.

“My brother, you will truly be missed,” Former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis posted on X. “They can’t take the memories and the hard work you put in on and off the football field. You always gave back and always a pillar in the community, a @Ravens for life. Love ya JJ.”

Former Houston teammate J.J. Watt recalled his time with Jones. “Jacoby was one of the most fun-loving teammates and people I’ve ever been around,” he posted on X. “Always dancing and laughing, with a permanent smile on his face.”

Others were admirers of his talent and expressed their disbelief on social media..

“Baltimore is deeply saddened by the passing of Jacoby Jones,” Mayor Brandon Scott posted on X. “The entire city sends its condolences to his family.”

Jones spent nine seasons in the NFL, playing with Houston, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Baltimore as a wide receiver and return specialist. He finished his career with 127 punt returns (four touchdowns) and 183 kickoff returns (five touchdowns). 

Jones, who was born in New Orleans on July 11, 1984, attended St. Augustine High School, but transferred to Marion Abramson. He was a multisport athlete as he played football, basketball and track.

 After graduating he attended NCAA Division II school Southeastern Louisiana University where he ran on a track scholarship. Later, he transferred to Lane College in Tennessee and played three years of football. 

The Texans drafted Jones in 2007 in the third round as the 73rd overall choice. He remained in Texas for five seasons and caught 127 passes for 1,741 yards and 11 touchdowns. 

Houston released Jones in 2012 and he was signed by the Ravens. Jones played with the Ravens for three seasons (2012-14) where he caught 76 receptions for 992 yards and three TDs. He averaged 9.9 punt yards and 30.1 yards on kickoff returns with four touchdowns. 

Jones was named First Team All-Pro during the 2012 campaign for kick returner. In 2013 during the Divisional Round AFC playoffs, facing the Denver Broncos, he caught a 70-yard touchdown in the last seconds that eventually led to double-overtime victory – now known as the “Mile High Miracle.”

“I loved Jacoby Jones,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “We all did. His spirit, enthusiasm and love for people were powerful. He was a light.

“He was the cherished son of his loving mom, Ms. Emily. They were so close. He was a man of faith. My favorite football play was when Jacoby was talking to his mom in the end zone, just before a late-game kickoff return against the Vikings in a snowstorm shootout. Jacoby then raced to catch the ball and run it back for a touchdown.

“My favorite personal moment was every time I saw him smiling face full of Joy. Rest in peace, Jacoby, in the arms of Jesus.”

Jones ended his career in 2015 with the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers. After retirement he spent  time as a wide receiver coach for Lane College, Calvert Hall, Morgan State and Alabama State. 

“The family, including his mother, Emily and his son, Little Jacoby, are together and are asking for your prayers, privacy, and support as they navigate through this difficult time,” the NFLPA statement said.

“RIP LEGEND,” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson posted on X. 

The post Former Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones dies at the age of 40 appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Noah Trister
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) — Former NFL receiver Jacoby Jones, whose 108-yard kickoff return in 2013 remains the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history, has died. He was 40.

The Houston Texans, Jones’ team for the first five seasons of his career, announced his death July 14. There was no immediate word on a cause of death.

Jones played from 2007-’15 for the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers, and he made several huge plays for the Ravens during their most recent Super Bowl title season.

Jones was a key part of Baltimore’s “Mile High Miracle” in a playoff game at Denver in January 2013. He caught a 70-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the score. The Ravens eventually won in double overtime.

In the Super Bowl that postseason against San Francisco, Jones caught a 56-yard TD pass from eventual game MVP Joe Flacco. Then he raced 108 yards to the end zone to open the second half and give Baltimore a 28-6 lead. The Ravens held on for a 34-31 victory.

That Super Bowl was played in New Orleans, where Jones grew up.

“My favorite football play was when Jacoby was talking to his mom in the end zone, just before a late-game kickoff return against the Vikings in a snowstorm shootout. Jacoby then raced to catch the ball and run it back for a touchdown,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “My favorite Jacoby personal moment was every time I saw his smiling face full of joy.”

Jones made The Associated Press All-Pro team as a kick returner for the 2012 season. Shortly after that, he appeared on “Dancing With The Stars.”

“Jacoby was one of the most fun-loving teammates and people I’ve ever been around,” former Texans pass-rushing star J.J. Watt said on social media. “Always dancing and laughing, with a permanent smile on his face. Gone far, far too soon.”

In April, Jones became coach of the Beaumont Renegades, an arena football team in Texas.

“What can be said about him as a football player is only scratching the surface of who he was as a man,” the Renegades said in a statement. “When you needed something, he was there. When you called him, he answered. Didn’t matter if you were a family member, a close friend, player he coached, etc.”

___

AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The post Jacoby Jones, a star of Baltimore’s most recent Super Bowl title run, has died at age 40 appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By D. Kevin McNeir 
Special to the AFRO

Shortly after the conclusion of a candlelight vigil at Wise High School in Upper Marlboro, Md., for three former football players killed in a car crash on July 6, gunshots rang out in the school’s parking lot. 

Citizens flagged down Prince George’s County Police officers still in the area, who rushed to the scene on July 12 where they would find a man and a woman suffering from gunshot wounds. 

According to Capt. Sonny Batth, acting commander, Prince George’s County Major Crimes Division, the investigation into who shot the two victims and why remains in the early stages. 

“Our officers, who had been outside of Wise High School during the vigil, had been instructed to remain there in order to ensure that everyone had left the area,” Batth said. “As they were leaving the vicinity, gunshots were heard by citizens who flagged them down. When they arrived, they saw citizens performing life-saving measures on two victims who were transported to area hospitals. The adult male was pronounced dead at the hospital while the woman is expected to survive.” 

The shooting occurred on the evening of July 12 after several hundred people gathered in the school’s gymnasium for a vigil where they paid tribute to three friends and former Wise High football teammates: Minnesota Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson, 24; Isaiah Hazel, 23; and Anthony Lytton Jr., 24, who had been in a Dodge Charger on Route 4 when a driver struck their car. 

Police have not shared the identity of the man or woman shot nor have they provided information about a motive for the shooting or a suspect. Police would not speculate on whether the shooting was related to the vigil. 

However, the status of the woman was updated on July 13. She continues to recover after suffering non-life-threatening injuries. 

During the vigil, State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy asked the families to have patience, adding that it is her job “to seek justice.” 

“With your patience, we will continue to seek the truth,” she said.

The post Candlelight vigil for 3 best friends ends in violence in parking lot of Wise High School  appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By D. Kevin McNeir 
Special to the AFRO

Maryland State Police continue to investigate the cause of a three-car accident which claimed the lives of three best friends – all former high school football stars at Wise Hill School in Prince George’s County. The crash occurred around 3:15 a.m. on July 6. 

Members of the school community, located in Upper Marlboro, Md., continue to share their thoughts of the three friends who shared a love for the game of football: NFL-rookie Khyree Jackson, A.J. Lytton and Isaiah Hazel. 

A vigil has been scheduled at Wise High School on Friday, July 12, at 7 p.m.

The three victims, all in their early 20s, were former teammates at Wise High and part of the Pumas football team that won the State Championship in 2016. 

According to Maryland State Police(MSP), the three men were in a Dodge Charger heading north on Route 4 near Presidential Parkway – an area reportedly known for those driving at excessive speeds. Another car, allegedly driven by Cori Clingman, 23, struck them at a high rate of speed while attempting to pass their vehicle. 

Clingman, who has not as yet been charged, then struck a Chevrolet Impala. MSP said alcohol may have served as a factor. Charges remain pending until the conclusion of an investigation and upon the recommendations of the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office. 

The Charger went off the right side of the road and hit multiple tree stumps before coming to a stop. Both Hazel and Jackson were pronounced dead at the scene while Lytton later died from his injuries after being taken to the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center. No one else was injured in the crash. 

Jackson, who played college football at Alabama and Oregon, had recently signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Minnesota Vikings. 

“When you talk about players that left their mark on where they’ve been, whether that be their high school, their universities or their colleges. or even their pro-level, for Khyree’s situation, nobody has anything negative to say,” said Wise High School head football coach Steve Rapp.

Rapp further commented on the positive support which each of the three friends received from their families. 

“It’s all positive and that just speaks to the young men, who these young men were and also the families they came from that raised great young men. I like to think that the Wise football program had a piece in that,” Rapp said. “And we all know that legends never die.”

In a statement issued by the Vikings, team officials said they were “devastated” by the news. 

“Our thoughts are with Khyree’s family, friends, teammates and coaches, as well as all the victims of this tragic accident,” the Vikings wrote via their official social media account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Head coach Kevin O’Connell posted his thoughts on X as well. 

“I am absolutely crushed by this news,” he said. “Khyree brought a contagious energy to our facility and our team. His confidence and engaging personality immediately drew his teammates to him.” 

O’Connell spoke about the talent and potential displayed while he coached Jackson. 

“In our short time together, it was evident Khyree was going to develop into a tremendous professional football player,” he wrote. “But what was more impressive was his desire to become the best person he could be for his family and those around him.”

Hazel and Lytton also played college football – Hazel for the University of Maryland and University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Lytton for Florida State University and Penn State University.

The post Car crash claims lives of three former Wise High School football stars from Prince George’s County appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Kelsi Jones
Afro Intern

Baltimore, Maryland — The Big3 basketball series made its way to Baltimore June 29 at the CFG Bank Arena. The 3-on-3 basketball league was created by renowned rapper, songwriter, actor and film producer Ice Cube, and has evolved substantially over the past seven years, boasting a talent-laden roster filled with NBA and international players from all over the world.

During the Big3 regular season, which runs June 18 to Aug. 7 followed by a postseason with semi final and championship rounds, the league stops in 10 cities as a way to bring professional basketball to places that lack NBA teams. Ice Cube compares this traveling format as a “rolling all-star game” as the roster is packed with players that are fans’ all time favorites. However, in recent developments, the organization has announced the sale of three franchises in Los Angeles, Miami and Houston, transitioning to more established team bases.

“We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through,” Ice Cube said in a statement on Instagram after news broke about the sale of the first franchise in Los Angeles earlier this year. “It’s really about growing the sport and the league.”

The fledgling league is stirring excitement among fans, sports analysts and investors as it innovates the sport into something unique in professional basketball.

The Big3 league is not like your conventional day-to-day basketball, as it has its own set of rules. The league starts off with each team participating in eight regular season games. In these games the rules are a bit different than your routine International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules. In any game, each team has to obtain at least 50 points to win but there has to be a two-point difference between the two teams. The league also requires that halftime only starts when one of the two teams has reached 25 points. There is also no overtime in Big3 basketball and each team receives two timeouts per half.

One of the more remarkable differences in Big3 basketball is the 3-point line being the same distance from the rim as in the NBA but, it is considered 4 points instead of 3. And, the game is played from half-court for the entire time.

These differences are appreciated by basketball fans all over the country and is one of the reasons why the Big3 is gaining its popularity. Many have said it is actually refreshing to see a new format and change in pace of basketball.

“It’s a little more focused because it’s half-court and also a bit more entertaining too,” said Vershawn Thompson during the recent stop in Baltimore. “It’s more celebrities here, family-friendly, prices are probably cheaper, [it’s] during the day, and it’s just chill. It’s different. You see the NBA all the time. We know that this is a tournament and it’s a little more pressure.”

Many of the players have also expressed their appreciation for another opportunity to play the sport they love. For fans, seeing favorite players leave the NBA is hard but they don’t often think about how it affects the players themselves.

Mike Taylor, former NBA and overseas professional basketball player, said Ice Cube and the Big3 league has made his transition home more smooth for him.

“I think it’s a unique thing and great thing for sports in general, especially for those transitions that a lot of players have after they come from playing in the NBA or overseas to having to become a regular civilian. That’s a very hard transition and there’s a lot of mental health that goes along with that,” he said. “So, for me personally, Ice Cube and Big3 has been like a savior for me. Just reintegrating myself back into society, being able to have this league support me in that. I have my kids being able to see me play since they were not able to go overseas. My career ended during the pandemic so, this is love… beyond a blessing.”

Ice Cube said that was part of why he wanted to start Big3, to provide a platform where players can still do the thing that they love–playing basketball.

“It’s one of the special parts, one of the magical parts of the league in the fact that we put these guys where they belong. These are professional ballers, and when the NBA does not have room for them they sometimes feel that they’ve missed their calling or their time to show how good they are,” he said. “So having an outlet, having a platform where they can really show that they did this for a reason, they spent all this time in the gym for a reason, they take care of their bodies for a reason [is important.] They’re winners. They want to compete at the highest level with everyone watching, so to put them back in that arena does a lot for the mental health of the players.”

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By Tim Reynolds
AP Basketball Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) — He first played on the U.S. Olympic team as a 19-year-old. He did it again in his 20s, twice. And now, a few months from turning 40, he’s back for one more run.

LeBron James didn’t need another Olympic experience to complete some missing box on his resume or add to a legacy that was secured long, long ago. He decided to play this summer for one simple reason — because he wants to.

Taking his first steps toward becoming the first U.S. men’s basketball player to compete at the Olympics in three different decades, James hit the floor July 6 with the team that the Americans are sending to the Paris Games later this month. Training camp opened in Las Vegas, the start of a 5 1/2-week quest where the only acceptable ending will be the U.S. winning gold for a fifth consecutive time.

“I’m still playing a high level,” James, a three-time Olympic medalist — two golds and one bronze — said July 6 after the first workout. “I still love the game of basketball. And Team USA has done well by me, so I felt like it was important for this summer to be able to go out there and play with the rest of the guys.”

The first practice came on a day of another first for the James family; the workout in Las Vegas was simultaneous to the Los Angeles Lakers’ first game in the California Classic summer league — the pro debut of Bronny James, the son of the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.

It would have been very easy for James to ask for Day 1 off, to go see his son’s debut. It was never a consideration. He took the floor shortly after the buses rolled in, slapping hands with teammates, throwing down dunks and reconnecting with two of his former coaches — Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue, both of whom won NBA titles with James on their squads.

“I was blown away by how hard he practices,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “I went to Ty and Spo, and I said, ‘Is this normal?’ And they said, ‘Every day, every day.’ And then I said to Spo, ‘What about way back when you got him?’ And Spo said, ‘Every day, every drill, every walkthrough.'”

Kerr has coached against James in four NBA Finals, all of which featured Golden State guard Stephen Curry — who plays for Kerr with the Warriors and is making his Olympic debut this summer.

And it’s fair to say that teaming up was part of what intrigued James and Curry when it was time to decide whether to play in Paris or not.

“I’ve talked to both of them about this idea of being together after going against one another with such high stakes over the years,” Kerr said. “They obviously fit really well together. The idea of Steph playing off the ball, and LeBron pushing it in transition, that’s pretty intriguing. Obviously, Steph will play on the ball as well. And LeBron has become such a good shooter, but they’re both so good at so many different areas of the game. I think they’re really excited to compete together for the first time”.

James was part of the U.S. teams that won bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2006 world championships (now called the World Cup) in Japan. And ever since then, the Americans have gone unbeaten when James is wearing USA across his chest in international play.

Starting with the bronze medal game in Japan 18 years ago, the U.S. has played 36 games — 10 at the FIBA Americas tournament in 2007, then four exhibitions before and eight games at the 2008 Beijing Games, then five more exhibitions and eight games at the 2012 London Games — with James in uniform. The record: 36-0. He hopes it’s 47-0 when this summer’s run ends.

“I’m here to have a good summer,” James said.

Even after not playing in Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo, James will be participating in his fourth Olympics — tying the record for the most by any U.S. men’s player. Only Carmelo Anthony has played in four Olympics for the U.S. men to this point; Kevin Durant will play in his fourth this summer as well.

That’s a nice side note, but not the thing James is thinking about these days.

“Our only goal,” he said, “is to win a gold medal.”

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The Associated Press

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson and two of his former high school teammates were killed in an early morning car crash July 6 in Maryland, police and the team said.

Jackson, 24, and Isaiah Hazel died at the scene, while Anthony Lytton Jr., was pronounced dead at a hospital after the three-car crash in Prince George’s County, according to Maryland State Police. Lytton was 24 and Hazel was 23.

The three were in the same vehicle just after 3 a.m. when it was struck by another vehicle that was speeding and changing lanes, police said.

The Vikings released a statement saying the team spoke to Jackson’s family, and is “devastated by the news.”

“I am heartbroken by the loss of Khyree,” Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “As we got to know him throughout the pre-draft process, it was clear the goals Khyree wanted to accomplish both professionally and personally. His story was one of resilience. He was taking steps to become the best version of himself not just for him, but for those who cared about and looked up to him.”

Jackson was a fourth-round draft pick by the Vikings in April. He played two years at Alabama before finishing his college career with one season at Oregon.

Jackson was in the running to earn a starting cornerback job at the team’s training camp, which opens later this month in Eagan, Minnesota.

“I am absolutely crushed by this news,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Khyree brought a contagious energy to our facility and our team. His confidence and engaging personality immediately drew his teammates to him.”

Hazel played college football at Maryland and Charlotte, and Lytton played at Florida State and Penn State.

The three won a state championship together at Maryland’s Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School, which paid tribute to them in a social media post.

Hazel was driving, and Jackson and Lytton were passengers in a Dodge Charger, which veered off the road after being hit and struck multiple tree stumps, police said.

Investigators believe the driver of a second vehicle traveling north attempted to change lanes “at a high rate of speed” when it collided with the car driven by Hazel and a third vehicle.

Nobody was injured in the second or third vehicles.

Investigators say alcohol might have been a contributing factor in the crash and charges could be coming.

Jackson was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection by The Associated Press last season after tying for second in the conference with three interceptions. His college career began in junior college in 2019.

“RIP Khyree… Love you,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning posted on social media. “At a loss for words. I will miss your smile. Great player, better person.”

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

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By Sen. Cory V. McCray
Special to the AFRO

Throughout my life, I have often paused to consider how I can impact the future for others. This reflection is one of the reasons I became a public servant, starting as a delegate in the House and subsequently being elected to the Maryland Senate to represent the 45th Legislative District. Building on a legacy and helping others to do the same has been a guiding principle for me in this role.

One example of a commitment to legacy is a learn-to-swim program that began as a three-month initiative by a Baltimore City physical education teacher in his backyard pool in the Windsor Mill community of Baltimore County. Today, this program has blossomed into a life-changing force, credited for teaching nearly 20,000 people—primarily from the Black and Brown community—how to swim. This program showcases the profound impact of dedicated community service.

Earlier this year, a mutual friend introduced me to Marvin Thorpe Jr., a man whose faith in God, passion for his community, and dedication to building on his father’s legacy are inspiring. Mr. Thorpe owns and operates the 4M Swim Club. His father, Marvin Thorpe Sr., started this legacy in 1972, and Mr. Thorpe has been carrying the torch with remarkable zeal since his father’s passing in 2004.

What struck me about Mr. Thorpe was his unwavering drive to expand on the legacy. This summer marks a significant milestone for him: it is the first summer that he won’t be operating from the backyard pool in Windsor Mill. Instead, he has chosen to rent out the pools at Forest Park High School and LifeBridge Health and Fitness. The expansion was necessary to accommodate not only his learn-to-swim programs for adults and children but also the USA Youth Swim Team and a U.S. Masters Adult Team that he developed.

In the more than 50-year history of 4M Swim, Mr. Thorpe has tirelessly worked to increase the interest, urgency, and visibility of swimming within the Black and Brown community. He shared a staggering statistic with me: 64 percent of people of color cannot swim. He believes that several factors are to blame for this number, such as a lack of accessibility and visibility of swimming opportunities for these communities.

As a public servant and a community advocate, I found Mr. Thorpe’s mission deeply compelling. His efforts highlight the importance of community-driven initiatives in addressing disparities and building a brighter future for all. During this most recent 90-day legislative session, we managed to secure nearly $8 million in capital investments to fund more than 20 projects and initiatives in Maryland’s 45th Legislative District, covering parts of east and northeast Baltimore. Over the last few years, we have secured millions in funding for cultural landmarks such as the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the Mack Lewis Gym and the new grocery store in Somerset.

It makes me proud to say that $750,000 went to Mr. Thorpe for the construction of a new health and wellness aquatic center in the 45th District, something his father, Marvin Sr., had dreamed of. This is only the start of what will include an indoor competitive swimming pool, a therapy/learn-to-swim pool, and other features to uplift and empower people in the community. Once built, the center will allow Mr. Thorpe to provide this life skill year-round to people in the community.

Programs like 4M Swim do more than teach a valuable skill; they open doors to new opportunities, foster community spirit, save lives, and most importantly, build on a legacy. In a world where we often focus on the negative, it’s important to celebrate and support the positive impacts made by individuals like Marvin Thorpe Jr. His work reminds us that with dedication and a clear vision, we can create lasting change and inspire future generations.

Senator Cory V. McCray represents Maryland’s 45th Legislative District, advocating for equitable policymaking, public safety and community development.

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By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Intern
mabott@afro.com

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) researched the fiscal and community impact of sports and entertainment venues in the District with a new report, released on June 13. The report included an analysis of major sports teams potentially relocating to the District, while also including the economic impact that sports and entertainment facilities have had in the city as of date. 

The report showed that major sports have generated significant revenue for the city, including a total of $5 billion in 2022. In 2023, nearly 7.5 million people traveled to the District to watch a major sporting event and 88 percent were non-District residents. 34 percent of visitors travel from Virginia, 30 percent travel from Maryland and an impressive 24 percent of fans travel from outside of the DMV. 

“D.C. is the sports capital. We know how important sports are to our city’s economy and culture,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser in a press release. “They create jobs, generate tax revenue, and spur economic development. But sports also create a lot of pride in our city, they bring people together, and we look forward to continuing to support our teams in ways that benefit our city and residents and help knock D.C.’s comeback out of the park.”

The venues included in the report are Capital One Arena, Audi Field, Nationals Park and the Entertainment and Sports Arena. Capital One Arena is home to the National Basketball League Washington Wizards and the National Hockey League Washington Capitals. Major League Soccer’s DC United play at Audi Field. The Women’s National Basketball League Washington Mystics play games both at the Entertainment and Sports Arena as well as Capital One Arena. Audi Field is also home to the annual Truth and Service Classic, a rivalry game between the city’s own Howard Bison and the Hampton Pirates.

The report also showed that sport outings increase metrorail ridership. Gallery Place station, close to Capital One, has the second highest daily ridership in the city, second only to Union Station. 

A poll showed that 76 percent of D.C. residents would support a Washington Commanders relocation to the city. The Commanders used to call Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium home but they now play at Commanders Field in Prince George’s County, Md. Hosting a National Football League franchise is projected to produce over $1.25 billion in economic revenue, $25 million in tax revenue, $289.8 million in labor income and create 2,095 jobs. The last professional team to play in RFK Stadium was DC United in 2019.

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By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Intern
mabott@afro.com

Legendary D.C. high school basketball coach and sports talk show host James “Butch” McAdams passed away on June 23. The longtime mentor and community leader died in his home, located in northwest D.C.

McAdams was a true pillar of the D.C. sports community. The District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) and Metropolitan Basketball Hall of Famer became one of the most respected names in the DMV sports media scene with his highly celebrated sports radio talk show “In and Out of Sports.”

“We lost an icon and legendary voice of sports and talk radio. Coach McAdams was a voice who wasn’t afraid to say what and how he felt and always stood tall on his outlook and opinions. Coach Butch McAdams will be forever loved and missed throughout the DMV,” said Sean Stinnett, Baltimore native and former director of women’s basketball operations at Bowie State University.

Prior to hosting “In and Out of Sports” in 2011, McAdams’ legacy and impact was first on display as a longtime coach. McAdams began his coaching journey as an assistant coach before he was selected to be the head coach at Maret High School located in northwest D.C. 

Over the span of approximately three decades, McAdams coached the Maret basketball team to heights that proved him to be one of the best high school coaches in the D.C. and Maryland area. His teams were ranked as a top 20 team multiple years and several of his players would go on to play Division One basketball. Some of the schools that his athletes went on to play at include the University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.

“He was a [good] coach because of how he was able to pass through history…his connections within the basketball world. He is able to evaluate talent. He’s able to bring people together and he did that on his radio show,” said Michael Tillery, writer and reporter for The Starting Five.

McAdams’ love for basketball and sports in general was something that he showed from a very young age. He would go to the playground as a young kid just to inform his friends about what was going on in the sports world. He was an avid reader of the newspaper which strengthened his sports knowledge.

The lifelong D.C. resident would go on to play basketball at Mackin High School before graduating and moving on to attend the University of the District of Columbia. When McAdams was in high school, Mackin was a powerhouse basketball program.

McAdams had a profound impact on the athletes he coached, sports enthusiasts that regularly tuned into his radio talk show and the greater DMV community.

“Two weeks prior to his death, I was on his radio show alongside Kevin Blackistone. What I appreciate about Coach McAdams first and foremost is his dedication to making sure that the history of Black people and black athletes is being told. He was very diligent in making sure that history was passed down accordingly by getting certain people on his show to explain their eras, their experience in the sports world as well as life in general,” said Tillery.

McAdams also co-hosted “Coach’s Corner,” alongside T.J. Smith, as well as “Coach’s Game Time Conversation,” broadcast on 1010 AM WOLB. He was a contributor to the Larry Young Morning Show in Baltimore. Guest appearances on “In and Out of Sports” include the late, great Georgetown head coach John Thompson and 2017 National Basketball League first overall draft pick Markelle Fultz.

The radio personality is also remembered for his unique fashion sense. James “Butch” McAdams is survived by his wife, Andrea.

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By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Sports Intern
mabbott@afro.com

Willie Mays Jr., widely regarded as the best center fielder ever and one of the greatest baseball players of all time, died June 18 at the age of 93 due to heart failure.

Mays was truly one of baseball’s most recognizable names and faces, synonymous with “America’s pastime,” and was one of the athletes that aided in making Major League Baseball (MLB) a bigger brand. People of all ages and races wanted to watch the superstar dazzle on the pitch and achieve athletic heights that many players who succeeded him couldn’t even reach.

“Willie Mays was a part of the vanguard of Black baseball players out of the Negro Leagues who were able to play in the majors and their impact, his in particular, was stunning,” said ESPN panelist and Washington Post columnist Kevin Blackistone. 

Mays was born in Westfield, Ala., on May 6, 1931. He was one of 10 siblings. Mays was introduced to baseball at a young age through his father Willie Howard “Cat” Mays Sr. 

Mays and his father were teammates on Mays Sr.’s Birmingham Industrial League team. Through this team, Mays met Piper Davis, which led to him playing with both the Chattanooga Choo-Choos and the Black Barons of the Negro League for three years while in high school. In 1948, the Black Barons made it to the Negro League World Series. After graduating high school at 19, Mays was signed to the New York Giants organization for $4,000.

After dominating in the minor leagues, Mays was quickly promoted to the big league. In 1951, Mays was the recipient of the National League Rookie of the Year award. Three years later, Mays won the World Series and his first National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. During that World Series championship run, Mays made one of the greatest catches in baseball history, affectionately referred to as “The Catch.” The Polo Grounds stadium that the game was played at had very unorthodox dimensions, with right and left field being extremely shallow but center field being very large and far. The ball traveled 425 feet and Mays caught it over his head in a full sprint. In 2024, that would be a homerun in every single major league ballpark in the United States and Toronto.

Mays played a huge role in the expansion of the MLB and baseball in general. After he had played his first six MLB seasons in New York, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers both relocated to California. With the move to San Francisco, Mays assisted in making the sport more visible and popular across the country, wowing fans from coast to coast and becoming a true national hero. 

“He set a path for many people. Without Mays there aren’t players like Rickey Henderson, Ken Griffey Jr. and so many others. Not only was he a grinder on the field but he was an even better person off the field,” said Nick Payero, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds organization.

During his baseball career, Mays was a 24-time All Star, two-time MVP, 12-time Golden Glove Award winner and a recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award in 1971. Mays played with the Giants for over 20 years (with a brief gap due to military service) before returning to The Big Apple to play his final two seasons with the New York Mets. 

Mays is also considered the most complete baseball player of all time as he was one of the first true examples of a five-tool player. Mays hit for both average and power, while also being an elite defender, base runner and having a strong arm. 

“To serve in the Korean War, come back and he’s still spectacular at everything he does . If you were to define the five-tool baseball player, it would be a picture of Willie Mays and all of his accomplishments,” said Blackistone.

Mays led the league in home runs four times and also led the MLB in stolen bases for four consecutive seasons. He finished his 1954 MVP campaign with the highest batting average in the MLB. He also holds the record for most home runs hit in a game with four, which he holds alongside nine other MLB players. 

Mays is a member of Major League Baseball’s All-Time Team and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. In 2015, President Barack Obama presented Mays with the Presidential Medal of Freedom due to his impact on American culture as a whole. Upon hearing the news that Mays had passed away, Obama took to X to share his condolences. 

“He was also a wonderfully warm and generous person – and an inspiration to an entire generation. I’m lucky to have spent time with him over the years, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family,” said the former president.

Mays is also remembered for being an active member of his community. He wasn’t the most vocal when it came to publicly speaking about topics on race and politics. However, Mays lived in the predominantly-Black borough of the Bronx, N.Y., for most of his MLB career, and prior to being married, he would go out and play stickball with all of the children a reported two-to-three times a week. He also played a role in housing discrimination being outlawed in San Francisco.

Mays’ legacy is continued by his son Michael Mays.

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By Mark Anderson
AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Gervonta “Tank” Davis made a triumphant return to the ring after more than a year away, once again showing why he is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers.

Armed with a punching power not typically associated with a lightweight, Davis made full use of his skills June 15 in dominating Frank Martin and knocking him out at 1:29 of the eighth round to retain the WBA championship.

“I knew the way he fell he wasn’t getting back up,” Davis said.

Davis delivered a right and two lefts to Martin’s face to send the Indianapolis resident to the canvas for his first career loss after he won his first 18 fights. Tank again proved to be one of boxing’s most ferocious punchers, improving to 30-0 — all but two by knockout.

He predicted before the fight an eight-round knockout.

“I was just throwing that out there. Next fight in the first round,” Davis said, smiling.

This fight showed why Davis, a Baltimore native and resident, was a substantial favorite at 7-1, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

That bout between 29-year-olds headlined the 100th championship fight night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which has been supplanted by T-Mobile Arena as Las Vegas’ prime spot for combat sports. To mark the occasion, four title fights took place, including the interim WBC light heavyweight championship that David Benavidez won by unanimous decision over Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

But there was no doubt who the main attractions were on this night, and that was clear at the June 12 press conference. Davis and Martin bantered back and forth during the news conference. Then when the two boxers did the traditional poses afterward, Davis pretended to take a swing at Martin. Martin flinched and Davis left the podium laughing.

This was Davis’ first fight since April 22, 2023, when he delivered a devastating left uppercut that handed Ryan Garcia a seventh-round knockout at T-Mobile Arena. Garcia, wearing a shirt that read “Tank’s No. 1 Fan,” congratulated and hugged the champion after the victory over Martin.

The 421-day layoff showed early as Martin won two of the first three rounds, including a right that caught Davis in the face.

That seemed to wake up Davis, who then took over the fight by repeatedly sending Martin into ropes and corners. Davis appeared ready to finish off Martin with several hard blows in the sixth round, bringing the pro-Tank crowd of 13,239 to its feet.

“I had to get in the right range,” Davis said. “He has a decent jab. I had to break him down as the fight was going on.”

Then in the eighth, Davis ended any doubts by charging after Martin early then knocking him out midway through the round. As Martin was being counted out, Davis bounced on the second rung of the ropes, jumped off, and then went to the top cords and did a backflip and stuck the landing.

“I got caught with a shot that I didn’t see,” Martin said. “It came from underneath.”

Benavidez (29-0) made a successful debut in his move up from super middleweight. The Las Vegas resident defeated Gvozdyk (20-2), a Ukraine native who trains in Oxnard, California, by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109.

Alberto Puello (23-0) of the Dominican Republic won the WBC interim super lightweight championship with a split decision over Gary Russell (17-1) of Capitol Heights, Maryland. Two judges gave Puello the victory with scores of 115-112 and 114-113 and another had it for Russell 118-109.

Dominican middleweight champion Carlos Adames (24-1) retained his WBC belt with a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha (24-4-1) of Encino, California. Two judges scored the fight 118-110 and the other had it 119-109.

Heisman Trophy winner and Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was among those in attendance. Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard, Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan and coach Antonio Pierce and owner Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders also were in the crowd.

___

AP sports: https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Sports Intern
mabbott@afro.com

Gervonta “Tank” Davis will defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight world title against Frank Martin at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on June 15. Both fighters in the pay-per-view (PPV) bout are currently undefeated. The fight will be available via Amazon Prime. 

The event kicks off at 8 p.m. EST, with ring walk-outs for both Davis and Martin expected to commence at 11 p.m. Davis will be co-headlining the event with David Benavídez, who will be fighting Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Davis is a five-time world champion and has been holding the WBA lightweight world title since 2023. 

“Tank gave him the opportunity. So come Saturday night, I guarantee you is going to put on a great show and a great performance,” said former WBA welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. at the official final press conference for the fight. Spence is serving as Martin’s promoter. “He is going to show you why he is the greatest 135-pounder in the world and the new WBA champion of the world.”

Davis boasts a record of 29-0 with 27 of those victories being knockouts. Martin’s record is 18-0, with 67 percent of victories being knockouts. Davis’ last bout was against Ryan Garcia in April 2023. Davis defeated Garcia by knockout. After knocking him down in round two, Davis caught Garcia with a body shot in the seventh round forcing Garcia to his knees,  and unable to recover in time. Prior to the Davis-Garcia bout, the Baltimore native broke a gate record at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., and defeated Hector Luis Garcia in nine rounds.

Davis trains at Uptown Boxing Center in Baltimore. He is coached by Calvin Ford, and Floyd “Money” Mayweather is typically a mainstay in Davis’s corner at big fights as a mentor. Davis used to be represented by Mayweather Promotions but left in 2022. TGB Promotions serves as the promotion team for Davis, and Spence’s promotion company, Man Down Promotions, is representing Martin.

“I just want to come out and give a great performance,” said Davis during the press conference. “That’s my gift back to the fans and everybody that played a part in this event.”

The event will mark a historic 100th championship fight night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The venue was also home to classic fights such as Mayweather vs. Pacquiao and Holyfield vs. Tyson II. 
The telecast of the fight will be available on traditional cable television and satellite outlets. The fight is also available on PPV.com. Tickets for the bout are available on www.axs.com, ranging from $305 to over $1,200.

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By Mekhi Abbott
AFRO Sports Intern
mabbott@afro.com

On June 6, Angel Reese registered a double-double and Chennedy Carter scored 25 points off the bench leading the Chicago Sky to a 79-71 victory over the Washington Mystics in Capital One Arena.

This was Reese’s first game in Capital One Arena since becoming a professional. Reese finished the matchup with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Six of her 11 rebounds were offensive boards.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Reese. The Mystics typically play at the Sports and Entertainment Arena but the game was moved to Capital One due to fan demand. 10,000 people were in attendance, including Reese’s brother and collegiate basketball player for the Maryland Terrapins, Julian Reese. Reese’s mother and Kim Mulkey, Reese’s coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), were also in attendance. 

“Being able to come back home and get a win, obviously I love the environment,” said Reese.

Going into halftime the Washington Mystics led 44-35. Mystics rookie Aaliyah Edwards started off hot with 16 points, shooting 7-7 from the field. She finished the game with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

On June 1, the Chicago Sky were narrowly defeated by the Indiana Fever, 71-70. In the matchup, Chennedy Carter was accessed a common, away from the ball after shoulder checking Caitlin Clark with 15.1 seconds left in the third quarter. Upon review, the foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 on June 2. A Flagrant foul is a foul in which contact against a player, with or without the ball, is deemed unnecessary.

The play resulted in a media whirlwind, with basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman and Indiana congressman Jim Banks chiming in. Lieberman said she “would’ve punched [Carter] in the face” and Banks went the lengths to pen a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, encouraging her to enforce a stricter punishment on Carter.

Scoring 25 points is an early season high for Carter. Since the Sky’s matchup against the Fever, Carter is leading the Sky in scoring with 20.5 points per game. She scored 19 in the matchup against the Fever.

“The moment she comes in [the game], she brings immediate energy. She’s electric…I don’t think enough people pay attention to her defense,” said coach Teresa Witherspoon. 

Reese, the former Maryland Terrapin and Baltimore native, was overwhelmed by the overall reception and turnout during the game. In December, LSU traveled to Baltimore to play Coppin State and Reese led her team in scoring with 26 points and five steals. Just six months later and two months removed from losing to Iowa in the Elite Eight, Reese is 10 games into her professional career. 

The WNBA season begins in May, giving a lot of the top prospects that are draft eligible not even a full month before they have to transition between playing in college to playing in the pros. 

“It’s been great, I am overwhelmed by all of the love. It’s surreal,” said Reese. “I am trying to take it all in but everything is moving so fast.”

The Mystics next game is against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, also in Capital One Arena due to demand. Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky will be returning to Washington on June 14. They face off a total of four times during the regular season.

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By John Celestand 
Word in Black

John Celestand is the program director of the Knight x LMA BloomLab, a $3.2 million initiative that supports the advancement and sustainability of local Black-owned news publications. He is a former freelance sports broadcaster and writer who covered the NBA and college basketball for multiple networks such as ESPN Regional Television, SNY, and Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia. John was a member of the 2000 Los Angeles Lakers NBA Championship Team, playing alongside the late great Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and son. Credit: Courtesy photo 

Back in early March, in a statement released on social media, legendary Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith blasted his alma mater, the University of Florida, for eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion program. Smith warned minority athletes at Florida to “please be aware and vocal” about the decision the university was making, which in essence meant closing the doors on students of color. 

A few days later, NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson asked “current and prospective” student-athletes to “reconsider any potential decision to attend, and compete at a predominantly white institution in the state of Florida.” He pointed out that “these institutions reap considerable financial benefits from the very individuals they fail to stand by in matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”  

So, should Black athletes refuse to attend schools that defund DEI? 

After all, today’s athletes command major coin when it comes to NIL (name, image, and likeness) dollars. Their ability to enter the portal and transfer to other universities without repercussion could, if leveraged correctly, have a tremendous influence on how universities handle DEI.

The question came up again this week for me after news broke that the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, plans to divert the school’s entire $2.3M DEI budget toward public safety and policing. 

Basically, UNC “said that the opposite of funding DEI programming is funding police,” writer, researcher, and Harvard Kennedy fellow Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman wrote on X this week. 

North Carolina brought in nearly $123 million in revenue from athletics in 2022. If every Black athlete at the school refused to play until the DEI budget was restored, that would undoubtedly put pressure on the school.

But even though today’s college athletes are in a prime position to effect change around DEI at universities because of their platforms, power, and heavy influence, is this really their responsibility?

Who should stand up for DEI?

“I don’t think it is their responsibility” says Leashia Lewis, assistant athletic director for diversity equity and inclusion at Villanova University.“They have an opportunity to use their platform and voices to make change, but it is also the responsibility of athletic departments to support them in doing that. My question would be, are athletic departments willing to or in a position to support student-athletes when they have something to say or want to fight for change?” 

There’s also the reality that Black athletes of the past were fighting for basic civil rights, which made it easier to think from a collective standpoint. 

“The risk of being a social justice activist and using your platform is different now. Many student-athletes are not willing to take the risk,” Lewis says.

“The risk is playing time, reputation, belief that your coach may see you as an outcast —, especially if you are not the superstar. There is also their personal branding, and NIL deals they may not want to risk. Especially for football and basketball players who have the highest platforms. Some of them are not prepared to take that risk.” 

How did we get here?

The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, opened a floodgate of pledges to support DEI across corporate America and beyond. Companies and universities jostled to be first in line to beat their chests and voice their support and commitment to increasing opportunities to hire, accept, and retain people from underrepresented, underprivileged, and less advantaged communities.  

I was always skeptical. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And now it has — falling harder than Humpty Dumpty ever did.

In 2023, Florida, under the leadership of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, became one of the first states to enact a law restricting DEI efforts. It banned the state’s public universities from spending money on DEI initiatives and placed restrictions on how educators could discuss discrimination in mandatory courses. Texas, North Carolina, and North Dakota passed similar bills later in the year. So far in 2024, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Alabama have passed bills that are set to go into effect July 1.  

The University of Texas and Alabama are both ranked in the top five of the AP Top 25 College Football Poll. According to USA Today’s tracking, in 2022, these schools brought in over $239 million and $214 million, respectively.

Translation: Athletes most definitely have some pull. 

Athletes have always been on the frontlines.

Athletes and college students have almost always been on the frontline of change. Many professional athletes, such as Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Colin Kaepernick, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos, took stances but also sacrificed their personal lives and careers. 

“Historically, athletes have used their platforms to speak for justice or to make change and bring attention to injustices that are in our society,” Lewis says.

“Much of the DEI work in athletics right now has existed as a result of athletes speaking up in response to Colin Kaepernick in 2017 taking a knee and also in response to George Floyd being murdered,” she says.

As everyone knows, though, Kaepernick’s football career was destroyed by his decision to protest.

Is this what we are expecting of today’s college athletes?  

What if they are prepared to take that risk? 

“Right now, the climate in college athletics across the country in terms of DEI is not as active as it was in 2020,” Lewis says. “There are other things taking priority now like NIL, the transfer portal, unionizing the student-athlete, and having them be considered employees for the institution.” 

There is no definitive answer to this dilemma. If student-athletes covet their individual earnings and opportunities more than the collective justice for the silent, minoritized, and marginalized communities lacking the power to speak up for themselves, then the conversation about risk doesn’t matter. 

And riddle me this: What would I have done back when I was a student-athlete in the late 1990s if I had a million-dollar NIL deal on the table?  

Would I have sacrificed for the collective? If that were the case, then should I have even been asked to?  

Lewis doesn’t believe so. 

“My call to action is to the ecosystem around them,” she says. “Why do they (athletes) have to risk everything for justice when we’ve talked so much about supporting the whole athlete and that we need to give them everything they need to perform? So, in a sense, this is a performance, and we need to give them everything they need to succeed.”

This article was originally published by Word in Black. 

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By Lauren Victoria Burke
NNPA Newswire 

O.J. Simpson died on April 10, 2024. But the obsession around the former football legend widely suspected of murdering his second wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994, continues.

Simpson was found not guilty on Oct. 3, 1995, after a jury acquitted him. A 1997 civil trial found O.J. Simpson was liable for the deaths of Nicole Simpson and Goldman, and he was ordered to pay over $33 million in damages. Over 150 million watched the trial live. At first, networks were reluctant to give the Simpson case major news attention. That changed when viewers tuned in in record numbers.

“He asserted his innocence from the very beginning,” said Alan Dershowitz, one of Simpson’s attorneys, on Piers Morgan Uncensored on April 16. Dershowitz also added that there was proven tampering with evidence.

“The prosecution messed the case up in every way… this was the American justice system working,” he added.

The trial was televised, turning it into an obsession that riveted the nation over weeks. O.J. Simpson’s legal team was legendary and a key reason for why he was able to win a case over public prosecutors. Simpson’s team included Barry Scheck, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, and–perhaps most notably– famed defense attorney, Johnnie Cochran.

A pivotal point in the Simpson trial came with the realization that one of the Detectives in the Simpson case had made racist statements in the past. Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman, now a former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department, was a central figure in the 1995 trial.

On Fox News, where Fuhrman was an on-air contributor, Jeanine Pirro and Richard Fowler pointed out that tapes that included racist comments by then-police detective Mark Fuhrman screwed up the prosecution’s murder case against  O.J. Simpson. They left out that Fuhrman has worked for Fox News for years. Fuhrman took the fifth when asked if he planted evidence.

So much of the analysis around the Simpson case ignores the general context of the criminal justice system’s treatment of Black men. Black men in America are disproportionately incarcerated and given longer sentences than White males. Because of Simpson’s wealth, he was able to do something most defendants cannot do: Hire the best multi-expert legal team available. The reality of a Black man being acquitted in the murders of a White woman and man was clearly jarring to many commentators.

The family of O.J. Simpson will not be allowing his brain to be analyzed for any possible issues around Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The brain disorder, which scientists have concluded is likely caused by repeated head injuries, is also related to suicides in NFL players and violence after their playing days come to an end.

This article was originally published by NNPA Newswire.       Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the publisher of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and speaks on Crisis Comms on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.

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By Will Graves
AP National Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Gabby Douglas’ long shot bid to make the U.S. women’s gymnastics team for the Paris Olympics is over.

The 2012 Olympic all-around champion withdrew from the USA Gymnastics Championships on May 29, citing an ankle injury.

The 28-year-old Douglas, who also helped the U.S. win gold in the team competition at the 2016 Olympics, had been attempting a comeback after an eight-year layoff.

She returned to competition at the American Classic last month and made her first appearance at a major U.S. meet at the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, two weeks ago.

Douglas fell twice on the uneven bars in her first rotation, finishing her routine while the crowd chanted her name. She withdrew from the remainder of the meet but did not offer specifics.

Douglas qualified to compete in three events — vault, uneven bars and balance beam — but did not meet the minimum score standard to compete in the all-around, limiting her chances of making what will be a highly competitive five-woman U.S. team.

Douglas, the first Black woman to win the Olympic title, announced her return last summer, saying her love for the sport had returned while watching the 2022 U.S. championships.

“It ended rough for me in 2016, so I didn’t want to end on that note,” Douglas said before the U.S. Classic. “Regardless of the outcome, I wanted to make sure I end on love and joy instead of hating something that I loved.”

She has spent most of the last two years training in Texas under Valeri Liukin, the father and coach of 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin.

Douglas competed in all four events at the American Classic, showing signs of rust but also glimpses of the powerhouse she was when she burst onto the scene in the run-up to the London Olympics.

She left England as a champion and a star before taking a brief break. She returned to training in 2014 and helped the American women continue their long run atop the sport by winning gold at the 2015 world championships and then again in Brazil the following summer.

Douglas never formally announced her retirement, though her return came as a bit of a surprise. Her future as a gymnast is uncertain, though there may be opportunities to compete again if she chooses.

___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

(NNPA Newswire) — Major League Baseball (MLB) has taken a historic step to rectify a long-standing oversight by officially incorporating Negro Leagues statistics into its historical record. Starting May 29, the achievements of approximately 2,300 Negro Leagues players will be recognized alongside those of MLB legends like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

For decades, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were celebrated as the greatest figures in baseball, with Ruth hailed as the best player and Cobb as the premier hitter. However, these narratives often excluded African American athletes whose contributions were underreported or dismissed. This exclusion persisted despite the talents that led to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in 1947 as the first Black player in the modern Major Leagues.

MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred announced this significant change three years ago, emphasizing the league’s commitment to correcting a historical wrong by elevating the Negro Leagues to “Major League” status. John Thorn, an MLB historian, and the Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee have been responsible for the meticulous process of officially incorporating Negro Leagues stats into MLB records. The team has been reviewing thousands of box scores and other historical data to integrate the statistics of the seven Negro Leagues into MLB’s database.

Josh Gibson, a standout in the Negro Leagues, will now lead multiple batting categories. His career batting average, slugging percentage and OPS surpass those of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. While some of Gibson’s legendary feats, such as the nearly 800 home runs mentioned on his Hall of Fame plaque, will not be included, many of his official stats will now be recognized.

Thorn hailed the decision as “not only righting a social, cultural, and historical wrong, it’s defining baseball as a game for Americans without exclusion.” He emphasized that baseball is a sport of tradition, but its capacity for profound change is equally significant.

To honor the Negro Leagues, MLB will host a tribute game on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama—the oldest professional baseball park in the U.S. Players will don period uniforms and pay tribute to legendary center fielder Willie Mays, an Alabama native.

With the integration of these statistics, players like Buck Leonard, Buck O’Neil, Cool Papa Bell, Doc Sykes, Monte Irvin, Leroy Satchel Paige and Gibson will finally receive their due recognition. Fans will now appreciate the true scope of their talents and achievements.

Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of Josh Gibson and executive director of the Josh Gibson Foundation, expressed the family’s excitement over this acknowledgment. “We always considered him a major leaguer; he just didn’t play in the major leagues,” Sean Gibson told NBC Sports, adding he is eager to see how his great-grandfather’s stats compare to those of other MLB legends.

Reflecting on this milestone, he added, “If Josh Gibson was alive right now, he’d be honored. He’ll probably wonder why it took so long. He’ll be happy for all the other baseball players, and more importantly he’ll be excited for his family to carry on his legacy.”

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By Deborah Bailey
Contributing Editor

Bowie State University’s 659 spring graduates got a relatable boost of encouragement from hometown heroine and philanthropic champion for underserved communities, Wanda Durant during commencement ceremonies, May 24.   

Durant, known affectionately locally as “Mama” Durant, serves as president of the Durant Family Charitable Foundation and is the mother of Phoenix Suns basketball star Kevin Durant.  Mama Durant treated the audience to a heartfelt exchange, sharing passages from her life’s journey.         

“OK. Let me just be Mama Durant,” she said after pausing from prepared remarks and transitioning flawlessly to an extemporaneous, transparent conversation with Bowie’s graduates.

The audience roared its approval as Durant spent the next 10 minutes in an unscripted dialogue about life as a young single mother, and her raw determination to create a life for her sons that supported success.    

“When I stand here and look at you graduates, I see myself, I see my sons,” Durant said. 

“See, I know what it takes to persevere. I came from the streets of Capitol Heights, Maryland. At the time it was the drug capital of the world,” she said to cheering members of the audience, referencing the small Maryland community bordering northeast and southeast D.C. where she raised her children as a single mother. 

“I had to raise two sons on my own when I was fearful and not knowing who I was or what I had to offer the world.  I had to do what you did and continue to strive on,” Durant said. “I made a promise to them that we were going to have a plan. Not just dreams but a plan attached to it.” 

Durant then transitioned from her family’s story to admonish graduates to live for more than their own success.  

“All of your success is not just for your glory. It’s for you to look back to those coming behind you. Continue to pave the way for them” Durant said.  

Liera Ford from Suitland, Maryland, reflected on her own parents as Durant spoke about the determination needed to encourage her children to succeed.     

“I totally connect with Ms. Durant,” said the newly minted business management bachelor’s degree recipient.  

“I know what it feels like to receive that level of support from your parents. My mom and dad stood up for me every step of the way. I was due to graduate last year, but here I am today and my parents and siblings are here with me. This is a big milestone for me,” said Ford with tears in her eyes. 

Small but significant touches make HBCU graduations unique events. Bowie State graduates were treated to congratulatory messages by both Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Wes Moore. 

Finally, someone is going to make sure graduates are camera ready for their moment to walk across the stage.  At Bowie State, that person is Shinzira Shomade, College of Education retention coordinator and double Bowie State University graduate. 

Shomade straightened collars, buttoned shirts and told graduates to lift their heads high just before they walked on stage to receive their degrees from President Aminta H. Breaux and University Provost Guy Alain Ammousou. 

“It brings me immense pleasure, honor and gratification to participate in the commencement ceremony, preparing our visionaries and change agents for this exciting moment,” Shomade said. 

Breaux announced several major initiatives, scholarships and recognitions received by the campus, including a ribbon cutting this summer of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Communication Arts & Humanities Building. The $159 million facility is scheduled to replace a 50-year-old academic building that currently bears the civil rights leader’s name.    

“If you don’t remember anything else this president said, go out and vote,” Breaux said emphatically. “Go out and vote.”

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By Edward G. Robinson III
Special to the AFRO

WNBA legend Candace Parker retired from professional basketball on April 28, stepping away from the cheers of fans and making claim to the title “G.O.A.T.”

Setting aside a professional life full of dunks and jump shots, she has chosen a new career path – Adidas announced on May 8 that the 38-year-old Parker has been named president of Adidas Women’s Basketball.

In this new position, Parker is expected to help grow the brand and influence the market place based on her years of professional experience – playing college basketball at Tennessee and professional basketball in the WNBA and as part of the U.S. Olympic Team. 

As a professional basketball player, Parker proved herself as a two-time NCAA Division I champion, three-time WNBA champion and two-time gold medalist. She earned a reputation as a leader and winner with her teams, and announced her retirement after 16 seasons. 

Parker continues her relationship with Adidas in this new role. 

“Stepping into this new leadership role is a deeply personal next step in my journey with Adidas,’” she said in a company press statement. “From high school to college to playing pro to now, this appointment by Adidas symbolizes a shared commitment to making impactful change and setting new benchmarks for the future of women’s sports. It’s not just about products; it’s about fostering a movement focused on innovation, representation, and access.”

Eric Wise, global general manager at Adidas Basketball, expressed his confidence in Parker. 

“We are honored to be a part of Candace’s historic legacy as she transitions from signature athlete to this new leadership role within Adidas Basketball,” he said.  “As a true innovator with a profound passion for the game, we are confident that she is a perfect fit to evolve the Adidas Women’s Basketball business and catalyze a new era of growth and credibility for the brand.”

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By Tracey Reavis
Special to the AFRO

FRISCO, TEXAS – For nearly a quarter of a century, Tim Howard proudly wore his red, white and blue jersey emblazoned with the U.S. crest across the front and No. 1 across the back. His first start for the U.S. men’s national team was in 2002, and Howard says it is right up there as one of his most memorable career moments.

“Without question, that first day in Birmingham, Alabama, at Legion Field, pulling on the national team shirt and walking across the line for my first cap,” Howard said. “Playing for my country, at three World Cups, and being a part of three World Cup teams. Any little kid will tell you, that’s the most special thing you could possibly do is play for your country.”

That little kid’s dream led to an award-winning 21-year career for club and country, and a career-defining honor for arguably the greatest goalkeeper in U.S. men’s national team history.

Tim Howard was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on May 4. Howard, 44, was elected in his first year of eligibility. 

At the induction ceremony, Howard was presented his Hall of Fame red jacket by Chris Sharpe, Colorado Rapids goalkeepers coach with whom he formed a great relationship while playing for the Major League Soccer (MLS) team. 

“I often think about what it is I most want people to know about me. I hear people talk about me all the time, and they say, ‘God-given ability.’ I don’t know what that is. That’s ambiguous. It’s vague and it’s subjective. What’s not ambiguous and vague and subjective was my desire to be the greatest goalkeeper this country has ever seen,” Howard stated in his acceptance speech. 

Howard’s career is most definitely Hall of Fame worthy. The New Jersey native played 21 years for Major League Soccer and the English Premier League, and holds the record for the most caps, 121, for a U.S. goalkeeper. 

Howard’s soccer journey began when he joined the Olympic Development Program at 13. He eventually played in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship with the U.S. U-20 MNT (Men’s National Team). After earning his first MNT cap in 2002, he made his first FIFA World Cup roster in 2006.

By the 2010 World Cup, Howard was the starting keeper for the U.S. His masterclass performance during the 2014 World Cup, when the U.S. took on Belgium in the Round of 16, earned him the “Secretary of Defense” nickname after setting a record for the most saves in a World Cup game with 16. Howard was voted the Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) Goalkeeper of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

“Tim Howard, in my opinion, is the best goalkeeper in the history of the USMNT,” said Briana Scurry, former U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper, World Cup champion and Olympic Gold medalist. Scurry is also a member of the Hall of Fame 2017 Class. “More importantly, I have tremendous admiration for the inspirational figure he has been off the field, particularly in the Black community, as a role model to the next generation of soccer players that we are now seeing start to feature on today’s USMNT.”

Howard’s play in goal could also have a significant influence on the next generation of U.S. players and goalkeepers.  

“What Howard represents is a milestone, something for future U.S. goalies to aspire to,” said Clemente Lisi, author of “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event” and “A History of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team.” Lisi added, “As an African American, Howard was also part of a generation that saw the national team become more racially integrated and better representative of the United States. That should be something that is also part of Howard’s legacy.”

Along with a legacy he left in the game, off the field, the Tim Howard Foundation is doing its part to provide soccer resources to youth. Howard has worked with the U.S. Soccer Foundation to help build mini-soccer pitches in underserved communities and wants to see more done. 

“I don’t think soccer in America has ever done enough for the Black and Brown communities,”  Howard said. “ We do a terrible job in America of going into underserved communities and taking one or two players out of that and thinking we did a great job. The reality is we have to go into these underserved communities, these lower socio-economic households and create a space for them to play, and to be safe, and to be active.”

The Tim Howard Foundation recently launched two mini-pitches in North Las Vegas. “Is that going to change the landscape?” he asked. “Absolutely not. But one field at a time, one community at a time, it can be done. This call isn’t long enough for you and I to discuss how we get there. But yes, I think more can be done.”

Howard’s career began and ended on a pitch for Major League Soccer. He made his debut with the Metrostars, (now RedBulls) at age 19. After six seasons, Howard headed to the English Premier League, where he played for 13 years. He joined Manchester United in 2003 and played 77 games at Old Trafford, winning the FA Cup, Football League Cup and FA Community Shield. Then he moved on to Everton, where in 2009, he set a club record for most clean sheets in a season. Howard returned to MLS in 2016 and finished out his career with the Colorado Rapids, retiring in 2019.

Just as wearing his country’s jersey made him proud, the red Hall of Fame jacket fits perfectly on U.S. soccer legend Tim Howard.

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By Cordell Woodland
Special to AFRO

The NFL draft has long been known as the “Super Bowl of the offseason.” 

The build-up for the event is sometimes exhausting but that doesn’t take away from its importance. The Baltimore Ravens use the draft as its primary source of team-building and this year proved no different. 

The Ravens entered the 2024 NFL Draft with nine picks and a need at offensive line, cornerback, running back, edge rusher, safety and wide receiver.

Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta weighed in on the event.

“I think it was a productive three days. [We didn’t make any] trades – we had some opportunities, but in the end picking the best player available made the most sense for us.”

Let’s take a look at the Ravens 2024 draft class:

CB Nate Wiggins, Clemson

The Ravens selected CB Nate Wiggins out of Clemson with the 30th pick in the first round. Wiggins was one of the fastest players in the class registering a 4.28 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. Wiggins gives the Ravens a guy who can run with the speedster receivers and has no problem playing the ball. 

“I was like ‘Man, I hope no one else picks him before it gets to us,’”  Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. “But, it was great. [I] just started getting excited because we knew he was our guy.” 

Orr echoed the sentiments of Ravens GM Eric DeCosta who said that they wanted Wiggins all along if he was available. 

T Roger Rosengarten, Washington

It was no secret that the offensive line was the Ravens’ biggest need going into the draft. They traded RT Morgan Moses to the Jets and they lost guards John Simpson and Kevin Zeitler to free agency. The Ravens used their second-round pick of Roger Rosengarten to address that need. 

Rosengarten is a 6 -foot-5 mammoth of a man who weighs in at 308 pounds. He blocked for one of the best quarterbacks in the nation last season in Michael Penix Jr., and was one of the best tackles in the nation. He will now have the opportunity to block for the reigning two-time MVP and he couldn’t be more happier. “As soon as I heard [it was] Baltimore, that’s the first thing that came to my mind – blocking for Lamar [Jackson],” Rosengarten said. “[He’s] an elite-level quarterback, an MVP-level quarterback. It’s a dream come true.”

OLB Adisa Isaac, Penn State

There’s no such thing as having too many pass rushers and in the case of the Ravens, they need as many as they can get. After losing last year’s sack leader Jadeveon Clowney to the Carolina Panthers, the Ravens drastically needed pass-rushing help. They selected Adisa Isaac from Penn State in the third round in hopes that he could give a boost to that group. 

“What I like about [Adisa Isaac] is [that] he’s got great length, which is a critical factor,” DeCosta said. “He’s got heavy hands, he’s got some different moves, he’s got speed and quickness, and I think he’s tenacious.” 

Isaac himself was asked if there’s a quarterback he’s most excited to bring down. “I need that [Patrick] Mahomes sack. I need that Josh Allen sack. I want to sack him just because I like his frame. He’s a bigger body, and he’s kind of athletic, so it would give me more of a challenge, and then Lamar Jackson.”

WR Devontez Walker, North Carolina

The wide receiver position has become a position that teams are constantly courting. It’s a passing league and receivers are more valuable today than ever before. The Ravens added WR Zay Flowers in the first round of last year’s draft and selected WR Devontez Walker from North Carolina in the fourth round of this year’s draft.

Walker is a speedster with raw route-running ability. He was third-team All-ACC despite only playing eight games due to eligibility issues. He has a shot to crack the Ravens’ rotation and potentially give them a much-needed deep threat. Walker talked about his ability to stretch the field being a strength for him.

“Definitely a vertical threat, but I feel like the speed, cuts at the top of the route and things like that, I feel like I’m very good in that aspect and running away from defenders,” he said. “Still need a little work at the top of the route, cleaning up steps and things like that, but I feel like releasing off the ball and being a vertical threat, those are the two strong points of my game.” 

CB T.J. Tampa ( Iowa State)

The Ravens selected CB Nate Wiggins in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft but as expected they weren’t done at the position. They came back in the fourth round to select T.J. Tampa from Iowa State as well. Tampa is a guy who was projected to go in the second or third round so the Ravens got great value with him. 

DeCosta was ecstatic to land Tampa saying, “T.J. [Tampa] is a guy that, quite honestly, we would’ve taken on the second day of the Draft. [He] is a press corner; [he’s] long [and] just a guy that we think really fits what we do very, very well.” The additions of Tampa and Wiggins will put a lot of pressure on some of the other young corners on the Ravens roster but should make for some fun camp battles. 

RB Rasheen Ali (Marshall)

The Ravens signed running back Derrick Henry this offseason, which to this point has been their biggest non-draft move. Despite signing Henry, the Ravens still needed more running back depth and more speed at the position. Losing Keaton Mitchell late in the season really hurt Baltimore’s offense so Rasheen Ali helps give them that speed element again.

Ali has home run capabilities with his one-cut, patient running style. The Ravens will see if Ali can be the lightning to Henry’s thunder. “Rasheen [Ali] is a running back that we’ve really liked since the fall; [I’m] excited about him.”, said DeCosta. “[We] had a chance to see him at the Senior Bowl before he got hurt, and [he] was very, very impressive to us as a guy that can run the ball, pass-protect and also catch the ball.”

QB Devin Leary (Kentucky)

The Ravens currently have the reigning two-time MVP in Lamar Jackson at the quarterback position but they needed a young and cheap backup. The team re-signed veteran Josh Johnson to be the immediate backup and lost Tyler Huntley to free agency. That prompted them to select quarterback Devin Leary from Kentucky in the sixth round. 

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said, “Devin [Leary] is a quarterback that we see as a viable backup over time.” That would make sense as he’s a developmental player who at best could be an average backup. 

Leary seemed thrilled about the possibility of playing in Baltimore, saying, “[It’s] a blessing. Honestly, [I was] completely taken by surprise. I talked to Coach [Tee] Martin at the combine and had an awesome conversation. [I] got to talk ball with him, and I just remember telling him, ‘Coach, anything that I can do to help this team win is why I want to be a part of the Ravens.’ To get that call and kind of turn my whole world around was truly a dream come true.” 

Seventh round selections

The Ravens finished the seventh round by selecting center Nick Samac from Michigan State and safety Sanoussi Kane from Purdue. While it’ll be tough for both guys to make the roster, there is an opening. The offensive line has major depth concerns so if Samac can show himself to be a reliable backup center while also flashing the ability to play elsewhere on the offensive line he could crack the roster. 

Sanoussi Kane also has a golden opportunity to potentially show himself to be a guy that the Ravens can trust on the back end of the defense. The Ravens desperately want to be able to use safety Kyle Hamilton in the nickel spot so if Kane can be trusted deep, it opens the door for the Ravens to continue to play their big nickel packages.

The post Ravens happy with ‘productive’ NFL Draft appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Howard University’s Sean Wray arrived at the Penn Relays with high expectations and then he delivered with a phenomenal performance during the college men’s long jump, capturing a gold medal with an event-winning leap of 7.33 meters (24 ft, ¾ in). 

He won the event on his third of five attempts in the pit at Franklin Field on April 26.

“Going into the meet I was focused on executing technique,” Wray said. “ Regardless of the results, I was going to be happy as long as I executed.”

Norfolk State long jumper Rodric Cox-Cooper executed too, finishing runner up with a jump of 7.25 (23 ft, 9 ½ in). 

Wray, a two-time Mid-eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) long jump champion, finished second in overall distance if you include the April 27 college championship section. For Wray, he said, it means more being able to represent HBCUs at a historic meet like Penn Relays.

“I’m honored to be able to use my talents to showcase the type of talent HBCUs have… It definitely means more to win and represent HBCUs,” he said. “HBCUs don’t get enough recognition and there is an overall stigma where people think are less than or aren’t on par with Power Five programs. It feels great to challenge that stigma.” 

This marks the third year in a row that a Howard Bison won an event at Penn Relays. Last year, Darci Khan took home a gold watch after winning the women’s 100-meter hurdle championship. In 2022, Howard University graduate and All-American Jessica Wright won her first gold watch after winning the women’s 400-meter hurdles. In 2023, she repeated as the Penn Relays 400-meter hurdles champion.

Howard University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Tennessee State University (TSU) and Saint Augustine’s University all participated in the Penn Relays. Those schools competed against other NCAA Division I universities such as Clemson, Penn State and Navy.

On the women’s side, Nyla Ward of Norfolk State finished second in the women’s long jump and Howard’s Ija Mumford finished in third. Joidon Battle of NCCU finished runner-up and TSU’s Elaina Housworth finished third in the triple jump. 

“HBCUs have a lot of talent to offer, and it’s just time that we stepped up and showed what we can really do,” Mumford said. “As the years have gone by, more and more HBCUs have decided to come to Penn to compete and that just shows that we can compete with any other Division I/Power 5 school. 

“All I’m going to say is be on the lookout for the MEAC and Coastal Athletic Association  because it’s getting very competitive with some very talented athletes!” 

On the track side, Norfolk State senior Kai Cole finished first in the preliminary rounds of the men’s 100 meter dash with a time of 10.29 seconds. Howard’s Ja’leak Perry also made the final with a time of 10.49 seconds. They finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the men’s championship final on April 27. 

Five HBCU athletes made the final in the men’s 110-meter hurdle championship – three Howard Bison and two North Carolina A&T Aggies. NCAT’s Jason Holmes finished second with a time of 13.43 seconds. Howard’s Samuel Bennett finished fourth, Zach Hawkins finished sixth and Otto Laing came in ninth. NCAT’s Thomas Smith took home seventh just breaking under 14 seconds with a time of 13.98. 

Howard’s women’s 4×100 team finished third with a (44.30) behind Ohio State (43.92) and TCU (44.05). The Bison’s quartet included graduate Kailei Collins, junior Tiffani-Rae Pittman and rookies Aiyana Gray-Williams and Mackenzie Robinson. 

During the women’s 4×400 meter college relay on April 27 three HBCU relay teams finished with top-four performances.

 Saint Augustine’s finished as the runner up while Norfolk State and Coppin State finished third and fourth. 

Saint Augustine’s actually holds the Penn Relay record in the event with a time of 3:33.97, set in 1999. 

The post HBCUs perform well at Penn Relays appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

Maliik Obee

Special to the AFRO

After Jackson State cornerback Isaiah Bolden became the only Black college player selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, there were no players from Historically Black Colleges or Universities called during this year’s draft on April 24-25 in Detroit.

Observers of college football and the NFL were left devastated by the news and what many are calling a lack of respect by NFL owners, coaches and scouts. They point to a recent history of neglect from the league and are demanding answers as to why talented players are consistently overlooked from HBCU institutions.

Morgan State University alum and Sirius XM radio host Donal Ware has devoted his career to HBCU advocacy and created a nationally syndicated sports program to discuss these issues.

“It’s really disappointing,” Ware said. “A travesty really. All of the great talent in HBCU football not just this year, but over the last several years, deserves better than this.”

Days following the conclusion of this year’s draft, more than 20 Black college players have been signed to an undrafted free agent contract, or earned a rookie minicamp invite. 

Still, observers say, the continued marginalization of Black college talent over the past decade-plus continues to be an issue. 

Despite boasting 30-plus Pro Football Hall of Fame recipients from a litany of historically Black institutions across FCS and Division II football, this year marks the second time (2021) in the past-five drafts that no Black college players have heard their name called. 

This comes as a shocking development, following the success of the 2022 class. All four players selected are currently on the rosters of the team that drafted them, with several becoming key contributors.

Fayetteville State cornerback Joshua Williams was selected in the fourth round by the Kansas City Chiefs, after earning an opportunity to participate in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. In two seasons, Williams has played in 33 games, helping the Chiefs to consecutive super bowl championships. 

With the No.142 selection, the Los Angeles Rams selected South Carolina State corner Decobie Durant, who snagged three interceptions as a rookie, before rising to start 9 games in 2023. Jackson State linebacker James Houston IV captured 8 sacks in 7 games as a rookie for the Detroit Lions in 2022, after the sixth round selection started off the year on the practice squad. Seventh round Southern University selection Ja’Tyre Carter was taken by the Chicago Bears to close out the draft at pick No.226. 

After two seasons on the practice squad, Carter looks to rise up Chicago’s depth chart in the third year. Florida A&M safety Markquese Bell was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent, showing his versatility by switching positions and rising to starting linebacker in 2023. The University of Maryland transfer recorded 94 combined tackles, 4 pass deflections and 2 forced fumbles across 17 games in his sophomore campaign.

But despite the numbers showing the productivity and success of Black college players granted an opportunity to play in the NFL, the numbers show a regression of chances taken by teams league-wide on draft night. Since 2010, there have been five drafts (2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022) where four Black college players heard their name called on draft night. In every case, fewer players were selected in the following year.

“When 30-40 percent of HBCU players make rosters in the NFL are undrafted free agents, that speaks to the talent level,” Ware said. “It’s up to the league to answer the question as to why HBCU players are not being drafted.”

In 2022, the NFL launched the first-ever HBCU Legacy Bowl, creating a showcase game for the top Black-college talent across FCS and Division II football. The annual game hosted in New Orleans has bridged the gap between old and new, connecting Black college draft hopefuls with legends that were once in their shoes, like Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams and four-time Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Champion and Pro Football Hall of Fame wideout John Stallworth. 

Despite a nationally-televised contest sponsored by the league itself, the game has yet to produce any drafted players. 

Interestingly enough, Legacy Bowl participant and former Florida A&M Rattlers wideout Marcus Riley made waves on social media Sund, after signing a 3-year, $2.83million undrafted deal with the New York Jets.

No HBCU players were selected from two of the biggest showcase games for college talent, as the Reese’s Senior Bowl and the Shrine Bowl failed to have any HBCU participants called from the podium. 

After earning a spot on the Senior Bowl roster following several standout seasons for Virginia State University at corner, Willie Drew was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers on April 27. So were the Shrine Bowl participants, despite standout performances from Grambling defensive end Sundiata Anderson, Alabama State cornerback Mikey Victor, Howard tackle Anim Dankwah and TCU guard (Jackson State transfer) Willis Patrick. All-four players have since agreed to undrafted deals.

Shrine Bowl scout Gerald Huggins Jr., spent his playing days at Virginia Union University, before becoming an assistant coach at Lincoln University. He pointed the issue away from race and focused on the size of the programs. 

“Though I was disappointed in the results of the draft for HBCU prospects,” he said. “The bigger conversation is, if you’re not in a Power 5 conference, then your chances of getting drafted are similar. It’s not an HBCU issue, so that narrative needs to be stopped. HBCUs need to continue to lean on platforms and individuals in spaces that can help with putting their players in better positions to reach the professional level. Getting drafted is fine but the goal is to get into camp.”

Anderson earned a $10,000 signing bonus in an agreed deal with the Seattle Seahawks, while Victor earned a $3,000 bonus from the New England Patriots. The guaranteed money points to an urgency for teams to secure talent amid the chaos of the undrafted market, yet does nothing to quell the fears of Black college talent who hope to see their NFL dreams come true. 

With the NCAA transfer portal continuing to become a bigger component in roster building, observers say the lack of crossover for HBCU talent may be a troubling sign for current players and potential recruits in the future.

Overall, 11 FCS players were selected in the 2024 draft, along with just one Division II player. The number is a dropoff from the 20 FCS names called in 2022. 

Between 2010-2018, there were 15-plus FCS players selected in 7-of-8 drafts. Since 2019, there have been two seasons with less than 10 players called. 

As more of the top HBCU players hope to receive a call for a rookie minicamp invite or undrafted deal, the growing neglect to draft small school talent continues to become a growing issue that could have troubling effects on Black college football in the future without immediate attention.

The post 2024 NFL Draft fails to select Black college players  appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Ariyana Griffin
Special to the AFRO

Morgan State University’s acrobatics and tumbling team held its inaugural season this year, becoming the first NCAA Division I program at a Historically Black University or College. MSU became the third school in Maryland to offer the sport.

The Bears finished with an overall record of 2-4 in their first season. Their roster consists of 26 female athletes, mostly first year students, who were recruited by Morgan’s head coach Regina Smith.

Smith said she looks for specific skill sets in recruiting talent and hasn’t opened tryouts due to the necessary physical, technical skillset and mental capacity needed to compete. 

“Because of how intense our sport is, the students are definitely hand-selected,” she said.

“Most of our competition is dedicated to the space of mental capacity and having that and mental health is a key factor.”

Makaya Stubbs is a freshman classified as a junior due to taking dual enrollment courses in. She is a health education major with a concentration in physical therapy from Douglasville, Ga. She said life on the team has been an adjustment.  

Stubbs grew up participating in recreational cheer and tumbling and competitive cheer during high school. A friend introduced her to Morgan’s program. 

She originally thought the sport would be easy due to her extensive background in cheer and tumbling. 

“I’ve done cheer, tumbling, stunts, flipping in the air. ‘This is gonna be a piece of cake,’” she said. “That was far from the truth. It was hard but it was very rewarding at the same time, learning all the new skills and seeing how similar it was to cheer but also gymnastics.”

Smith was previously a coach for acrobatics and tumbling, starting in a NCAA Division III program in Adrian, Michigan. She has also served as a head cheerleading coach, head dance coach and spirit coordinator at the collegiate level. She came to Morgan in 2022 specifically to coach the sport. 

“I came for the sheer fact of being able to provide opportunity for people of color, especially young women,” she said. “We don’t always have the same experience at other division one institutions, so being able to have that opportunity here at Morgan State is what attracted me to the position.”

Smith leads her team on the mat, but considers academics essential for each student athlete. The team has mandatory study hours and must maintain a 2.7 grade point average to compete and travel. 

“Our team GPA was like a 3.2 from the fall semester, we expect it to be higher from in the spring semester,” Smith said. “They are student-athletes.”

Morgan State’s all-Black team is working to diversify a majority-white the sport. 

“Usually when you look up acrobatics and tumbling, it’s predominantly White, all you see is a whole bunch of White females doing tumbling and stunting,” Stubbs said. “So when you look at Morgan it looks completely different because we are an all-Black team so people expect less of us because of the color of our skin. So I think coming to Morgan really showed people that we can do it, too. We can be just as good and maybe even better than other teams.”

Riley Davidson, a freshman psychology major from Clinton Township, Michigan expressed that it is important for HBCUs to broaden their sports programs. 

“I think it’s really good because I know a lot of these girls have very limited choices and it allows girls who look like me to do what they love,” she said.. “I feel like in predominantly White spaces, sometimes you don’t get appreciated the same way and you don’t get the same opportunities.”

Davidson said when she began her journey looking for colleges, she knew she wanted to be apart of an acrobatics team. 

“I really wanted to go to an HBCU because I didn’t grow up in that type of environment,” she said. “I grew up going to predominantly White schools and not really being with people who look like me, especially in my sport.”

The team visited the White House during Women’s History Month for an exclusive East Wing Tour, and were the first NCATA (National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association)  team to ever receive the honor. 

“I’m blessed to be able to say that I was able to have this experience with these young talented women and make history. We also came on the last day of Women History Month and that just spoke volumes,” Smith said.  For [the White House] to repost our post … was just another level of elevation on what these young athletes bring to Morgan State.”

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By The Associated Press

KATY, Texas (AP) — Gabby Douglas is officially back.

Whether the gymnastics star’s return to the sport carries all the way to the Paris Olympics remains to be seen.

Douglas, who became the first Black woman to win the Olympic all-around title when she triumphed in London in 2012, competed for the first time in eight years on April 27 at the American Classic.

The 28-year-old looked rusty in spots and promising in others while posting a score of 50.65 in the all-around. Douglas qualified in multiple events for the U.S. Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, next month. She will get another chance to qualify for the all-around competition at nationals when she takes the floor at the the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 18.

Douglas last competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she helped the Americans claim a second straight gold in the team competition. She took an extended break from the sport but never officially retired. The itch to come back returned while watching the 2022 U.S. Championships, and she’s spent the better part of the last two years training in the Dallas area with an eye toward trying to make the five-woman U.S. team that will be heavily favored to win gold in Paris this summer.

Her comeback, however, has been shrouded in mystery. She was supposed to compete at Winter Cup in February but she pulled out of the competition just days before after testing positive for COVID-19. She has limited press exposure and unlike 2020 Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey — both of whom competed at American Classic — she opted not to participate in podium training on April 26.

Douglas walked out onto the floor about an hour before competition and showed flashes of what turned her into a star in London. Her double-twisting Yurchenko on vault had plenty of amplitude and on bars — her best event — she had the pieces of a routine that would certainly be competitive at the elite level.

The challenge will be finding a way to put all the pieces together consistently.

Douglas came off bars twice and her floor routine lacked the crispness and endurance to stack up with what will be required for anyone hoping to make a serious bid for the Olympic team.

There is time for Douglas, but not much. The U.S. Classic is in three weeks. The U.S. Championships are in five and the Olympic Trials await in Minneapolis in late June.

Carey, who won gold on floor exercise in Tokyo, captured the all-around with a score of 55.000 while also recording the top scores on vault and floor. Lee, who has dealt with kidney-related health issues the last two years, put together a dazzling beam routine to win easily with a score of 14.300.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Suni Lee competed and won the balance beam competition. A previous version stated she competed and won on the uneven bars.

___

AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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By Cordell Woodland, Special to the AFRO

The NFL Draft is the highlight of the NFL offseason and for the Baltimore Ravens, it’s their main avenue for team building. Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has repeatedly talked about the importance of the draft to the Ravens and their roster. 

The Ravens held the 30th pick in the first round of the 2024 draft and didn’t waste time submitting their choice when their turn came on April 25, selecting cornerback Nate Wiggins from Clemson University. 

Wiggins, at 6-foot-1 and 173 pounds, is a certified speedster at the cornerback position – proven with his 4.28 time in the 40-yard dash. That combined with his ability to make game-changing plays was something the Ravens couldn’t pass on. 

“We’re very excited to draft Nate Wiggins,” DeCosta said. “In my opinion, he’s the best cover corner in the draft.”

Wiggins was First-team All-ACC in 2022 and 2023. He finished 2023 with 25 tackles (one for loss), a team-high nine pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one sack and two interceptions. He returned one of those interceptions for a touchdown as well. 

The Ravens love positional versatility and Wiggins may add to that. Head coach John Harbaugh said they envision him as more of an outside guy but he can play inside as well. This pick will allow the Ravens to use veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey in the nickel spot more often. 

“I couldn’t be happier to be in Baltimore,” Wiggins said. 

He said he wasn’t surprised to be drafted by the Ravens because they told him if he was available at pick 30, they would take him. 

“I feel like my competitiveness will allow me to fit in well with that defense,” he said. “They love turnovers and I love forcing them.”

Wiggins now joins former Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson as two of the younger guys on the Ravens’ defense. Both players have incredible speed and will help the Ravens keep up with some of the faster teams in the conference. 

There was speculation that the Ravens could trade out of the first round with the hope of acquiring more day two picks. DeCosta acknowledged that the phone was ringing and they had as many as eight offers to trade back. But, he said, once they saw Wiggins was available, they wanted to pick him up. 

The Ravens will enter day two with the offensive line still their biggest need, but DeCosta believes there will be plug-and-play linemen available for them. The possibility of the Ravens making a trade at some point this weekend is very much alive as well. 

As of now, the Ravens have picks 62 and 93 on day two of the draft. We could still see them take a wide receiver, running back, edge rusher, linebacker, and despite taking Wiggins, they could go corner again at some point. 

One long night down. Two more to go…

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By Edward G. Robinson III,
AFRO Contributing Sports Editor,
erobinson@afro.com

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Rajah Caruth walked beside the pit row wall at Martinsville Speedway on April 5 with orange and yellow tape rolls around his wrist. He placed slashes of tape as distance markers that he would use later on that night as he competed in the Long John Silver’s 200.

Casual in a black hoodie, tan cargo pants, black Jordan 4s and black sunglasses, the 21-year-old walked along the track and snapped a few photos, taking notes about the challenging oval course. 

“I’m that detailed about everything,”  said Caruth, a graduate of School Without Walls High School. “It’s the one thing I care about the most – besides  family.” 

It was Caruth’s family who introduced a then 12-year-old to the sport of racing with a surprise trip to a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. Soon, he was racing virtually and competing in iRacing. By the time he turned 16, he was racing in the eNASCAR IGNITE Series. 

Amazingly, the Atlanta-born and Washington, D.C.-raised Caruth has turned iRacing into full-time, professional on-track racing. On March 1, he collected the checkered flag at the 2024 Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, becoming the third Black driver to win one of NASCAR’s three national series, along with Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.

He competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he drives the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.

Caruth’s talent has been on display for years. Observers have marveled at the kid who started driving much later than his peers yet has displayed a natural knack for the sport. He worked through the stages, making his name as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program.

His recent victory has only solidified him as one of the sport’s young drivers to watch and reinforced Spire Motorsports’ decision to add him to their race team this season.  

At Martinsville Speedway, Caruth battled for much of the race, finishing seventh after starting in position No. 16. He has five top-10 finishes this season after completing seven of 23 races. 

His public profile has risen, too. Fans approached for autographs. Others requested pictures. Caruth handled the press like a rock star. 

Andy Gee, senior director of partnerships at Spire Motors, said he admires Caruth’s work ethic. His team recently called on the young driver to shoot a television commercial. Other requests come in daily. 

Despite a full racing schedule, Caruth is a full-time student at Winston-Salem State University, where he is studying for a degree in motor sports management.

“He’s a very impressive young man,” Gee said. “He’s shouldering a lot and taking it all in stride.”

Caruth credits his parents.

“It’s nothing super special,” he said. “It’s not anything that I have to try hard to do—thankfully. It’s how I was raised and who I am as a person…. I feel I have that same demeanor for everything I do.” 

So does driving come easy?

“Yes,” he said. “But to elevate my level? No. Driving is fun. … But to get better, it’s not easy. It’s not easy because I didn’t grow up doing it. … I don’t feel out of place. I don’t feel uncomfortable. It feels natural. But it’s not easy.”

A young Caruth watched the movie “Cars” and saw the toys in stores. He watched races on YouTube. After that first trip to the raceway, he was hooked.

“You always hope,” he said. “This is the thing you see on TV. You hope for it. You dream of it. But you never know what the journey’s going to be. I certainly hoped to get to this level.”

Caruth shared those dreams with friend Garrison Hogan, of Milledgeville, Ga., who raced competitively with him in iRacing. 

“Now, it’s everything that he talked about at 18 years old,” Hogan said while visiting his friend in Virginia. “I’m just happy for him. Honestly. To see him live out his dreams and keep pushing. He’s going to make waves. He’s going to do a lot of big things.”

Roger Caruth, the elder, snacked on pistachios as he watched the swarm around his son as he stood near the pit road during a midday practice run. Pit crew members scurried, and the son, dressed in a blue flame retardant suit, listened on headphones to his crew chief. 

Trucks, whipping around the track, revved and sputtered. There was a chill in the air. Caruth breathed it all in, taking mental notes of it all. 

Then it was his turn to drive. 

“Unprecedented,” Roger Caruth said. “You can’t write a story like this. You just have to live in the moment.”

The post Rajah Caruth finds victory lane as NASCAR profile grows appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Cordell Woodland,
Special to the AFRO

The marathon that is the Major League Baseball season is underway and the storylines have already begun to pile up. The Baltimore Orioles have had their fair share of storylines to go along with mounting wins. 

The Orioles (14-7) are currently second in the AL East – behind the New York Yankees –  as they aim to repeat as division champs. 

The Orioles have shown themselves to be one of the top offensive teams in all of baseball with a hot start for the offense. The Orioles rank first in home runs, fourth in RBI, fourth in OPS, and fifth in run differential. If you’re going to play in the AL East you better be able to score and the Orioles can check that box. 

While the season is young there are plenty of storylines surrounding the Orioles. Let’s get all caught up:

Jackson Holliday gets the call

The number one prospect in baseball wasn’t able to make the opening day roster but he didn’t have to wait long to be called up. Jackson Holliday was called up on April 10 and has been a consistent name in the lineup ever since. Holliday has been struggling to figure out major-league pitching but he said he’s catching on. 

“It’s been a little different,” he said. “Just trying to adjust pitch-to-pitch. It’s obviously pretty difficult but I’m looking to build and get more comfortable with each at bat.” 

Holliday currently has a batting average of .037 with 15 strikeouts in 27 at-bats. Not great but a learning curve was inevitable and he should figure it out in the majors rather than continue to dominate Triple-A. 

Especially since it’s only April…

Colton Cowser off to a hot start

The Orioles have the reigning rookie of the year on their roster in Gunnar Henderson and they may have this year’s winner as well in Colton Cowser. He’s carried a hot bat to the plate since the start of the season and showcased it often. That was important because Cowser was coming off the bench to start the year so he didn’t have a ton of opportunities. 

Cowser has been in a rhythm so far this year as he’s already won AL Player of the Week (Apr.7-13). He’s tied for the team lead in RBI (15) to go along with 4 HRs. He’s got a batting average of .383 and an OPS of 1.178. When talking about how he’s feeling at the plate, Cowser said, “I’m feeling good. I’ve been putting in a lot of work.” 

That last part is showing for sure as he looks like a different player than the one we saw last year who looked overmatched. 

Gunnar Henderson looks like an MVP candidate

Gunnar Henderson is coming off a year where he won Rookie of the Year and now he looks like he’s got his sights set on the MVP. Gunnar has been a huge spark for the Orioles at the top of their lineup. He leads the team with 6 HRs and he leads the team in WAR (0.8). 

The good thing about Gunnar is that he can give you highlight plays on both offense and defense. The Orioles have used him at third base mostly in the past but this season he’s returned to his natural position of shortstop. Standing at 6’3, he’s one of the bigger shortstops but that hasn’t stopped him from making athletic plays in the infield. 

Corbin Burnes as good as advertised

Just before teams began to report to spring training, the Orioles made a blockbuster trade to acquire a true ace pitcher in Corbin Burnes. Burnes, who joined the Orioles from the Milwaukee Brewers, is known as one of the best pitches in baseball. He was the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2021 and so far he’s looked the part for the Orioles. 

Burnes has been a necessity at the top of the rotation for the Orioles this year as they’re dealing with health issues to starting pitchers. He currently leads Orioles starting pitchers in ERA (2.28) and WHIP (.093). He has looked flat-out dominant at times while also grinding through some starts. Burnes has given the Orioles an elite pitcher who can take the ball every five days. He’s come along at a time the club desperately needed it.

The post Orioles start season on a high note appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Ariyana Griffin 
Special to the AFRO

Howard University partnered with Spotify to host a listening session April 16 on the Washington, D.C. campus to highlight the launch of “1619: The College Edition” podcast,  in which students unpack what they have gleaned from their study of “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story,” under the direction of its author, Pulitzer Prize winner, Emmy winner and investigative reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones.

Kristen Jarrett, Spotify’s lead on its equity, diversity and impact team and its NextGen program, explained that the collaboration between Spotify and Hannah-Jones flourished from an unsolicited email.  

“Believe it or not, it was a bit of a cold email to Professor Hannah-Jones to see if she was interested in collaborating, and she said yes. From there it was listening to her and what she was interested in doing with her students,” said Jarrett. “We allowed her to guide us in terms of what she wanted to do, and then it was working with her students, delivering equipment and providing guidance.  From there we were able to co-create this beautiful piece of content. I say co-create very loosely; her students really created this podcast and we were just happy to be a part of supporting the process.” 

Spotify’s program NextGen provides students with the resources and support they need to activate and grow podcast culture on campuses. In the past, the program has been on Spelman College’s campus as well as other universities such as New York University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. NextGen is supported by their Creator Equity Fund, which seeks to “uplift creators who have historically been underrepresented in the audio industry.”

At the April 16 event, Spotify also presented a $10,000 scholarship to sophomore journalism major Karys Hylton, one of the students who participated in the course and in the development of the podcast.

The course that Hannah-Jones teaches at Howard University, where she is the Knight Chair in Race and Journalism, is titled after her award-winning book, “The 1619 Project.” Students who take the course and study the material are required to write an essay taking a deep dive into history on a topic they pitch and get approved.

Those essays then were developed into the student-led podcast. Three episodes were produced by students working in groups under the topics, “Principles of Drip,” “Color Theory” and “Queer Seminar.” The series allowed Howard students to “apply their own unique lens to what they learned from studying the 1619 Project and make surprising, compelling and critical connections to the ways that slavery still impacts their lives and ours,” according to a description of the podcast.

Hannah-Jones shared that she was excited for the opportunity to partner with Spotify and give her students the opportunity to dig deeper into history and share what they’ve learned.

“The podcast is based on the basic formula of the ‘1619 Project,’ which is that slavery in its legacy is shaping our society in all of the ways that we don’t think about,” said Hannah-Jones. “I hope it leads us to ask more questions, to think deeper about the way we treat Black people, the way that we think Black Americans are, and that we have a better understanding of ourselves, and that people who aren’t Black have a better understanding of us.” 

She explained that most of the students had no previous script writing experience, but they all were dedicated to producing something the world could learn something from. 

“When they came into the podcasting course, most had never written a podcast script, had never done podcast production, had never actually done the type of reporting that I required,” said Hannah-Jones. “I made them interview scholars, I made them find archival clips. They had to produce ambient sound. There were elements that each podcast had to incorporate.” 

She said she believes each student walked away with new reporting skills and an ear for audio narrative. 

Zoe Cummings, a sophomore honors journalism major and Spanish minor, said when she saw the “1619”  course offering, she didn’t know what it was but she knew that she would learn and grow under Hannah- Jones. And, she took away an important lesson.. 

“I realized for the first time that I was learning how to be American,” she said. “I was learning how to hold my Blackness in one hand and my Americanness in another and understand that the two things aren’t that different. And professor Jones gave me that.”

Cummings, who produced the “Principles of Drip” episode, shared that the episode was important because she originally wrote the essay it was curated from. “Drip,” in urban vernacular, refers to something or someone that is “cool,” is stylish or has a high element of “swag.” It is a quality she strongly associates with her D.C.-based campus and HBCU students in general, she said.

“When it was time to create this into a podcast we had to bring it to the yard; we had to bring it to Howard Homecoming; we had to bring it to y’all,” said Cummings. “I don’t know about y’all, but I have never seen anyone more ‘drippy’ than a Howard University student.”

Jacob Smith, a junior television and film major with a minor in theatre arts stage management, worked on “Color Theory” as an editor. The episode takes a look at colorism in the Black community and its roots.

 “What we really wanted to do was dive into the innate biases that even probably some at this school had, and talk about how those biases and those beliefs, this ideology comes from an institution of White supremacy and slavery all throughout,” said Smith.

“Queer Seminar,” produced by Trinity Webster-Bass, a junior honors podcast journalism major and Afro-American studies minor,  is a combination of two essays: one based on discrimination against queer individuals and how it dates back to slavery; and the other on the origins of ballroom culture. The podcast highlights O’Shea Sibley, a 28-year-old queer man who was murdered after performing “voguing” – a highly stylized dance which grew out of the 1960s Harlem ballroom scene, in which dancers mimic fashion models’ poses – at a Brooklyn gas station. The students were able to interview and feature one of his best friends, who was there that tragic night. Through the trauma that lies within the community, the podcast and students also wanted to highlight its beauty.

“We wanted to show all the creativity, all the love, all the passion that exists within the Black queer community,” said Webster-Bass. 

Hannah-Jones expressed that she was so excited to be able to provide resources like this to her students. 

“This is why I came to a place like Howard to be able to work with students and help them get these types of resources,” she said.

“The NextGen partnership with Spotify is so important because we know that HBCUs have no lack of talent, no lack of ambition, no lack of brilliance. These students are some of the hardest working students in America,” added Hannah-Jones. “What they often lack is resources. They’re often overlooked. They don’t often have this—the type of connections to corporations. They don’t have the type of dollars to be able to, for instance, create a podcasting lab on campus or to have access to those types of courses.”

The event allowed the audience to hear some clips from the episodes as well as hear from the students and their creative process. Spotify gifted everyone who attended bluetooth mics to help support those who are interested or want to get into audio or content creation. 

Spotify NextGen is looking forward to continuing the expansion of  the program across more HBCU campuses in the future. Listeners can find the podcast on Spotify by creating a free account and searching for “1619: The College Edition.”

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By AFRO Staff

Morgan Price’s name is now etched into the history books.

The Fisk University gymnast on April 12 won the all-around title at the 2024 USAG Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Nationals held in West Chester, Pennsylvania, making her the first gymnast from a historically Black college or university to claim the championship.

“It feels good because of the hard work that has been put in,” said Price in a statement. “Honestly, I didn’t know where I would place but it was a pleasant surprise. I have heard from a lot of people so far. I am still trying to take all this in.”

The athlete garnered scores of 9.850 on the floor exercise, 9.850 on the vault, 9.8 on the bars and 9.750 on the balance beam, giving her an overall score of 39.225 to clinch the victory. She will compete for individual titles in the bars, vault and floor exercise events on April 14.

Price had a rich source of inspiration in her head coach, Corrine Tarver. In 1989, the 56-year-old became the first African American woman to win the All-Around Gymnastics Championship while representing the University of Georgia. Now, she can add coaching a history-making champion to her accolades.

“This moment is all about Morgan,” said Tarver when she was asked about her title. “I am extremely proud of the dedication she has to her craft. I am anticipating her doing well in the individuals.”

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By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com

Orioles hall-of-famer Cal Ripken Jr. and Exelon CEO Calvin Butler celebrated the ribbon-cutting of a new, state-of-the-art STEM center at Lansdowne Middle School on April 11. The hub is one of 81 that will open in elementary and middle schools across the East Coast as part of a collaboration between the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation (CRSF) and the Exelon Foundation. 

Butler committed $3 million over three years to open the centers, with the aim of exposing underserved youth to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. 

“What I love about the STEM curriculum is it makes kids curious. It makes kids try to figure out how things work, why they work and how they can make them work better,” said Ripken Jr.

 “I think one of the most important things when dealing with kids is how can you expose them to things that might their natural aptitude to shine? We couldn’t be more proud to be affecting kids in a positive, big way all across the country.” 

The CRSF began establishing STEM centers in schools eight years ago. The foundation is named after Ripken Jr.’s late father, who’s often remembered for his devotion to coaching and mentoring young people. 

The April 11 ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the 500th center to open in the country. The 80 additional STEM centers will open in areas near Baltimore; Atlantic City, N.J.; Wilmington, Del.; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia and Chicago. Through them, students have access to programmable robots, 3D printers, drones, Chromebooks and Snap Circuits. Teachers also receive training to implement STEM curriculum. 

For Butler, the initiative demonstrates the organizations’ belief in young people’s potential.

“As one of a few handfuls of African-American CEOs across the nation, my job while sitting in this seat is to encourage young people that they can do this,” said Butler. 

Black and Brown people, many of whom live in marginalized communities, have long been underrepresented in STEM industries. According to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), Black and Brown workers represented 9 and 15 percent of the total STEM workforce in 2021, respectively. 

Butler said the STEM centers can introduce youth to opportunities that extend beyond the confines of their neighborhoods. 

“I came from these types of neighborhoods. I know what you can do, but you have to believe in yourself and you have to roll up your sleeves. You have to work hard,” said Butler. “It’s not going to be easy, but you need to know you have a support system, like the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and Exelon Foundation, that will help you get there because none of us get there on our own.” 

Eighth-grade student Da’Sheyll Dixon, a member of Lansdowne Middle School’s STEM Robotics Club, thinks the new center will give her peers a leg-up in excelling in STEM as they move on to high school and college. 

She has already had the opportunity to interact with some of the center’s educational products, like the Sphero BOLT—a robotic ball designed to introduce youth to coding concepts. 

“Having this new STEM center will mean a lot to students going to high school and to the ones coming from elementary school because it will give them new learning experiences,” said Dixon. 

Megan Sayles is a Report for America corps member. 

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By D. Kevin McNeir 
Special to the AFRO

(Photo by D. Kevin McNeir)

Sister Stoddard, 20, White Oak, Maryland

(with friends Sisters Samoala and Schmidt)

“I think it’s wonderful that the Caps and Wizards are going to stay in D.C. because sports bring crowds to the city and the downtown area and provide more jobs for those who supply the goods and services needed by the crowds. I used to live in downtown D.C. and one thing I liked about it was there were always people around which is good for local businesses who need the revenue. But I have to admit that I’m more of a Utah Jazz and BYU (Brigham Young University) basketball supporter than a Wizards fan.”

(Photo courtesy William J. Ford)

William J. Ford, 50, Upper Marlboro, Maryland 

“There were quite a number of folks who didn’t believe that the Wizards and Caps were going to move to Northern Virginia because, after all, they’re D.C. teams. They’ve always been our teams and now, it looks like they always will be. Before the Wizards (once the Bullets) began playing at Capital One Arena and were in Maryland, people had to drive out to the arena and that was difficult for a lot of fans. People who have grown up in the area look at the Wizards as D.C.-centric – I’ve even heard Mayor Bowser use the term. But when you think about the teams–and since they’re the Washington Wizards, or the Washington Capitals–it just stands to reason that they would be located in the District. As for the success of the team, well, they’ll have better seasons soon, hopefully. I guess that remains to be seen.  

(Photo courtesy of Jordathan Jones)

Jordathan Jones, 47, Northwest Washington, D.C.

“I am a fan of the Wizards and with that said, it’s awesome for the city that the Wizards are going to stay in D.C. It will keep jobs here, and they have a lot of diehard fans, like me, win or lose. The Wizards are our team – they’re a D.C. team and they belong here. Of course, we want them to win and it’s been a long time since they won the title back in 1978. Still, we’ve always had some very talented players, including Michael Jordan at one time. Maybe they just need new management. And with the changes and upgrades that I hear are coming over the next three years to the arena, I hope that will attract better players. The Wizards and the Caps are the face of the city. It would have been crazy for them to move. 

(Photo courtesy Christopher McLaughlin)

Christopher McLaughlin, 48, Southeast Washington, D.C.

“I think it’s awesome that they’re staying in D.C. and we’re all looking for something new to be added to the arena and to the surrounding area. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities for people to experience a live basketball or hockey game – maybe even having the chance to sit closer to the action. Capital One Arena is already a beautiful facility but with the upgrades that have been promised, it will be even better. It will certainly appeal to the younger generation. One thing folks need to understand is the NBA and NHL have changed a lot since the ‘70s and ‘80s. You have to offer fans more than just a big screen above the floor or the ice. It has to be a total experience for fans both before, during and after the game. The arena has a lot of spaces already that resemble lounges or nightclubs and which attract adults. I’d like to see the space include more settings that are family- and kid-friendly. 

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Monumental Sports & Entertainment to expand operations in partnership with District of Columbia

By D. Kevin McNeir 
Special to the AFRO

A collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout the DMV (District, Maryland and Virginia) after the news broke on March 27, announcing that a deal had been made with Ted Leonis, owner of the Wizards and Capitals, and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser that will keep the teams in downtown D.C. until 2050. 

The agreement becomes official once approved by the District Council. However, that appears to be a foregone conclusion as D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson participated in making the announcement, which signals a transformative renovation and modernization of Capital One Arena as well as the expansion into Gallery Place of Monumental’s business and hospitality operations. 

The carefully brokered deal ends any further speculation that the teams will move to a new arena in Virginia. Instead, it allows Leonis to modernize the current arena with financial support from the District totaling $515 million over the next three years. Legislation enacted by the D.C. Council will allow for funding through an appropriation for capital construction projects funded by general obligation bonds. 

In a press statement, Leonis admitted that while the process that secured the agreement had its difficulties, he’s convinced that the right outcome has been achieved. 

“I want people to understand how much I love Washington, D.C. and how much I’ve always loved Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Mayor Bowser and her team heard us and worked with us and gave us the tools for us to meet the needs of our business to expand right here in downtown … We got to this place because we kept an honest dialogue with the Mayor and her staff and we both took the high road as we didn’t know how things would end. This is more than an investment from the city – it’s a true partnership demonstrated by all of these investments which the city has committed to for our fans to have an exceptional gameday experience.”

In the 14 years since Leonsis has owned the arena, he has invested over $200 million in renovations and upgrades including $120 million-plus in capital expenditures on items including a roof, all new seats, new sound system, center hung scoreboard, LED lights/bowl lighting, concourses and concession stands, dehumidification, escalators, fire alarm, ice plant and tech improvements; $18 million for District E Powered by Ticketmaster and other renovations; a $60 million investment in a new broadcast and production studio for Monumental Sports Network; and $15 million in enhanced staff space for several hundred Monumental Sports employees. 

Monumental Sports’ President of Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer Jim Van Stone, speaking exclusively with The AFRO, said given the provisions of the new contract, the organization will now be able to not only enhance the fan experience and provide much needed improvements to back of house, but also accommodate Monumental’s need for additional space that will translate into rapid growth. 

“We have had an incredible time in Capital One Arena over the past 27 years with the Caps and the Wizards, most recently bringing the ACC basketball tournament here (two years ago) and witnessing the Caps win the Stanley Cup,” Van Stone said. “Now, we’re hyper-focused on improving the fan experience and fan engagement. We’re committed to putting the best product possible on the court and ice and transforming the fan experience on a nightly basis. We want people to arrive earlier and stay well after the game has ended for a full evening’s experience.”

Van Stone commented on the buzz that has already resulted around the DMV following the recent announcement, both among businesses located near the arena as well as those who have expressed interest in setting up shop in or around Gallery Place and Capital One Arena. However, he said, he doesn’t look at Monumental Sports as “the anchor” for business downtown but rather as “the engine.” 

“We view ourselves more accurately as the engine that will revitalize the downtown area in which we’re located,” he said. “We currently bring some 3 million people to the arena each year. Moving forward, we plan to support more festivals in partnership with businesses on F Street, among other locations, in efforts to reclaim this as an entertainment district in partnership with the city. We think we’ll be the engine that moves future development and opportunities.

“Some studies conclude that sports teams don’t amplify a community but that’s a falsity from our perspective,” he added. “We pay taxes that help the city provide essential services which benefit the community, and we employ a lot of people from the District. We have 800 full-time employees and 2,500 part-time workers. That means we’re a big catalyst for driving employment in the District.”

Van Stone said the company’s negotiations with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin were always very positive and they felt very “wanted.”

“But we’re in the business of getting deals done – about getting things done. And we’ve landed in a good space,” he said. “Many people may not realize that around 20 percent of our ticket buyers are from Baltimore so they’re a huge part of our supporters. And we broadcast our games to as far away as Baltimore and Richmond, Virginia – more than 3.2 million households in total. So, the Caps and the Wizards are considered the home teams for a lot of people not only in the District but throughout parts of Maryland and Virginia. 

“We want people to enjoy coming downtown for sports events, for concerts, to eat, to shop – to have a total experience,” he added. 

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, in a statement, expressed his excitement about what the future holds. 

“Monumental Sports has been a great partner with the District since acquiring the Arena nearly 14 years ago. We’re ecstatic to keep them as a cornerstone of our Downtown,” Mendelson said. “As we’ve said all along: our government is able to move quickly and follow through on our commitment. With the extended relationship with Monumental, we’re looking forward to the reinvigoration of Gallery Place/Chinatown.”

Bowser, speaking recently to members of the press, expressed her sentiments this way: “What I learned loud and clear in the last three-and-a half months is that our residents and businesses feel the way I do about what a world-class city should have. We believe that a world-class city has its sports teams and the investment that we’re making we know will pay off. This deal is a win-win-win on all accounts.”

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By Edward G. Robinson III
AFRO Contributing Sports Editor 

As confetti rained down upon her, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley raised her arms to the sky – a national television audience watched on as she, her team and assistant coaches basked in the moment.

“We all know she loves confetti,” ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe said as Staley looked to the heavens and then doubled over in exasperation on the floor of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

Staley and her team seized this moment to celebrate a season full of accomplishments that culminated in a 87-75 victory over Iowa – and its wunderkind guard Caitlin Clark – to capture a NCAA Division I national championship on April 7.

Tears rolled down Staley’s face as she described the improbable run her No. 1-ranked team made this season – finishing with an undefeated record (38-0).

The Gamecocks are the 10th team in Division I history to claim a perfect season.

“You have to let young people be who they are,” Staley explained. “But you have to guide them and help navigate them through this tough, tough world. When young people lock in and have a belief and have a trust … this is what can happen.

“They made history. They etched their names in the history books. When this is the most unlikely group to do it,” she said in news interviews immediately after the win. 

The Gamecocks fended off Clark – who scored a game-high 30 points and stands as the NCAA Division I career leading scorer with 3,951 points – to collect the program’s third championship in five seasons.

They did so after losing five starters from a team that lost to Iowa in the tournament last season. This time, though, the Gamecocks were led by 6-foot-7 senior center Kamilla Cardoso – the Final Four’s most valuable player – who scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. 

South Carolina freshman Tessa Johnson scored a team-high 19 points, while the Gamecocks’ bench outscored Iowa 37-0. 

They also outrebounded the Haweyes 51-29.

Staley became the fifth coach to win at least three national championships – standing with Geno Auriemma, Pat Summitt, Kim Mulkey and Tara VanDerveer.

She became the first black coach to win three NCAA titles and first Division I black coach to go undefeated in a season.

“I’m super proud,” she said. “It’s awesome. It’s unbelievable.”

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By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire

Fifty years ago, the sports world watched in awe as Hank Aaron shattered baseball’s most hallowed record, cementing his place as one of the game’s greatest legends. To celebrate the anniversary of that historic moment, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum plans to immortalize Aaron’s legacy with a monumental tribute.

In conjunction with the opening events for the new exhibit, “More Than Brave: The Life of Henry Aaron,” at the Atlanta History Center, Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark announced plans to unveil a bronze statue of Aaron at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. on May 23. The statue honors Aaron’s remarkable contributions both on and off the field.

“Hank Aaron’s impact transcended the game of baseball,” Clark stated. “His philanthropy, advocacy for youth empowerment, and trailblazing achievements as an executive have left an indelible mark on society. We are privileged to safeguard his legacy and are honored to unveil this statue as a lasting tribute to an American hero.”

Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982 after a 23-year career with the Braves and Brewers, Aaron’s legacy extends far beyond his monumental 715th career home run, which surpassed Babe Ruth’s record on April 8, 1974. A 25-time All-Star, Aaron still holds records for the most career RBIs and total bases.

Just how good was Aaron? Even if all his 755 career home runs were removed from the record books, he would still boast over 3,000 hits. The slugger, who died in 2021, made the All-Star team 25 times, established a record with 2,297 RBIs, 1,477 extra-base hits, and 6,856 total bases.

Officials displayed Aaron’s Hall of Fame plaque during a Truist Park ceremony before a recent Atlanta Braves game against the New York Mets. The statue’s creation was made possible through a generous gift from supporters Jane and Bob Crotty, with the guidance and approval of Aaron’s widow, Billye. The statue will debut during the Hall of Fame Classic celebration over Memorial Day Weekend, coinciding with the May 25 Legends game featuring numerous former big leaguers at Cooperstown’s Doubleday Field.

“Henry would be as thrilled as I am to see his statue at the National Baseball Hall of Fame,” expressed Billye Aaron. “His life embodied hope and perseverance, inspiring generations to pursue their dreams despite obstacles. This tribute is a testament to his love for the game and his desire to inspire young boys and girls everywhere.”

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has remained dedicated to preserving Aaron’s legacy, including the exhibit “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream,” unveiled in 2009. Additionally, Aaron pledged his entire personal collection to the Museum in 2010, with many artifacts now on loan to various exhibitions, including the one at the Atlanta History Center.

The U.S. Postal Service announced that it will issue a commemorative Forever stamp to celebrate Aaron’s life and career further. The stamp art will feature a digital painting of Aaron as a member of the Braves, with the selvage showcasing him watching the ball he had just hit for his record-breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974.

USPS said in a statement, “The selvage showcases a digital painting of Aaron watching the ball he had just hit for his record-breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974.”

This article was originally published by NNPA Newswire.

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By Ericka Alston Buck 
Special to the AFRO

O.J. Simpson, a name etched in American sports and entertainment, at the age of 76, has closed his final chapter marked by triumphs, controversies, and a rollercoaster ride through the justice system.

Simpson’s journey to fame began on the football fields of the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1960s, where his exceptional talent earned him the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 1968. 

Drafted as the first overall pick by the Buffalo Bills in 1969, Simpson soared to NFL stardom, setting records and captivating audiences with his unparalleled athleticism. His crowning achievement came in 1973 when he became the first player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a 14-game season, a feat that still echoes in football history.

Beyond the gridiron, Simpson ventured into the realm of acting, gracing the silver screen in films like “The Towering Inferno” and the beloved “Naked Gun” series, showcasing a charm that transcended his athletic prowess.

However, Simpson’s life took a dark turn in 1994 with the brutal murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. What followed was a trial that gripped the nation, as Simpson stood accused of the heinous crimes in what became known as the “Trial of the Century.” Despite mounting evidence, Simpson was acquitted in 1995, sparking debates and controversies that resonated throughout the balance of his life..

Yet, the shadow of suspicion lingered, and in 1997, Simpson faced civil charges and was found liable for the deaths, ordered to pay $33 million of which only a  small portion was paid. Subsequent legal troubles, including a 2007 conviction for 12 criminal charges in Las Vegas, including armed robbery and kidnapping, further tarnished his once-glittering legacy. He was sentenced to nine to 33 years and was incarcerated in a Nevada state prison for nine years. He moved from California to Florida.

In addition to his legal woes, Simpson battled health issues, including a bout with prostate cancer, adding another layer of complexity to his tumultuous life.

As news of Simpson’s passing reverberates, his legacy remains a study in contrasts—a tale of unparalleled athletic achievement marred by allegations of violence and legal entanglements. Love him or loathe him, O.J. Simpson’s name will forever be synonymous with the complexities of fame, justice and the human condition.

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By Maliik Obee
Special to the AFRO

Spring football is underway across the country, as teams look to prepare for the 2024-25 collegiate season. With an opportunity to build on its in-state connection, the Morgan State welcomed Maryland to Hughes Stadium for a split-practice on April 6 in honor of “Baltimore Day,” recognized each year on April 10. The day is special because the April 10 date matches the area’s “410” area code when written numerically as “4/10.” 

Morgan State Coach Damon Wilson and Maryland Coach Mike Locksley are both natives of the Washington D.C. area, with Wilson starring as an All-CIAA tight end for Bowie State; and Locksley playing defensive back at Towson University (1988-1991) before joining the coaching staff in 1992. In-addition to sharing over two decades in coaching experience and a beltway connection, the two agreed on an idea to bring Locksley’s Football Bowl Subdivision program to Wilson’s historically-black campus to share the field with a rising Football Championship Subdivision program.

This practice marked day six of spring work for the Bears, who finished 4-6 in 2023, despite a defense that tied (Florida A&M) for the seventh-fewest touchdowns allowed (26) in 2023. Locksley’s Terrapins finished 7-5 in the regular season, before capturing a 31-13 victory over Auburn in the Transperfect Music City Bowl. 

The two teams split their sessions, with Morgan taking the field in the morning, and Maryland practicing in the afternoon. Yet the day symbolized much more than a random invite for a big-name program to practice at a black college. The inaugural event entitled “Baltimore Day” helped shorten the one-hour distance between the two universities for the football world  and local community.

“Having UMD come practice with us is major,” Morgan State senior Josh Graham said. “Especially for them to come from the   conference and their exposure, it shows that we are making some noise around the state. We just have to make noise worldwide. It’s a tall task, but I know we have everything we need to do what we said we want to do.”

The transfer portal has made it easier for players at different levels of collegiate football to move up or down, finding the best fit for themselves as student-athletes and individuals. 

This event provided a glimpse into Wilson’s budding program – and a history lesson about a team that boasts four inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Len Ford, Leroy Kelly, Willie Lanier, Rose Brown). 

It also served as a reminder of the deep roots of the Morgan coaching staff, and its desire to keep local talent in the state. 

It was Wilson and Bears defensive coordinator Antoine Sewell, both former stars on the football field for Bowie State, who joined forces as coaches to win three CIAA Championships (2018,2019, 2021) and make six NCAA Division II playoff appearances between 2015-2021. The event gave local high school talent from across Baltimore City and its neighboring counties a chance to see two of the best programs in the area at work.

Morgan hit the field with intention and purpose, with the sound of pads popping and echoing throughout the stadium. 

Graduate student and wideout Anthony James Jr. is one of several Bears to play elsewhere before joining the program, spending time at Marshall University. The Prince George’s County native (Potomac High) caught 20 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown in 2023, as he looks to help the Bears claim the MEAC crown. James reflected on the opportunity to share the field with Maryland, and his thoughts on Morgan’s growth.

“I liked that Maryland came down to Morgan,” he said. “I think it’s always good to see the community come together. Over (the course of) my time here, I feel that the team is really becoming one, and we are getting one percent better everyday.”

The Bears remained on the field following their practice, serving as a gracious host. As the coaches and players shared words and posed for photos, the two Under Armour-sponsored programs helped usher in a new possible tradition for two major programs, in a city rich in football and culture.

“I appreciate Coach Wilson and Morgan State for partnering with us for Baltimore Day,” Locksley said in a statement released prior to the practice. “The Baltimore community means so much to both Maryland and Morgan so we’re thrilled to come together for this. We have so many loyal alumni and fans in the Baltimore area so to be able to provide an easy way for them to get out and watch us practice is important.”

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By Charles Odum 
AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Hank Aaron refused to be intimidated by racist hate mail or threats during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record.

Aaron’s teammates, including Dusty Baker, worried on his behalf even as the future Hall of Famer circled the bases following his record-breaking 715th homer on April 8, 1974. Baker, who was on deck, and Tom House, who caught the homer in the Atlanta bullpen behind the left-field wall, will return April 8, 2024, for the 50-year anniversary of the homer.

After sprinting from the bullpen to deliver the ball to Aaron at home plate, House found Aaron’s mother giving the slugger a big hug.

“You could see both of them with tears in their eyes,” House told The Associated Press. “… It was a mother and son. Obviously, that was cool. It was also mom protecting her boy. At that time everybody thought somebody would actually try to shoot him at home plate.

“So there were all kind of things. I gave him the ball. I said, ‘Here it is, Hank.’ He said ‘Thanks, kid.'”

Baker referred to Aaron as a father figure or big brother who looked out for him as he began his playing career with the Braves. Baker and other teammates, including Ralph Garr, tried to look out for Aaron during the home run chase.

“We always felt the need to protect him, always felt that need,” Baker said last week. “I think we were more afraid for him than he was actually afraid because he never showed any fear of the threats or whatever. It seems like it drove him to a higher concentration level than ever before was possible.”

Baker retired as Houston’s manager following the 2023 season.

Bob Hope, then the Braves media relations director, said Aaron would not be deterred by the threats issued late in the 1973 season as he approached Ruth’s record of 714 career homers.

“One time the FBI wanted to come meet with him on a Sunday and asked him not to play because they felt they had legitimate death threats on him,” Hope said.

“We went down to the clubhouse and sat down with him and Hank just said: ‘What kind of statement would that be? I am a baseball player. You guys do what you need to do to keep things secure, but I’m playing baseball.’ And I thought that was very reflective of his personality all the way through.”

Hope said most fan mail Aaron received was positive. “The hate mail was not pleasant, but there wasn’t nearly as much as you’re led to believe,” Hope said. “It was just a very, very small percentage of the fans were causing that problem.”

Hope and Baker remained close to Aaron after Aaron’s career and until his death in 2021 at 86.

“One of the honors of your life that you don’t want is when Hank died, at his funeral, Dusty and I were the only two nonfamily pallbearers,” Hope said. “When I realized that at the funeral, it was almost overwhelming.”

Wonya Lucas, Aaron’s niece and the daughter of Bill Lucas, who with the Braves in 1976 became Major League Baseball’s first African American general manager, said she can remember “Uncle Hank” remaining strong during the chase. She said that stayed constant even when threats led to police cars showing up at Aaron’s home and Aaron’s oldest daughter, Gaile, having to return home from college.

“I certainly understood the gravity of the situation and how the mood shifted is probably a good way to put it,” Wonya Lucas said April 5. “But I do also remember his quiet strength, and despite all those conditions I described I felt safe in the home because I felt he gave us a sense of comfort.”

To mark the 50-year anniversary of Aaron’s 715th homer, the Atlanta History Center will open a new exhibit to the public celebrating Aaron on April 9 that will remain open through the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to attend a preview of the exhibit the previous day.

Aaron’s bat and the ball he hit for the record homer, normally housed at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, will be on display at Truist Park on April 8.

The Hank Aaron Invitational is designed to encourage high school players from diverse backgrounds to play at higher levels. Alumni of the Hank Aaron Invitational include Cincinnati pitcher Hunter Greene, who participated in 2015, and Braves outfielder Michael Harris II, who played in 2018.

Major League Baseball also supports other initiatives, including the Andre Dawson Classic, designed to promote diversity in the sport.

“For me, just having somebody that looked like me that could be that successful and do the things he’s done, the road he paved for players like me, that’s pretty huge,” Harris said  April 5.

Despite those efforts, the number of Black players on major league rosters has declined. A study done by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida revealed African American players represented just 6.2 percent of players on MLB opening day rosters in 2023, down from 7.2 percent in 2022. Both figures from the institute’s latest reports were the lowest since the study began in 1991.

A recent spike in the number of African American first-round draft picks provides hope that MLB’s efforts, including the Hank Aaron Invitational, may make a difference.

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By Doug Feinberg,
AP Basketball Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) — Dawn Staley and South Carolina completed their perfect season, ending Caitlin Clark’s historic college career with an 87-75 win over Iowa in the NCAA championship game April 7.

With Staley directing a relentless attack from the sideline, the Gamecocks (38-0) became the 10th Division I team to go through a season without a loss. And they accomplished the feat after they lost all five starters from last season’s team that lost to Clark’s squad in the national semifinals.

“It doesn’t always end like you want it to end, much like last year. But my freshies are at the top of my heart because they wanted this. It’s awesome. …. It’s awesome. It’s awesome. It’s unbelievable,” Staley said. “When young people lock in and have a belief, and have a trust, and their parents have that same trust, this is what can happen. They made history. They etched their names in the history books.”

Clark did all she could to lead the Hawkeyes to their first championship. She scored 30 points, including a championship-record 18 in the first quarter. She will go down as one of the greatest players in NCAA history. She rewrote the record book at Iowa (34-5), finishing as the career leading scorer in NCAA Division I history with 3,951 career points.

She hopes her legacy isn’t defined by falling short in two NCAA championship games, but more by the millions of new fans she helped bring into the game and the countless young girls and boys that she inspired.

“I think the biggest thing is it’s really hard to win these things, I think I know that better than most people by now, to be so close twice really hurts,” Clark said.

As the final buzzer sounded, a stoic Clark walked off the court, through the confetti, and into the tunnel heading to the locker room.

“I personally want to thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport,” Staley said. “She’s going to lift that league (WNBA) up as well. Caitlin Clark if you’re out there you’re one of the GOATs of our game. We appreciate you.”

South Carolina has won three titles in the last eight years, including two of the past three, to lay claim to being the latest dynasty in women’s basketball. Staley became the fifth coach to win at least three national championships, joining Geno Auriemma, Pat Summitt, Kim Mulkey and Tara VanDerveer.

The Gamecocks, who have won 109 of their last 112 games, became the first team since UConn in 2016 to go undefeated. South Carolina had a couple scares throughout the season, but always found a way to win.

With most of the team returning next year — except for star center Kamilla Cardoso — Staley’s team is in a good position to keep this run going.

Tessa Johnson led South Carolina with 19 points. Cardoso, the NCAA tourney’s Most Outstanding Player, had 15 points and 17 rebounds.

“Kamilla Cardoso was not going to let us lose a game in the NCAA Tournament,” Staley said. “She played through an injury, she played like one of the top picks in the WNBA draft, and her teammates did something that no teammates have done for somebody who went to the WNBA in our program. They send her off as a national champion. So this is history for us.”

Led by the 6-foot-7 Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins, South Carolina enjoyed a 51-29 rebounding advantage. It also finished with 30 second-chance points.

The Gamecocks also showed off their impressive depth. Johnson helped the team to a 37-0 difference in points by reserves.

South Carolina trailed 46-44 late in the second quarter before going on an 11-0 run spanning halftime to open a 55-46 advantage early in the third quarter. Clark finally ended the run with a layup.

The Hawkeyes closed to 59-55 and had a chance to get even closer, but Hannah Stuelke missed a wide-open layup on a brilliant pass from Clark.

South Carolina responded with the next eight points, including two 3-pointers. The Gamecocks, who were 4 for 20 from behind the 3-point line during last season’s Final Four loss to Iowa, went 8 for 19 from deep against the Hawkeyes this time around.

The Gamecocks were up 68-59 after the third. They led 76-64 early in the fourth before back-to-back 3s by Clark and Gabbie Marshall got Iowa within six.

Iowa was down 80-75 after a three-point play by Sydney Affolter with 4:12 left. That would be the last point the Hawkeyes would score as South Carolina got the last seven of the game.

Clark checked out with 20 seconds left when Iowa coach Lisa Bluder subbed in fellow senior Molly Davis, who hadn’t played since she got hurt in the regular-season finale against Ohio State.

Unlike the semifinals, when Clark struggled against UConn’s defense, she got going early against South Carolina. Clark scored 13 straight points for Iowa after the Hawkeyes jumped out to a 7-0 lead, including another logo 3-pointer, to help her school to a 20-9 advantage by the first media timeout.

South Carolina cut it to 22-20 with 1:30 left in the period before Clark scored the final five points, including a 3-pointer over Cardoso. Clark’s 18 points in the opening quarter set a championship game record, surpassing the 16 that Jasmine Carson of LSU had last year against the Hawkeyes.

She only had three points in the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:53 left in the period. 

Meanwhile the Gamecocks used their depth and inside dominance to get back in the game. Cardoso had 11 points and seven rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

The Gamecocks trailed 46-44 in the final minute when Te-Hina PaoPao hit a 3-pointer and Raven Johnson stole the ball from Clark near midcourt and went in for a layup. South Carolina led 49-46 at the half.

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By Doug Feinberg
AP Basketball Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) — Dawn Staley did a masterful job guiding a young South Carolina team back to the Final Four with an undefeated record for the second straight season.

Staley was honored April 4 as The Associated Press women’s college basketball Coach of the Year for the second time. She received 27 votes from the 35-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. She also won the award in 2020.

Staley joins an elite group of coaches that include Geno Auriemma (9), Muffet McGraw (4), Kim Mulkey (3) and Brenda Frese (2) who have won the AP award multiple times since it was first given in 1995.

Lindsay Gottlieb of Southern California, Felisha Legette-Jack of Syracuse and Scott Rueck of Oregon State tied for second with two votes each. Voting was done before the NCAA Tournament.

“I don’t coach to win awards, I really don’t,” Staley said. “I’m very, very satisfied with just being there for my players. … I’m forever indebted to basketball for what it’s given to me.”

Staley, who was presented the award alongside AP Player of the Year Caitlin Clark, thanked her own staff for all of their hard work helping the team go undefeated again.

South Carolina faces North Carolina State on April 5 in a national semifinal and is the overwhelming favorite to win its second title in three years and third overall, all since 2017. The Gamecocks are two wins away from completing the 10th undefeated season in NCAA Division I history.

“We had our fair share of rocky in the beginning and then as we continued throughout the season, the road got a little smoother and then obviously you’re going to face some adversity throughout the season, and this team being undefeated really is a shocker to me,” Staley said this week.

Staley has rebuilt the program into a power since she arrived in 2008 and last year’s team was expected to add another championship until Iowa knocked off the Gamecocks in the Final Four. This season, Staley had to replace her entire starting lineup and still guided them back to the semifinals for a fourth consecutive year.

She’s built a fanbase that has led the nation in attendance the past 10 years and in 2021 the school announced a new, seven-year contract that will pay her $2.9 million this season and grow to $3.5 million in the final season of 2027-28. She said then the $22.4 million deal should make an impact and perhaps lead to equity in the men’s and women’s games.

Along the way, Staley has become a voice of leadership and direction in the women’s game. The former point guard is already the first Black coach to win two NCAA titles — success that has given Staley the platform to champion issues off the court. She continues to speak out about gender equity, diversity and opportunities for women.

___

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By Beth Harris
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James will enter the NBA draft after one season at Southern California that was shortened by his recovery from cardiac arrest.

The 19-year-old son of LeBron James announced April 5 on his Instagram account that he also plans to retain his college eligibility and will enter the transfer portal.

“I’ve had a year with some ups and downs but all added to growth for me as a man, student and athlete,” James wrote.

James posted his decision hours before USC introduced Eric Musselman as its new coach. He comes from Arkansas and replaces Andy Enfield, who left on April 1 to become coach at SMU.

Musselman is scrambling to assemble a coaching staff and assess a roster that has also lost junior Kobe Johnson, who said April 4 that he’s committed to crosstown rival UCLA. USC star freshman Isaiah Collier attended Musselman’s news conference.

“I need to try to get a hold of Bronny. I’ve texted him,” Musselman said after his campus news conference. “Certainly he’s got a lot of options and we respect those options. We just want him to know that, hey, this opportunity here, if you want to play at USC, we’d love to have him. Such a talented young man.”

James averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds while starting six of 25 games for the Trojans. He shot 37 percent from the field, 27 percent from three-point range and 68 percent from the free throw line.

The elder James, his wife and their 9-year-old daughter were frequent courtside spectators at the Galen Center this season.

“Bronny is his own man,” the elder James said this week. “He has some tough decisions to make. When he’s ready to make those decisions, he’ll let us all know. But as his family, we’re going to support whatever he does.”

The 39-year-old James has been vocal about wanting to play with his son in the NBA.

Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, who represents father and son, said recently that he doesn’t “value a young player getting into the lottery as much as I do getting him on the right team in the right developmental situation.”

James, a 6-foot-4 combo guard, didn’t make his college debut until Dec. 10. Afterward, James appeared in front of the media for less than a minute to thank the doctors, athletic trainers and support system that helped him return to play.

Despite numerous requests, James never spoke to reporters during the season.

He suffered cardiac arrest on July 20 during a workout at the Galen Center. He was found to have a congenital heart defect that was treatable.

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By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com

Old Glory, Washington D.C.’s first professional rugby team, played its 2024 home opener at the Maryland Soccerplex on March 16, tying with the Chicago Hounds 22 to 22.

As a franchise, Old Glory is young, much like Major League Rugby (MLR) in North America. Local business leaders and former rugby players Chris Dunlavey and Paul Sheehy founded the team in 2018 before the team played its first regular season game in 2020. 

Since then, the pair have slowly been trying to build the organization to compete in the D.C. market, which already has several, long-established professional sports teams. 

“If we go where we want to go—which is to be one of the largest rugby leagues in the world— we have to become more visible in the general spectrum of professional sports in the U.S,” said Dunlavey, chairman of Old Glory. “D.C. is admittedly a bit of a challenge in that regard. We have a team in every league here. It will take us a few years to develop awareness and help people understand what a great sport rugby is.” 

Dunlavey is the president and co-founder of project management firm Brailsford and Dunlavey and founder and owner of Centers, a management services company for university recreation and sports facilities. This is his first foray in sports ownership. 

He met Sheehy, owner of Sheehy Auto Stores, during a reception at the South African Embassy following an international rugby game in 2018. In chatting, the pair realized that MLR had reached out to both of them about starting a team in the league, and they decided to team up for the endeavor. 

Both former rugby players themselves, Sheehy and Dunlavey knew the Greater Washington area already maintained a strong rugby community with several men’s and women’s clubs. 

“D.C. is known across the country as one of the hotbeds of this sport with its diversity of cultures and people from countries where rugby is more popular living here,” Dunlavey said. “In addition to that international connection, there’s a very strong connection between rugby and the military. A lot of military installations have rugby teams, and of course, there’s a very large veteran and active military base to draw on in D.C.” 

Last June, Sheehy and Dunlavey welcomed three new investors to Old Glory: Paxton Baker, Washington Nationals minority owner; Verdine White, founding member of Earth, Wind and Fire; and Pablo Calderini, investment manager. 

For White, this is his first investment in a sports team. 

“I wanted to get into rugby because rugby, I thought, was sexy,” he said. “ It was international. It was something different.”

“D.C. is a great city. It’s an international city, of course, because of politics, and sports naturally fits into that,” White added. 

Old Glory’s primary streams of revenue are ticket sales and corporate partnerships. The team currently attracts about 3,200 fans to its games. In the next two years, Sheehy and Dunlavey expect attendance to break 5,000, and, over the next decade, they hope to reach the 10,000 range. 

The franchise has locked down partnerships with companies, like Cuisine Solutions, BTS Software Solutions and The Supply Room. This year, Old Glory also secured a media partnership with Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which will broadcast its 2024 season. 

“Since the league’s founding, we’ve consistently been the highest performer in corporate partner revenues supporting our team,” Dunlavey said. “Overtime, we’re expecting to build the value of our media rights.” 

Dunlavey believes the key to grappling with D.C.’s crowded sports landscape is to get more people out for a game. He called rugby an addictive, full-contact sport with a tremendous amount of speed and grace. 

Game days are more like festivals, with themes, entertainment and activities for families, according to Dunlavey. 

“If we get people out to see it, they come back and see more of it,” he said. “We’re building through all of the social media outlets we can to make people more aware and get them out to games. We’re also very focused on growing the game at a grassroots level — growing the number of youth, high school and collegiate level teams.” 

Old Glory created nonprofit affiliate The Greater Washington Rugby, or Young Glory, to support rugby clubs and clinics for young people aged five to 23. 

Alex J. Anderson, program coordinator for sports management at Bowie State University, said this will be key to Old Glory’s success. 

“It’s about educating folks. Whenever you can get the kids involved, the parents will come because the kids love it,” he said. “You can go into the high schools, middle schools and elementary schools and talk to the students and show clips. The kids want to see what you’re doing on social media.” 

Anderson acknowledged that playing in D.C. will be a challenge for Old Glory. He said the franchise must hone in on its target audience to contend with the crowded sports market. 

“The one thing you have to sell with rugby is that it’s different,” he said. “ I don’t think you’re going to get the same fans as basketball or even the same fans as football. It’s going to be a different audience. People in this area make some good money, but they’re not going to buy season tickets for every sport.” 

Megan Sayles is a Report for America Corps member. 

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By Ariyana Griffin,
Special to the AFRO

Howard University’s athletic director, Kery Davis, has been selected as a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). This prestigious accomplishment for an athletic director is the first for the university. 

Davis has made improvements to the athletic department since joining in 2015. Under his leadership, the Bison have won 31 conference or national championships, led by women’s volleyball’s six conference championships, including five in a row from 2015 to 2019. 

The 2023 athletic season was indeed a comprehensive championship year for the Bison on the fields of competition. They swept the MEAC’s (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) highest honors by winning the 2022-2023 MEAC All Sports honors, the Talmadge Hill Men’s All Sports and the Mary McLeod Bethune Women’s All Sports awards. 

Davis remains heavily hands on, now the MEAC’s sixth athletic director, he also currently serves as chair of the MEAC Football and Television committees, and sits on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee, NCAA Legends and Legacy Selection Committee, and NCAA Basketball Rules Committee. He also gives his time to various initiatives with conference staff and league officials. 

“It’s extremely gratifying and humbling to see the tremendous work and the achievements of Kery being recognized through this prestigious award,” said Sonja Stills, Commissioner of the mhid-Eastern Athletic Conference. “He is a true example of excellence in leadership. I’m grateful that he leads one of our elite eight institutions during a period of extraordinary achievement, both athletically and academically.” 

It is important to Davis that student-athletes are prepared on and off the court. He has helped students to reach academic success and has since won awards for graduation rates and for students having the highest department GPA. Howard has 500 student athletes and 21 collegiate sports, making it the most sports available out of all HBCUs.

“Kery provides tremendous value, not only to Howard University and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, but the impact his work has on the student-athletes, on his campus, across our league, and the nation exceeds the boundaries of one school and one conference,” Stills said. “We are truly fortunate to have him as a part of the MEAC Nation.”

He not only works to ensure student athletes walk across the stage, but he is also responsible for making sure they are fashionable on campus. In recent years, Howard became one of six HBCUs to sign a direct partnership with Jordan Brand for football and basketball. 

The partnership has brought facility enhancements, exclusive merchandise and apparel. Howard has also merged with sponsorship deals with national brands, including AT&T, Rocket Mortgage, Nissan, Mielle Organics, and Nuna Baby, Inc.

The improvement, growth and development in the department under Davis’ leadership is what the university calls a “renaissance of Bison Athletics.”

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By Sylvie Corbet,
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — More than a sporting competition, the Olympics are also a powerful political stage widely used in the past by totalitarian regimes as a propaganda tool but also by athletes as a driver of change in the fight against racial inequalities.

Before this summer’s Paris Olympics, an exhibit in the French capital shows how the games have been a “mirror of society” since the beginning of the 20th century.

Historian Paul Dietschy, one of the curators, told The Associated Press on March 27 that “this exhibit tries to show … this relationship between ideology, power and the Olympic Games.”

The exhibit at the Shoah Memorial, in central Paris, features photos, documents and Olympic items as well as film archives from the past century. It opened to the public on March 29 and is scheduled to last until mid-November, organizers said.

It notably highlights the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which was used by Nazi Germany for propaganda purposes; the 1968 Mexico Olympics, where Black sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists to protest racial injustice in the U.S. and the 1972 Munich Olympics, which was the scene of a brutal attack on 11 Israeli team members who were killed by Palestinian militants.

Dietschy said the exhibit sought to show the historic and political significance of the Olympics “through the life of big stars or champions like Alfred Nakashe, who was a Jew from Algeria competing in swimming and who was deported to an Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Nakashe competed with the French team in Berlin in 1936 and in the first postwar Summer Olympics in London in 1948 after surviving the Holocaust.

The exhibit also tells the stories of athletes who embody Olympic values like Jesse Owens, the U.S. Black athlete who won four Olympic gold medals in Berlin.

Historian Caroline François, one of the curators, stressed that “the 1936 Games are emblematic with Jesse Owens’ story, because he is both an immense champion who left his mark on the history of sport … but also because of his personality, his career, his close ties to German champion Luz Long.”

“Owens embodies this struggle to confront Hitler and the Nazi ideology … But he himself was a victim of racism and segregation in the United States,” she said.

The exhibit also addresses the issue of how Olympic stadiums were turned into internment camps during World War II. Following the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, the country was ruled by a government commonly known as Vichy France, which collaborated with Nazi Germany.

The displays feature photos of the Vel d’Hiv stadium outside Paris, where French police herded about 13,000 people on July 16-17, 1942, before they were deported to Auschwitz. The stadium had been used for boxing, wrestling and weightlifting during the 1924 Paris Olympics.

International politics, again, are expected to be on the agenda of the Paris Olympics this year.

The International Olympic Committee said earlier this month that Russian and Belarusian athletes won’t be allowed to take part in the traditional parade at the opening ceremony in the French capital. Russia and Belarus are barred from team sports at the Olympics because of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, and the IOC has laid out a two-step vetting procedure for individual athletes from those countries to be granted neutral status. Those athletes must first be approved by the governing body of their individual sport and then by an IOC-appointed review panel.

Amid the Israel-Hamas war, IOC President Thomas Bach recently said that Israel faces no threat to its Olympic status and added: “Since the heinous attack on the Israeli team (during the 1972 Munich Olympics), there were always special measures being taken with Israeli athletes.”

In recent times, totalitarian and democratic powers have been competing, including through sports, Dietschy said.

“So the Olympic Games of Paris are a huge moment, because we will see if the peace values will be respected,” he said. “We’ll see if sports can be also a way of spreading universal democratic values.”

“The context (now) is more tense as a war is spreading in the world. Maybe the (Paris) Games will be a moment of peace,” Dietschy said hopefully.

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By Edward G. Robinson III
AFRO Contributing Sports Editor
erobinson@afro.com

All appeared anew as Orioles Park at Camden Yards opened its gates early on March 28 in anticipation of Baltimore’s first game of the Major League Baseball season.

Orioles fans – sporting black caps and orange jerseys – entered the grounds before 9 a.m. to start celebrating Opening Day and preparing for the team’s 3:05 p.m. start against the Los Angeles Angels. 

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse on the sixth floor the team’s new owner, David Rubenstein, met with the media during a morning press conference and introduced himself and members of his ownership group.

“I didn’t do this by myself,” he said. “There was a whole group of people who worked on this for many, many months. … To buy a baseball team it takes a city. It takes a village to buy a baseball team.”

Rubenstein, a philanthropist son of the city, provided a glimpse of the type of owner fans can expect – candid, humorous and discerning.  

“I really want to say to Baltimore,” he said. “This is a new day, a new chapter. We’ve had some challenges in the past but we’re looking forward.”

That message was meant to resonate with a city that has seen some challenges – including the devastating news of a cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused it to collapse on March 27. 

Six workers died in the wreckage.

Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott both called for a state of emergency and have worked with state officials to provide relief for families and state workers. 

Moore said the state is working with the federal government and  industry leaders to help clear the wreckage and start planning for a rebuild of the bridge.

Moore introduced Rubenstein at the press conference and tied the state’s recovery from this current tragedy to the team’s successful settlement over the past year. 

Rubenstein’s group negotiated with John Angelos, son of Peter Angelos, on a sale price for the team. This after John Angelos helped the Orioles land a long-term lease agreement with the state of Maryalnd in December – keeping the team in the city for the next 30 years. 

“Baltimore is being tested right now,” Moore said. “But Baltimore has been tested before. And every time, we stand up on two feet. We dust ourselves off. And we keep moving forward. Baltimore may get knocked down, but Baltimore doesn’t stay down.”

Moore called for Maryland citizens to join the recovery operation. 

“In this game, nobody gets to sit on the sidelines, ” he said.

Rubenstein, 74, is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group – a successful global investment firm. He was born and raised and educated in Baltimore.

“I really want to give back to Baltimore in a modest way, my expression of appreciation for all of what Baltimore has done for me over the years and done for my family,” said Rubenstein, whose parents grew up in the city. He attended Baltimore City College.

“David is a Baltimore guy,” Moore said. “To have him at the helm of this team means everything to this city and this state.”

On March 27, Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the 1.7-billion sale of the Orioles – Baltimore’s storied franchise owned by the Angelos family for three decades – to Rubenstein’s investment group.

That group includes, among others, Michael Arougheti, co-founder and CEO of Ares Management, and Cal Ripken Jr., the Hall of Fame third baseman, who both spoke at the press conference.

Ripken recalled loving the Orioles as a 5-year-old. Then he dreamed of playing for the team for 20 years. Then he became a member of the team. Then he retired and he bought an affiliate team where he learned about business. 

Now it’s time for the Iron Man to return.

“This is a wonderful time for me to come back and be a part of the Orioles organization,” Ripken Jr. said. “And help out in any way that I can. I’m really looking forward to that.”

Rubenstein also thanked John Angelos for overcoming some tough times in negotiating. Now past the tough part, Rubenstein joked about the expense.

He recalled that when the Orioles first came to Baltimore in 1954, the team’s purchase price was $2.2 million.  

“My partners and I are paying a little bit more than that,” he said. “Inflation being what it is. But we’re proud of every penny we’re paying because it’s worth every penny we’re paying.”

Then Rubenstein called on Orioles fans to unify around the goal of helping the team win the World Series.

“I hope this is not the high water mark,” he said. “Today is an easy day to say everything is great. Hopefully we’ll win on opening day…I want the high water mark to be in the fall when we go to the World Series and we show that we are a city that supports a great team. …  And we unify the city in only ways the Orioles really do.”

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American League East Players to Watch List 2024

By Cordell Woodland
Special to the AFRO

Welcome back Major League Baseball. Spring is almost ready for your return. Baltimore Orioles fans are certainly ready. 

Opening Day is scheduled for March 28. And so the countdown begins for the World Series. But there are so many storylines to watch before the great finale, especially in the American League East.  

The American League East division is not only the toughest division in all of baseball, it might be the toughest division in sports. It’s filled with rivalries thanks to the Yankees and Red Sox but it’s also filled with youth thanks to the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and Tampa Bay Rays. 

The Orioles sat at the top of the division last year winning 101 games. That was good enough for the most wins in the American League. This division is filled with talent all over the diamond. Here are some of the players you should be on the lookout for this year.

First Base

Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is one of the most exciting baseball players in the game. He plays with the flair that a lot of the young stars are bringing to the game nowadays. He is a three-time all-star, gold glove winner, and a former home run derby champ. 

When he’s on his game, the Blue Jays are tough to stop. Last season, Guerrero Jr. posted a .264 batting average with 26 HRs, 94 RBI, and an OPS of .788. Those aren’t bad numbers at all but it would count as a down year for him. We’ll see if he can not only take his game to the next level but also his team. 

Second Base

This one will be a bit of a projection because he didn’t make the opening day roster, but no pre-season list should omit  Jackson Holliday. The No. 1 prospect in baseball will make his mark on the young Orioles roster this season at some point, hopefully sooner than later. While it was disappointing to see him not make the team, nothing is disappointing about Holliday’s game.

Holliday posted a .311 batting average with a .954 OPS. Tough to look at the numbers and say he didn’t deserve to make the team but the Orioles have their methods. Orioles general manager Mike Elias told the media that the decision to start Holliday in Triple-A was to allow him more time at second base and give him more at-bats against left-handed pitching. By the end of May, it’s likely Holliday will be the starting second baseman for Baltimore.

Third Base

Third base is a premium position in baseball. You not only need to have an elite glove but most teams get a lot of offense from their third baseman. The Red Sox get that from Rafael Devers every year. Devers is coming off his third 30-plus home run season and it looks like he could be primed for another big year.

The two-time silver slugger winner is known for making loud contact and providing the Red Sox with a ton of offense but he’ll have to take it to the next level if he wants more team success. The Red Sox finished in last place in the AL East last season despite having one of the top payrolls in baseball. The division has gotten tougher so we’ll see if they can change their fortune. 

Shortstop

The reigning AL Rookie of the Year, Gunnar Henderson, is primed for a breakout season. He is leading the charge for these youthful Orioles as they have World Series aspirations this season. He returns to his natural position of shortstop after being a regular at third base last season. 

Henderson will look to not only continue his development as a young major leaguer, he could be an MVP candidate this season. Gunnar not only shows the offensive skills to be one of the best all-around hitters in the game but he could also be one of the best defenders as well. The O’s will lean heavily on the young stud this season. 

Catcher

The Orioles have already been mentioned plenty and rightfully so. Good luck finding a team that has as much good young talent as they do throughout their system. The Orioles went through a massive rebuild and Adley Rutschman is the face of that rebuild. 

The number one overall pick in the 2019 draft has shown himself to not only be the face of the Orioles but potentially the new face of the catcher position. Rutschman’s defensive metrics have him viewed as the best defensive catcher in baseball. His bat is as consistent as they come and the power numbers continue to evolve. The Orioles have high hopes this season and he will have a big say in whether or not the team reaches their potential. 

Left Fielder

Juan Soto has been viewed as one of the premier players in the league for some time now. He won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019 before being traded to the Padres in 2022. Soto didn’t have a spectacular year in San Diego but he’s still elite. Now he finds himself in New York after being traded to the Yankees.

Soto joining the Yankees adds to the star-studded talent in New York and the AL East. The idea of Soto playing at Yankee Stadium half the season with that short porch in right field should terrify opposing teams. He will look to help return the Yankees to elite territory, and if they can stay healthy, it’s tough to not think of the Yankees in October. 

Center Field

Jarren Duran has had a unique start to his young career. It’s been up and down at best for him to this point but good things could be in store for Duran this season. He’s coming off a year where he had career highs in games played, batting average, HRs and RBI. 

The Red Sox as a team underachieved last season and Duran wasn’t exempt from his contributions. While he had his best offensive season, his defensive skills at times hurt the Red Sox. He’ll have to do a better job minimizing the mistakes this season if the Red Sox are going to climb out of the basement of the division. 

Right Field

If you’re looking for superstars in the AL East you usually don’t have to look for long. Every team has  its fair share and few have more than the Yankees. Aaron Judge leads the charge in right field for the Yankees and you’d imagine this year will be no different. Judge remains one of the scariest hitters in the league when healthy and his health will be monitored closely this season. 

Judge missed 56 games last season, which didn’t bode well for the Yankees playoff chances. Judge still found a way to hit 37 bombs and have an OPS of 1.019. As long as he’s healthy, he’ll always be among the elites and the Yankees are hoping the former AL MVP can be reliable for them. 

Designated Hitter

This was a tough choice because there are a couple of candidates for this spot. This division doesn’t have many true DH’s but there are a few players who consistently serve in this role. Giancarlo Stanton is one of those guys for the Yankees but Anthony Santander from the Orioles feels like a more intriguing choice. 

The powerful switch hitter is coming off a year where he set career highs in RBI, batting average, OPS, and WAR (wins above replacement). He will probably be the DH a lot more this season for the Orioles considering the long jam they have in the outfield. If Santander can continue to be that power bat in the middle of the Orioles lineup, they will enjoy more success than they had last year.

Pitchers

There are quite a few pitchers in this division that should be in store for big years. This division has a ton of potent lineups, so it’s only natural that teams will want to bolster their pitching rotation. Here are a few pitchers to watch for:

Corbin Burnes (Orioles)

Grayson Rodriguez (Orioles)

Brayan Bello (Red Sox)

Nestor Cortes (Yankees)

Zach Eflin (Rays)

Aaron Civil (Rays)

Kevin Gausmann (Blue Jays)

Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays)

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By Megan Sayles
AFRO Business Writer
msayles@afro.com

Private equity billionaire David Rubenstein has officially become the new owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Major League Baseball (MLB) owners unanimously approved the $1.7-billion sale of the team on March 27. 

Rubenstein’s investor group includes Michael Arougheti, co-founder and CEO of Ares Management, and Mitchell Goldstein and Michael Smith, co-heads of the Ares Management Credit Group. Notable figures, including O’s Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr., former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke and Washington Spirit Owner Michele Kang, are also expected to join the ownership group. 

“To own the Orioles is a great civic duty,” Rubenstein said in a statement released on March 27. “On behalf of my fellow owners, I want the Baltimore community and Orioles fans everywhere to know that we will work our hardest to deliver for you with professionalism, integrity, excellence and a fierce desire to win games.” 

Rubenstein, a native of Baltimore, announced his intention to purchase the Orioles from the Angelos family in January. He is the co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the largest and most diversified global investment firms in the world. 

Prior to the sale, the Angelos family owned the team for three decades. The late Peter Angelos, patriarch of the family of attorneys, purchased the Orioles in 1993, just one year after Camden Yards opened to baseball fans. In 2019, his son, John Angelos, took over as his father’s health declined. 

“I thank John Angelos and his family for all they have done to bring us to this point. John led a dramatic overhaul of the team’s management, roster, recruitment strategy and farm system in recent years,” Rubenstein said in the statement. “Our job is to build on these accomplishments to advance a world-class professional sports agenda — with eyes on returning a World Series trophy to Baltimore.” 

Under John Angelos’ leadership, the Orioles finalized a long-term lease agreement with the state of Maryland in December, pledging to keep the team in Charm City for the next 30 years. 

Last season, the Orioles finished with the best record in the American League and second-best in baseball, winning 101 games. They also became the first team in MLB history to have the number one farm system for three consecutive years. 

“Capping our organization turnaround with a championship in perhaps the toughest decision in sports, while fulfilling my pledge that the O’s would forever play ball in Charm City, dovetails perfectly with the privilege to now pass stewardship of Baltimore’s iconic team to a Baltimore native, passionate American and celebrate philanthropist in David Rubenstein,” John Angelos said in the statement.

“The Orioles are in great hands, and the club, as well as the city and state that it calls home, are well positioned for success into the future.” 

Megan Sayles is a Report for America corps member. 

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By David Ginsburg,
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) — Peter Angelos, owner of a Baltimore Orioles team that endured long losing stretches and shrewd proprietor of a law firm that won high-profile cases against industry titans, died March 23. He was 94.

Angelos had been ill for several years. His family announced his death in a statement released by the Orioles that thanked the caregivers “who brought comfort to him in his final years.”

Angelos’ death comes as his son, John, is in the process of selling the Orioles to a group headed by Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein. Peter Angelos’ public role diminished significantly in his final years. According to a lawsuit involving his sons in 2022, he had surgery after his aortic valve failed in 2017.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the Angelos family on the passing of Peter Angelos,” Rubenstein said in a statement. “Peter made an indelible mark first in business and then in baseball. The city of Baltimore owes him a debt of gratitude for his stewardship of the Orioles across three decades and for positioning the team for great success.”

Born on the Fourth of July in 1929 and raised in Maryland by Greek immigrants, Peter Angelos rose from a blue-collar background to launch a firm in his own name after receiving his law degree from the University of Baltimore in 1961.

In August 1993, Angelos led a group of investors that bought the Orioles. The group included writer Tom Clancy, filmmaker Barry Levinson and tennis star Pam Shriver. The price tag of $173 million — at the time the highest for a sports franchise — came in a sale forced by the bankruptcy of then-owner Eli Jacobs.

While remaining active in a law firm specializing in personal injury cases, Angelos assumed a hands-on approach to running his hometown team. Few player acquisitions were carried out without his approval, and his reputation for not spending millions on high-priced free agents belied his net worth, which in 2017 was estimated at $2.1 billion.

In 1996, his firm brought a lawsuit on behalf of the state of Maryland against tobacco giant Philip Morris, securing a $4.5 billion settlement. The Law Offices of Peter Angelos also earned millions of dollars through the settlement of asbestos cases, including a class-action suit on behalf of steel, shipyard and manufacturing facility workers.

Angelos made headlines as well in baseball. In 1995, he was the only one of 28 owners who refused to adhere to a plan to use replacement players during a union strike that began during the 1994 season.

“We’re duty bound to provide major league baseball to our fans, and that can’t be done with replacement players,” he insisted.

At the time, Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. was only 122 games from breaking Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played. The streak would have ended if the season started with replacement players and Ripken remained on strike, but the owners and players reached an agreement before opening day and Ripken ultimately ended up extending his record run to 2,632.

Angelos also fought for years to create an exhibition series between the Orioles and Cuba’s national team, a quest that reached fruition in 1999. On March 28, the Orioles played in Havana while Angelos sat alongside Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The teams met again on May 3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The series marked the first time the Cuban national team had faced a squad composed solely of major league players, and the first time since 1959 a big league club played in Cuba.

“He’s always had an interest in politics, especially foreign policy. That, and his involvement with baseball, made it a natural thing,” said John Angelos, a son and the Orioles’ current chairman and CEO.

The Orioles never won a World Series with Angelos as their owner. The team finally ended a run of 14 consecutive losing seasons in 2012, reaching the postseason under manager Buck Showalter. Baltimore made it to the American League Championship Series in 2014. But in 2018 the bottom fell out when the Orioles finished 47-115, the worst record in the majors and the franchise’s worst since it relocated from St. Louis in 1954.

Showalter was fired, and a major rebuild began the following season under rookie manager Brandon Hyde. The Orioles capped a swift rise from their rebuild by winning 101 games and a division title in 2023.

Though the team was rarely sensational, its home base certainly stood out. Sellout crowds were the norm after Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992. The iconic structure was built predominantly with brick, mortar and steel — much in the same fashion as old-time ballparks — and was the blueprint for other stadiums to follow.

In an era when owners often sell the name of their team’s stadium or arena to advertisers with the highest bid, Angelos never succumbed to such a transaction.

As he neared his 90th birthday, Angelos finally settled into the background and entrusted the operation of the team to his two sons, John and Louis.

John Angelos also is president of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, a regional network that televises Orioles and Washington Nationals games. Though both teams share ownership of MASN, the Orioles hold a large majority interest.

Though known as the owner of a baseball team and successful law firm, Peter Angelos’ reach in Maryland went far deeper. He had a political career that began with an unsuccessful run for state Senate in 1958, but after that he held a seat on the Baltimore City Council from 1959 to 1963.

In 1967, his bid to become Baltimore’s mayor ended in the Democratic primary.

Angelos also was a player in the horse racing industry. He bought several horses and named one after his manager at the time — Showalter, who won his debut race as a 2-year-old at Laurel Race Course in 2015.

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The Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Jordan Hairston scored 18 points and Bryce Harris and Seth Towns each scored 16 points as Howard beat Delaware State 70-67 on March 16 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship to secure an NCAA Tournament bid.

Harris’ jump shot broke a 60-all tie with 4:18 remaining and the Bison led for the remainder but not without late drama.

Hairston made two free throws with six seconds left for a 70-66 lead. Off the inbounds, Delaware State’s Deywilk Tavarez dribbled at a full sprint up the floor and with 2.2 seconds launched a 3-point attempt and was fouled by Jelani Williams.

Tavarez made the first foul shot, missed the second, and his attempt to deliberately miss the third for a desperation rebound and 3-point heave attempt failed when his shot attempt ricocheted off the backboard and failed to touch the rim. Howard inbounded to end the game.

Marcus Dockery scored 15 points for fourth-seeded Howard (18-16), which is headed to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year for the first time in school history. Howard upset top-seeded Norfolk State on its way to the championship game.

Jevin Muñiz scored 24 points and Martaz Robinson 16 for the sixth-seeded Hornets (15-18) which saw its improbable MEAC run end.

The Hornets last beat Howard on March 5, 2020. Delaware State entered having beaten second-seeded North Carolina Central and third-seeded South Carolina State.

The Hornets were seeking their first conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth since 2005. Delaware State ended the regular season having lost four of five games.

The Bison were without Dom Campbell, Shy Odom, Ose Okojie and AJ Magbegor due to injuries. For the season, Howard’s rotation players missed a total of 78 games which was among the top five in the country.

Howard led 40-34 at halftime on the strength of 8-for-17 shooting from 3-point range. With the exception of a 2-0 deficit the Bison led for 19:09 of the first 20 minutes. Towns’ layup with 3:59 left before halftime gave Howard a 33-23 lead, the only double-digit lead either team held.

Towns — a 26-year-old, eighth-year senior — has had a career marred by injury. His playing career started at Harvard in 2016-17 before the Columbus, Ohio, native transferred to Ohio State beginning a series of season-ending injuries before transferring to Howard.

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By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com

Student athletes, coaches and basketball fans from around the country flooded the downtown Baltimore area Feb. 26 to March 3 as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament returned to Charm City. 

The men of Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University beat out Fayetteville State 54-51, capturing the men’s 2024 CIAA title, while the ladies of Fayetteville State battled Elizabeth City State University, 64-59, ultimately taking the title. 

While most of the action took place on the court at CFG Bank Arena, a spotlight was also shone on Baltimore’s Black dining scene. The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, in collaboration with the Baltimore Local Host Committee, held the Black-Owned Restaurant Tour for the third time to encourage fans to patronize Black businesses. 

“Every night was packed, especially on the weekends,” said Chris Simon, co-owner of the Outkrowd Group, which operates Baltimore restaurants Prim and Proper and Blk Swan. “Blk Swan was the landing spot for people after they finished bouncing around during the day. We definitely felt a surge in business because of that.” 

Simon said his sales surged during the eight days of the tournament. 

Both Prim and Proper and Blk Swan had several buyouts for private parties from alumni of schools competing in the competition, like Bowie State University. The rentals substantially added to the restaurants’ revenue for the week, according to Simon. 

“I think Baltimore is a great city for CIAA,” said Simon. “I really like how people were purposeful about supporting Black businesses while being here to support HBCUs.” 

In 2023, CIAA brought 38,450 fans to CFG Bank Arena. The tournament, which showcases premier teams from historically, Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), generated an economic impact of $29.6 million, up from $19.6 million in 2022.

“We almost doubled in economic impact year over year, and the city of Baltimore really stepped up and did a tremendous job with signage and other activities,” said Al Hutchinson, CEO and president of Visit Baltimore.

This year, months before the tournament, CIAA advertisements began to build excitement for the tournament via digital billboards strategically placed on buildings along high-traffic areas in the downtown area. 

Before returning to Baltimore in 2021, the CIAA Tournament ran in Charlotte, N.C. for 15 years. According to CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker, its stint left behind more than $600 million for the city and state. 

Since being in Baltimore, she said the CIAA has had an intentional impact on minority- and women-owned businesses. McWilliams-Parker said Baltimore hotel bookings were full, and ticket sales went well for the 2024 tournament. The competition created more than 1,000 jobs this year, according to McWilliams-Parker. 

She also noted the plethora of incentives for Black entrepreneurs. 

“We have opportunities for our minority- and women-owned businesses to get engaged and make some revenue themselves,” said McWilliams-Parker. “Over the last couple of years, Visit Baltimore has been able to capture over a $1 million for , which we haven’t been able to do in the past. That’s one area I’m really proud about.” 

According to Hutchinson, Visit Baltimore partnered with 180 small, Black-owned businesses during the 2023 CIAA Tournament. Over the course of the competition, nearly $1.2 million was spent with the establishments.

Hutchinson was happy to once again engage the Black business community through the Black-Owned Restaurant Tour. 

“Last year, we had eight Black-owned restaurants. This year, 14 Black-owned restaurants a part of the tour,” said Hutchinson. “This is one way we can celebrate Black-owned businesses and push the fan base and our residents to celebrate these Black-owned restaurants.” 

Simon’s two restaurants participated in the tour. He said he looks forward to the visitors that come from near and far each year.

“CIAA has had a tremendous impact on our business as it brings a bunch of out-of-towners to the area for an HBCU sporting event with many of them looking to patronize Black-owned restaurants,” said Simon. “We consistently see a spike in sales throughout the week of CIAA.” 

Aside from CIAA’s financial impact on Baltimore, Hutchinson said the tournament elevates the city’s brand. Visit Baltimore invites potential conference organizers to the event to demonstrate Baltimore’s ability to host large events. 

He added that the competition contributes to the city’s broader tourism industry, which he identified as Baltimore’s third largest economic sector. Many depend on the industry for employment, according to Hutchinson. 

“If not for travel and tourism, a lot of folks would not be employed in this community,” said Hutchinson. “I think it’s very important and it should be celebrated. The CIAA helps all of us keep our jobs.”

Megan Sayles is a Report For America corps member. 

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By Stephanie Harper,
Special to the AFRO

Events surrounding the CIAA Tournament provided the fun Charm City needed the week of Feb. 26 – March 3. The return of the competition marked the fourth year Baltimore hosted the event. The men’s and women’s basketball tournament for historically black colleges and universities in the NCAA Division II was held at the CFG Bank Arena in downtown Baltimore.

While fans attended the tournament to support their favorite schools, others participated in events, expos, cultural activities and enjoyed countless other free resources inside of the Baltimore Convention Center. 

The CIAA Tournament expanded its presence this year throughout Baltimore. 

This event has become a celebration of success, family and culture. The nuances of Baltimore and the subcultures are only strengthened during CIAA weekend, as it marks the end of Black History Month with music, entertainment, art and of course, fashion.

Coats, jackets, and the latest editions of shoes were on display as the athletes, coaches and staff came to the tournament dressed to match the fans’ energy. The fans and spectators showed up in their best HBCU gear and represented their teams in style. 

Fans, and residents enjoyed the multiple events centered around music, culture and arts. The city buzzed with festivities, which included events at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and at the Hilton, which hosted the Women’s Empowerment Brunch.

As the weekend approached, the anticipation for the annual CIAA Alumni party and the Legends of Hip Hop party spread through the city. 

Visitors and fans reveled in the work of celebrity DJs and guest artists: DJ Skillz; DJ Shakim; Chubb Rock; DJ Kool; Sugar Bear; Rare Essence; BDaht; DJ Kid Capri; Fatman Scoop; Keith Murray, Mr. Cheeks; SAINTED Trap Choir; LeVelle; Gabby Simone; The Hamiltones; Rudy Currence; Kevin Ross; Eric Bellinger; Shelby J. and Mike Phillips.

Baltimore’s local artists also put their creativity in the spotlight, to include DJ Duke; DJ Dre; DJ Flow; DJ Twisted; Sauce God; Jess Hilarious and others.

The CIAA Fan Fest, a free two-day event at the Baltimore Convention Center, highlighted free activities from sponsor organizations and concerts.  Tournament officials provided an array of free giveaways and merchandise for all who attended. 

Fan Fest allowed fans and visitors to engage more with local artists, entertainers and community members. 

The Vendor’s Village was a bonus this year, featuring a marketplace full of local retailers, businesses and organizations. 

Local Baltimore comedian and influencer Smirf described what CIAA means to the area.

“This type of event speaks on the value of engagement and what it means to the community,” he said. “To be able to bring this type of positivity to my city is a blessing.” 

The CIAA Alumni party was a glamorous blend of history and modern nightlife. The annual party proved to be another success as everyone enjoyed the first event of many hosted by Rams Head Live located in the Power Plant throughout the weekend. 

The culture of the HBCU history flooded the arena Friday night at the Wendy’s Step Show Throw Down featuring sororities and fraternities from the competing and surrounding area HBCUs. 

Hosted by 92Q radio personality Dominique Da Diva and sponsored by Wells Fargo, it featured dance-offs, laughs and a proper swag surf to unite the crowd. 

The CIAA weekend wouldn’t be complete without a step show. The teams included: Alpha Kappa Alpha from Morgan State University; Alpha Phi Alpha from Elizabeth City State University; Delta Sigma Theta from Central Jersey Alumnae; Zeta Phi Beta from Coppin State University (CSU); Phi Beta Sigma from Long Island University; The HU Step Team from Howard University; Omega Psi Phi from North Carolina Central University and Kappa Alpha Psi from North Carolina Central University. 

The space was packed and the energy was electric as the room filled with students from various colleges including Baltimore’s local gems, Morgan State University and Coppin State University. Appearances from Big Tigger from BET Rap City in the basement and the rapper Fabolous surprised the fans and left others wanting more.  

Frank James, from Virginia, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha valued the purpose of the event.

“This type of event is beneficial to the city and the youth in particular,” he said.”It shows them that they have more resources and activities to engage in [other] than what they’re used to.” 

Danielle Rose, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, from Baltimore, described her experience. 

“The amount of energy and people this event brought out was great and needed for the city. We packed this area with college students, alumni, and the community without incident. I’m happy I came and got a chance to support the event.” 

Ultimately, the women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority took the champion’s trophy home to CSU’s West Baltimore campus.

Baltimore’s downtown venues welcomed the party atmosphere throughout the weekend. Rams Head Live hosted CIAA The Legends of Hip Hop party featuring Fatman Scoop, Mr. Cheeks, and Keith Murray. 

Fatman Scoop started the lineup with 90s and 2000s hits that kept the crowd moving and engaged. Mr. Cheeks followed with a set that turned the Baltimore scene into a nostalgic moment. 

Keith Murray ended the show with a blast to the past with hits such as “The Most Beautifullest Thing in the World.” 

Crystal Quarles attended the CIAA Legends of Hip Hop Party and described the fun.

“This was a great experience and the CIAA did a fantastic job bringing the city out for the ‘30 and over’ crowd,” she said. “I had a ball, the atmosphere was great and I can’t wait to see what things they have planned for next year. It also makes Black History Month that much more special for me.”

The atmosphere on March 3 mellowed as the crowd turned out for the final day of activities and pop-ups.

The Trap Choir, CIAA edition, was the perfect ending to the weekend.

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By Amber D. Dodd
Special to the AFRO
adodd@afro.com 

To celebrate Black History Month, The National Links Trust (NLT), a non-profit organization created to protect and promote municipal golf courses, showed the documentary “Uneven Fairways” on Feb. 20. The screening took place at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

“The legends of Black golf have forged for inclusion at the highest levels of golf competition for all people,” said Damian Cosby, executive director of NLT. 

Released in 2009, Uneven Fairways is narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, an avid golfer whose activism and work in Black communities stretches back to being a student at Morehouse College in the 1960s. 

The film highlights the pantheon of Blacks–from Pete Brown, the first Black golfer to win a PGA Tour event at the 1965 Waco Open, to Jim Thorpe, a 75-year-old golfer and Morgan State University graduate with 21 professional wins–who reflect the vanguard of Black golfers who were barred from the professional ranks but persisted in the sport until the PGA’s racial barriers ceased in 1961. 

Peggy White, the daughter of Ted Rhodes appeared in the documentary, too; Rhodes was widely considered to be the greatest Black golf player before Tiger Woods’ emergence.  

Rhodes did not get a chance to compete on the PGA Tour. 

“I don’t think my father was aware of the trailblazer he was,” White said. “He had a dream that he would be the finest golfer in the world, but I don’t think he realized he accomplished that goal.”

Throughout the film, golfers detail how the PGA’s color barrier was upheld by a longstanding clause in the PGA. From 1929 to 1961, Article III Section I of the PGA’s handbook stated that 

“Male professional golfers of the Caucasian race, over the age of eighteen (18) years, residing in North or South America, who can qualify under the terms and condition hereinafter specified, shall be eligible for membership.” 

While the documentary tells the story of the individual experience of being Black in golf, Uneven Fairways also highlights the founding of the United Golf Association, commonly known as the Chitlin Circuit, which provided Black golfers opportunities to compete.

“Black people, being very resourceful, wanted to play and so in 1925, a group of Black businessman met in a YMCA in Washington D.C. and basically said ‘Well, PGA won’t let us play on their tour, so we’ll start our own tour,’” said Pete McDaniel, author of Uneven Lines: The Heroic Story of African-Americans in Golf.

Later that year, the first National Negro Open was contested.

The Chitlin Circuit served as an incubator for many of golf’s first popular Black players and served as fertile ground for future golf giants. 

Speaking to the documentary’s name, golfers talked about the conditions of golf courses that UGA players conducted golf tournaments on, citing shoddy landscapes and uneven grounds, usually played on municipal golf courses.

“One of the reasons why I love municipal golf is that it brings people together,” Cosby said. “It’s the easy way to get a young Black kid who’s probably never seen as much green grass on a golf course to keep them out there. That’s what I love about , it connects people to the game and brings people to the game.”

Inclusivity was no question for the UGA. Black women were automatically members of the association. Renee Powell, the second Black woman to participate in the LPGA tour, who spoke about her admission into UGA as a teenager golfer was mentioned in the documentary. 

“All the young Black golfers, that’s where they played,” Albert Green, a UGA/PGA player explained. “Lee Alder, Charlie Sifford,  Calvin Peete, Teddy Rhodes, that’s where those guys got their start.”  

Ron Terry called the Chitlin Circuit a family-affair, “It was a tour where you got to know everybody,” he said. “It was more like a fraternity than anything.”

Many mentioned how players supported one another on efforts on and off the course.

“We all traveled together anyway, so we helped each other…if you were hungry, we’re going to feed you, we weren’t going to let go around hungry,” Leonard James explained.

Members often paid for and provided their own resources which they were happy to share with others.

“They were going to eat because I always carried electric pots with me, and a frying pan,” James Black joked back.

Although an alternative league was created, it was still very clear that the color line imposed barriers that didn’t impact White athletes. 

“It was a joy to be around but it was separate, totally separate and not equal,” said John Merchant, a former USGA executive committee member.

Though golfers made their own efforts to break the color barrier of the golf world, the documentary shed light on how Joe Louis, the former heavyweight champion broke the color barrier in the PGA-sanctioned tournament in 1952 San Diego Open. Louis spoke against the PGA as they would become the final major American sports corporation to integrate Black athletes.

Louis’ son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., spoke on behalf of his father’s racial contributions in both boxing and golf. “If you ask any of those older golfers, the reasons they’re playing golf today, or throughout their career is because of Joe Louis,” Barrow said.

Along with streaming Uneven Fairways, NLT specializes in restoration of municipal golf courses, including the Langston Golf Course in Northeast D.C. which highlights their mission of exposing more youth of color to the game of golf via public golf courses.

“For us at NLT, we personally have a special connection to this story, Langston was built for Black players in the age of segregation,” Cosby explained. “It opened in 1939 and is one of the oldest Black golf clubs in the country.” 

In light of Black female golfers, members of the Wake-Robin Golf Club were in attendance. Founded in 1937 in Lanham, Md., it is America’s oldest African American women’s golf club. Debbie Tyner, president of the Wake-Robin Golf Club, said the legacy of Powell and those alike set examples of newer generations of Black female golfers.

“This club is 87 years old this coming year and we continue this work by bringing on members and amateurs,” Tyner said. “They pass on the legacy of Black women in golf…and I want to see the club change with the times. We’re partnering with Howard University who have a very strong women’s golf team, and we work with them to provide them with scholarship and mentorship, so in turn, it becomes an intergenerational thing.” 

The post National Links Trust celebrates Black golfers with ‘Uneven Fairways’ documentary screening appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Maliik Obee
Special to the AFRO

On the fourth day of the women’s 2024 CIAA Tournament, Calflin helped to narrow down the playing field to four teams headed to the semifinals on March 1. The Panthers steamrolled over Shaw and registered a 71-45 victory in the history books.

Claflin players started the day with a remarkable shooting touch, knocking down 15 of 30 attempts (50 percent) from the field. On the defensive end, the Panthers forced the Bears to turn the ball over 22 times, resulting in 30 points. 

Guard Nya Morris led all scorers with 25 points and recorded a double-double (10 rebounds). Fellow backcourt mate Ashari Lewis (15 points) and forward Leigha Harris (13 points) scored in double-figures, staking Claflin to a convincing half-time lead 42-24. 

In-addition to forcing 22 turnovers by Shaw, Claflin went to the free throw line (and converted) often (16-for-22).

All-CIAA forward Alexis Radcliff scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting for Shaw, but guard Elisha Quinn was the only other Bear to record double-digits. 

Claflin moves on to the semifinals to face top-seed Elizabeth City State Vikings on March 1 at 12 p.m. on ESPN Plus.

Virginia State pulls off 51-42 comeback victory over Johnson C. Smith

No. 2-seeded Virginia State pulled off a spectacular 51-42 comeback victory over the third-seed Johnson C. Smith on Feb. 29. Proving that they could surpass another test on the road to the semifinals, the Trojans now look ahead to Friday’s matchup against top-seed Fayetteville State.

It was a rough start for Virginia State, after the Trojans fell behind 17-5 in the first period. Their shooting woes continued in the second, converting just 3-of-14 attempts from the field. 

Virginia State, steadied by its defense, still entered halftime barely holding onto a 23-18 lead, setting the stage for the Golden Bulls to come roaring back in the third period. 

The Golden Bulls outscored their opponents 20-6 in the third period quarter and rallied for a 38-29 lead.

But momentum is a funny thing.

The Trojons called on their scorers to carry them home. All-CIAA guard and most valuable player recipient Mijhae Hayes (21 points) combined with fellow all-conference forward Amesha Miller (14 points) for 35 points. Hayes’ ability to get to the basket resulted in her shooting 7-for-10 from the free throw line, while converting 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. 

In the fourth quarter, the Trojans turned up the intensity again, out-scoring the Golden Bulls 22-4 and limiting them to 2-for-10 shooting from the field. 

Following the contest, Hayes spoke about the run in the fourth that helped her team move forward in the tournament.

“Basketball is a game of runs at the end of the day,” she said. “It’s going to happen. It’s bound to happen. We just stuck together and told each other ‘We got this’. We’re down right now, but we still have 10 minutes to go.

“So, we just kept fighting until the end. The game isn’t over until it’s 0:00 on the clock. That’s really all it was, just keep motivating each other to never give up.”

Virginia State coach Nadine Domond commended the challenge from Johnson C. Smith, then praised her program for fighting back. 

“I have an amazing bunch of young ladies,” she said. “Every day they continue to show up. They are resilient, tough and they were committed to taking this game. They did not want to go home.”

Virginia State and Fayetteville State compete in the semifinals on ESPN Plus at 6 p.m. EST on March 1. 

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By Maliik Obee
Special to the AFRO

No. 2-seed Claflin escaped with a reassuring 75-69 victory over Virginia State, overcoming its turnovers, gaffes and mistakes to advance to the semifinals of the CIAA Tournament on Feb. 29. 

Both teams struggled with turnovers, but the Panthers managed to score 30 points off of Virginia State’s 18 turnovers. That was one reason for the Panthers to feel invigorated about just getting by the pesky Trojans.

Claflin guard Jailen Williams gave them another reason to smile bright. He earned most valuable player honors, after recording a game-high 23 points.

Every bucket came in handy, as this game bounced back and forth.  

Despite 19 points from guard Kendall Bynum and 11 from Tim Uzochukwu, the Trojans failed to find another double-digit scorer. At the half, Claflin took a 34-28 lead.

Virginia State slowed the contest down in the second half, hitting 14-of-29 shots (48 percent) and converting 10 of 12 free throw attempts. 

The two teams traded buckets through the night, but Claflin’s rebounding ability (29) and Virginia State’s foul trouble (29) prevented the Trojans from making a comeback. Despite both teams scoring 41 in the second half, Claflin pulled away late at the free throw line and by finding clutch points in the paint. 

The win puts both the Claflin men and women’s teams in the semifinals, with the gentlemen preparing to face top-seeded Lincoln on March 2 at 2 p.m. EST on ESPN Plus. 

Virginia Union knocks off Bluefield State 61-55 to climb to CIAA tournament semifinals

The second men’s game of the evening featured a determined Virginia Union Panthers squad, who advanced to the CIAA semifinals with a 61-55 win over Bluefield State. 

The quadruple-header finale on Feb. 29 was another back-and-forth contest, with both teams tying four times and each accounting for two lead changes. Both teams shot over 40 percent in the first half, but Virginia Union’s ability to score points in the paint (24) helped them maintain a 32-29 lead at halftime.

Early in the second half, Union’s frontcourt trio of All-CIAA forward Tahj Harding (15 points), Jonathan Salazar (12 points) and Jonathan King (15 points), provided the late-game scoring the Panthers needed to maintain control of the contest. 

Bluefield State had three double-digit scorers of their own (Ja’Mere Redus, Jordan Hinds, Travon Cooper), but their poor shooting from deep (1-9 3pa) and allowing 12 points off turnovers proved to be crucial down the stretch. Union took an 11-point lead in the half, before fighting off a valiant late-game effort from the Big Blue. 

Panther Head Coach Jay Butler discussed the win following the contest. 

“I gotta tip my hat off to Bluefield State,” he said. “They had a good run, and they gave us fits all game – that’s a tough team.”

The Panthers pressed throughout this game and seemed to apply constant pressure. It may have been the difference in the win.

“As the game went on, I thought we wore them down a bit,” Butler said. “ King stepped up, made some plays for us. Tahj has been consistent for us all year. He stepped up and made plays for us when we needed him to. Good win – on to the next.” 

On Friday, the No.2-seeded Panthers face the top-seed Fayetteville State Broncos at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN Plus.

The post CIAA 2024 day four update: Men of Claflin knock off Virginia State 75-69, Virginia Union clips Bluefield appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Maliik Obee 
Special to the AFRO

The third day of the 2024 CIAA Tournament saw eight men’s teams compete to move forward to the final four.

A 10 a.m. matchup started the day, with Bluefield State pulling off the upset of the tournament. In a late-game thriller, the Big Blue defeated the defending-champion Winston-Salem State Rams 67-66.

Winston Salem went into the half up 33-28, thanks to an incredible offensive display by CIAA Player of the Year Jaylen Alston. The senior shot 10-of-16 from the floor (13-of-20 free throws) for 34 points along with 15 rebounds. Fellow guard Isaac Parsons was the Rams only other scorer in double figures with 10 points and nine rebounds.

All-CIAA forward Jordan Hands led the Big Blue with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but it was guard Ja’Mere Redus who took home the most valuable player award. Redus siezed command of the floor, scoring 15 points along with five assists and three rebounds. Three other Big Blue scorers (Nduka Ogwu, Chase Page, Travon Cooper) finished in double-digits, as Bluefield rallied in the second half to send the game into overtime.

Free throws were the difference in the extra period, as the Rams shot 1-for-6 (16 percent) from the charity stripe, while Bluefield went 2-for-4 (50 percent).

The win keeps the Big Blue alive, as they advanced to face No. 2-seed Virginia Union on Fedb. 29.

Virginia State knocks off Johnson C. Smith in impressive fashion

The third-seed Trojans of Virginia State handed sixth-seeded Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls a 66-56 loss on Feb. 28 to move on to the final four. Despite committing 19 turnovers to the Golden Bulls’ 14, the Trojans controlled the game from the opening tip-off.

Rebounding became the biggest difference-maker in the contest, with the Trojans recording 51 boards compared to 31 by Johnson C. Smith. While both teams struggled from beyond the arc, Virginia State’s ability to spread the ball led to several scorers getting involved. Four Trojans (Jared Clawson, Jonathan Norfleet, Tremere Brown, Dajour Rucker) scored in double-figures, with Brown (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Rucker (11 points, 10 rebounds) recording double-doubles.

Forward Ashton Sherrell led the Golden Bulls on the scoreboard with 19 points, while All-CIAA forward Avery Huggins scored 15 points and 11 rebounds to keep them in the contest.

Virginia State committed 19 turnovers and helped the Golden Bulls stay in the contest, but poor shooting from beyond the arc (5-for-21) and the inability to stop the Trojans from scoring in the post (38 points) prevented them from making a true comeback.

Fayetteville State dismantles Bowie State 77-53

The Fayetteville State Broncos made light work of Bowie State on Feb. 28, cruising to a 77-53 victory to send the Bulldogs packing. Everything seemed to be clicking for the Broncos, as they shot over 57 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Bowie 31 to 19.

Forward Kaleb Coleman earned the most valuable player honor, after recording 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, knocking down six3-point attempts (6-for-8) and grabbing six rebounds. Tairell Fletcher led the Broncos with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting, adding six rebounds. Forward Caleb Simmons added 15 points and nine rebounds to give Fayetteville three double-digit scorers in the contest.

At the half, the Broncos held a 37-25 lead, thanks to hot shooting and holding the Bulldogs to 2-8 shooting from three (3-13 on the night). The Bulldogs’ scorers struggled to get into a groove, with the Broncos holding guard Warren Mouganda and forward Joel Webb to just 10 points each. All-CIAA rookie Kevon Corley was restricted to 7 points on 2-for-7 shooting.

Fayetteville pulled away even more in the second half, out-scoring Bowie 40-28 to secure a blowout victory.

The win now gives the Broncos a day of rest, skipping Thursday’s action, as they prepare to face the winner of Virginia Union’s matchup against Bluefield State.

Lincoln roars past Elizabeth City State 76-62

Top-seeded Lincoln held no punches on Feb. 28, beating the Elizabeth City State Vikings 76-62 to advance to the final four. 

No team put together a better display of moving the basketball, as five Lions scored in double-digits. Guard Reggie Hudson took home the most valuable player honors, after nearly recording a triple-double with 17 points, 8 assists and 9 rebounds.

The Lions took a comfortable 42-28 lead at the half, thanks to shooting 15-of-30 as a team from the field (50 percent) and holding the Vikings to 10-for-28 shooting (35 percent). Lincoln often landed at the foul line and converted, making 25-for-37 free throws (67 percent) as a team.

Elizabeth City State struggled from the field after halftime, going 11-36 (30 percent). But they did even worse from beyond the arc, making just 5-27 three-point-attempts (18 percent).

Lincoln’s offense struggled in the second half (7-22) but their defense and fresh rotation of bench contributors (28 points) helped them maintain a healthy lead throughout.

With a bye on Feb. 29, the Lions will watch to see who they will face in the semifinals, as Virginia State prepares to face Claflin.

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By Maliik Obee
Special to the AFRO

Day three of the women’s 2024 CIAA Tournament bracket featured four teams looking to punch their final-four ticket. In the first quarterfinal matchup of the day, the Elizabeth City State Vikings defeated Saint Augustine’s 64-60, sending the Falcons packing.

The fourth-seed Falcons made light work of the Lincoln Lions on Feb. 27, capturing a 64-52 victory. But on Feb. 28, the Vikings showed why they are defending CIAA champions. 

St. Augustine’s kept pressing the issue throughout, climbing to a 31-25 lead at the half thanks to a three-headed offensive attack from double-digit scorers Janiya Reed, Taniyah Greene and Lauren Banks. The trio combined for 43 points and 27 rebounds, with the Falcons bench contributing 27 points of their own.

But the Falcons had no answer for guard Dy’Jhanik Armfield, who led the Vikings with 16 crucial points and six rebounds. The Vikings’ ability to make free throws (12 for 18) and come up with some late defensive stops puts them back in the final four. On Feb. 29, they’ll face No. 2-seeded Claflin in hopes of returning to the championship.

Fayetteville State dominates Bluefield State 59-45

After waiting two days for its turn to take the court as top-seed, the Fayetteville State Broncos routed the Bluefield State Big Blue 59-45. CIAA player of the year Aniylah Bryant scored 24 points to take home the Food Lion MVP, shooting 9-20 (48 percent) from the field and 3-6 from the three-point line.

The Big Blue jumped to an 11-10 lead after the first, before the Broncos held them to just 4 points (1-15 shooting) in the second. After going up 26-15 at the half, Bryant took over the contest by scoring at will. The Broncos’ defense restricted the Big Blue to 5-25 shooting from beyond the three-point line.

Bluefield All-CIAA forward Alexyss Newman was the only other double-digit scorer in the contest, posting 19 points and 9 rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, the Broncos struggled to put the ball in the basket (3-13), but their defensive effort and 44 rebounds made all the difference.

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By Maliik Obee
Special to the AFRO

The men’s bracket of the 2024 CIAA Tournament kicked off on Feb. 26 with sixth-seed Bluefield State knocking off seventh-seed St. Augustine’s 50-48 in a late come-from-behind win.

The Falcons controlled the pace of the contest early, thanks to some sticky defense and 24-combined points from guard Jawan Browder and forward Nate Youngblood. St. Augustine climbed to a 10-point lead at the half, with a 32-22 lead. The Falcons restricted Bluefield to just 8 of 26 shooting in the first half to gain a comfortable lead, despite turning the ball over 14 times.

Bluefield opened the second half by chopping the lead, thanks to All-CIAA guard Jordan Hinds, who recorded his fourth 20-plus-point game (24) in his last five contests. Despite out-rebounding Bluefield 37 to 27, the Falcons went 6-20 from the field in the second half, making 1 of 8 three point attempts and going 3-for-9 from the free throw line. 

All-CIAA Rookie Team guard Traveon Cooper was Bluefield State’s second-leading scorer, chipping in 12 points as the only-other Big Blue player in double-digits. With guard Jordan Love struggling from the field (4-15) the Falcons didn’t have enough help for Browder (21 points) to maintain the lead and the win.

On Feb. 28, the Big Blues will take on the defending-CIAA Champion Winston Salem State Rams at 10 a.m., on ESPN Plus, as they look to extend their tournament stay.

The post Men of Bluefield State rally for 50-48 victory over St. Augustine’s on day one of 2024 CIAA Tournament  appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Helen Bezuneh
Special to the AFRO

At the helm of D.C. United’s future stands Danita Johnson, the pragmatic and strategically insightful president of business operations. With a rich background in sports, Johnson is reshaping the soccer club and championing diversity and inclusion in the world of major league soccer.

Johnson holds the distinction of being the third woman and the first Black person in major league soccer history to lead a team’s business operations, making her one of the highest-ranking female executives in MLS history.

“I take a lot of pride in that,” Johnson told the AFRO. “In the beginning of this journey, I wasn’t like, ‘This is what I’m seeking out.’ I think it ended up in the capacity in which it did where the opportunities put me in very unique positions.

“To be the first in this role is one that I take a lot of responsibility in and I want to make sure I show up as my best and do my best in all the work that I’m doing,” she continued. “In addition to that, it’s about being able to bring my true self to work every single day and knowing that I have the ability to authentically show up as myself in my work and in the workplace, and create a community of inclusiveness for everybody.”

With 15 years of experience in the sports industry under her belt at the time, Johnson came to D.C. United in December 2020 after working for eight professional sports organizations in Tulsa, Okla.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles and D.C. Prior to joining D.C. United, she spent six years with the Los Angeles Sparks, where she first served as the vice president of ticket sales and service, then senior vice president of business operations and, finally, president and chief operating officer. 

Under Johnson’s leadership, the Sparks earned WNBA team business awards for Ticket Sales Performance of the Year, Marketing Performance of the Year and Franchise of the Year. During her time with the Sparks, she launched the #WeAreWomen campaign, achieving a historic attendance of 19,000 at the Staples Center for a WNBA game. 

Prior to leading the Los Angeles Sparks, Johnson worked with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, where she led the Ticket Sales and Service department for the Washington Mystics. She also served as director of business operations for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2017 to 2019 and director of ticket sales for the Tulsa Shock WNBA team from 2009 to 2013. Before that, she was the senior account executive of group sales for the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury from 2007 to 2009. Additionally, she held the positions of manager of community relations and account executive for the Bakersfield Jam (now the Northern Arizona Suns) for a year.

Since she assumed her role with D.C. United in December 2020, Johnson has developed a partnership with Howard University to host an annual football game at D.C. United’s Audi Field, spearheaded an unprecedented growth in ticket, concession and apparel sales and new attendance records at the team’s games, secured the club’s privilege to host the 2023 Major League Soccer All-Star game and successfully negotiated a deal with NBC Sports Washington and TeleXitos to broadcast D.C. United’s matches in both Spanish and English.

Johnson has notably revitalized the D.C. United Foundation, an initiative that aims to provide underprivileged youth in the DMV with the resources and opportunities to thrive via the avenue of sport. The foundation has spearheaded a range of impactful programs. These include an annual toy drive benefiting DC SCORES poet athletes, a substantial $10,000 donation to the local gun prevention non-profit Peace For D.C., and the heartwarming initiative “Christmas on the Inside,” a project dedicated to providing holiday gifts to children and families who have a member currently incarcerated.

“Shanell Mosely, who leads our foundation, joined our club about eight to 10 months after I started, and we tasked her with building our foundation and our traditional community efforts,” said Johnson. “For us, part of our core values are determined, committed, united. That liases to our community values and how we show up in the community. We think pursuit of equality for folks, the opportunity to teach about health and wellness, those are things that we want to continue to educate in the community through our community platforms.

“We know that’s part of the responsibility, specifically when we think about the neighborhood in which we sit,” she continued. “It is critical to make sure as we watch different stadiums and neighborhoods transition, especially in the Southwest, Southeast D.C. area, we need to stay connected. And we still need to make this a community where the people who have lived here for generations have an opportunity to have access and support.”

Community service is of extreme importance to Johnson, who is laser focused on yielding real results that contribute to the development of local communities.

“Foundationally, when it comes to seeking out community partnerships for us as an organization, it’s about having impact,” she said. “One of the things I always said when I came here was, as an organization you can write checks, do all that, but what impact are we having on people to help change the trajectory of their lives? The reason why I say that is because it often mimics sport. For many people who are athletes or maybe come from underprivileged communities, sports are their gateway out.”

“I believe our community work should also reflect a gateway,” she continued. “It should create a gateway that showcases opportunity, showcases potential jobs, showcases changes in their lives, showcases a view of seeing the world differently through the lens of sports and entertainment.”

Fueled by a passionate commitment to diversity and inclusion in the realm of sports, Johnson envisions a future where major league soccer management stands as an even more enticing and accessible career path for Black women, aiming to break down barriers and create greater opportunities within the sport.

“I think around the world, is very, very well known, it’s a global game, it’s the biggest sport in the world,” she said. “For us as Black women, it is really to know that you can go into non-traditional spaces. I spent 15 years in basketball. For me it felt probably more traditional in that space than it does here, even though it was still kind of out of the realm in some of the roles I had. Knowing that you can have that same level of acceptance and face different challenges in these roles.”

“But really, the fun part is you get to bring a little of your flair to it, too,” she continued. “You get to bring your essence to this game. This is the world’s game, it’s culturally driven, it’s diverse with so many backgrounds, so many ages. Being a diverse woman, being able to bring that to the table in every conversation we have, I say to other women of color and other people of color, people of all colors, be engaged. Try something different. Don’t fear the change.”

Johnson’s personal experiences as a Black woman have profoundly influenced her career path and leadership style, fostering a depth of courage and attentiveness.

“Early in my career, I had to be a very good listener because oftentimes I didn’t necessarily have the room to speak up,” she said. “I had to really think and learn to listen well. When it was time for me to speak, I knew I needed to speak with impact. So I was delicate in the words that I chose… . Sometimes I even do that to this day. Somebody will ask me something and I’ll be like, ‘Let me think about it.’ Because I know what I say can matter and have a big impact on my career and my life.”

That cautious approach served her well in her career advancement, Johnson said.

“Being able to evaluate and break down concepts or moments that were happening versus being reactive, I think, really started to set me apart because it helped me find my own pathway and my own voice,” she continued. “When I spoke, it meant: ‘She’s speaking because whatever she’s saying matters at this point.’”

Her journey has not been devoid of its share of challenges. As a Black woman leading business operations for a major league soccer team, Johnson has encountered skepticism from those who question her skills and expertise.

“Sometimes it’s not people saying it, but it’s in their actions, it’s in their questions, and some of it is really unconscious,” she said. “When it happens to you, with some of the questions you’re like, ‘Would you really ask this to everybody?’ I think, understanding as much as we may not like it, and I don’t agree with it, it is part of the process of time, getting people to buy in and believe and staying consistent in who I am and how I show up. I talk about it all the time, consistency, dedication, commitment. No matter what, I will consistently show up as myself.”

For Black women looking to enter sports management and anticipating similar struggles, Johnson encourages them to reflect on a fundamental question: What do you do in the face of challenge?

“It’s how you handle things you need to address at times and finding balance in that where you can still go home and sleep at night and be like, ‘I was still me,’” she said. “I do believe in the power of speaking up. I do believe in the power of change. And I know, as so many of our Black women, we often feel small at moments when things happen in the workplace or in life.”

But, Johnson said, sometimes you have to take those moments in stride and keep your eyes on the end goal.

“It’s not the trajectory of everything, so I sometimes have to let that small moment happen, but : How do I handle it the next time? Or how do I prevent it next time?” she said. “For us as Black women, I say to keep that in mind. And don’t let that moment change what’s possible for you in the future.”

This article was corrected to reflect the proper name spelling of Shanell Mosley. The AFRO deeply regrets this error.

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Special Release

The Pepsi National Battle of the Bands (NBOTB) is proud to announce the February airing of “The Legacy of HBCU Marching Bands,” a film that pays tribute to the rich heritage and ongoing legacy of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) marching bands. This vibrant showcase will feature the performances of eight premier bands from the 2023 Pepsi National Battle of the Bands.

This film is the fourth in the NBOTB series. It provides an in-depth look at the marching band culture and its vital role in African American culture for over a century. Celebrating their flair, dedication, and the continuity of traditions that have become a staple of entertainment and performance excellence. Viewers journey through the history of HBCU marching bands and their evolution as a crucial part of American culture.

The featured bands performances include:

• Florida A&M University, The Marching “100”
• Langston University, “Marching Pride” Band
• Mississippi Valley State University, Mean Green Marching Machine
• Norfolk State University, The Spartan “Legion” Marching Band
• Southern University, Human Jukebox
• Tennessee State University, Aristocrat of Bands
• Texas Southern University, “Ocean of Soul” Marching Band
• Virginia State University, Trojan Explosion Marching Band

“We are thrilled to bring the stories of these iconic HBCU bands to the screen,” said Derek Webber, Executive Producer of the National Battle of the Bands. “Their music, moves and the sheer magnificence of their performances have entertained and uplifted and united communities for generations. It’s a true honor to document and share this legacy during Black History Month.”

Don’t miss this heartfelt homage to the musicians and communities that continue to inspire us with their rhythm, dedication, and trailblazing performances. 

For a complete schedule of airing dates and times, please visit NationalBattleoftheBands.com/salute, where viewers can also enjoy the film’s trailer and explore a list of stations broadcasting the documentary.

About National Battle of the Bands:

The National Battle of the Bands’ (NBOTB) mission is to enhance the exposure of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), their marching bands, and their roles in educating aspiring musicians and developing future leaders. The musical showcase, hosted in collaboration between Webber Marketing and the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority, occurs annually in Houston, TX, at NRG stadium. Event organizers have generated over $1.3 million in scholarships for the participating colleges and universities. www.nationalbattleofthebands.com

For more information about the National Battle of the Bands and the upcoming film, please visitwww.nationalbattleofthebands.com or follow @NationalBattleOfTheBands (Facebook/Instagram/TikTok/YouTube) / @NationalBOTB (Twitter).

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By Maliik Obee,
Special to the AFRO

There isn’t a team hotter on the women’s side of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) conference than the Broncos of Fayetteville State University. Led by senior guard Aniylah Bryant, the 22-2 Broncos are on an eight-game win streak, in search of a CIAA title and a demanding new respect for their historic program.

Bryant starred at Havelock High in North Carolina before committing to Louisburg College in 2019. The high-scoring 5-foot-7 guard averaged 17.4 points across two seasons for the Hurricanes, before transferring to Fayetteville State in 2021. In her first season with the team, Bryant averaged 13 points, three rebounds and two assists along with 70 steals. After putting up nearly-identical numbers in 2022-2023, Bryant has elevated her game in her senior year.

Through 24 contests, Bryant is averaging a career-high 16.1 points, ranking third in the CIAA. Making 40-of-163 three-point-attempts (24 percent), Bryant ranks fifth of all scorers in shots from beyond the arc. Averaging 31 minutes per contest, Bryant is shooting (and making) more shots than ever, converting on 137 of 344 attempts from the field. At just under 40 percent from the floor (39.8 percent), Bryant has been more efficient in her senior campaign. She’s also drawing fouls at a high rate, attempting a career-high 114 free throws, with 72 makes (63 percent). On Feb. 8, she recorded 1,000 points for her career in Fayetteville’s 64-56 win over Johnson C Smith. While scoring at a high clip, she is also sharing the ball more at just under three assists (2.8) per game.

But, it’s not just Bryant’s scoring that makes her a key factor in the team’s 22 wins and 15-1 conference record – but her tenacious defense. With 105 steals on the year (4.4 spg), she leads the conference and all of Division II women’s basketball. In the Feb. 17 game, with a 75-66 win over Livingstone, she recorded a whopping eight takeaways. It marked the 11th game of five-plus steals for the pesky defender. Fayetteville State is allowing just 58 points per contest, the lowest average across the CIAA. 

On Feb. 15, Bryant nailed a last-second free throw to seal a 48-47 victory over Winston Salem State on the road. When called upon, she has proven to be reliable in the clutch for a Fayetteville State team that has shown its ability to overcome adversity, as well as winning decisively.  

The Lady Broncos have lost once since November’s 58-56 non-conference loss to Lander, falling 63-53 to the Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith on Jan. 20. In that span, they’ve won seven contests by double-digits, with eight-straight wins overall. This week, Fayetteville State will take on the Claflin Panthers and Saint Augustine’s Falcons before heading to Baltimore for the tournament.

In January, Bryant was recognized by Boxtorow as the HBCU National Player of the Week, after averaging 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists across two victories. The upcoming CIAA tournament gives her a chance to end her decorated collegiate career as a champion. 

In 2020, Fayetteville State captured the fourth CIAA title in school history, a year before Bryant’s arrival. Through the year, Fayetteville State has run through the competition, going 12-0 at home and 9-2 on the road. Now, she leads a team on a storybook run, who has a chance to earn their fifth title and an automatic bid for the NCAA Division II playoffs. Keep an eye on the high-scoring senior with the sweet touch from outside looking to go out with a bang.

All-Conference CIAA Watch Team:

Aniylah Bryant – Guard, Fayetteville State

Alanis Hill – Guard, Elizabeth City State

Lauren Scott – Guard, Claflin

Amesha Miller- Forward, Virginia State

Zaniyyah Ross-Barnes, Forward, Shaw

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By Maliik Obee,
Special to the AFRO

On Feb. 26, the 2024 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Tournament will kick off for the fourth time in Baltimore, since moving to Charm City in 2022. The conference’s dozen teams participating in the men’s and women’s brackets will look to take home the crown, in the 79th rendition of the historic Black college tournament. After leading the Winston Salem State Rams to a 2023 CIAA title, guard Jaylen Alston is a name to know for next week’s tournament.

Alston left his mark in Baltimore in 2023, earning All-CIAA Tournament honors and the MVP award for his efforts in the Rams’ 62-57 championship victory over the Lincoln Lions. On Feb. 16, Alston recorded a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) to help the Rams defeat the Virginia Union Panthers in the NBA’s All Star Weekend HBCU Classic. With the tournament just days away, the versatile 6-foot-4 guard looks to join a distinguished group of Rams all-time to win three CIAA titles.

The Gibsonville, N.C. native shined at Eastern Guilford High, committing to Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs in 2018. After appearing in nine games as a freshman, Alston transferred to Winston Salem State in 2019. Alston made an immediate impact, averaging 12.5 points, six rebounds and shooting 50 percent from the field to help the Rams hoist the 2019-2020 CIAA title.

Alston stepped away from the game for personal reasons following the win, leading to a whirlwind of events, including COVID-19 that caused him to miss two seasons on the court. In 2022, Alston returned to the Rams, who climbed to 21-9 on the year and earned a Division II playoff appearance for their conference title win. Winston Salem State would fall 52-50 to the Crimson Hawks of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

At 17-8, the Rams are riding a three-game win streak with two matchups against the Shaw Bears and Livingstone Blue Bears before the tournament gets underway. With his senior year nearing an end, Alston continues to take his game to new heights – in the moments that the Rams need him most.

Winston Salem State kicked off the month of February by honoring Alston for recording 1000-career points along with 500-career rebounds. In 25 appearances in 2024, Alston set new career-highs in points (17.5 ppg) and rebounds (8.2 rpg). The athletic slasher continues to score at will around the basket, while becoming more proficient. Alston is shooting a career-high 54 percent from the field, while hitting 74 percent of his free throw attempts. Alston has scored over 30 points in three contests this season, and six games of 20-plus – while being held under double-digits just twice. The combo guard can fill up the stat sheet in a hurry – but it’s his microwave scoring and clutch genes that make him a threat to help the Rams hoist the trophy.

At just 45 career three-point-attempts (22 percent), Alston isn’t much of a shooter from beyond the arc. But, the senior can put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways, seemingly at his discretion. From driving to the paint with his quick first step, to playing with his back to the basket, Alston shows no qualms about getting physical. For the third-straight season, Alston has grabbed 50-plus offensive rebounds, giving himself a shot at second-chance points. Of the Rams last 10 games, five have been decided by five points or less. At a career-high of 32 minutes per contest, the Rams have relied upon Alston and his ability to score in bunches and in a pinch.

With next week’s tournament approaching, Alston has a unique opportunity to capture his third conference title and help the Rams remove the bitter taste of falling short in the Division II playoffs to conclude a historic collegiate career.

All-Conference CIAA Watch Team:

Jaylen Alston – Guard, Winston Salem State

Reggie Hudson – Guard, Lincoln

Tahj Harding – Forward, Virginia Union

Jordan Hinds – Forward, Bluefield State

Avery Huggins – Forward, Johnson C Smith

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By Mark Ambrogi 
The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — While Virginia Union coach Jay Butler would have liked a different outcome, both teams had a winning experience at the NBA HBCU Classic.

Ketron Shaw scored 15 points and Jaylen Alston had 14 points and 11 rebounds to pace Winston-Salem State to a 64-47 victory Feb. 17 in the NBA HBCU Classic. Issac Parson added 12 points and 11 assists for the Rams (17-8, 11-5 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association). Jaylin Parker scored 11 points,

Tahj Harding led Virginia Union (11-17, 6-9 CIAA ) with 11 points and Travis Vaughn added nine points.

The game between the two NCAA Division II teams from the historically Black universities was played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the same court as the NBA All-Stars will play on Feb. 18.

“This was big time,” Butler said. “This was an awesome event. Something things kids will remember for the rest of their lives. When we first got here, they rolled out the red carpet from the airport, to the hotel to the arena.”

Being a Division II school, Butler said the players don’t get to play on this kind of big stage.

“It’s big for our school and program and for our recruiting, moving forward,” Butler said. “I just want to thank the NBA and all those sponsors for basically allowing this event to happen. It is big for the HBCU community just to get this opportunity to play in front of millions on national TV.”

Vaughn, one of eight freshmen for the Panthers, said he never experienced anything like it.

“It was just an amazing experience,” he said, recounting the NBA stars he met. “I’m very fortunate. … I got to meet Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard. I look up to them for my game, so I was very fortunate for that.”

Alston was starstruck, too.

“Walking in we got to see Kevin Durant,” Alston said. “I kind of stopped. I forgot a game was still happening, so I had to catch myself.”

Parson said “the coolest thing for me was I got to see Jalen Brunson and speak with him.”

Winston-Salem State coach Cleo Hill Jr. said it was special for all involved

“I couldn’t even imagine when I was 18 to 24 years old, coming into the All-Star Game playing in front of Earl Monroe, Clyde Frazier and Magic Johnson, so that was huge,” Hill said. “On the flip side for the student-athletes, they have career day (Feb. 18) and are well-suited and booted to put our best foot forward for life after basketball. For myself, with my dad playing in the NBA for a short time, it was gratifying.”

Durant, representing the Phoenix Suns as an All-Star, said it’s huge for the two teams to have the stage.

“It’s an opportunity for people around the country to see the type of talent they have at HBCUs,” Durant said. “There’s a lot of hidden gems there, great coaching, great talent up and down the board. If we can give them the platform to showcase their talents and skills, we need to do so. So I’m excited for them. Hopefully, this becomes an annual thing and we start to see more and more talent come out of HBCUs.”

Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was among those in attendance.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia Union: After winning two in a row, the Panthers have now lost three in a row.

Winston-Salem State: The Rams previously beat Virginia Union 65-56 on Nov. 19 in the Small College Hall of Fame game in Uncasville, Connecticut. Winston-Salem leads the all-time series

UP NEXT

Virginia Union: At Elizabeth City State on Feb. 28.

Winston-Salem State: At Johnson C. Smith on Feb. 29.

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By Ariyana Griffin,
Special to the AFRO

It’s tournament time.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation’s oldest historically Black athletic conference, will return to Baltimore from  Feb. 26 to March 3 at CFG Bank Arena.

Last year,  CIAA and city officials announced that the tournament will call Baltimore home until 2026. This comes after the tournament was based in Charlotte, N.C., for several years. The week-long event invites thousands of fans and supporters to indulge in Division II basketball and enjoy Charm City.

“This is an incredibly special year for the CIAA as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of NCAA Division II and the 30th Anniversary of our alliance with Food Lion,” stated CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams in a press release.  “The CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament is a culmination of the hard work of our member institutions and our student-athletes, as well as a celebration of HBCU culture and community. Through our relationships with partners like ESPN, Food Lion, Under Armour and others, we can continue to provide opportunities and access for the next generation.”

Baltimore City and CIAA officials continue to stress the success of the tournament in attracting visitors and the impact they have on tourism for the city.

The tournament generated a total economic impact of $29.6 million, according to a statement released by tournament officials announcing the event. The tournament, the statement said, supported 1,504 part-time and full-time jobs and generated $2.5 million in state and local taxes. 

In 2023, the five-day tournament drew 38,450 fans during its 22 basketball games, exceeding 2022’s attendance by 5.6 percent, the press statement said. 

“The CIAA is a week-long celebration of Black excellence and culture that brings together student-athletes, coaches, sports fans, celebrities and the business community,”  said Al Hutchinson, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “We are excited to celebrate the tournament’s fourth year in Baltimore and hope to see both out-of-town fans and our local community experience the championship games and all the community events happening during the week.”

As in the past, the basketball games are supplemented by events  such as a step show, a high school education day, a fan fest and a career fair.

For more information about the events and the tournament, visit  CIAATournament.org.

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By Cordell Woodland
Special to the AFRO

Super Bowl LVIII surpassed the hype and then some when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime, 25-22 on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.  

Things started murky for the 49ers with an early fumble from running back Christian McCaffrey on the first drive. Fortunately for the 49ers that fumble was the highlight of the first quarter as both teams would go scoreless in the opening frame. It’s the first time the Super Bowl saw a scoreless first quarter since Super Bowl LIII.

That inaction didn’t last long with these two powerhouse offenses taking chances downfield. Fast forward to overtime and the world-wide audience witnessed hands-to-your-face drama unfold.  

Does it get much better than overtime football in the Super Bowl? San Francisco won the toss and elected to receive. The 49ers drove the length of the field but the offense ran out of gas in the redzone and were held to another field goal. 

Overtime rules allowed for both teams to get possession if the team who gets possession first is held to a field goal or no score. 

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes made the most of his opportunity as he led his team on a 13-play, 75-yard drive that he finished off with a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr. to win Super Bowl LVIII.

Kansas City has now won back-to-back Super Bowls. They’re the first back-to-back champions since the New England Patriots won in 2004 and 2005. Mahomes now has three Super Bowl rings and has been named Super Bowl MVP in all three games. 

While the drama unfolded in overtime, these teams slugged it out in regulation.

The second quarter is where the scoring began as 49ers kicker Jake Moody hit a 55-yard field goal to give the 49ers a 3-0 lead. The second quarter also gave us another fumble, although this time from Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco. That turnover was huge as the Chiefs were at the 49ers nine-yard line. 

That fumble proved huge as two possessions later, the 49ers took the ball 53 yards down the field for a touchdown. They didn’t get it the conventional way as it came on a double pass play. San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy threw it out wide to wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who then threw it back across the field to McCaffrey, who took it 21 yards for a touchdown. The Chiefs found themselves down by two possessions for the first time this postseason. 

Kansas City responded with a field goal late in the half to cut into the 49ers lead, 10-3 at halftime. The Chiefs struggled to protect Patrick Mahomes as the 49ers racked up two sacks and three quarterback hits in the first half. 

The halftime show picked up from the action of the first half as Usher put on a great performance. He hit on all the classics like “My Way, Yeah!, and My Boo,” among others. He was also joined by stars Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon. 

The second half started with an interception by 49ers defensive back Jy’Ayir Brown as he jumped a pass from Mahomes on their first drive. The Chiefs were able to force back-to-back punts after the turnover which the offense would eventually repay with a field goal. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butler was able to hit a 57-yard field goal breaking the NFL record for longest-made field goal in a Super Bowl, which was set earlier in the game by 49ers kicker Eric Moody. 

Kansas City’s good fortune continued as they forced San Francisco into a muffed punt which Kansas City recovered. Mahomes didn’t take long to capitalize on the great field position as he would find Marquez Valdez-Scantling for a 16-yard touchdown. That score gave Kansas City their first lead of the game with a 13-10 lead. 

The fourth quarter began with yet another gamble from 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco’s offense drove down the field to get inside Kansas City’s 20-yard line.  The 49ers were faced with a fourth-and-three. Instead of taking the field goal and tying the game they elected to go for it. They converted on a 4-yard pass to tight end George Kittle for the first down. 

The drive paid off with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Jennings giving San Francisco a 16-13 lead. Kicker Jake Moody had his extra point blocked so it remained a three-point game. 

The Chiefs answered with a field goal to tie the game before Jake Moody took the lead on a 53-yard field goal with 1:57 remaining in the game. 

There’s no quarterback that you want more than Mahomes in this situation. Mahomes led his team down the field in 11 plays, setting up a 29-yard field goal from Harrison Butker with three seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. 

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By Wyatte Grantham-Philips
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Super Bowl Sunday is here — and, as always, there’s a vast roster of advertisers ready to vie for fans’ attention during game breaks.

Airing a Super Bowl commercial is no easy feat. On top of the reported $7 million price tag for a 30-second spot during the game, brands enlist the biggest actors, invest in dazzling special effects and try to put together an ad that more than 100 million expected viewers will like — or at least remember.

“It’s hard to get this attention — and there isn’t really one recipe,” said Linli Xu, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota. “It has to fit with (each) brand.”

That means advertisers get creative and tackle different approaches. Some familiar favorites, like Budweiser’s Clydesdales, tap into nostalgia year after year. Others attempt to make viewers laugh with light humor and endless celebrity cameos. And a few take more serious or emotive tones that pull on heartstrings.

Many advertisers have already released their spots ahead of Sunday’s San Francisco 49ers-Kansas City Chiefs face off, which airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

Some of these commercials include Christopher Walken dealing with people impersonating him all day for BMW, rapper Ice Spice sipping on Starry after a “breakup” with another lemon-lime soda and ETrade’s spokesbabies returning in an ad that shows them playing pickleball — or “basically tennis for babies.”

There’s also a slew of mini TV show reunions in ads this year. Jennifer Aniston seemingly forgets she ever worked with her “Friends” co-star David Schwimmer in an ad for Uber Eats, for example. And in a commercial stuffed with celebrity cameos — including “Judge Judy” Judy Sheindlin — e.l.f. cosmetics reunites “Suits” stars Gina Torres, Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty in a courtroom spoof.

Of course, not all advertisers release their ads ahead of the game, so there will be surprises on Sunday. 

In a U.S. presidential election year, it’s possible we might see a candidate ad. And while there have been no indications of such, many wonder if advertisers will capitalize on Taylor Swift’s buzz in some way.

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By Cordell Woodland
Special to the AFRO

Prepare your snacks, find a comfortable seat and make your final NFL pick of the season. It’s time for Super Bowl LVIII, when the Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) take on the San Francisco 49ers (12-5) beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. 

This is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, a matchup that saw the Chiefs defeat the 49ers 31-20.

The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champs but this Chiefs team looks different from last year. The biggest change is that the defense is now the strength of the team. 

The 49ers look different from their last Super Bowl appearance as well thanks to the additions of quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey.

There are so many questions surrounding this year’s game, including how many times can announcers work popstar Taylor Swift into the broadcast and, more importantly, what song would halftime performer Usher sing first. Our guess is, “U Don’t Have to Call.”

What is known is that this Super Bowl rematch will be full of stars both on and off the field. Here are five players you should keep an eye out for:

Christian McCaffrey

Christian McCaffrey is, by far, the best running back in the NFL. The NFL’s leading rusher comes into this game as arguably the best player on the field. McCaffrey is one of the few three-down running backs left in the league but he’s also the best dual-threat running back as well, considering his contributions as a rusher and a receiver. McCaffrey won AP Offensive Player of the Year at the NFL Honors ceremony which further adds to his great year.

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones called McCaffrey “a different breed.” Jones goes on to say: “He’s the best running back in the league. He’s such a dynamic individual. We have to make it hard for him to get to the second level.” 

If the 49ers are going to dethrone the defending champs, McCaffrey will have to leave his fingerprints on this game.

Chris Jones

The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best defensive units in football. Most elite defenses have an elite player on the defensive line and Chris Jones is that guy for the Chiefs. Jones, who’s in the last year of his deal with the Chiefs, has proven himself to be one of the best defensive linemen in the game. He can play on the inside or outside of the line and is a force in the run-and-pass game.

The 49ers will look to establish the run early against the Chiefs, so Jones will be a big factor in slowing down McCaffrey. The Chiefs were second in the NFL in sacks and Jones is tied for first on the team in sacks with 10.5. Jones will be relied on heavily to ignite a defensive spark against one of the best offenses in football.

Brandon Aiyuk

The 49ers have no shortage of star players on the offensive side of the ball led by guys like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deb Samuel and Trent Williams. 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk can get lost in the shuffle at times but his impact is always felt. Aiyuk led the 49ers in catches, receiving yards and is also tied for first on the team in receiving touchdowns.

Aiyuk has been the deep threat for the 49ers offense all season and he’ll be relied on again in the Super Bowl to take the top off the Chiefs’ defense. 

The Chiefs’ secondary has been one of their strengths defensively this year as they’re led by first-team all-pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and superior cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Aiyuk will look to produce some big plays for his offense.

Travis Kelce

The Chiefs haven’t been as explosive offensively this season compared to years past. That couldn’t be more evident when you look at the regular season numbers for tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce finished with his lowest total receiving yards (984) since 2015 and his lowest total touchdown receptions (5) since 2019.

The playoffs, however, have been a different story for Kelce as he leads all TE’s in receiving (262) and is tied for first for total receiving touchdowns (3). With everything on the line for the Super Bowl, Kelce believes his offense needs to take their game to another level. 

“We have to start putting up more and more touchdowns as an offense. We know that’s going to be big

playing against this San Francisco team.”

George Kittle

The 49ers and the Chiefs each have their fair share of elite talent, especially at the tight end position. The Chiefs have Travis Kelce and the 49ers have George Kittle. 

Kittle is one of the more explosive players in the NFL. He has moments where it feels like every time he catches the ball he might score. Kittle could be the one who slips past the defense in the Super Bowl considering the attention some of his teammates may garner. Kittle can beat defenses in the blink of an eye and he’s as tough to tackle in the open field as anyone. 

Kelce thinks Kittle is playing as good as anyone right now. “When it comes to a complete tight end, I don’t know if there’s another one in the game playing at a higher level than George Kittle. It’s going to be motivating to try and play better than him on Sunday.”

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By Ariyana Griffin 
Special to the AFRO

Howard University’s Ice Skating Club has created a 10-week program for community members who want to learn the sport.

Howard is the first HBCU to have an intercollegiate ice skating team in the country with the goal of diversifying the figure skating industry. In February, the team is taking part in its first competition at the University of Delaware.

Every Monday the team meets at Canal Park Ice Rink, 200 M St SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. The lessons, which began Jan. 29, are open to everyone; however, they are on a first-come, first-served basis for participants who are not members of the organization. Members of the organization can join for free, and nonmembers must pay $15. 

The lessons will be from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. The participants will earn badges to show their achievement in ice skating skills and fundamentals. All levels are welcome and encouraged to come out.

To learn more about the organization follow them on Instagram, @hu_iceskating

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By The Associated Press undefined

Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around gymnastics champion, will return to competition for the first time in nearly eight years at the Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, on Feb. 24.

The 28-year-old Douglas, who made the announcement on NBC News NOW on Feb. 6, was a teenager when she competed in London and became the first Black woman to win the Olympic title. She hasn’t competed since helping the U.S. win team gold at the 2016 Olympics.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist went on an extended sabbatical after the Rio de Janeiro games but returned to training in 2022 and announced last summer she would try to make the 2024 Olympic team.

“I never announced a retirement,” Douglas told NBC. “I didn’t want to end this sport like I did in 2016. I wanted to take a step back and work on myself and my mental state.”

Douglas joins a crowded and decorated field hoping to make the five-woman Olympic squad, including 2016 Olympic champion Simone Biles and 2020 Olympic champion Sunisa Lee. Biles returned to competition last summer after a two-year break and won her record sixth world all-around title last fall.

Douglas said she is “definitely” pointing toward Paris but added she is taking things one day at a time.

The Winter Cup is the first significant U.S. meet of the year, with the Games looming in late July. Douglas has shared part of her journey on her social media channels, including an extended glimpse of her work on the uneven bars, historically her strongest event.

“I honestly love going to the gym and getting my skills back,” Douglas said. “It’s very exciting.”

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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By Rob Maaddi 
AP Pro Football Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Accepting the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award in person was bittersweet for Lamar Jackson.

Jackson was a near-unanimous choice for his second MVP award announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 8 but the quarterback’s Baltimore Ravens fell one win short of playing in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

“I’d rather send in a video to win the award,” Jackson said. “To be here for the award, it’s an honor but I’d rather be in the Super Bowl accepting this award.”

The All-Pro QB received 49 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of voters that includes media members who regularly cover the NFL, former players and coaches.

Jackson led the Ravens (14-5) to the NFL’s best record in the regular season, but they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game. The 27-year-old Jackson is the fourth player to win his second MVP before turning 28, joining Patrick Mahomes (27), Brett Favre (27) and Jim Brown (22).

“It’s an honor. I guess I’m in elite company,” Jackson said.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey ran away with the AP Offensive Player of the Year award. He’ll try to add a Super Bowl ring to his trophy case when the 49ers take on the Chiefs on Feb. 11.

Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett beat out T.J. Watt for AP Defensive Player of the Year. 

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award in a landslide. Defensive end Will Anderson Jr., Stroud’s Houston teammate, won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award, outgaining both Jalen Carter and Kobie Turner by two first-place votes.

The Browns took home four awards.

Quarterback Joe Flacco, who came off the couch to lead Cleveland to the playoffs, was named AP Comeback Player of the Year. Kevin Stefanski edged Houston’s DeMeco Ryans for AP Coach of the Year honors by one first-place vote. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award after guiding the league’s No. 1 ranked unit.

“It was a special year for a special team,” Garrett said about the Browns. “I think next year is going to be our year.”

Despite his disappointment over losing the AFC title game, it was also a special year for Jackson.

The one first-place MVP vote he didn’t receive went to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Jackson threw for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns and ran for 821 yards and five scores while leading Baltimore to a record 10 wins over teams that finished with a winning record. He helped the Ravens rout Houston in the divisional round but struggled in a 17-10 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC title game.

McCaffrey, San Francisco’s All-Pro running back, received 39 of 50 first-place votes for OPOY, outpacing Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. A unanimous choice for All-Pro, McCaffrey led the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing and had 14 rushing TDs. He also had 564 yards receiving for seven scores.

“I feel so fortunate to be part of the best organization on the planet so thank you for believing in me,” McCaffrey said.

Garrett was equally as dominant on the other side of the ball. He received 23 first-place votes and 165 points to beat out Watt for DPOY. Despite constant double-teams, Garrett had 14 sacks, 30 quarterback hits, 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and forced offensive coordinators to avoid his side of the field.

Stroud received 48 of 50 first-place votes for OROY with Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua getting the other two. The No. 2 overall pick, Stroud threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and had a passer rating of 100.8, third-best by a rookie. He helped the Texans go from worst to first place in the AFC South and led them to a playoff win in the wild-card round.

“I’m the type of person who wonders what’s next and what I can do better but reflecting on the season, being my first, it’s special just to be in the NFL let alone on a winning team,” Stroud said.

Anderson and Stroud are the fourth teammates to win the offensive and defensive rookie awards in the same season. Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner swept the awards last year for the New York Jets.

“It means the absolute world,” Anderson said about him and Stroud winning. “Just watching how he comes to work every day, the preparation he put in and rebuilding the culture and being captains our rookie year, it’s special.”

Flacco beat out Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield for the comeback award. He received 13 first-place votes, 26 second-place votes and eight thirds to finish with 151 points.

Hamlin returned to the NFL this season after collapsing on the field and needing to be resuscitated following a cardiac arrest on Jan. 2, 2023. He played in five regular-season games. Hamlin received 21 first-place votes but appeared on 42 of 50 ballots while Flacco was on 47. He got seven second-place votes and 14 thirds for 140 points.

Flacco, the 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP, was home in New Jersey with his family when Cleveland called him in November. He went 4-1 in five starts and passed for over 300 yards in four straight games with 13 touchdowns.

Stefanski led the Browns to their third playoff appearance since 1999 despite losing quarterback Deshaun Watson, star running back Nick Chubb and right tackle Jack Conklin to season-ending injuries and starting five QBs.

Cleveland’s Schwartz received 25 first-place votes and finished with 160 points, easily outpacing Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

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By John Celestand
Word In Black

It’s not breaking news that there was a time when the greatest Black athletes were steered away from playing the quarterback position in the NFL. With quick feet, the ability to cut back on a dime, solid hands, and blistering speed to blow past defenders, you would undoubtedly be led to the running back and wide receiver position as soon as you step foot on an NFL field.

It didn’t matter if you played QB at the Blackest high school or college in your state or could throw the ball 75 yards on target. It was mistakenly assumed that Black players didn’t possess the “leadership qualities,” quick decision-making skills, ability to read and digest a playbook, or discipline to throw from the pocket to lead a group of men at the NFL level. 

The thinking has changed over the years as Black quarterbacks such as Doug Williams, Warren Moon, Rodney Peete, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, and Randall Cunningham, just to name a few, have shown how asinine, foolish, and downright racist those thoughts were. Now, mobile, quick, and innovative QBs are coveted for their ability to put pressure on the defense with both their arms and legs. 

Last year’s Super Bowl was the first time the game featured two Black starting quarterbacks, with the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts going head-to-head. On the heels of that matchup, I was just as excited last Sunday to watch two Black quarterbacks — Mahomes and the Baltimore Ravens’s Lamar Jackson — go head-to-head with a berth in Super Bowl LVIII on the line. 

As I surfed social media and spoke to my Black friends, it dawned on me that most of them were rooting for Lamar Jackson to take down Patrick Mahomes. My first thought was that it was their instinct to root for the underdog, but Mahomes and the Chiefs were the underdogs in this matchup, with the Baltimore Ravens being the most dominant team in the league during the regular season.

Maybe folks were just tired of Patrick Mahomes winning, as he had already hoisted the Lombardy Trophy twice in his career. Maybe folks just felt that it was Lamar’s time and that he deserved his shot. But in talking to folks a little more, I realized it went much deeper than that. 

Many Black folks looked at Lamar Jackson as more anti-establishment. Lamar was the exact opposite of everything “the establishment” always tried to say a quarterback should be. The establishment said Black people were too athletic to play the position and always used their “legs” to scramble instead of the “discipline” to stay in the pocket and make the designed throws. 

Lamar Jackson is also a dark-skinned dude from South Florida with braids in his hair who doesn’t quite speak with the same intonation, cadence, and diction as successful white quarterbacks from yesteryear. Jackson is a man who plays the QB position in one of the blackest cities in the nation (Baltimore is 64 percent Black at the last U.S. census count). Jackson is a man who, instead of hiring an agent in an industry dominated by white men, retained the services of his mother, Felicia Jones, as his manager and represented himself, leading to a five-year $260 million contract with $185 million guaranteed. 

To many Black folks, Jackson represents a slap in the face to the establishment, someone who doesn’t have to code switch or dial back his “blackness” to be accepted as a leader at the quarterback position in the NFL. Jackson is a man, to many, who has received unfair criticism for not being able to get it done in the playoffs. Many felt that some of the criticism was racially motivated and that if Jackson were White, he wouldn’t have received the same amount of backlash. 

And then I thought about Patrick Mahomes and how, in this country, Mahomes is considered Black. Although Mahomes’s mother is White and his father is Black, Mahomes is widely considered the most successful Black quarterback of all time. Mahomes has repeatedly expressed pride in his Black heritage.  

“I’ve always just had confidence and believed in who I am,” Mahomes told GQ in 2020. “And I’ve known that I’m Black. And I’m proud to be Black. And I’m proud to have a White mom too. I’m just proud of who I am. And I’ve always had that confidence in myself.”  

Although not the dynamic scrambler Jackson is, Mahomes uses his mobility to avoid sacks and make plays that almost no other quarterback in history could make. He is the ultimate definition of the mobile Black quarterback — hated by the old-school bigots of yesteryear who felt that any quarterback with too much melanin wouldn’t have the discipline to play the most important position in football. 

Because of this, you would think that some Black folks were rooting for Mahomes, while others were siding with Lamar Jackson, two great quarterbacks who decades earlier would have been whisked away to another skill position because of their athleticism. But overwhelmingly, in my informal research, it seemed one-sided. Almost every Black person I talked to wanted to see Lamar move on to the Super Bowl. 

My hypothesis? For Black folks, it’s not enough just to be Black. Many times, it’s about culture. Although many Black folks voted for President Obama, it was not just because he was Black, as so many believed. It was because he was down with the culture. He moved like us, spoke like us, and walked like us. Let’s be honest: Ben Carson is Black, and so is Herschel Walker, but they just ain’t down. 

I also wonder if White America’s acceptance of Mahomes’ greatness is a subliminal catalyst for some Black folks’ support of Jackson. Do we, as Black folks, unconsciously wonder that if Mahomes spoke a little differently, wore his hair in cornrows, and grew up on the Southside of Chicago vs. Tyler, Texas, he’d be viewed differently? 

I hope this doesn’t come off as a slight to Patrick Mahomes, a guy the great sports analyst Shannon Sharpe calls Patrick “Mahome-Boy,” an ode to Mahomes’ greatness as well as his blackness. It’s nothing that Mahomes did or didn’t do. I think Mahomes is already the greatest quarterback of all time.

But in the end, Black folks rooting for Jackson over Mahomes isn’t just about football. It’s about the ongoing dialogue within the community over what it is to be Black in America, and seeing our collective and individual experiences in a QB. There’s just something about Lamar Jackson that Black folks connect with a little more. I can’t explain it. You’ve got to grow up around it. It can’t be taught. You just have to be immersed in it to understand.  

It’s the culture. 

This article was originally published by Word in Black. 

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NEW YORK (AP) — A collection of sneakers that superstar Michael Jordan wore as he and the Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships has fetched $8 million at auction, setting a new record for game-worn sneakers, Sotheby’s said.

The six Air Jordan shoes — one apiece from the last games of the 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998 championship series — sold Feb. 2. Sotheby’s dubbed it the “Dynasty Collection.”

“Serving as both a reminder of Michael Jordan’s lasting impact on the world and a tangible expression of his recognized legendary status, its significance is further validated by this monumental result,” Brahm Wachter of Sotheby’s said in a statement. Wachter oversees modern collectables for the auction house.

Sotheby’s didn’t identify the buyer and described the seller only as “a private American collector” who obtained them from a longtime Bulls executive.

Jordan first gave a sneaker to the executive after the championship-winning game in 1991 and continued the tradition afterward, according to Sotheby’s. The auction lot included photos of Jordan wearing a single shoe as he celebrated the 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1998 wins.

A five-time league MVP and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Jordan was so singular a player that then-NBA Commissioner David Stern in 1992 called him “the standard by which basketball excellence is measured.” The NBA renamed its MVP trophy for Jordan in 2022.

He also helped shake up the athletic shoe industry and supercharge sneaker culture by teaming up with Nike to create Air Jordans in the mid-1980s.

The pair he wore in the second game of the 1998 NBA Finals was sold through Sotheby’s last April for $2.2 million, a record for a pair of sneakers. The highest auction price for any Jordan memorabilia was $10.1 million for his jersey from the first game at that series, according to Sotheby’s, which sold it in 2022.

Simply an unused ticket to Jordan’s 1984 debut with the Bulls was sold through Heritage Auctions in 2022 for $468,000 — over 55,000 times the face value.

The Associated Press

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By Mark Kennedy
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies, facing off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” has died. He was 76.

Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died Feb. 1. His family issued a statement saying he died “peacefully in his sleep.”

Comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in “Action Jackson” as he was joking around on the small screen in such shows as “Arrested Development,” Weathers was perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight world champion in 1976’s “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone.

“It puts you on the map and makes your career, so to speak. But that’s a one-off, so you’ve got to follow it up with something. Fortunately those movies kept coming, and Apollo Creed became more and more in people’s consciousness and welcome in their lives, and it was just the right guy at the right time,” he told The Daily Beast in 2017.

Most recently, Weathers has starred in the Disney+ hit “The Mandalorian,” appearing in all three seasons.

Creed, who appeared in the first four “Rocky” movies, memorably died in the ring of 1984’s “Rocky IV,” going toe-to-toe with the hulking, steroided-using Soviet Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren. Before he entered the ring, James Brown sang “Living in America” with showgirls and Creed popped up on a balcony in a Star-Spangled Banner shorts and waistcoat combo and an Uncle Sam hat, dancing and taunting Drago.

A bloodied Creed collapses in the ring after taking a vicious beating, twitches and is cradled by Rocky as he dies, inevitably setting up a fight between Drago and Rocky. But while Creed is gone, his character’s son, Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed, would lead his own boxing trilogy starting in 2015.

Weathers went on to 1987’s “Predator,” where he flexed his pecs alongside Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and a host of others, and 1988’s nouveau blaxploitation flick “Action Jackson,” where he trains his flamethrower on a bad guy and asks, “How do you like your ribs?” before broiling him.

He later added a false wooden hand to play a gold pro for the 1996 comedy classic “Happy Gilmore” opposite Adam Sandler and starred in Dick Wolf’s short-lived spin-off series “Chicago Justice” in 2017 and in Disney’s “The Mandalorian,” earning an Emmy Award nomination in 2021. He also voiced Combat Carl in the “Toy Story” franchise.

Weathers grew up admiring actors such as Woody Strode, whose combination of physique and acting prowess in “Spartacus” made an early impression. Others he idolized included actors Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte and athletes Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali, stars who broke the mold and the color barrier.

“There are so many people that came before me who I admired and whose success I wanted to emulate, and just kind of hit the benchmarks they hit in terms of success, who created a pathway that I’ve been able to walk and find success as a result. And hopefully I can inspire someone else to do good work as well,” he told the Detroit News 2023. “I guess I’m just a lucky guy.”

Growing up in New Orleans, Weathers started performing in plays as early as grade school. In high school, athletics took him down another path but he would reunite with his first love later in life.

Weathers played college football at San Diego State University — he majored in theater — and went on to play for one season in the NFL, for the Oakland Raiders, in 1970.

“When I found football, it was a completely different outlet,” Weathers told the Detroit News. “It was more about the physicality, although one does feed the other. You needed some smarts because there were playbooks to study and film to study, to learn about the opposition on any given week.”

After the Raiders, he joined the Canadian Football League, playing for two years while finishing up his studies during the offseason at San Francisco State University. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in drama in 1974.

After appearing in several films and TV shows, including “Good Times,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “Starsky & Hutch,” as well as fighting Nazis alongside Harrison Ford in “Force 10 From Navarone,” Weathers landed his knockout role — Creed. He told The Hollywood Reporter that his start in the iconic franchise was not auspicious.

He was asked to read with the writer, Stallone, then unknown. Weathers read the scene but felt it didn’t land and so he blurted out: “I could do a lot better if you got me a real actor to work with,” he recalled. “So I just insulted the star of the movie without really knowing it and not intending to.” He also lied that he had any boxing experience.

Later in life, Weathers developed a passion for directing, helming episodes of “Silk Stalking” and the Lorenzo Lamas vehicle “Renegade.” He directed a season three episode of “The Mandalorian.”

Weathers introduced himself to another generation when he portrayed himself as an opportunistic and extremely thrifty actor who becomes involved with the dysfunctional clan at the heart of “Arrested Development.”

The Weathers character likes to save money by making broth from discarded food — “There’s still plenty of meat on that bone” and “Baby, you got a stew going!” — and, for the right price, agrees to become an acting coach for delusional and talent-free thespian Tobias Funke, played by David Cross.

Weathers is survived by two sons.

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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By Edward G. Robinson III
AFRO Contributing Editor, Sports

For those of you considering abandoning the Baltimore Ravens, please be reminded that fair weather fans are not allowed to celebrate future championships.

To be clear, I am not a Ravens fan– but if you’re dumping the Ravens (13-4) after their 17-10  loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game last week, then you’ve lost all rights to ride the wave next season– or whenever they win another Super Bowl.

The Ravens will return next season, led by Lamar Jackson, who only a few months ago signed a long-term contract to play quarterback for Baltimore’s NFL team. That alone should engender hope among the faithful – a healthy Jackson is a commodity, who has a regular season record of 58-19.  

Like many pundits have, take shots at Jackson for his poor playoff record (2-4), if you must. Facts are facts. But remember what you said when loyal Baltimore fans are celebrating a return to the AFC Championship game next year and perhaps a spot in the team’s first Super Bowl game since 2012. Just remember! 

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By Cordell Woodland
Special to the AFRO

The Baltimore Ravens were the best team in the NFL all season, but that meant nothing when they fell 17-10 to the Kansas Chiefs in the 2023 AFC Championship game. 

“I’m proud of the season that they had,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told the media after the game.

His team played with pride for much of the season and galvanized a city behind an explosive brand of football. The Ravens (13-4) entered the Jan.28 game with talent spread across the field and belief in themselves that translated into victories.

This time, however, they fell short against a team familiar with uprooting other team’s perfectly developed plans. The Chiefs found a way – again – to play hard-nosed, unforgiving football right when they needed to take down over an opponent. The result was close to a perfect game and a return to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five seasons.

The Chiefs (11-6) will face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, February 11 at 6:30 p.m. on CBS. This is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV. The Chiefs defeated the 49ers that year, 31-20.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Not in a game where Baltimore’s star quarterback needed to prove himself in the playoffs. Not in a game when he showed glimpses of his brilliance – completing a 13-yard pass to himself in the first half – but could not lead his team to victory.

“It’s crazy,” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said. “We had some opportunities out there. We’ve just got to take advantage of them. We can’t turn the ball over, fumble, throw an interception, or stuff like that.”­

The Chiefs’ quarterback has become an expert in tough situations and once again – backed by a tremendous defense – showed the country his pedigree.

In the first quarter, both teams left their mark by scoring a touchdown. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce on a nice out-and-up route against Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton for a 19-yard touchdown. Later that quarter, Jackson made his highlight play when he escaped out of a sack and found Zay Flowers in the end-zone for a 30-yard touchdown. 

Early in the game, both Jackson and Mahomes were making jaw-dropping plays. The Chiefs would go on to pick up another touchdown on their second drive of the game thanks to a two-yard touchdown run by Isiah Pacheco. The Chiefs converted on four third downs on that drive. 

The Chiefs scored on a field goal just before halftime to carry a 17-7 lead into halftime. The Ravens struggled offensively after that initial Flowers touchdown as their next three drives of the half resulted in a strip sack fumble followed by back-to-back punts. 

The Ravens had only fallen behind by multiple scores once this season and that was in Week 18 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A game where the Ravens played minimal starters and the starters that did play didn’t play a lot. 

Meanwhile, Kelce collected nine catches for 96 yards and a touchdown in the first half but in the second half, he was held to two catches for 20 yards. Hamilton said that the second half was a testament to how the guys were fighting. 

“We came out in the second half and shut them out, and it’s just a testament to everybody on this defense locking in,” Hamilton said.

The fourth quarter had its share of fireworks but the Ravens were on the downside of most of it. Flowers, who made a great 54-yard catch on the back end of the third quarter, decided to taunt cornerback L’Jarius Sneed at the end of the play resulting in a 15-yard penalty.    

The Ravens found their way back inside the red zone a few plays later. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jackson found Flowers wide-open with a great chance to score. Flowers got near the goal line and dove out while reaching the ball across the plane. Sneed made a great play by knocking the ball out of Flowers hands in midair and the Chiefs recovered the fumble in the end-zone for a touchback. 

That was a huge turning point in the game as it would’ve cut the Chiefs’ lead to three. Instead, the Ravens were left with nothing but another self-inflicted wound. After the game, Flowers was asked if he thought he had gotten the ball over the plane before the fumble. “Yes, I thought I did, honestly, but I’ll learn from my mistakes,” he said.

Despite the costly turnover, the Ravens’ defense forced the Chiefs into a punt, giving their offense another shot. The offense would find a way to move the ball 74 yards up the field before Jackson threw a backbreaking interception by trying to get the ball to Isaiah Likely in triple coverage. 

“I just tried to let him turn around and make a play,” Jackson said. “I thought it was going to be a pass interference, but it is what it is. The safety made a great play and made an interception.” 

The Ravens forced yet another punt but could only muster a field goal out of it. The Chiefs got the ball back and picked up two first downs to end the game and go on to their fourth Super Bowl in five years. 

“It’s kind of how life goes,” Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said, adding that the “ toughest part is it ended” without the team  having an opportunity to “play in the game that we all dream of as kids.” 

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By Steve Reed
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The National Football League has urged teams for years to hire more minority head coaches.

That mission finally seems to be paying off.

Four minority head coaches have been hired this year — Atlanta’s Raheem Morris, New England’s Jerod Mayo, Las Vegas’ Antonio Pierce and Carolina’s Dave Canales — bringing the number of coaches of color entering the 2024 season to nine, the most in league history. Seattle and Washington have yet to fill their vacancies.

Richard Lapchick, founder of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics In Sport, called it a “major milestone” for the NFL.

“The league has been struggling to raise the percentage of head coaches of color, particularly Black head coaches,” Lapchick told The Associated Press. “The NFL has worked hard to put programs in place to make this happen and the rewards have finally come home.”

The NFL originally created the Rooney Rule in 2003 to promote the number of minority head coaches (and later general managers and executives) by requiring teams to interview at least one person of color before making a hire.

The league further expanded the rule in 2020, incentivizing teams to hire minority assistant coaches by awarding compensatory draft picks if they lose a minority coach or top football executive to another team. NFL rules stipulate teams receive third-round selections in each of the next two drafts — or each of the next three drafts if two minority employees are hired by another team — providing the candidates were with the team for at least two years.

So, while the Rams will receive two third-rounders for losing Morris to the Falcons, the Buccaneers will not get any since Canales was only with the organization for one season.

“I’m very pleased at what is happening around the league,” said Ron Rivera, a former head coach in Carolina and Washington who is Latino. “I think when you have to put incentives into place to hire minorities, it probably tells you that something needs to change. But for me, this is really about making sure there are opportunities for minorities, and I think when you open your pool of candidates to give you more to draw from, it helps you find the best person, whoever that is.”

Rivera interviewed eight times for head coaching jobs with various teams before landing his first gig in Carolina in 2011. He said at times he felt like he was a “token” minority candidate, which was frustrating.

Eventually, he sensed teams were truly interested in hiring him and that he became better in interviews as time went on.

“When I finally realized there was real interest, that was a pretty cool feeling,” Rivera said.

There is still work to be done to achieve equality.

According to the 2023 racial and gender report card from Lapchick’s institute, two-thirds of players in the league (66.7 percent) are minorities, with 53.5 percent being Black. Those percentages don’t reflect the percentage of minority and Black head coaches.

But progress is being made.

There are six Black head coaches entering 2024 — Morris, Mayo, Pierce, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles and Houston’s DeMeco Ryans — which doubles the number from the 2023 season. The other minority coaches are Canales, who is Mexican American, Miami’s biracial Mike McDaniel and Robert Saleh of the New York Jets, who is of Lebanese descent.

Rivera believes the success of minority head coaches in the 2023 season “absolutely” impacted the hires this year. Bowles, Ryans, Tomlin and McDaniel all led their teams to the playoffs.

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, who is Black, was asked if it is encouraging to hear about the hiring of more minority head coaches, such as his former quarterbacks coach Canales. He answered with a resounding no.

“It’s 2024 and we are talking about minorities,” Smith said. “So, it’s not encouraging. I think we have to get away from that talk and let people be people. But that’s another topic right there.”

Rivera echoed that sentiment.

“What is happening is it is becoming more mainstream,” Rivera said of the increasing number of minority hires. “There are enough good coaches now where we can start saying, ‘Hey, let’s just call everybody a head coach, not necessarily minority head coach.'”

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By Larry Lage
AP Sports Writer

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is giving Sherrone Moore a shot, hoping he can sustain at least some of the success coach Jim Harbaugh had toward the end of his nine-season run with college football’s winningest program.

“Jim talked effusively about Sherrone before the season, after the season and in our conversation on Wednesday (Jan. 24) and really gave me the insight why he was our choice,” athletic director Warde Manuel said Jan. 27 at Moore’s introductory news conference.

Michigan hired Moore on Jan. 26 to replace coach Harbaugh and give the 37-year-old offensive coordinator an opportunity to lead the defending national champions.

“The prize we got, but we’re hungry for more,” he said.

The move was made two days after Harbaugh bolted to lead the Los Angeles Chargers with a five-year deal that gives him another chance to chase a Super Bowl title.

Moore’s contract is for five years, with a starting annual salary of $5.5 million, guaranteed annual raises and several bonuses for accomplishments such as conference championships ($500,000), College Football Playoff appearances ($200,000) and national championships ($1 million).

Moore is a first-time head coach — at least formally.

Michigan went 4-0, including wins over Ohio State and Penn State, while Moore was filling in for Harbaugh as he served two separate suspensions for potential NCAA rules violations during the 2023 season.

Moore becomes the first Black head coach in the history of Michigan football.

“It’s time,” said longtime Wolverines assistant coach and staffer Fred Jackson, who is Black.

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The Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A prized statue of Jackie Robinson was stolen from a public park in Kansas, spurring a police search Jan. 26 and outrage across the city of Wichita.

The statue honors the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Surveillance video was released of two people hauling the sculpture away in the dark. Wichita police said in a Facebook post that it went missing the morning of Jan. 25.

The statue was cut at the ankles to be removed. All that remained of the statue Jan. 26 were Robinson’s feet.

“I’m frustrated by the actions of those individuals who had the audacity to take the statue of Jackie Robinson from a park where kids and families in our community gather to learn the history of Jackie Robinson, an American icon, and play the game of baseball,” Wichita police Chief Joe Sullivan said during a news conference Jan. 26. “This should upset all of us.”

He said even more troubling was the statue’s theft shortly before Black History Month.

Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers. He’s considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon.

Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson called the theft “horrendous” and “disgusting,” and said that residents are feeling hurt and angry, and demanding justice.

“Many people want to find those folks before law enforcement,” Johnson said. “So again, like the chief and the (district attorney) said, if you’ve got that statue, bring it here today. Now.”

The Wichita Metro Crime Commission has offered a reward of up to $2,500 for tips leading to arrests and another $5,000 for tips that lead to the statue’s recovery.

Sullivan said he hopes area salvage yards will contact police if the statue is brought in for money.

“Once the statue is returned, we also want the individuals who robbed our community of a treasure to be held accountable for their actions,” Sullivan said. “And I assure you, they will. The resources of the Wichita Police Department have been mobilized.”

Little League nonprofit League 42, named after Robinson’s number with the Dodgers, paid about $50,000 for the model of him, Executive Director Bob Lutz said. The sculpture was installed in 2021 in McAdams Park, where roughly 600 children play in the youth baseball league.

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Five others to watch

By Cordell Woodland
Special to the AFRO

The AFC’s top-seeded Baltimore Ravens (13-4) welcome the Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) into M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 28 for the AFC Championship game (3 p.m./CBS). It’ll be the first time Baltimore has hosted the AFC Championship since January of 1971. The Chiefs are hoping to reach the Super Bowl for the second straight year while the Ravens are trying to get back to the big game for the first time since 2012. 

All eyes will focus on the quarterback matchup as we’re treated to maybe the top two guys at that position going head-to-head. Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes will demand plenty of attention but this game is filled with impact players all over the field. Here are five impact players you should keep an eye out for on Jan. 28. 

Justin Madubuike

Justin Madubuike has been a force all year for the league’s best defense and there’s a good chance he will make his presence felt on Sunday. Madubuike led all interior defensive ends in sacks (13.0) and has made an impact in the run game as well. Last week against the Texans, Madubuike led the Ravens in quarterback pressures (7) and quarterback hits (2). 

Madubuike, who was voted second-team all-pro is having the best year of his career at the right time as he’ll be a free agent when the season ends. Madubuike has an opportunity to add to his market value with a huge game against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. 

Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce has been the top target of Patrick Mahomes for years, so the Ravens will have to know where he is at all times. Kelce didn’t have his usual statistical season but he’s still the most dangerous player next to Mahomes in that offense. The Bills saw that up close in their loss to Kansas City last week as Kelce pulled in five catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns. 

Kelce will face multiple defenders on Sunday. Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton spoke about the challenge of defending Kelce. “He is a great player in our league,” he said. “He has been a great player for as long as I can remember, as long as I have been watching him at this level. He has earned every ounce of respect that he has received until this point, and it will be a challenge.” While some fans will be paying more attention to Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, the Ravens will put their focus on Kelce. 

Mark Andrews

Mark Andrews is undoubtedly Lamar’s favorite target and it showed early in the season as Andrews collected six touchdown catches in 10 games. His season was cut short due to an ankle injury against the Bengals, which caused him to spend the rest of the season on Injured Reserve. That all changed on Jan. 26 when Andrews was activated off of IR and is slated to return on Sunday. 

Andrews updated the media about health, saying, “I’m feeling healthy, feeling good. I’m excited to help this team in this upcoming game.” This Ravens offense has been hot over the last couple of months without Andrews, thanks to the evolution of Isaiah Likely. The challenge will be to find a way to get Andrews involved without taking away from Likely’s contributions. 

Isiah Pacheco

Isiah Pacheco is a name that most people probably didn’t know before last season’s postseason. The 5-foot-10, 216-pound running back who was drafted by the Chiefs in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft burst onto the scene in the second half of last season. He has maybe the most violent running style in the NFL, which should make for an entertaining game considering he’s going against the most violent defense in the NFL. 

Pacheco was asked if he runs angrily and answered, “Absolutely.” Last week against Buffalo, Pacheco produced 97 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Ravens Linebacker Roquan Smith said, “I tip my hat off to anybody that runs the ball hard, and who’s bringing it every single game every single play. I love that, because at the end of the day, one is going to have to break, and I don’t plan to be on that breaking end.” 

Justice Hill

The Ravens were yet again the NFL’s most dominant rushing offense as they led the league averaging 229 rushing yards a game. Justice Hill, however, has been one of the biggest unsung heroes on the team with the way he’s delivered. The Ravens lost running back J.K. Dobbins in the first game of the season and then lost running back Keaton Mitchell against Jacksonville. 

Hill had a career-high 66 yards on the ground in last week’s win over Houston and he’ll be a big focal point again this week against that vulnerable run defense of Kansas City. When asked about how he’s performed, Hill said, “I’m always ready for any opportunity that comes my way.”

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By Noah Trister
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson had already done plenty of running by the time he reached the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Apparently, he still had quite a bit of energy, leaping past the photographers and disappearing into the tunnel in a celebration that seemed cathartic for the All-Pro quarterback.

Jackson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores, and the Baltimore Ravens pulled away in the second half for a 34-10 win over the Houston Texans on Jan. 20 to advance to the AFC championship game. It was only the second victory in five playoff games for Jackson, a fact he was well aware of.

“You know I heard that,” he said. “I don’t even got to hear it. I see it. But it is what it is. I really don’t care about what people say. … Those guys just had our team’s number in the past, but it’s a different team.”

Jackson made some more history Jan. 20 becoming the first quarterback since at least 1948 — in the regular season or playoffs — with at least two touchdown passes, two TD runs, 100 yards rushing and a 100 passer rating in the same game.

“Credit to Lamar,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He made a ton of great plays. That’s why he’s the MVP.”

The Ravens (14-4) dominated the second half after the teams finished the second quarter tied at 10. 

Jackson said he did most of the talking at halftime.

“A lot of cursing,” he said.

Jackson’s 15-yard scoring run put Baltimore ahead to stay. Although C.J. Stroud had a solid, composed first half for Houston, the Texans (11-8) ultimately couldn’t turn enough promising drives into points against an impressive Ravens defense.

Now Baltimore will host the AFC title game for the first time since January 1971, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders on their way to a Super Bowl championship. The Ravens will play in that semifinal round for the fifth time since their arrival in Baltimore. They’ll take on the winner of a Jan. 21 matchup between Buffalo and Kansas City.

“Our fans are going to get a chance to cheer just as loud or louder than they did in this game, and they were amazing,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I thought our fans were incredible. Man, it was deafening out there.”

Harbaugh’s brother Jim was on hand for the game, returning the favor after John went to watch Jim coach Michigan to college football’s national title earlier this month.

Ravens fans have been haunted by what happened in the playoffs four years ago, when Baltimore went 14-2 in the regular season but dropped its postseason opener to Tennessee. Houston did enough to create some anxiety, especially when Steven Sims returned a punt for a touchdown and Jackson struggled at times with the blitzing Texans defense.

But on the first possession of the second half, Jackson guided Baltimore 55 yards in six plays and scored on a run up the middle. Then, a 15-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely early in the fourth made it 24-10.

Jackson’s final touchdown came on an 8-yard run with 6:20 to play, and the fired up quarterback kept running right into the tunnel in that corner of the field.

Sims’ return was the only TD for the Texans, whose offense never did reach the end zone in 120 minutes against the Ravens this season. Houston lost 25-9 in its season opener at Baltimore.

Jackson rushed for 821 yards during the regular season, which is a big part of the case for his second MVP award. But he surpassed 100 yards on the ground only once. He ran for exactly 100 on Jan. 20 on 11 attempts. A 14-yard bootleg on fourth-and-1 near midfield led to the touchdown by Likely that gave the Ravens some breathing room.

Jackson also passed for 152 yards.

“Lamar is a dog. I’ve been a fan of his since high school,” Stroud said. “It’s really an honor to share the field with a player like that.”

Stroud threw for 175 yards and didn’t take a sack against a tough Baltimore defensive front, but the Texans dropped to 0-5 in the divisional round of the playoffs. They’re the only current franchise that hasn’t reached a conference championship game.

The Ravens led the NFL in sacks this season, but it was Jackson who was under pressure in the first half, when Houston got to him three times. Two of those sacks came back-to-back in the final minute of the second quarter after a missed field goal gave Baltimore decent field position.

Penalties held the Texans back all day — they ended up with 11 for 70 yards. After Justin Tucker opened the scoring for Baltimore with a 53-yard field goal, Houston appeared headed for points of its own before two false starts and an intentional grounding flag pushed the Texans out of range.

Houston did eventually tie it on a 50-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn, but the Ravens answered with a 76-yard march capped by Jackson’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor.

Down 10-3, the Texans struck back on special teams. Sims, who was signed from the practice squad to the active roster earlier in the week, broke free up the middle for a 67-yard touchdown.

ADJUSTMENTS

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Jackson faced a career-high blitz rate of 75 percent and went 13 of 18 for 120 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz. He got rid of the ball in an average of 2.25 seconds in the second half, compared to 3.51 in the first.

ONE-DIMENSIONAL

The Ravens outrushed Houston 229-38, and eventually the Texans’ lack of any real ground attack caught up with them — even though they avoided any sacks and turnovers on the day.

UP NEXT

Texans: Houston’s rise this season included an AFC South title and a first-round playoff rout against Cleveland. The future looks bright with Stroud at quarterback.

Ravens: Baltimore is one win away from its first Super Bowl appearance in 11 years. The Ravens did not face the Bills or Chiefs during the regular season.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

The post Lamar Jackson and Ravens pull away in the second half to beat Texans 34-10 and reach AFC title game appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Cordell Woodland
Special to the AFRO 

The No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens (13-4) will host the Houston Texans (10-7) on Jan. 20 in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs at M&T Bank Stadium (4:30 p.m./ESPN). It’s the second meeting between the teams this season. The Ravens are hoping for a similar outcome to their first matchup where they beat the Texans 25-9. 

At stake is a trip to the AFC Championship game. 

As much as one would like to revisit that Week 1 matchup, it would be pointless considering how different both teams are entering the weekend. Each team has matured, and both are led by young star players. Here are five non-quarterback players you should watch out for in this matchup. 

Kyle Hamilton

The first-time all-pro and pro bowler has been one of the pillars of the Ravens’ defense all year. Jan. 20 should be no different. Kyle Hamilton has shown the ability to cover down the field and that will be useful against this Texans offense that thrives off big plays in the passing game. 

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud tied Packers quarterback Jordan Love for the most yards per attempt in Super Wild Card weekend with 13.0. He will hunt the big plays so Kyle and the rest of this secondary will have to be ready. Hamilton will also be a force in stopping the run as he leads all NFL safeties in tackles for loss. 

Nico Collins

Nico Collins enters this game as the best receiver on either team. He’s coming off a great performance against the Browns where he had six catches for 96 receiving yards and a touchdown. Collins finished the season eighth in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. 

Collins has made a living taking the top off opposing defenses and the Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton knows they must slow him down. “He’s fast, good hands. He runs crisp routes, and they feature him in the offense get him a lot of deep balls give him a chance to go up and make plays.” Look for the 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver to be the guy that the Texans lean on for an offensive spark. 

Isaiah Likely

Second-year tight end Isaiah Likely was called into action when Mark Andrews went down against the Bengals in Week 11. Since then, Likely has been one of Lamar Jackson’s most trusted targets. Likely has five touchdowns in his last six games and his confidence seems to be growing with each game.

This postseason will be different for Likely as it’ll be his first playoff game as lead tight end. While his responsibilities have increased, he hasn’t allowed himself to make the moment bigger than it is. “The key is keeping the main thing the main thing and being where my feet are,” he said. “I just need to be in the right spots when Lamar needs me.”

Jonathan Greenard

Jonathan Greenard is probably a name a lot of people don’t recognize unless they watch the Texans regularly. While he’s not a household name, that doesn’t stop him from being one of the more productive edge rushers in the NFL. Greenard, who is tied for 10th in the league in sacks (12.5 sacks), will look to make Jackson’s life miserable on Jan. 20. 

The Ravens offensive line has played well this year, but the tackles have struggled with consistency. Offensive tackles Ronnie Stanley and Morgan Moses have played better down the stretch but there could be a path for guys like Greenard and Will Anderson Jr. to make a true impact.

Zay Flowers

The first-round draft pick has been everything the Ravens could’ve hoped for when they took Zay Flowers with the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Flowers has added another explosive weapon for this offense, and he has made an impact all season. In the Week 1 matchup against the Texans, Flowers finished with nine catches on 78 yards. He finished the year on a high note with four touchdowns in five games. 

Flowers has been nursing a calf injury that kept him out of practice last week but with his return to the practice field this week it looks like he’ll be ready to go. “I feel great,” he said on Jan. 17. “I’m ready to go. I’m ready to go with the guys, get back on the field try to go get a win.” If Baltimore is going to have success on offense, Flowers will be a big part of what they do. 

The post Ravens-Texans preview: 5 players to watch  appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Sabreen Dawud
Special to the AFRO

Monumental Sports Network will broadcast eight live basketball games for the second annual “Basketball Day in the DMV” event on Jan. 20. 

The basketball event will be presented by CarMax through a partnership with the Washington Wizards. Teams of varying status will be displayed during five high school games, two college games and the Washington Wizards vs. San Antonio Spurs game featured on the evening of Jan. 20. 

“Basketball Day in the DMV is a relatively new initiative that we concepted at Monumental that I think perfectly captures how we’ve fully integrated all of our assets across Monumental to create really big and powerful platforms that we think can be really great for the community,” said Zach Leonsis, president of Media and New Enterprises at Monumental Sports and Entertainment. 

With an emphasis on promoting local basketball talent, featured school teams will be broadcasted free of charge. The boys and girls high school lineup include Maryland teams such as Sandy Spring, Good Counsel, Largo, Bullis and Holy Child. Virginia high school players at South Lakes, Bishop O’Connell, Hayfield and Patriot will debut alongside St. John’s in Washington, D.C. 

Both men’s and women’s college basketball will be broadcasted as well with a Saint Louis vs. George Washington and Towson vs. Campbell game being showcased. 

“The DMV is a hotbed for amateur and youth level basketball. We think it’s one of our strategic advantages. If we rebuild the basketball team in the Wizards, we want to rebuild a team that the community can really rally about. So, to be able to get into high school gyms and local college arenas and whatnot and provide free production resources, we’re not charging any of the schools to broadcast these games, it’s a great way for us to highlight basketball in the DMV,” Leonsis said. 

Each game will be presented with a professional production experience, including on-air play-by-play, a color commentator and reporters on the sidelines. The event will be streamed via the Pay TV subscription on monumentalsportsnetwork.com. Those interested can also watch the game through the Monumental Sports Network streaming app. 

For more information on the Basketball Day in the DMV event, visit monumentalsports.com/news.

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Hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold of CBS’ “The Neighborhood”

(Black PR Wire) — CBS presents “The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary” (previously known as the “Super Bowl Gospel Celebration”), to air Saturday, Feb. 10 (8-9 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand on Pluto TV and cbs.com the day after the special airs)*. Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold of CBS’ “The Neighborhood” are confirmed to host.

“I’m thrilled to return to the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration stage in Vegas as co-host of the 25th anniversary broadcast on CBS with my dear friend and ‘The Neighborhood’ co-star Tichina Arnold,” said Cedric the Entertainer. “A huge congratulations to Melanie Few for creating this amazing celebration of music, faith and football.”

“Co-hosting the 25th anniversary Super Bowl Soulful Celebration with Cedric the Entertainer is a true highlight for me. Melanie Few’s achievement in hitting this incredible milestone is a testament to her dedication and the event’s cultural impact,” said Tichina Arnold. “I’m thrilled to be part of this historic event, and Cedric and I are geared up to bring our energy, laughter and soul to this momentous occasion!”

The one-hour music special, in partnership with the NFL, tapes Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, in advance of Super Bowl LVIII, airing Sunday, Feb. 11 on CBS. 

Commemorating its silver anniversary this year, the concert event brings an inspiring blend of music and football to a broadcast television audience. Honorees and performers will be announced at a later date.

For a quarter-century, “The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration” has captured the hearts of millions through the shared love of music, faith and the exhilaration of football. Bridging cultures and igniting inspiration, the Super Bowl LVIII sanctioned special brings together NFL players with award-winning artists and acclaimed musicians from diverse genres onto a single stage. The result is an unforgettable evening that transcends boundaries and remains the sole multicultural and inspirational program sanctioned by the NFL during the electrifying Super Bowl week.

“As a multicultural and multifaceted celebration of togetherness, the Soulful Celebration has been an integral part of the Super Bowl’s DNA for the past 25 years,” said Arthur McAfee, NFL senior vice president for football operations. “We are proud of this storied tradition and look forward to bringing yet another year of joy and inspiration through music to CBS audiences.”

“We’ve come an incredible distance from our humble gospel brunch beginnings in Miami. This event has been a labor of unwavering love and dedication, and it’s an immense honor that our 25th anniversary will debut on a major broadcast network like CBS,” said Melanie Few, founder of The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration. “It’s a privilege to collaborate with the NFL for 25 years and counting, creating an event that celebrates the powerful intersection of football, music and inspiration.”

Joining “The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary” production team is Grammy-nominated artist Adam Blackstone, who serves as music director. The special is executive produced by Melanie Few and Valarie Benning Thompson serves as producer.

Tickets for “The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary”are on sale now and available to the public via Ticketmaster.com. Additionally, to mark this special occasion, exclusive commemorative 25th anniversary limited-edition merchandise is available via the event’s official website 

SuperBowlSoulful.com or on-site at the special taping in Las Vegas, allowing attendees to take home a piece of this historic celebration. Talent and taping updates will be provided at SuperBowlSoulful.com and on X and Instagram at @superbowlsoulful.

About Super Bowl Soulful Celebration

Since its www.SuperBowlSoulful.com inception during Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami in 1999, “The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration” (formerly “Super Bowl Gospel Celebration”) has established a remarkable imprint during the biggest week in sports as the exclusive NFL-sanctioned multicultural program. Seamlessly blending two cherished American passions – football and music – this annual celebration is approaching its 25th year in partnership with the NFL. Past programs have honored NFL greats including Deion Sanders, Ray Lewis and Troy Vincent, as well as featured show stopping performances from artists such as Yolanda Adams, CeeLo Green, Chloe Bailey, Kirk Franklin, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Patti LaBelle, Erica Campbell, Gladys Knight, Fantasia, Donnie McClurkin, CeCe Winans, The Players Choir, Anthony Hamilton, and more. Bridging cultures and igniting inspiration, the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration is an unforgettable evening that transcends boundaries and unites the sports community through music. 

For more information, visit SuperBowlSoulful.comor follow @superbowlsoulful.

*Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live but will have access to on-demand on Pluto TV and cbs.com the day after the special airs.

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Source: CBS Entertainment

The post  PRESS ROOM: ‘The Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary’ to premiere Saturday, Feb. 10 on CBS appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Kyle Hightower and Rob Maaddi
AP Sports Writers

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Jerod Mayo spent his entire professional football career learning from Bill Belichick, first as a player and then as an assistant.

He’ll now have the weighty task of succeeding the future Hall of Famer and leading a New England Patriots team as its first new voice in more than two decades.

The Patriots named Mayo to succeed Belichick as the franchise’s 15th head coach on Jan. 12. Mayo is the first Black head coach in team history.

He will be formally introduced at a news conference on Jan. 17, the team announced.

Mayo played eight NFL seasons and won a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots during the 2014 season. He has been an assistant under Belichick since 2019, serving primarily as the Patriots linebackers coach. 

He’ll become the NFL’s youngest head coach at age 37.

Mayo’s hire comes a day after Belichick agreed to part ways with the Patriots after a 24-year run that included six Super Bowl wins.

Mayo immediately rose to the top of the list of viable Belichick successors after the Patriots took the unique step of announcing they were giving the assistant a long-term extension last offseason. Mayo, along with Belichick’s son and fellow linebackers coach Steve Belichick, handled the play calling duties for the Patriots defense over the past two seasons.

Despite New England’s 4-13 record this season, the team’s defense has remained highly ranked in several categories despite losing top linebacker Matt Judon and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez early to season-ending injuries.

Though it’s unclear what the terms of Mayo’s deal prior to last season entailed, it came after he interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in Philadelphia and Carolina each of the past two years.

In announcing the decision to part ways with Belichick on Jan. 11, Patriots owner Robert Kraft promised to move quickly on trying to fill the hole.

Kraft said that the mandate for the next coach would be a return to the postseason for a Patriots team that has missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons and hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2018 season.

“We’re looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win,” Kraft said. “Believe me, after my family, this is really one of the two most important assets in my life. I am very upset when we don’t win games. It carries the whole week. So, I promise you I’ll be focused to do the best I can do to make sure we’re putting ourselves in the best long-term position to win for many years.”

During his time in the coaching ranks, Mayo has quickly developed a reputation for being able to relate to players.

Former Patriots safety Devin McCourty played alongside Mayo for six seasons and then under him from 2019-22.

During an appearance on NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk on Jan. 12, McCourty pointed out that one thing that will benefit Mayo is that he also had the opportunity to hone his skills in other places as well, notably the time he spent working in finance at Optum.

“When you hear him talk, he talks not just leadership in football but kind of CEO talk in life leading people,” McCourty said.

Patriots linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley said earlier this month that Mayo already garners lots of respect around the locker room.

“Players love him. I love to play for him. He gets the best out of his players,” Bentley said. “At the same time, he understands as far as the culture and everything how to get everybody going.”

But Mayo will likely get criticism from some about how much time he’s spent inside the Patriot bubble. That’s nothing he can’t overcome, McCourty said.

“I understand the reservations of people who are like, ‘Well, all he is, is a Patriot,'” McCourty said. “But when people get to be around him and talk to him, they’ll see the differences in him and Bill and how the organization will be going forward.”

One thing Mayo isn’t expected to have is the same control over personnel matters like Belichick did for most of his tenure with the Patriots. Along with being coach, Belichick also served as New England’s de facto general manager.

But Kraft pointed out on Jan. 11 that Belichick didn’t receive that power until after he won his third Super Bowl with the team following the 2004 season and that Belichick “earned it and it worked pretty well for most of the time.”

That means a new general manager hire, or some other restructuring of the front office, is likely next on Kraft’s plate.

“I think it’s good to have checks and balances,” Kraft said.

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Maaddi reported from Tampa, Fla.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

The post Patriots name Jerod Mayo as next head coach, Bill Belichick’s successor appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Cliff Brunt 
AP Sports Writer

This year’s NFL playoffs will feature a record number of Black men who have thrived in leadership positions they rarely had the opportunity to hold in previous generations.

Three Black head coaches have reached the playoffs — Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles and Houston’s DeMeco Ryans. Miami coach Mike McDaniel, who has a Black father and identifies as biracial, also is in the playoffs. No more than three Black coaches have reached the playoffs in any previous season.

An all-time high of six Black quarterbacks are starting among the 14 playoff teams — Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, Dallas’ Dak Prescott, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and Houston rookie C.J. Stroud.

“It’s great to see,” Jackson said of the Black quarterbacks. “Life’s just different now. Stuff is evolving. Guys are just being great and just showing off their true talent.”

Having so many Black men succeed in two of the most visible cerebral leadership positions in American professional sports – NFL head coach and starting quarterback – should be celebrated, said N. Jeremi Duru, director of the Washington College of Law’s Sport & Society Initiative at American University. He said millions are watching them shatter the stereotype that Black men don’t have the mental acumen to excel in those kinds of roles.

“As huge an organization as IBM is, or any other Fortune 500 company, people aren’t watching IBM,” said Duru, who is Black. “They aren’t tuning into IBM on Sundays. And so for us to be able to observe the battling of inequity when everybody’s watching and observe successes of people of color when everybody’s watching, I think that to the benefit of the movement for greater equity in society.”

Fritz Pollard became the NFL’s first Black head coach in 1921. He died before the Los Angeles Raiders hired the next one, Art Shell, in 1989. A report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) before the 2023 season shows there had only been 27 Black head coaches, including Pollard and McDaniel, in the more than 100-year history of the NFL. Even with the New England Patriots hiring Jerod Mayo as their first Black head coach on Jan. 12, Duru said the fact that so few of the league’s 32 head coaches are Black when more than half of the players are Black is problematic.

“It’s important for us to seize upon and celebrate the triumphs that we are seeing now,” Duru said. “But we cannot lose sight of the fact that that triumph does not mean that the problem is solved.”

The growth at quarterback has taken time. The first Black pro starting quarterback of the modern era was the late Marlin Briscoe with the Denver Broncos of the American Football League in 1968. James Harris was the first Black pro quarterback in the modern era to open a season as a starter with the AFL’s Buffalo Bills in 1969, and the first to win an NFL playoff game, with the Los Angeles Rams in 1974. Doug Williams was the first to win a Super Bowl, with the Washington Redskins in 1988. The late Steve McNair was the first to win a league MVP award, with the Tennessee Titans in 2003.

Thanks in part to their work, Black quarterbacks aren’t a rarity anymore. There were a record 14 Black starting quarterbacks at the beginning of this season. And with so many in the playoffs, it’s clear they are excelling.

“Shows how far we’ve come since people said there wouldn’t be that number consistently, just even starters — much less, these are in the playoffs, playing at a high level,” Prescott said. “Super, super honored.”

Still, there are issues with perception. Just recently, a radio host said Jackson wasn’t “quarterbacky enough,” saying he was more athlete than true quarterback. Jackson followed it by throwing five touchdown passes and posting a perfect passer rating in a 56-19 win over Miami. The team posted the stats on social media with the heading “Quarterbacky.”

Black quarterbacks celebrate each other’s success, in part, because they often face similar criticisms. Mahomes was thrilled when Hurts signed his five-year, $255 million extension last April. Mahomes’ Chiefs defeated Hurts’ Eagles last year in the first-ever Super Bowl matchup between Black starting quarterbacks.

“I think he’s someone who plays the position the right way, he goes about his business the right way and that’s why they were in the Super Bowl,” Mahomes said. “I mean, he played a great game in the Super Bowl and proved a lot of people wrong that were still doubting him. Obviously, it’s great for the quarterback position (and) the Black quarterbacks that are coming up behind us and them getting their deals.”

Jackson said Stroud is just one reason he’s excited about the future of Black quarterbacks in the league.

“C.J. Stroud is a tremendous quarterback,” Jackson said. “I told him when we played against him earlier this season in the first game of the season. I was like, ‘You’re amazing out there.’ College doesn’t even compare to what he is right now, just from me watching from afar. He’s a great quarterback, and for other Black quarterbacks to be playing in the playoffs — that’s tremendous. Hopefully, more guys will be included as the years go on.”

Duru, who also is on the board of directors for the Fritz Pollard Alliance, said past NFL hiring patterns indicate the growth at quarterback could pay off down the road.

“The head coaches are often former offensive coordinators, former quarterback coaches and former quarterbacks,” he said. “And so once you begin to see more Black quarterbacks, particularly in a league that values offensive-minded head coaches … then you’re building up the ranks of potential future head coaches.”

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AP Sports Writers Schuyler Dixon, Steve Megargee, Kristie Rieken, Dave Skretta and Noah Trister contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The post Black leadership at head coach, QB to be more visible than ever during NFL playoffs appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

Southwestern Athletic Conference emerges victorious

By Mekhi Abbott 
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

The Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) Rattlers defeated the Howard Bison in the Cricket Football Celebration Bowl on Dec. 16. Delivering a final score of 30-26, the Rattlers left Atlanta with their first ever Celebration Bowl victory. 

The Bowl, also known as the “Black National Championship,” started off with a bang when Howard University graduate student Ian Wheeler returned the opening kickoff 63 yards, not being tackled until he reached FAMU’s 27-yard line. Four plays later, the Bison sprinted out to an early 7-0 lead against the Rattlers. 

“I honestly didn’t expect to kick me the ball because their kicker has a good leg. But once I saw it in the air, I knew I had to show out. It’s always awesome being able to put our team in position to score to start off the game,” said Wheeler.

After linebacker and fellow graduate student Christian White strip sacked FAMU quarterback Jeremy Moussa causing him to fumble the ball, the Bison were able to recover the ball once again in FAMU territory. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Champions took advantage of the turnover and executed a six play, 37-yard touchdown drive to go up 14-0. 

The Bison went into halftime with a 16-10 lead after FAMU’s kicker Cameron Gillis kicked a field goal with 11 seconds left in the second quarter. 

A relatively quiet third quarter saw both teams score zero points, but the fourth quarter was full of action. FAMU flipped the momentum, scoring on their first possession to start off the final quarter after Moussa threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Dean. With that score, they were able to take their first lead of the game, 17-16. In their very next possession, Moussa and Dean connected on another deep ball, this time for 53 yards. The Rattlers led the Bison 24-16. 

After kicking a field goal to break FAMU’s 17-0 scoring run, Bison defensive back Carson Hinton jumped a screen pass thrown by FAMU’s Moussa and returned it 27 yards for a defensive touchdown. The Bison retook the lead 26-24. 

However, the Rattlers didn’t take long to respond. The 2023 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Offensive Player of the Year’s deep ball was connected on Dec. 16 and Moussa was able to throw another pass for a touchdown, this time to wide receiver Jah’Marae Sheread for 38 yards to put the Rattlers in the lead 30-26.

The Bison had two more offensive possessions in the fourth quarter to try and respond, but both drives resulted in interceptions thrown by senior quarterback Quinton Williams. After starting the game off with a pedestrian first half performance that resulted in an interception thrown, a fumble and a safety, FAMU quarterback Moussa made the big throws when it mattered the most in the second half. He finished with 289 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a fumble. Williams finished with 106 passing yards, 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. FAMU’s Dean was named the 2023 Cricket Celebration Bowl’s Offensive Most Valuable Player (MVP). 

Despite 56 points being scored, the 2023 Celebration Bowl proved to be a defensive matchup. FAMU’s “Dark Cloud” defense held Howard to only 187 total offensive yards, which is a record for the least amount of yards put up by an offense in Celebration Bowl history. Nine of the 26 points that Howard put up were scored by the defense via the pick-six by Hinton and a 2-point safety caused by Howard defensive lineman Darrian Brokenburr. The offensive touchdowns scored by the Bison were set up by special teams and a fumble caused by the defense. FAMU’s senior linebacker Isaiah Major took home Defensive MVP honors after securing what proved to be the game-sealing interception for the Rattlers. Major was also named the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year at the conclusion of the regular season.

Tiffany-Dawn Sykes, FAMU’s vice president and athletic director is the first female athletic director to win a Celebration Bowl. Sykes forged a strong relationship with star linebacker Major. 

“My vision for FAMU Athletics is for every student-athlete to graduate with a degree in one hand and a championship ring in the other. THIS is what it’s all about! Congratulations Isaiah Major!” Sykes wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to Major thanking FAMU for his overall collegiate experience in being able to get a degree, earn a SWAC Championship and be named a 2023 Black College Football National Champion. 

The season proves to be a historic one for both programs. This was both FAMU and Howard’s first time going to Mercedes Benz Stadium to play in the Celebration Bowl.  FAMU clinched its first ever SWAC football championship just a couple weeks ago after defeating the Prairie View A&M Black Panthers, 35-14. FAMU finished their season 11-1, going an undefeated 8-0 against SWAC opponents. The Rattlers started off their season by knocking off Jackson State, who were the then reigning 2-time SWAC Champions. After losing their second game of the season to in-state opponent University of South Florida, FAMU would run the table and not lose a single game for the rest of the season. 

FAMU is only in its third season as a SWAC school after leaving the MEAC in 2020. Prior to that, FAMU had a 15-year run as a MEAC program and was a part of the conference for over 35 years in total. This year, FAMU became the first school in NCAA history to win a conference title in the SWAC, MEAC and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in football. Each of the three respective conference’s member schools are composed entirely of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). 

FAMU continues to add to their legacy as one of best football programs in all of HBCU football history. FAMU is the only HBCU program to ever win a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) National title. FAMU also boasts four college football Hall of Famers and over 60 players who have played in the National Football League, including current starting middle linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, Markquese Bell from the class of 2021. 

Despite the 4-point loss, the Bison still had a season to remember. They finished their season with at least a .500 record (6-6, 4-1 MEAC) for the first time since 2017. They also won the MEAC outright and qualified for their first bowl game in thirty years. Some of their season highlights include a 30-point blowout victory against the then 7th-ranked (FCS) team in the nation North Carolina Central Eagles and a very close 23-20 loss against the Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats are a Power 5 program that have a record of 7-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten, one of the most challenging and competitive conferences in all of college football.

Some notable names amongst the crowd at the Celebration Bowl included Vice President and Howard alumna Kamala Harris, former NFL MVP Cam Newton and his younger brother, former Bison quarterback Caylin Newton. Actor Lance Gross from Howard University’s class of 2024 was also in attendance.

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By Sarah Rankin and Matthew Barakat
Associated Press

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA)has reached a tentative agreement with the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to move those teams from the District of Columbia to what he called a new “visionary sports and entertainment venue” in northern Virginia.

The proposal, which would need the state legislature’s approval, calls for the creation of a $2 billion development south of Washington in Alexandria, just miles from the existing arena, Youngkin said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of an announcement Dec. 13 at the site. It would include an arena for what would be the state’s first major professional sports teams, as well as a new Wizards practice facility, a separate performing arts center, a media studio, new hotels, a convention center, housing and shopping.

“The Commonwealth will now be home to two professional sports teams, a new corporate headquarters and over 30,000 new jobs,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis appeared with Youngkin and city officials at the Dec. 13 announcement. He endorsed the proposal, thanked Youngkin and said he had “goosebumps” at the thought of the project coming together “if all goes as planned.”

Monumental also owns the WNBA’s Mystics, and Leonsis said his expectation was that Capital One Arena, where the Wizards and Capitals currently play, could host women’s sports and other events like concerts.

“Our intention is to expand here and keep Capital One Arena in D.C. a great place,” Leonsis, an entrepreneur and former AOL executive, said.

The new development would be located in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, along the Potomac River and near Virginia Tech’s ambitious Innovation Campus, an under-construction graduate school.

To help finance the project, Youngkin will ask the Virginia General Assembly in the 2024 session to approve the creation of a Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority, a public entity with the ability to issue bonds. While no upfront state taxpayer dollars would go toward the project, the terms of the agreement would divert new tax revenues from the project to pay down the bonds.

“We have reached a very clear understanding, really subject to finalizing the General Assembly’s work,” Youngkin said in the interview, noting that a key bipartisan legislative committee endorsed the incentive structure earlier this week.

Still, on Tuesday night ahead of the announcement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a counterproposal she said had unanimous support from the D.C. Council. The legislation would direct a half billion dollars to modernize Capital One Arena.

At a news conference Dec. 13, Bowser said she holds out hope the teams will stay in the District, noting that the complex financing arrangement to bring the teams to Virginia needs legislative approval. 

Fundamentally, though, she said Leonsis must decide if he wants an urban site or a suburban site. Fans, she said, prefer the city.

“ National Landing Wizards doesn’t quite have the same ring,” she said, poking fun at the “National Landing” moniker that Virginia economic development officials have used to market Potomac Yard and the surrounding region.

Bowser said the city took the threat of losing the teams seriously. It was only able to put the $500 million incentive package together recently, though, after learning that it could refinance existing debt.

The Wizards had a home game Dec. 13 night against New Orleans. Emmanuel Ogundipe, a 24-year-old fan who lives in Burtonsville, Maryland, acknowledged that the move would be met with varying feelings among the team’s supporters. He noted that, like the current arena, the new complex would be accessible via subway.

“I think that at the end of the day, it’s only (a few) more Metro stops away,” Ogundipe said. “Eventually, I think if the team shows it’s committed to the new identity and the new location, and that the new stadium is really showing signs of life, then people will get on board with it.”

When the Capitals and Wizards moved from suburban Maryland to D.C.’s Chinatown district in 1997 in what was then known as MCI Center, officials credited the arena with sparking a revival in downtown Washington. In recent years, critics who have faulted city officials for what they call lax crime policies have said the neighborhood around the arena has suffered disproportionately.

The administration expects the proposed 9-million-square-foot Virginia entertainment district to generate a combined $12 billion in economic impact for Virginia and Alexandria in the coming decades and create around 30,000 new jobs, Youngkin’s office said in a statement. Subject to legislative approval and sign-off from the Alexandria City Council, it would break ground in 2025 and open in late 2028.

The development would be a major blow for D.C. and a massive win for Youngkin, a former private equity executive and college basketball player who said he had a pre-existing friendship with Leonsis from the business world. To get it over the finish line, he will have to work with Democratic majorities in both General Assembly chambers after his party fell short of its stated expectations in November’s elections.

Democrats, including incoming House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, were on hand for the Dec. 13 news conference, along with U.S. Sen. Mark Warner. Other key legislative leaders were not there.

Scott Surovell, who will serve as Senate Democratic leader come January, said in an interview that the project seemed like it could be a good opportunity, but he stopped short of fully endorsing it. Legislators will have questions about transit, taxpayer risk and compensation for the workers who will build the project, he said.

The broad outlines of the proposal call for Monumental to invest $403 million in the $2 billion development. Alexandria will put in $106 million toward the construction of the performing arts venue and the development of underground parking.

The rest of the approximately $1.5 billion would be supported through the authority-issued bonds. Those bonds would be repaid over time through rent paid by the team, parking fees, naming rights and new tax revenues generated by the development.

“There is no upfront investment or inclusion of any taxes already being collected by the Commonwealth to repay the bonds and there will be no tax increases for local residents,” Youngkin’s office said.

Potomac Yard, just south of Reagan National Airport, is currently occupied by strip malls and other retail. The site is adjacent to the redevelopment sparked by Amazon’s construction of a new headquarters nearby in neighboring Arlington.

Moira Salcedo, who lives in the area, attended the Dec. 13 event to protest, saying she and her neighbors were blindsided.

“I hate subsidizing billionaires. And I’ve lived here for the last 10 years, and I know there’s no infrastructure for this,” she said.

In the 1990s, the site received serious consideration as a location for an NFL stadium, but negotiations between the team and Virginia fell through.

This article was originally published by the Associated Press.

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By Rob Maddi

The Associated Press

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens played their best football in the biggest games of the regular season.

Now, they’ve got to do it in the playoffs.

Jackson has been one of the NFL’s top players for several years, but the Ravens are just 1-3 in the playoffs with him.

This season seems different. The Ravens have not only beaten the better teams, they’ve dominated them.

Jackson boosted his chances for his second AP NFL MVP award with back-to-back sensational performances in lopsided wins over the 49ers (12-4) and Dolphins (11-5) to help the Ravens (13-3) secure the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

He threw for 573 yards and seven touchdowns with a 145.3 passer rating and ran for 80 yards in the two games as the Ravens outscored both teams 89-38.

In five games this season against teams that currently have 11 wins, Jackson has completed 90 of 125 passes (72 percent) for 1,339 yards, 13 TDs and two picks with a 134.7 passer rating. The Ravens were 4-1 in those games with an average margin of victory of 27 points and each win by at least 14.

Overall, Jackson has a career-high 3,678 yards passing with 24 TDs, seven interceptions and a 102.7 passer rating. He has also run for 821 yards and five scores. He had 36 TD passes, 1,206 yards rushing and seven TDs on the ground in 2019 when he was the NFL MVP.

But the Ravens were knocked out of the playoffs in the divisional round after earning the top seed that season.

That won’t cut it this time.

“We gotta finish the season the right way,” Jackson said.

Wounded birds

That 10-1 start for the Philadelphia Eagles is a distant memory.

Four losses in the past five games knocked the Eagles out of the running for the NFC’s No. 1 seed and likely into a wild-card spot. Blowing a 21-6 halftime lead in a 35-31 loss to lowly Arizona cost Philly control of the NFC East and now the Eagles need Dallas to lose to Washington to have a shot at winning the division.

Fans are calling for coach Nick Sirianni’s job, even though he’s 34-16 with three playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl trip, in three seasons.

They’ve wanted offensive coordinator Brian Johnson fired for a while. First-year defensive coordinator Sean Desai already lost play-calling duties to Matt Patricia.

A.J. Brown is not happy with the offensive play-calling and refusing to talk to reporters to avoid criticizing coaches. Anonymous players have questioned Jalen Hurts’ leadership.

Things most definitely aren’t sunny in Philadelphia.

“We’re all frustrated,” Sirianni said.

Despite their troubles, the Eagles are capable of going on a run. They beat Dallas, Miami, Buffalo and Kansas City this season before losing to the 49ers, Cowboys, Seahawks and Cardinals. If they somehow get back on track, they’ll be a tough out in the playoffs.

Winning the south

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew their first chance to clinch a third straight NFC South title. A four-game losing streak prevented the Jacksonville Jaguars from securing a second consecutive AFC South title until Week 18.

Both teams are in an excellent position to do it this week. The Buccaneers (8-8) visit the woeful Carolina Panthers (2-14). The Jaguars are on the road at Tennessee (5-11).

If the Buccaneers stumble, the Falcons-Saints winner takes the division. If the Jaguars slip up, the Texans-Colts winner takes the crown.

The teams that come out of the South in both conferences could be home underdogs in the wild-card round.

The AFC South winner will host the Cleveland Browns (11-5). The NFC South winner will host either the Eagles or Cowboys.

One year later

On Jan. 2, 2023, Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and needed to be resuscitated after undergoing a cardiac arrest. Hamlin made a remarkable recovery and has played in five games this season.

The NFL and other major sports leagues and leading health advocacy organizations launched the Smart Heart Sports Coalition in March 2023 in response to Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. The coalition’s goal is for every state across the country to adopt life-saving policies that will prevent fatalities from sudden cardiac arrest among high school athletes and others.

Those policies are:

— An Emergency Action Plan for each high school athletic venue that are widely distributed, posted, rehearsed, and updated annually.

— Clearly marked automated external defibrillator (AEDs) at each athletic venue or within 1-3 minutes of each venue where high school practices or competitions are held.

— CPR and AED education for coaches.

Since the coalition’s work began, five states have moved to enact one or more of the policies, including New Mexico, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana and California.

This article was originally published by the Associated Press.

The post Analysis: Falling short in the playoffs won’t cut it for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Noah Trister
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) — In what may have been his final bid for the MVP award, Lamar Jackson threw for 321 yards and five touchdowns, finishing with a perfect passer rating and helping the Baltimore Ravens clinch the top seed in the AFC with a 56-19 rout of the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 31.

Isaiah Likely caught two TDs for the Ravens, who won their sixth straight game and also wrapped up their first AFC North title since 2019, Jackson’s first MVP season. Now Baltimore (13-3) can rest Jackson — and anyone else it chooses — in the regular-season finale against Pittsburgh.

Miami (11-5) is also postseason bound, but now the winner of next weekend’s Dolphins-Bills game will take the AFC East. Miami was without two offensive stars in receiver Jaylen Waddle (ankle) and running back Raheem Mostert (knee, ankle).

And now the Dolphins face another potentially significant injury. Linebacker Bradley Chubb — with his team down 30 points — had to be carted off with 3:05 remaining after hurting his knee.

Serenaded with periodic “MVP!” chants from the home crowd, Jackson went 18 of 21 passing, meaning he finished the game with more touchdown passes than incompletions. That’s a feat Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa also accomplished in a 70-20 win over Denver in Week 3.

Jackson also had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 against Miami in 2019. He joins Tom Brady (against Detroit) as the only quarterbacks with two perfect ratings against the same team, with a minimum of 20 attempts.

This matchup featured Miami’s top-ranked scoring offense and Baltimore’s top-ranked scoring defense. 

In the early going, the Dolphins had the upper hand. They scored on the game’s first drive when Tagovailoa threw an 8-yard pass to Cedrick Wilson Jr. Jackson answered with a 20-yard scoring strike to Justice Hill.

Miami would have had another touchdown on its second drive, but Tyreek Hill bobbled the ball in the end zone and the Dolphins kicked a field goal.

The Ravens took the lead for good in the second quarter when Gus Edwards capped an 89-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run. After another Miami field goal, Jackson immediately found Zay Flowers open deep for a 75-yard touchdown that made it 21-13.

The Ravens struck again 94 seconds later thanks to a pair of one-handed catches. The first was an interception by Roquan Smith, the second a 35-yard catch-and-run TD by Likely on fourth-and-7.

Justice Hill returned the second-half kickoff 78 yards, setting up Jackson’s 7-yard TD toss to Likely that made it 35-13.

Miami trailed 35-14 with under 13 minutes remaining last season before rallying to a 42-38 win over the Ravens. The Dolphins started the fourth quarter with a touchdown this time, a 1-yard pass from Tagovailoa to De’Von Achane, but it was Baltimore that closed strong.

The Ravens marched right back down the field and scored on Jackson’s 4-yard pass to Patrick Ricard to go up 42-19. Melvin Gordon III added a 7-yard touchdown run, and a Miami fumble led to another TD. 

Tyler Huntley threw a scoring pass to Charlie Kolar on third-and-goal from the 19.

INJURIES

The teams weren’t at full strength at the start, and the injuries continued throughout the game. Miami lost CB Xavien Howard (foot). Baltimore CB Marlon Humphrey (calf) went down as well. Ravens NT Michael Pierce and S Daryl Worley were each evaluated for a head injury.

UP NEXT

Dolphins: Host Buffalo next weekend.

Ravens: Host Pittsburgh next weekend.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The post Lamar Jackson’s perfect passer rating helps Ravens rout Dolphins 56-19 to clinch top seed in AFC appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

From the gym to the track: Top 10 sports moments of 2023 

As 2023 comes to a close, the AFRO takes a look at the Black athletes who gave it their all on the basketball court, the football field, in the gym, on the track and beyond. 

1. Georgia Bulldogs defeat Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs 65-7 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Football championship (NCAAF) game on Jan. 9 

The Georgia State Bulldogs crushed the TCU Horned Frogs by 58-points in the NCAAF championship game. The final score in the matchup marked the biggest blowout in NCAAF history.

2. LeBron James becomes NBA’s all-time scoring leader on Feb. 7

LeBron James became all-time scoring leader for the National Basketball Association (NBA), breaking the record of the former all-time scoring leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

The record was held by Abdul-Jabbar for 39 years with 38,387 points until James broke it with 38,390 points and counting. Abdul-Jabbar played 1,560 games while James played (at the time) 1,410 when he broke the record. 

3. Chiefs defeat Eagles in Super Bowl LVIII; first battle between two Black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, Mahomes wins second SB and MVP on Feb. 12

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a 38-35 thriller to win their third Super Bowl in franchise history.

Patrick Mahomes, of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jalen Hurts, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, dueled in the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks. Ultimately, Mahomes came out on top, winning his second Super Bowl in five seasons as a starter. 

4. Angel Reese leads LSU championship victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on April 2 

Angel Reese helped the Louisiana State University Tigers women’s basketball win the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship over the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 in April 2023.

The victory made head coach Kim Mulkey the first women’s coach to win national titles at two different schools—Baylor and LSU. 

5. No. 8 seeded Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler make NBA Finals; Heat falls to No.1 seeded Denver Nuggets 4-1 on June 12

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat lost to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals, giving the Nuggets their first NBA Finals championship in franchise history. 

The Heat are the second team in NBA history to make the finals as a No. 8 seed, with the first being the New York Knicks back during the 1999 NBA playoffs. 

6. Sha’Carri Richardson wins 100-meter title at Worlds Championships on Aug. 21

Track star Sha’Carri Richardson took home her first major world championship title, outrunning Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson and  Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

7. Coco Gauff wins her first Grand Slam title on Sept. 9

The 19-year-old prodigy defeated the second seeded Aryna Sabalenka in three sets, winning her first ever Grand Slam title.

8. Simone Biles wins her 21st gold medal at the Worlds Gymnastics Championships on Oct. 6

After a two-year hiatus, Simone Biles continued her success, winning her 21st world title with gold in the Worlds Gymnastics Championships. The world class gymnast married Jonathan Owens in April of this year.

9. Las Vegas Aces add to legacy with back-to-back WNBA championships 

A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces defeated the New York Liberty 3-1 to win back-to-back WNBA championships. 

The Aces are the first WNBA team to become repeat champions since the Los Angeles Sparks won their championship titles for the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

10.  Deion Sanders serves first season as head coach at University of Colorado on Nov. 25 

Deion “Prime Time” Sanders closed out his first season as head coach at University of Colorado with a 4-8 record.

Sanders switched his coaching position from Jackson State University to University of Colorado in late 2022.

The post Top Sports Moments of 2023 appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By AFRO Staff

^{Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8), left, and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) will lead their respective teams in a clash that will determine the AFC’s No. 1 seed on Dec. 31 in Baltimore.
(AP Photos)}

The Miami Dolphins (11-4) and Baltimore Ravens (12-3) will duel New Year’s Eve in Baltimore in a matchup of heavyweights as the top two teams in the AFC.

Both teams lead their respective divisions and have clinched playoff spots, but have not secured yet their places in their divisions, with the Cleveland Browns behind the Ravens by two games and the Buffalo Bills behind the Dolphins by two games.

In their last four meetings, the two teams have split the series, with the Dolphins winning the last two games. Those games, however, weren’t as important as this one.

This time around, the No. 1 seed is on the line. 

After the Ravens’ huge win against the red-hot San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Day, they currently hold the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC.

The Dolphins, who are one game behind Baltimore, seek to claim the top seed. 

As far as playoff scenarios, if the Dolphins win their last two games they can claim the No. 1 seed. 

For the Ravens, they only need to defeat the Dolphins to claim No. 1 overall. However, if the Ravens lose to Miami on Dec. 31, then they must defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers week 18 and the Dolphins must lose or tie with the Bills in order for the Ravens to reclaim the No. 1 seed. 

At home, the Ravens are currently 5-2 and will play their final two games at M&T Bank Stadium. The Dolphins record on the road is currently 4-3 as they will finish their final two games on the road.

This game will consist of many matchups to look out for:

Potential MVP frontrunners and quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tua Tagovailoa meet once again with Tagovailo having a 2-0 series lead over Jackson in their head-to-head matchup. 

Current receiving leader Tyreek Hill will likely be lined up against Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

On the other side, Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey will likely alternate coverage with Ravens wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers.

The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday.  

The post Ravens v. Dolphins Dec. 31 matchup: huge playoff implications in battle for the No. 1 seed  appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Tim Reynolds
AP Basketball Writer

MIAMI (AP) — Erik Spoelstra was part of 12 Christmas games as a staff member, assistant coach or head coach in his first 20 seasons with the Miami Heat.

And in the eight seasons that followed, the Heat played on Christmas only once.

Here’s what he realized: For an NBA team, playing on Christmas beats not playing on Christmas. The Heat return to the league’s holiday slate for the first time since 2020 on Dec. 25, when they play host to the Philadelphia 76ers as part of the NBA’s traditional Christmas quintuple header.

The other games: Milwaukee at New York, Golden State visits defending champion Denver, Boston visits the Los Angeles Lakers in the rekindling of the NBA’s greatest all-time rivalry and Dallas goes to Phoenix.

“It is an honor to have that opportunity to play on Christmas,” Spoelstra said. “The whole league doesn’t play on the holiday and there were several years in a row where we were never even considered for playing on Christmas. And then you go back, you almost took it for granted that we were always playing on Christmas.”

Other teams also insist they don’t take it for granted.

Golden State playing on Christmas has become a holiday tradition; the Warriors are on the Dec. 25 schedule for the 13th time in the last 14 years. And Warriors guard Stephen Curry still gets excited about what awaits.

“Marquee games on Christmas, it’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Curry said. “You know, we’ve been in that environment before, so I understand what it’s going to be like. On the road, it’s going to be fun to just compete. It’s a test.”

The Christmas slate was long considered the unofficial point in the NBA schedule where more fans start paying attention. Football is winding down, and the NBA games are all shown nationally either on ABC or ESPN.

LeBron James will pay attention, too — but not until certain other Christmas business is complete. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has played more games on Dec. 25 than anyone in league history, though his top priority entering the holiday is watching 9-year-old daughter Zhuri light up when she rips the wrapping paper off what’s coming her way.

“The only thing I care about Monday right now is my daughter waking up and opening her gifts,” James said Dec. 23 after he and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Oklahoma City.

The Heat planned a short practice for Christmas Eve morning. They were getting most of Sunday off, along with Christmas morning. Players aren’t due at the arena until Monday afternoon for the game, with Spoelstra trying to make sure everyone gets time to celebrate as they wish.

“These are a bunch of wins,” Spoelstra said, “but we’ve just got to make sure we get the win.”

MOST AND LEAST

The Lakers have the most Christmas wins with 24, one more than the Knicks. The Knicks will play on Christmas for the 56th time, extending their record.

The teams without a Christmas win are Charlotte (0-0), Memphis (0-1) and Toronto (0-2).

James will aim for his 11th win on Christmas, which would break a tie with former teammate Dwyane Wade for the most by a player in NBA history. James will play in his 18th Christmas game, extending his record; Kobe Bryant played in 16 for the league’s second-highest total.

Among active players, Kevin Durant has the second most and is set to play on Christmas for the 11th time when the Suns meet the Mavericks.

Spoelstra — who is 8-0 as a head coach on the holiday — will try to become the fifth coach with nine Christmas wins. He would join Jack Ramsay (11-3), Phil Jackson (11-7), Gene Shue (9-4) and Red Auerbach (9-6).

SAME TEAMS, PRETTY MUCH

Of the 10 teams picked for Christmas this year, nine also played on Dec. 25 last year. The exception is Miami — the Eastern Conference champion Heat are back on the Christmas schedule, and Memphis is off after debuting last year.

The Lakers are on the Christmas schedule for the 25th consecutive year while Golden State is playing for the 11th straight year.

Boston got a Christmas game for the eighth consecutive year, Milwaukee for the sixth straight and Dallas for the fourth in a row.

New York and Phoenix have been picked in each of the last three years, and Denver and Philadelphia are back on the Christmas schedule for the second straight season.

MILESTONES AWAIT

Dallas’ Luka Doncic will arrive in Phoenix 11 points shy of reaching 10,000 for his career. If he gets there Monday against the Suns, the milestone will come in his 358th career game — tying Bob McAdoo for the sixth-quickest trip to 10,000 points in NBA history.

The others who got there faster: Wilt Chamberlain (236 games), Michael Jordan (303), Elgin Baylor (315), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (319) and Oscar Robertson (334).

Meanwhile, for the Suns, Durant needs one point to become the fifth player in history with 300 on Christmas. He’d join James (460 entering Monday), Bryant (395), Robertson (377) and Wade (314) on that list.

CHRISTMAS DROUGHTS

Charlotte has not played in a Christmas game, and a few other franchises have been waiting a long time to be part of the holiday lineup.

Sacramento’s last Christmas game was 2003, Indiana’s was in 2004, Detroit’s was in 2005, Orlando’s was in 2011 and the most recent ones for Chicago and San Antonio were in 2016.

The post The NBA’s annual Christmas slate awaits. Teams insist it’s special to be picked appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Will Graves
AP National Writer

There were jitters, of course. Considering all that happened, how could there not be?

When Simone Biles walked onto the floor at a suburban Chicago arena in late July for her first gymnastics competition in two years, she knew plenty of people were wondering how it was going to go.

“I thought that too, don’t worry,” Biles said with a laugh.

By the end of one rotation, the most decorated gymnast of all time realized she was back in her safe space. By the end of August, she was a national champion. Again. By October, she was a world champion. Again.

And by December, she was The Associated Press’ Female Athlete of the Year.

Yes, again.

Her triumphant return that included her record eighth U.S. national championship and a sixth world all-around gold made Biles the sixth woman to claim the AP honor for a third time. The 26-year-old seven-time Olympic medalist was followed by Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark and Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati of the World Cup champion Spanish soccer team in voting by a panel of sports media professionals.

And to think, she wasn’t really sure what awaited her on that summer night in front of a packed arena that supported her at every turn, a response she says she didn’t anticipate.

Hard to blame her.

The last time Biles had saluted the judges, she was earning a bronze medal on the balance beam at the end of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the end of a tumultuous two weeks where her decision to pull out of multiple finals due to ” the twisties ” (think mid-air vertigo) dragged the sometimes uncomfortable conversation about athletes and their mental health into the white-hot spotlight only the Games provide.

Though she drew near-universal acclaim for her courage to put her safety first, a quick check of her mentions on social media showed not everyone agreed.

She took a two-year hiatus in the aftermath, going into what she called a “protective shell.” She dove deeper into therapy while eyeing a return on her terms.

Still, that didn’t stop self-doubt from creeping in. Only this time, instead of letting the anxiety gnaw at her confidence, she accepted its presence, took a deep breath, and put on the kind of show that is hers and hers alone.

“I did a lot better than I thought I would do,” Biles said.

Same as it ever was.

Biles previously won the AP honor in 2016 and 2019, times in her life she now barely recognizes.

She was still a teenager following her star-making performance at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Still living at home with her parents. Her world still revolved around the spaceship of a gym her family built in the Houston suburbs.

Thinking about it, she can’t help but shake her head a little bit. Biles remembers thinking she only had time to practice and — if she was lucky — get her nails done.

It’s not that way anymore. She’s made it a point to make sure that the sport she’s redefined no longer defines her.

Biles married Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens in the spring. Her time is split between getting to Packers games when her schedule allows, working with her corporate partners and poring over the details of the house she and her husband are building.

Part of her evolution is organic. Part of it is intentional. For too long, she let herself get too caught up in the outcome of every turn, every flip, every twist, every practice in a discipline where perfection is literally unattainable.

“Whenever I was 19, it was the end of the world if I had bad days,” she said. “Now I’m like, ‘It’s OK, it’s just gymnastics and I’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll get it started again.'”

Biles isn’t kidding when says she’s trying to take more of a “one day at a time” approach, not easy for someone who admits she has a habit of “best case/worst case-ing” every little thing. She didn’t really get serious about returning until late spring when coach Cecile Landi suggested over margaritas that maybe it was time to give the world a peek at what Biles had been working on.

Her response was somewhere along the lines of “sure, OK” even though there was a part of her that felt she might not ever be ready.

“I didn’t know what I was expecting,” said Biles, who credited the people she has surrounded herself with for believing in her when she was still grappling with her belief in herself. “People were like, ‘No, we’ve seen you in training, this is what was supposed to happen.'”

And what was supposed to happen quickly became what has almost always happened since Biles began taking the norms of her sport and bending them to her will.

It wasn’t just that she won but how she did it. Her intricate and gravity-defying tumbling has become more precise. A full decade into her elite career, her routines for all four events are still packed with remarkable difficulty.

Nowhere is that difficulty more apparent than on vault, where she became the first woman to perform a Yurchenko double-pike in international competition. The move — a breathtaking combination of power and more than a little guts — is now the fifth element to carry her name in the sport’s code of points.

She doesn’t have to do it to win. She does it anyway, because, as she put it a few years ago, she can.

Barring injury or the unforeseen, a third trip to the Olympics awaits next summer. She knows this. She’d just prefer not to talk about it. She only begrudgingly uses the words “Paris” or “Olympics” in interviews, a very conscious choice.

It’s telling of where Biles is in her life that she recently shared an Instagram story in which followers were asked to post their best moment of 2023. The picture she chose wasn’t taken from a routine or a medal podium but she and Owens dancing at their wedding reception, the picture of a life finding its balance.

“At the end of the day I did worlds and all that stuff, but I did get married, I got to support him,” she said. “It’s just like, it’s kind of nice that gymnastics isn’t the main revolving piece.”

The post Gymnastics star Simone Biles named AP Female Athlete of the Year a third time after dazzling return appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Lake Marion
Special to the AFRO

Angel Reese, the Randallstown, Md., native and St. Frances graduate, came home and handled business as she and the Louisiana State University Tigers defeated the Coppin State University Eagles 80-48 on Dec. 20.

Almost two years ago, Reese was playing for the University of Maryland Terrapins when she last played against the Eagles and earned a double-double in their win.

This time, in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,100 – the line to enter wrapped around the Physical Education Complex buildings on Coppin’s campus –  Reese was happy to be playing in front of not only the LSU fans that traveled to the game, but the home crowd as well.

“A lot of people came out tonight,” Reese said. “I know they were supporting Coppin, but being able to come to a historically Black college… coming back here, doing a lot for this community and them (members of the community) being able to see opportunity—where there can be a lot of little girls knowing they can have this opportunity— was something that was important to me.”

Reese said that coming into Coppin was “completely different” this time around compared to how it was when she played at Maryland.

“My sophomore year I remember the first time I came here there weren’t that many fans here,” she said. “But coming in tonight just seeing my impact and being able to see how so much has changed…. I’m just happy the place that I’m in and the people I’ve been able to touch.”

Reese showed out, finishing the game with 26 points, six rebounds and five steals (tying her career-high in steals) in the team’s cruising victory. It was the team’s 12-straight win since their season-opening loss to Colorado.

Head coach Kim Mulkey understood the importance of this game and what it would mean to Reese when it was put on the team’s schedule this season.

“This is Angel Reese’s hometown area,” Mulkey said. “ We try to go back to the hometown areas of our players, but it doesn’t always work out. Other than recruiting, scheduling is the second hardest thing to do in college athletics. We were just grateful we could work it out.”

The Tigers came out victorious in the end and the Eagles couldn’t keep up with the No. 7 ranked team, but it was still a moral victory for Coppin.

Eagles head coach Jermaine Woods gave credit to coach Mulkey for signing off on the scheduling to play against a historically Black college and praised his team for continuing to fight back throughout the game.

“Obviously you want to win,” Woods said. “But I was proud of the fight. I think all of you left out of here and said that our young women never and that’s the goal.”

And the Eagles didn’t give up, especially earlier on in the second quarter where they were down by 10 before going on a 10-4 run to gain a little momentum.

Eagles leading scorer and guard Tiffany Hammond and forward Laila Lawrence, who finished with 32 points and five steals, combined, felt the physicality of the game when going up against bigger opponents like Reese.

“You had to stand your ground and just be physical throughout the whole night,” Lawrence said. “You gotta hit her first every time or she’s gonna hit you.”

Hammond seconded Lawrence’s comment about the tenacity required to play against Reese and the Tigers.

“We had to be physical on both ends of the court,” she said. “Fighting for positions, trying to rebound with girls that’s over 6-foot-5, it was a physical game the whole time.”

Coach Woods said that they had a lot of fun for the “first time in a long time” after playing an opponent like LSU and just wanted to “enjoy the moment” as the Eagles prepare for another tough game against Duke Dec. 28.

As for Reese and the Tigers, they will travel back home and get some rest before they play against Jacksonville Dec. 30, seeking to win their 13th straight game.

Reese left with a little advice for college students before preparing to head back to Louisiana.

“Take some time to yourself,” Reese said. “Mental health is the most important thing and being able to put yourself first.”

Marion Lake is an AFRO intern from Morgan State University.

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By Ralph E. Moore Jr

The latest sports news is that baseball pitcher and hitter, Shohei Ohtani, recently signed a $700,000,000 contract for ten years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wow, that’s a big one! 

Ohtani became a free agent on Nov. 2 of this year. Just for the record, a free agent in professional sports is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises, i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term also refers to a player who is under contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. 

Without the Black baseball players who paved the way for professional athletes of the future, Ohtani could not have gotten the big paydays he’ll be getting for the next decade. He and all the other well paid ball players should be grateful to Curt Flood (1/18/38-1/20/97), a centerfielder who played for the Cincinnati Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Senators. Flood was an activist by nature, who had the courage to speak up for himself and others enough to challenge the team ownership and league systems.  

Here is Curt Flood’s story:  He was born in Houston but raised in Oakland, Calif. Flood played outfield on the same high school baseball field that Frank Robinson of the Orioles once did. And both men played professionally for Cincinnati. 

After high school, Flood signed with the Reds in 1956, made a few appearances in the 1956-57 season. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1957. He played center field for that baseball club for 12 seasons.  While his hitting skill suffered in his first two seasons, his fielding never did.  Flood came out of the hitting slump with a whopping .322 batting average in 1961.  He kept growing in his ballplaying accomplishments including in 1963, hitting .302 and scoring 112 runs. It was a banner year for Flood: career highs in doubles, triples and stolen bases and Gold Glove award, his first of a consecutive seven.

Obviously, Flood was a high impact ball player and team member. He made it into All Star games, helped his teams (the Cardinals) into the World Series and had some errorless seasons in the outfield. His highest season batting average was .335 in 1967. 

When the 1968 World Series between the Boston Red Sox vs. The St. Louis Cardinals ended, Flood expected a raise to a much higher salary considering his outstanding performance in the season and the series.  Instead, the team president, Gussie Busch, gave him a mere $5,000 raise, short of the $90,000 salary he had hoped. Anheuser-Busch, the beer company, owned the team and certainly could have afforded more.   

Flood, already an amazing ballplayer, decided to become a labor activist. He took on Major League Baseball’s longstanding reserve clause. It kept players stuck for life with the team they originally signed even when they upheld every aspect of their contract.  

Floyd was traded by the Cardinals to the Phillies on Oct. 7, 1969 along with three of his teammates. He refused to go pointing to the Phillies’ poor record and poorly maintained stadium, not to mention hostile–if not racist– fans. Clearly, he was not ready to pick up and move to another city and adding insult to injury, some say he heard about the trade from a reporter. Floyd wrote in his autobiography that he heard it from middle management. He met with the team manager and was offered a $100,000 salary.  Then he met with the players’ union which agreed to fund a lawsuit on his behalf.  Flood accepted the union’s offer.

He wrote to the Baseball Commissioner, Bowie Kuhn and demanded he be declared a free agent. Floyd proclaimed, “I think the change in black consciousness in recent years has made me more sensitive to injustice in every area of my life.” The Commissioner denied Floyd’s asking for free agency, so he filed a $1,000,000 anti-trust lawsuit against MLB and Kuhn. Jackie Robinson (yeah, #42) testified on his behalf. Sandy Koufax, a star pitcher for the Dodgers, cheered Flood on publicly.

The case Flood vs. Kuhn went before the Supreme Court on Mar. 20, 1972. On June 19, 1972 the court ruled 5-3 in favor of Major League Baseball. The Baseball player’s union persisted in court with another case and prevailed in getting the reserve clause eliminated in December of 1975. Free agency was allowed as an option in MLB by the start of the ’76 season. In 1998 Congress passed the Curt Flood Act of 1998 and President Bill Clinton signed it into law. It ended baseball as a monopoly and eliminated the owners’ control over players’ contracts. 

So, Ohtani, and all other athletes with professional contracts, should thank Flood for his success…

The post Sports player contracts are a bigger deal thanks to Curt Flood appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

(Black PR Wire) NEW ORLEANS, LA – The Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl announced today (Dec. 16) that student registration is now open for the 2024 Career Fair, to be held on February 22nd and 23rd at the New Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“The Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl is about opportunity, both on and off the field. The Career Fair serves as a platform to elevate HBCU students into the world of professional success,” said Black College Football Hall of Fame Co-Founder and 2012 inductee James “Shack” Harris.

The Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl Career Fair, presented by the New Orleans Saints, provides job opportunities and career counseling for HBCU juniors, seniors, and recent graduates. Admission is FREE. In just two years, it has become the largest HBCU Career Fair in the nation, attracting nearly 1,500 students from 49 different HBCUs networking with over 100 of the nation’s top employers.

Starting today, students can register at https://www.hbculegacybowl.com/career-fair

ABOUT THE ALLSTATE HBCU LEGACY BOWL

The Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl, presented by the Black College Football Hall of Fame is a postseason all-star game that showcases the top 100 NFL draft-eligible football players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The game will be played on Saturday, February 24, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at Tulane University, and broadcast live on NFL Network. More than a football game, the week-long celebration of Black culture and history will provide invaluable exposure for HBCU students. HBCU Legacy Bowl Founding Partners include Allstate, National Football League, adidas, 2x NFL & Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation, Coca-Cola, Coors Light, Bank of America, New Orleans Saints, State of Louisiana, Riddell, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Zebra Technologies, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Follow the HBCU Legacy Bowl on social media (X, IG & FB) via @HBCULegacyBowl or visit www.HBCULegacyBowl.com for more information.

ABOUT THE BLACK COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

The Black College Football Hall of Fame was founded in 2009 by African-American pioneers, quarterbacks James Harris and Doug Williams to preserve the history and honor the greatest football players, coaches and contributors from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). There have been over 100 Inductees since inception, including Mel Blount, James Harris, Willie Lanier, Art Shell and Doug Williams, who serve as trustees.

The Black College Football Hall of Fame (BCFHOF) soon will have a permanent home at the Pro Football Hall of Fame (PFHOF) to tell the story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

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By Ariyana Griffin 
Special to the AFRO

Morgan State University’s (MSU) wrestling team has made a comeback after a 25-year hiatus, making it the only historically Black college or university (HBCU)  to offer a Division 1 men’s wrestling program. 

The sport was cut from MSU during the 1996-1997 season due to lack of funding. The organization, HBCU Wrestling, donated $2.7 million to the institution to restart the program, supporting its goal to diversify the sport and provide opportunities to HBCU students. 

HBCU Wrestling is “committed to restoring and establishing women’s and men’s wrestling programs at historically Black colleges and universities.” They execute this by pledging “to make up to a 10-year commitment to NCAA-sanctioned wrestling programs,” along with providing “scholarship opportunities, coaches with salaries comparable to top programs and competitive operating budgets,” according to information released by the organization. 

This opportunity opened the doors for the highly decorated wrestler, Kenny Monday, to become the head coach for the team. Monday is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and earned an Olympic Gold medal in 1988 and a silver medal in 1992. 

He has vivid memories of how he fell in love with the sport at just five years old. He chalks his love for the sport up to his two older brothers, Mike and Jim Monday, who started wrestling at a YMCA program in Tulsa, Okla. “I started behind my brothers and then just fell in love with it. I never, never looked back—never, never stopped,” he said. 

He continued pursuing the sport through high school.

“I didn’t lose a match from the seventh grade through the 12th grade,” said Monday. “I was one of the most highly recruited athletes out of high school.” 

Throughout college, he trained, competed and prepared to join the Olympic team in 1988. He became the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling.

His journey and love for HBCUs ultimately has led him to serve Morgan State University as a coach, reviving the program—a heavy task— but not too much for Monday. 

The Olympian said building and recruiting the team from scratch was complex, but he is confident in the selection. 

“I started with one kid, and now we have 30 kids on the program.” He shared that he was dedicated to building a meaningful team.

“I  recruited all the kids before I even hired an assistant.” His goal is to mold MSU’s team and become national champions.

Eric Tecson, a freshman, took a gap year to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and is excited to be competing at Morgan. “It’s a pretty young team, so we’re all like-minded. We ready to get this thing started,” he said. 

He enjoys the sport and the mental aspect. “It’s a mental grind. It’s a physical grind every day. You come in here, and you find something to get better— that other people can’t do, and then it pushes you to keep going and keep working on your moves,” he said. “It’s a grind that you can never perfect, but you always are chasing perfection.” 

Monday is excited to share his connections, knowledge and resources with the team.

Kingsley Menifee originally planned to attend Cornell University but, after being given the opportunity by Monday, switched his decision and attended MSU. He explained that as a freshman, he is getting acclimated to being a collegiate student-athlete, but the team helps each other through that. “School comes first, so you gotta get that done,” he said. “We have study hours to maintain every week and then practice. So it keeps our schedule pretty busy.”

Coach Monday explained the importance of the students coming in and being successful not only on the mat but also in their academics. “Our goal is to bring student-athletes in and have our student-athletes graduate. We want to make sure we have a high graduation rate so they can come through Morgan State and be Morgan State graduates.”

Jake Marsh has had experience being on a college wrestling team. He recently graduated from Princeton University, and with his last year of eligibility, he joined the team and is earning his master’s in Finance. “It’s pretty cool to be around a group of younger guys,” he said. “They have a little more drive; they’re more excited. So that’s kind of refreshing to be around that energy.” 

He talked about balancing school and athletics, but he feels accustomed to it due to his time at Princeton; however, with the graduate-level workload, he is finding his balance. “I’d also like to attend the national tournament, represent there, and help reach our independent highest potential.” He has the goal of possibly helping the team next year as a grad assistant. 

In their first home match of the season, the team won their first victory, 53-0 over Marymount University.

The post Twenty five years later, Morgan State University’s wrestling team is back appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Megan Sayles
AFRO Business Writer
msayles@afro.com 

Towson University’s Dr. Nancy Grasmick Leadership Institute hosted a free workshop entitled “Cultivating a Vibrant and Winning Workplace Culture” on Dec. 6 for professionals who have an impact on their workplace’s culture. Executive Director Erin Moran led a panel discussion with Julie East, vice president of talent and human resources for the Atlas Restaurant Group (Atlas); Frank Kelly, CEO of Kelly Benefits; and Frances “Toni” Draper, publisher of the AFRO. 

Employers across the U.S. are grappling with a talent shortage. A recent survey from the ManpowerGroup discovered that 77 percent of companies are having trouble filling open roles. The workshop sought to arm participants with strategies for building trust within their organizations, a key driver in reducing turnover and attracting talent.  

“A vibrant and winning workplace culture is an environment where employees are inspired and invested in to contribute their authentic selves in service of a shared goal that yields financial and emotional prosperity for all stakeholders,” said Moran. 

She opened the discussion by asking the panelists to share their definition of workplace culture. Draper described it as the ethos of an organization and emphasized that every workplace culture is different. East added that it includes shared behaviors and styles of working. 

“Corporate culture, in my opinion, refers to the values, beliefs and practices associated with a particular organization and, ultimately, why you do what you do. Every team, group, family, organization and business has a culture,” said Kelly. “All cultures evolve organically to some measurement, and some can be shaped with intentionality.” 

Each of the panelists represented different-sized organizations. Draper said her newsroom consists of about 46 people, while Kelly and East’s companies are larger. Kelly Benefits employs nearly 500 people, and Atlas has more than 2,000 people working across its 28 restaurants. 

The panelists provided tips on how they develop their organizations’ leaders to engender proficient performance from their employees that aligns with their workplaces’ values. 

East shared an example in practice. 

“We discovered a couple years ago that we had spent so much time focusing on the hospitality for guests, that we had actually neglected showing that same hospitality to our employees. It became a big initiative for us as an executive leadership team to ensure that the projects and initiatives we were putting out were focused on making the employees feel values,” said East. “One of the ways we did that was by focusing on each of the leadership teams within a restaurant.” 

Atlas’ leadership teams used the DiSC assessment, a personality test that helps people to understand their behavior in the workplace. In understanding their own management styles, the leaders are more effective in communicating, conflict resolution and fostering stronger working relationships. 

Draper noted that she focuses on leading by example, saying that she aims to live out the core values of her media company everyday. 

“If the CEO does not mirror the values that the human resources person told you the company stands for, there is a disconnect. Most people can tell when it’s phony. They can tell when you’re just putting on,” said Draper. “You have to be genuine with people.” 

The panelists closed the conversation by providing advice for creating a vibrant and winning workplace culture. Each of them mentioned the importance of intentionality in building organizations’ culture. 

East suggested establishing a baseline through pulse or engagement surveys to discern how workplace culture is viewed by employees. This allows organizations to track their progress in achieving the culture they desire. 

Kelly advocated for looking to other like-minded organizations for ways to improve workplace culture. 

“Don’t be afraid to take good ideas from other businesses and people you respect. I know for me, I’m not the best at inventing the wheel or reinventing it,” said Kelly. “I like to learn from others, and I would encourage you to go and learn from others in your industry.” 

Megan Sayles is a Report for America corps member. 

The post AFRO publisher participates in panel on ‘cultivating a vibrant and winning workplace culture’ appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Josh Dubow,
Associated Press

Three-time All-Pros Julius Peppers and Antonio Gates were chosen as semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2024 in their first year of eligibility.

Peppers and Gates headline a group of 25 modern day semifinalists announced Tuesday by the Hall of Fame from a group of 173 nominees announced in September. The only other player who advanced to the semifinal stage in his first year was running back Tiki Barber.

Eight players who made it to the final stage of 15 in the class of 2023 return as semifinalists this year with Jared Allen, Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Torry Holt, Patrick Willis, Willie Anderson and Darren Woodson all looking to get in after falling short a year ago.

The other semifinalists are Eric Allen, Anquan Boldin, Jahri Evans, London Fletcher, Eddie George, James Harrison, Rodney Harrison, Robert Mathis, Steve Smith Sr.,Fred Taylor, Hines Ward, Ricky Watters, Reggie Wayne and Vince Wilfork. 

The 28 semifinalists will be reduced to 15 finalists before the final voting process in January. The 15 finalists will be trimmed to 10 and then five during the selection meeting early next year. The final five candidates will need to get 80 percent of the votes from the panel to get into the Hall.

Peppers and Gates were both college basketball players before finding their greatest success in football.

Peppers was one of the league’s most dominant linemen after being picked second overall by Carolina in 2002 following a two-sport career in college at North Carolina. He had 12 sacks as a rookie and never really slowed down in a 17-year career that included stops in Chicago and Green Bay before ending with the Panthers. He was an All-Pro in 2004, 2006 and 2010.

Peppers finished his career with 159.5 sacks — the fourth most since they became official in 1982 — and had 10 seasons with double-digit sacks. Only Hall of Famers Bruce Smith (13) and Reggie White (12) had more.

Gates only played basketball in college before turning into one of the NFL’s top tight ends even though he only switched to football as a pro after going undrafted.

The Chargers took a chance on him and it paid off in a big way as he became an All-Pro in just his second season in 2004. He was All-Pro again the next two seasons and went on to have a 16-year career for the team.

Gates finished with 955 catches for 11,841 yards and an NFL record for tight ends with 116 touchdown receptions. Only Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten have more catches or yards as a tight end. 

Four finalists previously announced are Buddy Parker in the coaching category, and Randy Gradishar, Steve McMichael and Art Powell in the senior category.

They also will get in if they get support from at least 80 percent of voters.

This article was originally published by the Associated Press.

The post Julius Peppers and Antonio Gates advance to semifinal stage for Pro Football Hall of Fame appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Aria Brent,
AFRO Staff Writer,
abrent@afro.com

The fastest woman in the world, Sha’Carri Richardson, was honored in her hometown earlier this month. The 23-year-old track star’s legacy was cemented into the City of Dallas with Nov.10  being officially named “Sha’Carri Richardson Day.”

Richardson was officially named the fastest woman in the world earlier this year after winning the women’s 100 meter race with a time of 10.65 seconds at the 2023 Track and Field World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. 

In addition to having a day dedicated to her, she was also honored with the naming of a track in her honor by her former school district, Dallas Independent School District (DallaISD). The field is located at the Jesse Owens Athletic Complex in the Kincaide Stadium, which is approximately a mile away from Carter High School, where the young athlete graduated from and won several state titles. 

“Thank you to every student, school, coach, dignitary, teammate, friend, my city and especially my family for showing up and pouring so much love into me,” Richardson stated on Instagram. “Words cannot express how I feel in this moment. Thank you! Dallas, this is just the beginning!”

The decision to name the track after this year’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year was made unanimously by the DallasISD Board of Trustees for both her phenomenal athletic achievements and her roots in the Dallas community. DallasISD Trustee Joyce Foreman represents district six where Carter High is located and she had a very hands-on role in making this honor happen. Foreman spoke to the AFRO about how the process of getting the track named after Richardson went and why she felt this honor was necessary. 

“I met Sha’Carri in 2017 and I got the opportunity to watch her run for Carter High School. After Sha’Carri became internationally known in her last race, [making] her the fastest woman in the world, her coach, Lauren Cross from Carter High School, contacted me and wanted to know if there was an opportunity to name a track after her,” said Foreman. “I thought it was an excellent idea and then began to work as a trustee, or to try to get the district to move forward and wave policy so we could go ahead and name the track immediately after her.”

“It is extremely important for young people to be able to identify with individuals like Sha’Carri and it was important for me to make that happen as soon as possible,” stated Foreman. 

The wins that Richardson has received seem to not only be for her but the city of Dallas as an entirety. She spoke to this matter when sharing how honored and grateful she was on Twitter, stating:  “This means so much if you’re from the city, you know the stadium is rooted in memories. I’m literally speechless.”

Natives of the city seem to be just as excited about this honor as the athlete herself. Richardson noted that she’s not only showing that greatness lies within the youth of Dallas, but she’s also giving them something to believe in. 

“It’s amazing to me, considering there was a time where there were no Black people being honored. The fact that Black women are being honored is so inspiring,” said Dallas native, Darien Carter. “It uplifts the community and not just for the city of Dallas but for all of the United States. This honor is showing our youth that if they do their best, they can accomplish great things.”

Foreman also discussed how this honor directly affects the youth but especially students in DallasISD. She’s hoping Richardson’s story and proximity in age will serve as additional encouragement for the young scholars. 

“Sometimes our students need extra encouragement and I believe Sha’Carri shows that extra resilience. She shows that you can fall down and still get up. She is a prime example of what life is,” said Foreman. “The young people identify with her. She took pictures with every school that showed up because she was so determined to meet with our young people and to let them know that they could be her. She encouraged the young people at the ceremony to just keep going. I think that’s what our children need.”

The post City of Dallas debuts ‘Sha’Carri Richardson Day’ in honor of native track star appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By AFRO Staff

Every year, the much-anticipated Forbes 30 Under 30 List features rising stars in several industries. The magazine receives more than 20,000 nominations, collectively, for the North America, Europe and Asia lists. Then, that list is refined – researched, analyzed and vetted – until 600 candidates emerge for the U.S. list. Among those luminaries, Black innovators and artists usually shine bright. Alumni include the likes of Zendaya, John Boyega, Kendrick Lamar and Stephen Curry. This year’s 86 honorees are no less impressive, featuring Broadway’s youngest Black playwright, Jordan E. Cooper, U.S. sprinter Sha’carri Richardson, and social media’s favorite food critic, Keith Lee. Here is the 2024 list of Forbes’ (Black) 30 Under 30:

Music

• Latto, rapper  
• Ice Spice, rapper
• Steve Lacy, musician
• Bktherula, rapper
• Trippie Redd, rapper
• Armani White, musician

Art & Style

• Paul Hill, founder, Strada
• Adefolakunmi Adenugba, founder, Ise-Da
• Tia Adeola, founder, Tia Adeola
• Akea Brionne, artist
• Josh Holm, founder, Castles & Queens 
• Kreshonna Keane, founder, Visuals By K Studios
• Ludovic Nkoth, artist
• Ambrose Rhapsody Murray, artist
• Larissa Rogers, artist
• Courtney Spears, dancer
• Justice Faith Betty and Nia Faith Betty, co-founders, Révolutionnaire
• Kendra Walker, founder, Atlanta Art Week
• Jacob Webster, photographer
• Sophia Wilson, photographer

Hollywood and entertainment 

• Jordan E. Cooper, playwright
• Jasmin Savoy Brown, actor
• Eric Jordan Darnell, agent, William Morris Endeavor
• Gabe Kunda, voice actor
• Lexi Underwood, actor
• Alyah Chanelle Scott, actor

Consumer Technology 

• Tony Morino, co-founder, Wiseday
• Fai Nur, Blossom Okonkwo and Great Okonkwo, co-founders, Wishroll

Education

• Savannah Smith and Ebony Welborn, co-founders, Sea Potential
• Justin Shaifer, founder, Fascinate Media
• Myles Gage, co-founder of Rapunzl
• Alliyah Logan, co-founder, Cultivate Global Education

Energy

• Kiana Kazemi, co-founder, Intersectional Environmentalist

Food

• Camari Mick, executive pastry chef, The Musket Room
• Keith Lee, creator/social media food critic

Games

• Xalavier Nelson Jr., founder, Strange Scaffold

Manufacturing and industry  

• Oluseun Taiwo, co-founder, Solideon

Marketing and advertising 

• Chinonye Vanessa Mbonu, vice president of Digital Marketing & Communications, NAACP 
• Brandon Smithwrick, head of content, Kickstarter
• Shauna James, senior manager, Digital Marketing of Black Music, Atlantic Records
• Bridget Kyeremateng, senior manager, Inclusive Marketing, Twitch
• Simone Jackson, global brand manager, Spotify
• Amala Okpala, strategic partner manager, Instagram

Media

• Dillon St. Bernard, founder, Team DSB
• Devon Blackwell, associate producer, The New Yorker
• Dominic-Madori Davis, reporter, Techcrunch
• Hunter Harris, writer
• Aiyana Ishmael, associate editor, Teen Vogue
• Mya-Breyana Morton, co-founder, Unconscious Media
• Paula Ngon, senior global communications manager, Condé Nast

Science

• Clare Luckey, aerospace engineer, NASA
• Nialah Wilson-Small, industry assistant professor, New York University
• Matthew Clarke, assistant professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Saadia Gabriel, incoming assistant professor, University of California, Los Angeles

Social Impact

• Wawa Gatheru, founder, Black Girl Environmentalist
• Sydney Montgomery, founder, Barrier Breakers

Social Media

• Drew “Druski” Desbordes, creator
• Taylor Cassidy, creator 
• Drea Okeke, creator
• Monet McMichael, creator

Sports 

• Ronald Acuña Jr., outfielder, Atlanta Braves
• Nepheesa Collier, forward, Minnesota Lynx
• Anthony Edwards, shooting guard, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Austin Ekeler, running back, Los Angeles Chargers
• Matt Howard, senior associate, KB Partners, a venture capital firm fostering teams focused on intersection of sports and technology
• Stasia Foster, brand consulting executive/sports marketer, Creative Artists Agency 
• Lamar Jackson, quarterback, Baltimore Ravens
• Tyshawn Jones, professional skateboarder
• Kyle Kuzma, forward, Washington Wizards
• Angel Reese, forward, Louisiana State University
• Sha’carri Richardson, sprinter, Team USA
• Isiah Turner, agent, WME Sports

Retail & e-commerce

• Amira Rasool, founder, The Folklore Group
• Philomina Kane, founder, Kin Apparel
• Kadidja Dosso, founder, Dosso Beauty
• Jordan Bentley, founder, Hypland 

Finance

• Temilayo Butler, vice president, Harbourview Equity Partners
• Saheedat Onifade, investment strategist, Churchill Asset Management
• Nina Meyers, growth equity investor, Goldman Sachs
• Kennedy Ekezie, founder, Kippa

Venture Capital 

• Sesana Allen, associate Investor, Smash Capital
•  Brandon Greer, director of corporate development, Hubspot

The post Black stars shine on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List 2024 appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By John Marshall,
AP Sports Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Ray Anderson is stepping down after nearly a decade as Arizona State’s athletic director.

Anderson will remain at the school as a professor of practice and senior advisor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

“It has been a privilege to serve as ASU’s athletic director for nearly a decade,” Anderson said in a statement Nov. 13. “We have entered an unprecedented era where the number and magnitude of changes in the college sports landscape are astounding.

“As I approach my seventh decade of life, these are not matters that my leadership would be able to corral during my tenure. Continuity of leadership will be needed, and I am choosing to step aside to let the university find that leader.”

Jim Rund, ASU senior vice president for educational outreach and student services, will serve as interim athletic director. Rund was the interim athletic director when Steve Patterson left for the University of Texas in 2013.

A former NFL executive and agent, Anderson was hired in 2014 to reshape Arizona State athletics. He was instrumental in the school’s decision to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 next year and helped land one of the largest naming rights deals in college sports history when Sun Devil Stadium became Mountain America Stadium.

Anderson also took criticism for the hiring of former NFL coach and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards, who was fired three games into his fifth season in 2022. Anderson also was at the helm when the NCAA began investigating the football program for illegal recruiting practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson resigns after nearly a decade appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Carolyn Thompson,
The Associated Press

Serena Williams and Ruby Bridges will be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame next year, the hall announced on Nov. 16, adding the tennis great and civil rights icon to a previously announced list of women to be honored during Women’s History Month in March.

“The 2024 inductee class has broken barriers, challenged the status quo, and left an impact on history,” the Hall of Fame said in its announcement.

Eight other honorees were announced in the spring. Williams and Bridges became available after the date and location of the ceremony were changed, a spokesman said.

Williams, 42, is a 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion who holds the record for the longest player ranked No. 1. She retired from tennis last year and earlier this month became the first athlete to win the Fashion Icon award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Bridges, 69, was a 6-year-old first-grader when she became one of the first Black students at racially segregated schools in New Orleans in 1960. In 1963, painter Norman Rockwell recreated the scene in the painting, “The Problem We All Live With.” The Ruby Bridges Foundation she established 24 years ago promotes tolerance and change through education.

Neither Williams nor Bridges could immediately be reached for comment.

Others in the class include Peggy McIntosh, 88, an activist known for her explorations of privilege; Kimberlé Crenshaw, 63, who helped develop the academic concept of critical race theory, the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions, and Judith Plaskow, 76, regarded as the first Jewish feminist theologian for calling out an absence of female perspectives in Jewish history.

Also to be inducted are Loretta Ross, 69, founder of the National Center for Human Rights Education in Atlanta, and Allucquére Rosanne “Sandy” Stone, a transgender woman born in 1936 and considered a founder of the academic discipline of transgender studies.

Three women will be inducted posthumously: Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019), an early pioneer of laser cataract surgery and the first Black woman physician to receive a medical patent; Dr. Anna Wessels Williams (1863-1954), who isolated a strain of diphtheria that helped in its treatment; and Elouise Pepion Cobell, known as “Yellow Bird Woman” (1945-2011), who started the first bank established by a tribe on a reservation in Browning, Montana.

For the first time, the induction ceremony will be broadcast nationally in prime time from New York City, according to the Hall of Fame. The previous 30 ceremonies have taken place at venues around Seneca Falls, the upstate New York site of the first Women’s Rights Convention, where the National Women’s Hall of Fame is located.

“The 2024 class of inductees are scientists, activists, performers and athletes who are the changemakers of today and inspiration for the women of tomorrow,” Jennifer Gabriel, the Hall of Fame’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Their dedication, drive and talent got them here, and we’re thrilled to honor them on the national stage.”

The public nominates women to be considered for the Hall of Fame. The nominations are then reviewed by an expert selection committee.

This article was originally published by the Associated Press.

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By Mekhi Abbot,
Special to the AFRO

The Howard Bison are on their way to the Cricket Celebration Bowl after defeating the Morgan State Bears on Nov. 18 earning their second consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. The Bison won the matchup with a final score of 14-7. 

“Offensively, our keys to victory were that we wanted to start fast–play for 60 minutes– and just make plays. We did that,” said quarterback Quinton Williams. “We knew it was going to be a 60-minute fight.”

The team jumped out to an early lead against Morgan State and 14 points proved to be enough for Howard to leave the game victorious. 

The Bison finished regular season play with a record of 6-5, their first winning season since 2017. They finished 4-1 in conference play for the second year in a row and went undefeated when playing on their home turf.

This year they won the conference outright. In  2022, however, the team received backlash after being named co-champions alongside the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Eagles. 

“That was our main goal throughout the offseason. We trained to go to the Celebration Bowl and actually win it. There was a lot of chatter this offseason about us not earning a ‘full ring’ last year and that really motivated us,” said Williams. 

Both the NCCU Eagles and the Howard Bison finished with a 4-1 conference record in 2022, but when the two teams faced up last year, the Eagles dismantled the Bison with a 50-21 victory. The Bison flipped the script this year, as they dominated the visiting Eagles and sent them out of Greene Stadium with a 50-20 loss. 

After the controversial crowning of two conference champions last season, the MEAC did away with co-champions. The conference voted that even if two teams finish with the same conference record, the winner of the MEAC will be decided by a tie-breaker. 

This season proves to be a very historic one for the Bison. This is the first time in school history that the Bison finished two consecutive seasons claiming MEAC championship honors. It is the first time since 1993 that the Bison are outright MEAC champions, and this will be only the third time that the Bison are competing in postseason play in program history.

“We continue to make history. This year they decided that there are no ties… that rule comes about because Howard is the school that is officially tying [for a MEAC championship], alright fine. Make the rule. We [knew] we had to win out, and we did it,” said head coach Larry Scott.

The Celebration Bowl is an adored postseason bowl game birthed in 2015 and is heralded as the de facto Black College Football National Championship. The MEAC conference winner plays the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victor. The game takes place in Atlanta every year, formerly in the Georgia Dome and now at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It is currently the only bowl game contested by teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Howard’s SWAC opponent has yet to be determined as the SWAC Championship game has yet to be played. On Dec. 2, the Florida A&M Rattlers (10-1, 8-0 SWAC)  and the Prairie View A&M Panthers (6-5, 6-2 SWAC) will face off to determine who will represent the SWAC in the Celebration Bowl. The MEAC currently holds a 6-1 record against SWAC opponents in the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

The post Peach State bound: Howard University football team qualifies for first Cricket Celebration Bowl appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Jill Painter Lopez,
Associated Press

Bronny James warmed up with his USC teammates before a game for the first time this season after suffering a cardiac arrest in July.

He has yet to make his collegiate debut after it was determined he had a congenital heart defect that was treatable.

When asked how big a step that was for his son, Lakers superstar LeBron James smiled broadly Sunday night and said “Yeah. That’s awesome. I feel it. He’s almost there.”

“It’s awesome having him back and on the team with us and participating with us,” USC guard Kobe Johnson said after the Trojans beat Brown 81-70. “We want him back as soon as possible but we want him to be as healthy as possible when he comes back. Every day we pray that he keeps getting better and hopefully sometime this year he’s able to get on the floor with us.”

James has done some individual work before games, but hadn’t been on the court warming up with his teammates before Sunday’s game.

Added USC coach Andy Enfield: “It was great. He went through warmups with the team. He’s a big part of our program and our team. He’s a terrific teammate. We look forward to hopefully one day getting him back on the court but when that day is, that’s not my decision. We’re going to be patient and go through the process.”

James played his high school career at Sierra Canyon, just north of Los Angeles and is a freshman guard at USC.

Bronny James then made the short downtown trip from the Galen Center to Crypto.Com Arena to see his dad score 37 points, including the go-ahead free throw, in the Lakers 105-104 victory over the Houston Rockets.

“It was great to have him here. To see my man with a smile,” he said. “Anybody who’s got college kids, you know they leave and you might not see him for a week or two and then they show up at your house for laundry and a warm, fresh meal. It makes me super-duper happy.”

LeBron James said it was the first time he’d seen his son in two weeks.

“It’s OK. He’s got school, practice and he’s training. Listen, the boy’s 19 years old. That’s what FaceTime video is for,” he said.

AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Los Angeles contributed.

This article was originally published by the Associated Press.

The post Bronny James warms up before USC game for first time this season after heart issue appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By Chris Katje

Many sports fans have debated whether NBA superstar Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time and he is still commonly referred to as GOAT.

While the on-court debate will wage on for decades, Jordan’s off-court greatness puts him in a class all his own.

Jordan is best known for his time as an NBA player, with 15 seasons for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Jordan also spent over a dozen years as the owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, a team in which he retains a stake after completing a sale of his controlling interest earlier this year.

Through 1,072 NBA games, Jordan posted averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. Today, Jordan ranks fifth for points all-time and fourth in steals despite not ranking in the top 50 for games played.

Off the court, Jordan became known for his large collection of brand endorsements scoring deals with well-known brands like McDonald’s Corp., Hanes, PepsiCo Inc. and its brand Gatorade, and Nike Inc.

Those endorsements along with the ownership of the Hornets have made Jordan one of the few athletes to ever be worth $1 billion, and the sale of the Hornets has put Jordan in a class all his own—now worth an estimated $3 billion, according to Forbes.

Benzinga looks at the all-star financial moves that have placed NBA legend Michael Jordan on the most recent Forbes 400 list of the world’s richest people.

Jordan has become the first professional athlete to land on the Forbes 400

During his 15 NBA seasons, Jordan made $94 million. While this amount pales in comparison to the large salaries of professional athletes today, Jordan was the highest-paid player in several of his playing seasons.

Jordan’s deal with Nike, which was the subject of the Ben Affleck-directed film “Air,” is one that helped propel Jordan’s wealth for years to come.

The NBA star earns royalties every year from Nike with his latest annual check coming in at $260 million, according to Forbes. Sportico previously estimated that Jordan has made $1.8 billion from Nike over the years.

Jordan’s sale of the Hornets at a $3 billion valuation marked the second biggest sale valuation for an NBA franchise in history and marked an approximate 17-fold return for Jordan’s stake as principal owner.

Jordan’s billionaire status demonstrates the role that team ownership can have in increasing one’s wealth. With a scant few sports teams being publicly traded, oftentimes sports ownership is out of the question for regular investors—but there are options for the ambitious athlete looking to diversify. Aside from the Hornets, a few of the NBA teams a player could purchase a stake in are the Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, and the New York Knicks

NBA team ownership could attract even more potential parties in the wake of Jordan’s windfall divestment with the news of the court legend now joining the elite company of the world’s wealthiest individuals.

This story was produced by Benzinga and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.

This article originally was published on stacker.com, and has been re-published pursuant to a CC BY-NC 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1.

The post The GOAT on and off the court: Michael Jordan becomes the first athlete in history to join Forbes 400 list appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.

By The Associated Press