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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
“Who got next?”
That’s your inquiry when arriving at a pickup game in progress. Then you ask if spots remain on the upcoming team(s). If not, it’s your moment to make the game’s most declarative off-court statement:
“I got next.”
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
Opponents of Black history try to whitewash our existence and minimize our contributions, but accurately reporting America’s past is impossible without us.
Haters must pick and choose which Black people to acknowledge and highlight, preferably those who achieved the so-called American dream without making white people uncomfortable. As the first person killed in the American Revolution, Crispus Attucks is a fine Black man to honor. So is Booker T. Washington, whose agrarian brand of racial progress always seemed less threatening than the scholarly version W.E.B. Du Bois espoused.
The world of sports is full of Black heroes that historians can’t ignore, though it helps when the athlete ignores societal conditions. Best if they focus on the vacuum – the field or the court – not the racism afflicting their non-athletic kinfolk. Barred from mainstream pro sports leagues well into the 20th century, we started dotting the landscape before the civil rights era peaked. Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League baseball in 1947.
Orenthal James Simpson was born three months later.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
Until a few years ago, March Madness instantly brought men’s college basketball to mind among the general public, well conditioned to follow the cultural phenomenon for its office pools if nothing else.
The concurrent women’s national tournament? It was a mere afterthought, treated like a shabby property used for tax write-offs. The NCAA didn’t improve accommodations or extend March Madness branding for the women’s tournament until glaring discrepancies were uncovered in August 2021.
Now the women are kicking the men’s ass in popularity and TV ratings.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
Iowa star Caitlin Clark got her revenge on LSU star Angel Reese, surely enthralling goo-gobs of white folks who viewed Monday’s Elite Eight matchup through a racial lens. I certainly understand their glee in watching Reese get her comeuppance for taunting Clark in last year’s NCAA championship game.
Clark is their darling, the biggest star in women’s college basketball – which currently is far hotter than the men’s version. ESPN reports that Iowa’s 94-87 victory drew 12.3 million viewers, the most ever in women’s college hoops. Last year’s tilt set the previous record, 9.9 million viewers, when Reese pointed to an imaginary ring and waved “you-can’t-see-me” as Iowa lost the title game.
Reese was demonized and caricatured afterward, becoming a target for anti-Black sentiment from haters of every stripe. Meanwhile, Clark continued her path as America’s sweetheart and a national phenom, setting numerous records on the court and at the box office.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
Let’s begin with a reminder that the NFL draft is patently unfair to players entering the league. Yes, the draft has been an institution since 1936, and only a few individuals have challenged its authority. But that doesn’t make the process right.
You shouldn’t be obligated to work in, say, Green Bay just because the Packers selected you. Barring any personal ties to a city like Buffalo or Jacksonville, many young men wouldn’t start their careers with the Bills or Jaguars if given a choice.
Players go where they’re sent because the system offers a nice bag while disregarding their personal desires. Bucking the time-honored tradition is almost inconceivable, requiring copious amounts of gall, ego and nerve from whoever might dare.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
The public nature of a pro athlete’s career path allows us to watch and wonder how we’d react under similar circumstances.
Notwithstanding ginormous paychecks that make change easier to swallow, athletes are subject to the same laws of human nature we all face. Moving from one employer to another, adjusting to life in a new city with a new boss and new co-workers, can unleash a flood of mixed emotions. Especially at quarterback, the most glamourous position in sports.
One day you’re cut, tossed out like spoiled leftovers, but the next day you join a storied franchise to restore your reputation. That was Russell Wilson’s story last week when he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was gonna smile no matter where he landed – the Denver Broncos owe him around $38 million and he still has Ciara – but now he’ll play under Mike Tomlin, whose 173 career wins ranks second among active NFL coaches and 13th on the all-time list.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
In case you forgot what type of person she is, LSU coach Kim Mulkey sent a reminder over the weekend.
It proved once again that she’s far from being in South Carolina coach Dawn Staley’s neighborhood.
Maybe you saw clips of Sunday’s basketball game between undefeated South Carolina and bitter rival LSU, foes who have captured the last two national titles. The Gamecocks won – giving Staley four straight (second this season) against Mulkey – solidifying their No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll while leaving LSU unchanged at No. 8.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
South Carolina survived Tennessee on Saturday and outlasted LSU on Sunday to win the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament and remain undefeated this season. No other NCAA Division I team has a perfect record.
Only seven other teams have unblemished conference records, including Jackson State (23-6 overall, 18-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference).
The Tigers open play Wednesday in the SWAC tournament after winning their fifth consecutive regular-season title under head coach Tomekia Reed. She’s trying to reach the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years but already notched an unprecedented feat. The program received its first-ever vote in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
MLK wasn’t the only person with a dream. At least he shouldn’t be the only one.
Black Thought has visions of “Nat Turner holding his master’s head – like Yorick and Horatio in Hamlet – smacking it like a tennis racket, underhanded.” Others among us invent less-violent scenarios, maybe just building something to leave as a legacy for our offspring, maybe locking arms with our white cousins and singing Kumbaya.
Marcus Garvey fantasized about a back-to-Africa movement where we’d pack our shit and be out. Segregationists like George Wallace and Strom Thurmond didn’t actually want us ALL the way gone (too many missing service workers); they craved returning to their notion of good ol’ days, when more Black folks were forced to “stay in their place.”
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by theGrio)
There are 21 conferences in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Only one is led by a Black woman commissioner.
Effective July 1, that league will have a new name that embraces its mission and membership: the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), with the tagline, “Where Winners Thrive.”
After serving for three years in an interim capacity, Kiki Baker Barnes was installed as permanent commissioner of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) in June 2022. She said her leadership team worked with Black-owned marketing firm Ten35 for two years before choosing the new name.
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