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NFL Receiver Andre Johnson Spends $17,000 on Toys for Kids (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on December 17, 2013

Andre JohnsonIt has been an underwhelming season for the Houston Texans, but eleven straight losses have not gotten in the way of wide receiver Andre Johnson’s yearly effort to bring some smiles to the faces of kids who could use them.  Johnson has made an annual tradition out of giving twelve kids chosen by Child Protective Services in Houston on a shopping spree at Toys R Us. The kids have 80 seconds, in honor Johnson’s No. 80, to fill up carts with everything they can grab off the shelves. Every kid teamed up with a Texans cheerleader to race through the store and was guaranteed an entertainment system of their choice and two games in addition to anything else they grabbed.
“I remember times where I wasn’t able to get things that I wanted,” Johnson said, via the Texans website. “It just gives them a chance to go through the store and get whatever they want. They don’t have to ask anybody for it. Whatever they have on their Christmas list they can pick up.”
The Texans website has some great video from the event (seen below), which Johnson has hosted for seven years. The final tab for this year’s event was $17,352, which is a pretty impressive total given the short period of time the kids had to work even if it is a bit less than last year’s total.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68znmdOaeI&w=560&h=315]
article by Josh Alper via profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
 

Florida State's Jameis Winston Wins Heisman Trophy

By goodblacknews on December 15, 2013

Jameis Winston set Football Bowl Subdivision freshman records for touchdown passes, with 38, and passing yards, with 3,820. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston spent the past week on college football’s postseason awards circuit, cycling through banquets and red carpets and trophy presentations. That culminated Saturday in Manhattan, where Winston won the Heisman Trophy, his sport’s pre-eminent honor.

Winston wrapped his arms around the Heisman Trophy late Saturday, after an hourlong television special in which the only suspense centered on how much he would win by. The assembled cheered loudly, and Winston hugged his parents and thanked God.  At his news conference, Winston said that he had expected to win but that doubt had remained until he heard his name called.

Last December, a college student accused Winston of rape after a party. The accuser’s lawyer came forward a year later to say that the Tallahassee Police Department had pushed her not to press charges, and the lawyer held a news conference Friday to skewer the investigation. Winston’s lawyer has said that Winston and the accuser engaged in consensual sex.

Winston was not charged after a rape accusation that had clouded his season.  Wherever Winston traveled, an accusation of rape clouded the celebration. Florida officials said this month that Winston would not be charged in the year-old case. But as the Seminoles wrapped up an undefeated season and their spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game, scrutiny of the investigation only intensified.

Darrell Wallace is 1st African-American to Win NASCAR National Race in 50 Years

By goodblacknews on October 26, 2013

Darrell Wallace Jr. celebrates winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 on Saturday, October 26.
Darrell Wallace Jr. celebrates winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 on Saturday, October 26.

(CNN) — It’s one win for Darrell Wallace Jr., but what will it mean for other African-American race car drivers — present and future?  The answer to that question might not come for years. Nonetheless, NASCAR wasted no time Saturday in hailing Wallace’s on-track success at Martinsville Speedway in southern Virginia.
“We congratulate Darrell Wallace Jr. on his first national series victory, one that will be remembered as a remarkable moment in our sport’s history,” said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France.  Wallace took the Kroger 200 on the racing circuit’s Camping World Truck Series, which is on NASCAR’s third tier.
Still, it is notable given that no African-American has won any NASCAR national series race since December 1, 1963, when Wendell Scott became the first ever to win a race at NASCAR’s top level, in a victory at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida.  Scott, a Virginia native who served in the Army during World War II, raced in more than 500 races during his career — finishing in the top five 20 times, though that would be his only victory.
Plus, the 20-year-old Wallace isn’t just any driver. He’s a highly touted graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity, having been featured in numerous local and national publications.  The Mobile, Alabama, native — who lives in Concord, North Carolina — won in his 19th start on Camping World Truck circuit. In 10 of his first 18 starts, he finished in the top 10.  Shortly after the Martinsville race ended, Wallace — using his twitter handle @BubbaWallace — reveled in the victory.
He wrote: “We Came. We Saw. We Conquered.”
article by Greg Botelho via cnn.com

South L.A.'s Jefferson High Tennis Squad Adopted by Beverly Hills Tennis Club

By goodblacknews on October 21, 2013

Alma Roque, right, and fellow players marvel at gifts of gear during a Beverly Hills Tennis Club lunch. (Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times / October 19, 2013)
Alma Roque, right, and fellow players marvel at gifts of gear during a Beverly Hills Tennis Club lunch. (Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times / October 19, 2013)

Tennis isn’t much of a big deal at South L.A.’s struggling Jefferson High.  The two dozen kids who play on the boys’ and girls’ teams practice on a pair of beaten courts at a gang-riddled, graffiti-tagged park.  It wasn’t long ago that both squads — stacked with teens still learning basic tennis rules — shared six beaten rackets and sometimes played in jeans.

“Shoes?” said David Herrera, who coaches the girls’ team. “A lot of my players didn’t even know there was such a thing as shoes made just for tennis. They played in skateboard sneakers. One girl showed up in boots. They just didn’t know.”  They do now, thanks to the venerable, 84-year-old Beverly Hills Tennis Club.
This past weekend marked the beginning of an uncommon bond between Jefferson and the club — storied in Southern California tennis circles, with a wealthy membership that once included Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin. On Saturday, Jefferson’s tennis players boarded a bus in their neighborhood and went on a 12-mile journey to a corner of the city far different from their own.
They ended up at the leafy club — as honored guests.  “Most of us, we’ve never really been to Beverly Hills before, even though it’s not that far from home,” said Alma Roque, a 17-year-old senior who stood back for a moment, tentative as she surveyed her teammates.

Chicago Bear Devin Hester Ties Deion Sanders' NFL Record for Return Touchdowns

By goodblacknews on October 20, 2013

Chicago Bears v Jacksonville JaguarsThe Redskins have been wary of Devin Hester hurting them in the return game.  Well, he did it anyways.  Hester’s 81-yard punt return score tied Sunday’s Chicago-Washington at 17 in the second quarter. The return touchdown was the 19th of Hester’s NFL career, which equals Deion Sanders’ league-record mark.

On the play, Hester caught the ball on the far sideline, then worked his way to the other side of the field, where he had a convoy of blockers. Hester got a couple more blocks — with Khaseem Greene’s knockdown of Logan Paulsen a highlight — and the legendary special-teamer was gone, en route to his 13th career punt return score.
Hester’s big play was another tough moment for Washington’s embattled special teams, which had all sorts of problems with the Cowboys’ Dwayne Harris in last week’s loss at Dallas.  Washington has stayed away from Hester on kickoffs, employing pooch kicks. Moreover, Sav Rocca’s punt on Hester’s touchdown wasn’t a bad effort, as it pinned the Bears’ returner near the sideline. But when Washington couldn’t stop Hester from reversing field, there was trouble ahead.
Hester’s touchdown was a highlight in a roller-coaster half for the Bears, who lost quarterback Jay Cutler to an injury in the second quarter.
article by Mike Wilkening via profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Nets Retire Jason Kidd’s No. 5 Jersey

By goodblacknews on October 18, 2013
Jason Kidd speaks during his jersey retirement ceremony before the preseason game agaisnt the Miami Heat at Barclays Center on October 17, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Jason Kidd speaks during his jersey retirement ceremony before the preseason game against the Miami Heat at Barclays Center on October 17, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (AP) — The Nets have retired the No. 5 jersey of Jason Kidd, who led them to two NBA Finals as a player and is now their coach.  The ceremony took place Thursday night before the Nets hosted the Miami Heat.
Kidd arrived in New Jersey in 2001 and promptly led the Nets to consecutive NBA Finals. He played with them until he was traded midway through the 2007-08 season and is the franchise leader in numerous statistical categories.
Kidd retired last season after spending one season, his 19th, with the New York Knicks. LeBron James calls Kidd, his teammate on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, “one of the best point guards to ever play the game.”
The banner was the New Jersey Nets’ red, white and blue, not the Brooklyn black and white.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

45 Years Ago Today: John Carlos and Tommie Smith Give Black Power Salute at 1968 Olympic Games

By goodblacknews on October 16, 2013
Tommie Smith (C) and John Carlos (R) at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City (AP Photo)
October 16th marks the 45th anniversary of an iconic moment in sports history, in African-American history and in civil rights history.  On this day in 1968, at the Olympics Games in Mexico City, two black U.S. medalists—Tommie Smith and John Carlos—took the victory stand with their heads bowed and eyes closed, their hands raised with black gloves, and fists clenched.  Their “black power salute” during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner was a silent protest by these athletes against racial injustice, and their statement, viewed then as a controversial combination of Olympic sports and politics, sent shock waves throughout the games.

Although the now legendary photo of the two men standing with clenched fists is universally recognized, the story behind the story is seldom mentioned, much less taught in schools.
The actions of Smith—the gold medalist in the 200-meter race—and Carlos—the bronze winner—must be viewed within the context of the times in which the men lived.  And the times were turbulent and divisive.  After all, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated only months before the games at Mexico City.  The United States was engulfed in anti-Vietnam War protests and civil rights demonstrations.  Antiwar protestors had been beaten by police during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  There were calls for black power in African-American communities throughout the nation, and the Black Panther Party had expanded to cities across America.
Enter Harry Edwards, author of The Revolt of the Black Athlete.  Edwards was the organizer of theOlympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), an effort of black athletes to boycott the Olympics in protest of racial discrimination.  The project was part of a push to have black athletes speak not only to the interests of athletes, but to show a concern for their communities and connect to the larger civil rights movement as well.

Kenya Native Dennis Kimetto Sets Course Record With Chicago Marathon Win

By goodblacknews on October 13, 2013

 

Dennis Kimetto sets Course Record in 2013 Chicago Marathon
Dennis Kimetto sets Course Record in 2013 Chicago Marathon

Dennis Kimetto of Kenya set a course record Sunday as he took first in the 2013 Chicago Marathon, his second marathon win of the year.  Kimetto beat the previous record of 2:04:23 with 2:03:45, according to unofficial times.  Kimetto and Emmanuel Mutai were neck-and-neck until the last half-mile when Kimetto broke out front.  “I am happy because I broke the course record,” Kimetto said. “The [race] conditions were very good.”
Kimetto came to Chicago with a 2013 marathon win already under his belt. He took first in this year’s Tokyo Marathon with a time of 2:06:50, which set a course record for the race, just his second marathon to date.  During his first marathon, in Berlin last September, he crossed the finish just one second behind the winner.
Kimetto is known for long-distance road racing. The World Marathon Majors points out Kimetto would hold the world record for fastest marathon debut if the IAAF recognized that stat. He set his personal best in Berlin with a finish time of 2:04:16.
article by Lisa Balde via nbcchicago.com

Marquis Taylor Quits Wall Street Job to Help Impoverished Youth Through Basketball

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2013
Marquis Taylor (far left) with a group of young students participating in the mentorship program. (Photo courtesy of Coaching 4 Change website)
Marquis Taylor (far left) with a group of young students participating in the mentorship program. (Photo courtesy of Coaching 4 Change website)

Marquis Taylor, 29, is a man making a difference.  Once a working professional on Wall Street, Taylor left his job in real estate finance and dedicated his time to helping youth in low-income communities through his grassroots organization, Coaching4Change.

As the founder and executive director of the program, Taylor mentors the youth by teaching them the fundamental lessons provided through sports.  His mentoring guidelines are designed to stimulate the educational environment of kids in urban areas and they have proven to bring positive change to these impoverished communities.  Taylor’s mentorship program has directly affected one student in particular who grew up in a single home with eight siblings, according to a story reported by The Huffington Post.
The student was frequently in trouble and failing most of his classes but with Taylor’s guidance, he was able to raise his GPA almost two full points and he became inspired to launch an after-school program where he taught younger students the basics of basketball.  For Taylor, many of the lives of students he has helped reflect on some of the same hardships he faced as a child.

Tiger Woods Delivers Clinching Point in Presidents Cup Win

By goodblacknews on October 7, 2013

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot at No. 18 on Sunday during the Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images / October 6, 2013)

DUBLIN, Ohio — The Presidents Cup ended Sunday the same way it always goes — an American celebration after Tiger Woods delivers the winning point.   Woods’ back flared up on him again in the final hour at Muirfield Village. He still managed to hang on to beat Richard Sterne, 1 up, to give the Americans the 18 points they needed to win the Presidents Cup for the fifth consecutive time. It was the third straight Presidents Cup that Woods won the cup-clinching match — all three with Fred Couples as the captain. 

“It was a team effort this whole week,” said Woods, who went 4-1 for the best record of any player. “We really played well to give ourselves a nice lead.”  The biggest surprise was not so much the outcome, but that the matches ended without going to Monday.