Norfolk State guard Jamarii Thomas was cooking against Illinois
State, lighting up the home team Saturday night en route to a career-high 31
points. Then his coach got heated in the second half of the Spartans’ 64-58 victory.
NSU head coach Robert Jones went face-to-face in a screaming
match with his Illinois State counterpart, Ryan Pedon, as players from both
squads rushed toward them at halfcourt. Jones was hot about some ISU fans who
had just interacted with Thomas from their courtside seats.
“I’m not letting anybody call my players a racial slur,” Jones tweeted after the game in Normal, Ill. “Those are my kids and I will fight for them. We have come too far in society to be called the N word at a college basketball game.”
Selfishness is a relative concept. It’s a blight on society when
maxed out, but perfectly understandable when utilized sparingly. The degrees
between those extremes foster endless debates among friends, relatives and colleagues.
Take, for instance, USC quarterback Caleb Williams and
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Both have benefitted from recent NCAA rule changes on transferring schools and making money. Both are highly rated prospects at the NFL’s most valued position. Both have the option of returning to campus or entering the NFL draft in April.
In terms of diversity and inclusion (DEI) in visuals, marketing has come a long way since two candidates for the Fairfax, Virginia County School Board handed out campaign materials in 2011.
First, was Louise Epstein, who distributed signs and fliers that were graced with three smiling, multicultural teenagers in caps and gowns. Then, Jane Strauss circulated her literature, an election brochure that featured the identical teens in a similar pose.
Pickings were slimmer back then and multicultural representation wasn’t much of an issue, at least not in mainstream media. SRB Communications has been a champion for inclusion since our founding, well before a national awakening in 2020. We are grateful that our clients and others see the value of accurate snapshots because there’s no excuse for excluding diverse subjects.
After being nearly perfect through their first two campaigns in
the Southwestern Athletic Conference – losing just one league game each season
– the Rattlers ran the table this year. They capped their impressive run with a
35-14 victory Saturday against Prairie View
A&M to clinch their first SWAC championship.
“A great day for Tallahassee, FAMU, and these young men,” FAMU head coach Willie Simmons told reporters after winning his first conference title. “It warms my heart to celebrate a goal we set for ourselves long ago.”
Say what you will about Deion Sanders’ first season at
Colorado, because you have to say something. It’s the law.
No matter which side you’re on, silence isn’t an option after
he stirred up college football like no one ever. There are plenty of talking
points to bolster whichever stance you take, whether Colorado’s four wins were
an astounding success, or the eight losses represent an unmitigated failure.
The Buffaloes were 1-11 last year before Sanders rolled into town and gutted the roster. Las Vegas oddsmakers set the win total at 3.5 wins and one analyst said Sanders might have the nation’s worst roster. In the end, both predictions were close to accurate, though each seemed off when Colorado improved to 3-0 on Sept. 16.
In this corner is LSU star forward Angel Reese, the “Bayou
Barbie,” fresh off winning a national title and waving it in Caitlin Clark’s
face before enjoying newfound wealth and fame.
In the other corner is LSU head coach Kim Mulkey, the Louisiana
native and Hall of Famer, fresh off signing a $32 million contract after snagging
the title in her second season back home.
If giving up or no longer exerting maximum effort is ever understandable, Arkansas-Pine Bluff might’ve been in that position Saturday in the final game this year.
The Golden Lions were on the road, trailing by 24 points at halftime, with dim prospects for their second victory overall and their first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
But instead of packing it in, UAPB poured it on. Quarterback Mekhi Hagens ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and special teams contributed a touchdown for a stunning 35-34 victory against Texas Southern at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. The Lions scored the final 22 points in the final 12 minutes to complete the surprising finish. They finished 2-9 overall, 1-7 in the SWAC).
If Saturday marks the end for fifth-year Texas Southern head
football coach Clarence McKinney, he’ll always have fond memories of his penultimate
game last week.
A scheduling conflict with the Houston Dynamo FC forced Texas
Southern to move its game to Sunday, against an Alcorn State team that
controlled its destiny for a title shot. Instead, the Panthers administered a 44-10 beating that knocked Alcorn State from the
driver’s seat in the Southwestern Athletic Conference West division and gave Prairie
View and Grambling State new life.
“That was a big win for us,” McKinney said during a media call Monday, before reports circulated that his contract won’t be renewed after Saturday’s finale against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. “It was unusual playing on Sunday, but our guys went out and played a complete game. We played complimentary football – offense, defense and special teams – and beat a really good opponent. I’m just proud of the way our guys competed.”
Stereotypes come in all shapes and sizes, from who’s super
athletic and takes prison calls from their dad, to who’s super smart and takes
advanced STEM classes in college. The problem comes when we ascribe such oversimplified
concepts to one group of people, ignoring the fact that every group has members
with similar attributes.
NFL rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud grew up near Hollywood, under
circumstances often depicted in movies involving young Black men. He’s the star
athlete whose life changed at 13 when his father went to jail. Struggles followed but mom held it
together for the family, and now Stroud has sped from Rookie of the Year talk to
Most Valuable Player discussions.
Where’s the anonymous NFL executive who issued a “red alert” before the draft? He warned teams to avoid Stroud because he performed miserably on a standardized test. Fortunately, the leaked score didn’t stop Houston from drafting Stroud with the No. 2 pick, and it didn’t stop him from torching rookie passing records through nine games.
Styles make fights in boxing, where opponents with certain traits
are tailor-made for a champion, but opponents with a different form are threats
to the belt holder. The same holds true in football and the adage played out
Saturday in the Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Association finale.
Virginia Union’s suffocating defense smothered Fayetteville
State’s anemic offense for a 21-10
victory that didn’t seem that close. The Panthers were
never seriously threatened after taking a 14-0 and dominating time of
possession throughout the contest, winning their first CIAA championship in 22
years and ruining FSU’s bid at back-to-back titles.
“I’m just happy, that’s all I can say,” Panthers head coach Alvin Parker said following the game, a day after being named CIAA Coach of the Year. “I was here in 2001 when we went down to Winston-Salem and won it. I remember how it felt then, but this is a little bit better. I was the leader of the program and I felt like I was leading us in the right direction, but all of the guys bought into the process, even though it wasn’t easy.”
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