The Ebony-American Sports Digest THE BEST & MOST VARIETY IN BLACK-AMERICAN SPORTS NEWS VOLUME V, NO. 21 FOR THE WEEK ENDING MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020 THIS WEEK’S SPORTS SHORTS The Native News Narrative:

FOR THE RECORD HBCU NEWS IN MEMORIAM If You Missed It On Radio, Hear The Mocs Football Preview Show Online

MLB: In Major League Baseball history, CFB: Alcorn St.’s football program PRO BASKETBALL: At age 77, By Oscar C. Woodall, Jr. – HayWood Media not only would Thu., Mar. 26 have been brought back one of its own, with the Frederick “Curly” Neal (Harlem Globe- [email protected] the earliest date MLB began regular sea- announcement of its head coach, Fred This past Monday, March 30, the UTC Athletics season. son play, it would have also been the first McNair, hiring Darien Moody (Mis- UTC Mocs football team hosted a pre- photo of They are time since 1968 that every MLB team view radio show, presented by Erlanger Brandon among a opened its season on the same day. But, due Sports Medicine, on 97.7 FM-WFLI. Dowdell. school- to concerns over the Chinese flu (COVID- However, if you missed it, you can record 19) pandemic and Webster Garrison – hear the audio version of the show via a 53 re- who last season was the manager of the video broadcast on Facebook Live, from turning Stockton Ports, a single A affiliate of the UTC’s page facebook.com/chattanoog- letter Angels – being hospitalized due to the vi- amocs. winners rus, the MLB season won’t open until Jim Reynolds, the voice of the Mocs, for the mid-May at the earliest, which will be the hosts the show that welcomes head 2020 latest start to a MLB season in history. On coach Rusty Wright for the opening hour. season. another note involving MLB, the last time The second hour includes senior stu- They are there were no MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL sissippi Valley St. photo) as the defen- dent-athletes DB Brandon Dowdell, TE also games in the month of April was 1883. … sive ends coach. This past season, Chris James and WR Bryce Nunnelly. three of MLB: Jaren Shelby (Kentucky photo), Moody, a 2016 Alcorn St. graduate, with All three of these Mocs were first team the 22 seniors on the 2020 roster, the larg- a Bachelor’s degree in business admin- All-Southern Conference selections last est senior class in over 20 years. istration, was the defensive line coach/re- Oscar’s Observation: cruiting coordinator at Mississippi Val- trotters photo) was laid to rest for an un- With COVID-19 Spreading Wild, U.S. Horse Racing Tracks Should Close ley St. Before last season, Moody served disclosed cause. After spending four sea- as a defensive graduate assistant at South- sons playing basketball for Johnson C. By Oscar C. Woodall, Jr. – HayWood Media [email protected] ern Miss for the 2018 season, before hold- Smith, where he was an All-CIAA PG ing the same position at Alcorn St. for the averaging 23.1 PPG, Neal spent 22 sea- Last week, I said COVID-19, quickly https://www.cdc.gov/TemplatePack- 2017 season. sons (1963-85) with the Harlem Globe- becoming known as the “Chinese flu,” age/contrib/widg-

QUITE FRANKLY trotters, playing in over 6000 games in is a very dangerous infectious virus. ets/cdcMaps/build/in-

NBA: Recently, Timberwolves C Karl- 97 countries. His number “22” was re- All U.S. professional sports leagues, the dex.html?chost=www.cdc.gov&cpat a Sr. CF for Kentucky’s baseball team, was Anthony Towns, Jr., whose mother tired by the Globetrotters on Feb. 15, NCAA and – – finally – – the International h=/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in- projected to be a one of MLB’s top draft (Jacqueline Cruz) is in a medically in- 2008, and he is only the fifth player in Olympic Committee have heeded the mes- us.html&csearch=&chash=&cti- picks when the NCAA suspended the duced coma, less than a week after con- the team’s history to have his number re- sages from local, state and federal govern- tle=Coronavirus%20Dis- play of its spring sports, due to concerns tracting the Chinese flu (COVID-19), tired, joining (50), Wilt ment leaders and doctors, on how to help ease%202019%20(COVID- over the Chinese flu (COVID-19) pan- gave an update about her condition on In- Chamberlain (13), control, if not stop, this epic pandemic. 19)%20in%20the%20U.S.%20%7C demic. So, due to all amateur baseball stagram. In the post, Towns said, among (20) and (36). Neal But, the U.S. horse racing industry has %20CDC&wn=cdcMaps&wf=/Tem- players having their 2020 season cut short, other things, “This disease is real. This was inducted into the North Carolina not, with many U.S. tracks still holding platePackage/contrib/widg- the prospective talent pool for the 2020 disease needs not to be taken lightly. Sports Hall of Fame the same yr. He races, although without fans in the stands. ets/cdcMaps/build/&wid=cdcMaps1 MLB draft is shallow. Therefore, MLB and Please protect your families, your loved was also granted the Harlem Globetrot- Stay tuned, to know when all U.S. horse &mMode=widget&mPage=&mChan the MLBPA have struck an unprecedented ones, your friends, yourself.” Towns’ ters’ prestigious “Legends” ring, which is racing tracks are closed, as they should be, nel=&class=mb- deal in which MLB Commissioner Rob father (Karl-Anthony Towns, Sr.) was presented to those who make major hu- due to the Chinese flu. 3&host=www.cdc.gov&theme=them Manfred has the discretion to shorten the also hospitalized due to the virus, before manitarian contributions and work for Here is a link, showing the current sum of e-cyan&configUrl=/corona- 2020 draft to as few as five rounds. being sent home to self-quarantine. the organization. Chinese flu cases in the U.S. and its territories: virus/2019-ncov/map-cases-us.json. SPORTOON Encore TV Pics For This Weekend (Unless Noted Otherwise, All Times Are Eastern PM) PHOTO OF THE WEEK By Marty Bucella Courtesy of Lincoln Univ. (PA) Athletics SELFLESS – Pic- SPORT tured is Deaquan Williams, a junior W. BSKBALL (2017) BASEBALL (1989) FOOTBALL (2011) M. BSKBALL (1997) FOOTBALL (2014) BASEBALL (1981) at Lincoln Univer- sity (PA). He and DATE FRIDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY MONDAY APRIL 3 APRIL 4 APRIL 4 APRIL 5 APRIL 5 APRIL 6 three others (juniors TIME 8:00 6:00 10:00 5:00 7:00 8:00 Markus Stevenson and NETWORK ESPNU ESPN CLASSIC NBCSN ESPNU NBCSN ESPN CLASSIC Jordan Camper and incoming freshman Nasir Lett), who play for the HBCU men’s basketball team, volunteered their time on Sun- UCONN ATHLETICS SAINTS LONG BEACH ST. COWBOYS YANKEES day, March 29, as did members of the OPPONENTS vs. @ @ @ @ @ coaching staff (interim head coach Gene Lett Jr. and assistant coach Allen Pritchett) and team manager Jahmir Ennett-Reel, to work at a food bank warehouse serving senior citizens affected by the Chinese flu MISSISSIPPI ST. GIANTS PACKERS CREIGHTON GIANTS DODGERS (COVID-19) in Philadelphia, PA.