Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports announced Thursday that Skylar Diggins, the third overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, is the newest professional athlete to sign with the burgeoning sports agency. “It’s the ROC in here!” Diggins tweeted after the news broke on Jay’s Life+Timessite.“ShockNation meets RocNation.”
The former University of Notre Dame standout was recently selected by the Tulsa Shock in Connecticut last week. The 22-year old Associated Press First-Team All-American point guard will join New York Yankee Robinson Cano at Jay’s new company, which is a joint venture with the fabled Creative Artists Agency, boasting clients such as New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and Buster Posey, who recently inked a $167 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.
The Blueprint III MC recently divested his minority ownership stake in the Brooklyn Nets in order to be eligible to pursue NBA athletes. With the NBA Draft coming up in June, look for more breakout basketball stars to be throwing up the Roc in the coming months.
Ray Allen #34 of the Miami Heat (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The ageless Ray Allen scored 23 points, and broke the NBA career playoff record for 3-pointers, as the Miami Heat used another of their patented runs to win 104-91 at the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.
In the day’s other playoff games, the Chicago Bulls held off Brooklyn to take a 2-1 lead, while Memphis got the win it needed, beating the Los Angeles Clippers to cut the series deficit to 2-1. Miami can complete a sweep in Game 4 on Sunday at the Bradley Center. No team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a series in the NBA playoffs. Allen’s five 3-pointers against the Bucks gave him 322 for his career, two more than Reggie Miller. LeBron James added 22 points in his standard strong performance for the Heat, and Chris Bosh had 16 points and 14 rebounds. “That’s been our calling card all year, the depth that we have,” said Allen. “As a team, you’ve got to find way to plug in the holes, and every night we find somebody different.” Dwyane Wade scored only four points, but had 11 assists.
J.R. Smith #8 of the New York Knicks scores against John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards during their game at Madison Square Garden on April 9, 2013 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith has won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Smith received 484 points, including 72 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 writers and broadcasters. The Clippers’ Jamal Crawford finished second with 352 points, getting 31 first-place votes. Smith averaged 18.1 points in 80 games, all off the bench. He had 29 games in which he scored 20 points as a reserve, tying Crawford for the NBA lead.
Smith helped the Knicks win the Atlantic Division title for the first time since 1994. New York is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and leads the Boston Celtics 1-0 in their first-round playoff series.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
Even before you notice the smooth, powerful swing that has helped propel her to the brink of stardom at only 17, you see something else that defines Ginger Howard and her precocious golf game…the smile. It lights up her face, as she talks about her life and dreams. Ginger has become a member of the LPGA at the right age of 17, the youngest ever. There’s a good chance you haven’t heard much if anything about Howard yet, but all that could change very soon. If things go they way they’ve been heading, we may soon become well-acquainted with the million-dollar smile and formidable style that has been lighting up the ranks. And the story could ultimately entwine a Williams Sisters tennis twist, because waiting in the wings is 16-year-old sister Robbi, a prodigy in her own right. Ginger follows other notable black golfers such as, tennis great Althea Gibson was the first black female to play on tour. Gibson broke through in 1963 and played in 171 tournaments until 1971. From 1967-80, Renee Powell also held an LPGA Tour card. More recently, LaRee Pearl Sugg played full-time in 1995, ’96, 2000 and ’01. Also, Andia Winslow missed the cut in her one event in 2006. (NFL Hall of Famer, Kellen Winslow, Sr., is her uncle.) article via naturallymoi.com
Wendell Smith Sportswriter Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times recently wrote a thoughtful and necessary essay about sportswriter Wendell Smith, who covered Jackie Robinson’s ascendancy into major league baseball for the Pittsburgh Courier and “finally gets his due” in the recently released motion picture “42.” Here is an excerpt and a link to the entire article:
Baseball’s greatest story will be rewritten again Monday as the sport celebrates the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking the major leagues’ color barrier.Yet the man who wrote the story will be forgotten. In every game, players from every team will wear 42, the number on the back of Robinson’s jersey when he debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
Yet nobody will sit in the stands with a manual typewriter atop their knees in memory of the man who, even as he wrote about integration on the field, was barred from the press box because he was black. Nobody will honor the man who endured the same prejudice as Robinson as he fought that prejudice with his words. Nobody will remember the man whose hidden fight became an inspiration for Robinson’s public battle. Everyone will remember the headline, but few will remember the byline — Wendell Smith. The humble, bespectacled journalist was Robinson’s chronicler, his confidant, and sometimes even his conscience. As sports editor and columnist for the African American-owned Pittsburgh Courier, Smith accompanied Robinson throughout his first major league season, creating his image, reporting his words and crusading for his rights. As Robinson grew more popular, Smith became more invisible, until he eventually became Robinson’s ghost writer in the literal sense, the memory of him turning ethereal and nearly vanishing altogether. “Everywhere we went, Wendell Smith was there,” said Don Newcombe, former Dodgers pitcher, who was Robinson’s longtime teammate, friend and fellow pioneer. “He was instrumental in so many things that happened, he should not be forgotten.”
Read the rest of Plaschke’s story here. Related Posts:
“It’s a great feeling that someone thinks that you are the best at doing something that you love to do,” said Leonard Fournette, who also was ranked No. 1 by Scout and No. 3 nationally by Rivals. “It’s a big surprise to me. “It’s exciting, but at the same time I know that I have a lot more work to do in myself to get better, faster, stronger. I have a lot of other things that I feel like I have to get better.” Founette, 6 feet 1 and 222 pounds, has long been one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits. Yet the bruising back, who is considering LSU, Alabama, Florida State, USC and Texas, among others, is, for the moment, putting the breaks on recruiting visits to concentrate on spring football. “To me, Louisiana has the best talent.”
Brittney Griner, left, shakes hands with WNBA President Laurel J. Richie after the Phoenix Mercury selected Griner as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA basketball draft, Monday, April 15, 2013, in Bristol, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Brittney Griner left an indelible mark on women’s college basketball. Now she’s ready to take on the pros. The Phoenix Mercury took Baylor’s star center with the top pick in the WNBA draft Monday night. Despite knowing she was going first, the two-time AP Player of the Year admitted she was extremely nervous.
“It’s a dream come true, I’m like a little kid in Disney World the first time meeting all the characters,” Griner said. “Sitting at the table they said 15 seconds and my heart started beating so fast. I was grabbing the tablecloth underneath.” The 6-foot-8 phenom finished as the second all-time scorer in women’s NCAA history, with 3,283 points. She is the top shot-blocker ever, shattering both the men’s and women’s college marks with 748. She also had a record 18 dunks — including 11 this season. WNBA president Laurel Richie opened the draft offering the league’s thoughts and prayers to those affected by the bombings in Boston. She said earlier in the evening that the WNBA had discussions whether to hold the draft, deciding to go ahead with it. And then soon after the draft started she announced Griner as the first choice.
Atlanta Braves’ Justin Upton hits a walkoff home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Atlanta. Atlanta won 6-5. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has created a task force that will study how to increase diversity in the game, especially among black players. Commissioner Bud Selig announced the committee Wednesday. This week, baseball will celebrate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. A new movie titled “42″ focuses on the Hall of Famer. The 18-member committee includes representatives from club ownership, the players’ union, minor league and college baseball, the MLB scouting bureau and other areas. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and former major league manager Jerry Manuel are among the members. MLB says about 8.5 percent of players on this year’s opening day rosters identified themselves as African-American or black. That’s around half the number from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. “As a social institution, Major League Baseball has an enormous social responsibility to provide equal opportunities for all people, both on and off the field,” Selig said in a statement.
Whether or not Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers President and General Manager, ever said this about Jackie Robinson in response to those who thought he might be trouble for major league baseball because of being court-martialed for refusing to move to the back of an Army bus, doesn’t matter.
What does is that Rickey’s (gamely played by Harrison Ford) matter-of-fact delivery of that line sums up not only the heart of the movie, but the heart of the double standard commonly applied to systemically oppressed people who refuse to comply with their own dehumanization.
Chadwick Boseman portrays the legendary Jackie Robinson in “42.”
Although based on actual events as Jackie Robinson integrated major league baseball, spirit is ultimately what the biopic “42” is about – fighting for unequivocal truths to come to light, and to stir the best within us all regardless of race, color or religion by leveling the playing field and by just straight up playing ball.
“Lincoln Heights” actor Chadwick Boseman, in his first major film role, does a commendable job bringing sports legend and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson to life. Boseman has an athletic grace and physicality that conveys the intelligence and scrappiness of Robinson’s game, but his performance shines most when he silently conveys Robinson’s struggle to hold himself in check when he is verbally and physically assaulted on and off the field.
At one point in the film, Robinson’s baseball prowess is remarked on as “superhuman,” but after seeing all he endured off the field in “42,” his ability to stay calm and focussed in the midst of a sea change in American sports and culture was arguably his most compelling power.
Boseman and Andre Holland as Pittsburgh Courier reporter Wendell Smith
Writer/director Brian Helgeland wisely starts the film with a black reporter chronicling Robinson’s achievements (later revealed to be Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier, a well-known black newspaper of that era; Smith was assigned to cover Robinson’s journey), setting the stage by introducing and narrating America’s still racially tense post-war years.
By framing this film about a black hero through the eyes and words of a black reporter shows Helgeland, who wrote the acclaimed “L.A. Confidential” and “Mystic River,” understands how deeply this movie is about a watershed moment in African-American history as much as it is about one extraordinary man.
It needs to be told as “our story,” so by making Smith (played with quiet strength by Andre Holland) a guide, witness, admirer, and beneficiary of Jackie Robinson’s accomplishments, the core audience of “42” is able to hold the same positions while watching the story unfold.
Donte’ Stallworth #19 of the New England Patriots works out before a preseason game with the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on August 20, 2012 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
NFL wide receiver Donté Stallworth has joined the group Athlete Ally and their fight against homophobia in sports. Athlete Ally is a non-profit organization aimed at educating and encouraging individual athletes to respect every member of their communities, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Fellow NFL player Brendon Ayanbadejo, who came out in support of LGBT rights, is chairman of Athlete Ally’s advisory board.
“I realize that every day is a gift and you need to do the most with the time that you have,” Stallworth said in a statement. “Joining my friend Brendon Ayanbadejo and the other NFL Ambassadors today is my way of helping make our game better. We need to build a support system in the NFL so that every player can be who they are, play their best, and live life to the fullest.”
