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The celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday also brings about a bevy of high school basketball events around the St. Louis metro area.
A sad secret of the WNBA is that many of the league’s players spend the offseason playing for professional teams across Europe because their WNBA salaries are just a tiny fraction of their male counterparts.
It’s difficult enough to be Cuonzo Martin, head coach of the Missouri basketball team. He’s been on the hot seat with some fans since the day he was hired. They would rather have him fail than lead Missouri to national prominence.
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There are two big basketball events on tap this weekend on both sides of the river. The Highland Shootout is a national event that will be held at Highland High in Highland, Illinois while the second annual Soulard Shootout will be held at Lift for Life Academy in St. Louis. Both events will…
In past years, one of the features of the St. Louis American was following the weekly progress of African-American quarterbacks in the National Football League. With the NFL Division playoffs about to begin this weekend and the large presence of black quarterbacks at the forefront, we though…
Depending on whom you ask, you are likely to get widely differing views on the importance of social media. To some, social media is one of the greatest and most important inventions in the history of the world. It gives us immediate, global access to breaking news, information, family, frien…
The late Art Rooney, who owned the Pittsburgh Steelers for decades before he passed and left the team within the family, used his respect, power and knowledge to somehow get his fellow owners to approve a mandate that a minority candidate must be interviewed for any open head coach or genera…
It was an incredible decade of basketball in the St. Louis metro area. As we head into the year 2020, we are going to take a look back with the announcement of the St. Louis American “Fab Five” All-Decade Team for the boys and girls.
Fat chance on a year going by without sports craziness, but we can always hope for just that. In the meantime, here are some hopes and wishes for various players, teams, front offices and fans.
The Michael Porter Jr. era has officially begun in Denver. The former Mizzou standout made his first NBA start Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings. The rookie forward (Porter sat out the entire 2018-19 season due to injury) looked impressive as he racked up 19 points (on 8-of-10 shooti…
The holiday season is upon us, which means families getting together, Christmas presents being opened and of course, the glut of holiday basketball tournaments around the St. Louis metro area.
North Carolina A&T coach Sam Washington is the antithesis of today’s young offensive-minded head coaches being hired to lead college and NFL football teams.
Christmas season is here. Chances are, you’ve already opened your gifts, stuffed your belly, gone through the Temptations Christmas album at least nine times and spread plenty of holly, jolly Christmas cheer. I intended to send a heartfelt, thoughtful, drip-infused gift to each and every rea…
One of the biggest events on the high school basketball calendar is the Midwest Showdown Shootout, which is presented by event director Terrell Ramey of Rameybasketball.com.
The press is often referred to as the Fourth Estate. Though the news media is not technically a part of the political system of governance, it wields the power to hold politicians to account. Therefore, when I received a call from Andre Holman of STL TV inviting me to play in the 1st Annual …
When quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens take the field against an NFL opponent, it has become must-see TV. Even if Jackson and his crew are blowing out the opponent, TV ratings don’t slide. All eyes remain on the dual threat quarterback.
Here is a look at some of the top girls’ basketball players to watch in the St. Louis metro area for the 2019-20 season.
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The Lutheran North Crusaders picked the perfect way to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of their last state championship in football in 1999.
The high school basketball season is off to an exciting start in 2019. Here are some top players to watch for the 2019-20 season.
One of my favorite songs from the late, great Nipsey Hussle is “Dedication.” The track, featuring Kendrick Lamar, is woke, energetic, intelligent, lyrical and dynamic – oh and the beat knocks. Still, with all the amazing choices made in regards to lyrics, cadence, production, etc., there is …
Eliah Drinkwitz said Tuesday during his introductory press conference in Columbia, “Our purpose is to win, make no mistake about it, but to win the right way.”
St. Louis is known for being a great sports town and one of the most charitable cities in the nation. Now a new charitable endeavor launching in 2020 will provide a platform to highlight the best of our region with the Ascension Charity Classic.
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When Robert Steeples took over as the head coach at DeSmet before the 2017 season, he was inheriting a program that had compiled a record of four wins and 27 losses in the previous three seasons.
The sweet science is filled with upsets. St. Louis’ very own Leon Spinks shocked the world in 1978 with a surprising victory over Muhammad Ali. Hasim Rahman was a 20-1 underdog when he knocked out Lennox Lewis to become the undisputed heavyweight champ in 2001. In one of the biggest upsets i…
There are at least a dozen Power 5 college football programs that would gladly take a 25-25 record and two bowl appearances over the past four seasons. Yet, this was not good enough for Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk and many of the Tiger’s delusional fans.
Missouri’s football team is in free fall and a loss to lowly Arkansas in Little Rock could cost head coach Barry Odom his job.
The wind has an autumn breeze to it. The Southwestern Conference flags at historic Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium are still up.
Saturday night, Deontay Wilder resembled a cat playing with its food. Though he was seeking to defend his WBC heavyweight title for the tenth consecutive time, it was clear that Wilder was in no rush. For seven rounds, Wilder allowed Luis Ortiz to dictate the pace of the fight.
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A tip of the cap this weekend goes to the St. Mary’s Dragons after winning the Class 4, District 2 championship in dramatic fashion last Saturday at McCluer. The Dragons defeated McCluer 18-14 on a last-minute touchdown pass from senior Cam’Ron McCoy to junior Adrian Forbes.
Just weeks ago, it seemed like Carmelo Anthony’s NBA career was over. Anthony hadn’t played a game since Nov. 8, 2018. It seemed that the modern NBA had passed him by. Not many people doubted that Anthony could still get buckets. The question was always whether his liabilities and attitude o…
If there is one thing the sports world has learned during the past four years is that Colin Kaepernick is not afraid of controversy and will do things his way.
Last weekend’s IHSA Class 7A state quarterfinal game between East St. Louis and Oak Lawn Richards was over before some fans ever sat down.
The tremendous turnaround of the Roosevelt football program will continue on Saturday as the Rough Riders will host a district championship game this weekend.
It has been nearly three years since Colin Kaepernick played in a professional football game. The story of how Kaepernick was blackballed out of the NFL is well known. The then-San Francisco 49ers QB took a knee during the “Star Spangled Banner” to raise awareness for the critical fight for …
With the departure of Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn via free agency in the offseason and Gordon Hayward’s broken hand that will sideline him at least six weeks, the stage is set for Jayson Tatum to step forward and become a true star.
It was a cold day in November in 2013. That was the last time the East St. Louis Flyers saw Oak Lawn Richards on the football field in the IHSA state semifinals.
Congratulations to senior standouts Jordan Johnson of DeSmet and Antonio Doyle of Lutheran North on being selected to the U.S. Army All-American Game, which will be held on January 4 in San Antonio, Texas.
The NBA has gone through numerous eras in its 73 years of existence. There was the Bill Russell Era, an era that saw Russell’s Boston Celtics won 11 championships in a 13-year stretch. There was also an extended Big Man Era, in which big men such as Russell, George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, M…
With the Chicago Public Schools teachers strike going on last week, East St. Louis football coach Darren Sunkett didn’t know if his team would play its opening round game of the IHSA Class 6 playoffs against Chicago Morgan Park.
The NFL’s popularity continues to grow, while its commitment to diversity is not traveling down the same path.
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The postseason begins for teams on both sides of the river beginning this weekend. Here is a brief look at the upcoming district playoffs at Missouri, involving St. Louis area teams. For a complete look at the playoff brackets, you can visit the state’s website at MSHSAA.org.
After years of fighting tooth and nail against allowing college athletes to earn any type of meaningful income, the NCAA is calling an audible. The NCAA Board of Governors announced that it will soon allow college athletes to earn a little lunch money.
It took two weeks for Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant to go from a hero to a zero.
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In my 34 years of covering high school sports in St. Louis, I cannot remember a more turbulent football season than the one we are experiencing this year.
Let’s drop the instant revisionist history that former Cardinal Ritter football head coach Brandon Gregory is some kind of “tragic hero.”
After a whirlwind summer that saw several stars switch area codes, the 2019-20 NBA season is finally upon us. The season kicked off Tuesday night with a double header.
The Webster Groves Statesmen have experienced a big turnaround from last season to this season; and in the middle of this season as well.
Kelly Bryant rode into Columbia as a beacon of hope for Mizzou. After Drew Lock was drafted in the second round by the Denver Broncos, Mizzou found itself without the extraordinary QB who had called the shots for the past four seasons. Instead of crossing their fingers and hoping one of the …
Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers remained Major League Baseball’s only black manager after his team’s shocking demise against the Washington Nationals in a National League Division Series. However, it’s impossible to defend many of his moves in that series and, even though his team wo…
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The Roosevelt Roughriders experienced a great turnaround last season in winning the Public High League championship after spending the previous years in the basement.
There was a classic recurring skit on The Chappelle Show (the co-GOAT TV show alongside The Boondocks) called “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong.” The premise was simple. A black person, usually played by Dave Chappelle, suffered some minute form of disrespect. The character faced a choice bet…
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