Coming Friday/April 4th on PBS: Morgan (State) Lacrosse Story

Photo: Morgan State University's 1975 Lacrosse Team -'Ten Bears'

INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY FOR PBS: 'THE MORGAN LACROSSE STORY'

View Movie Trailer for The Morgan Lacrosse Story: Click on Blog Title Above.

The Morgan Lacrosse Story, is slated to air nationally on PBS April 4th at 10 pm. The film chronicles the rise of the country’s first and only college lacrosse team at a historically black university--Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. .....Produced by Luke David.

The Morgan Lacrosse Story will begin airing on public television (PBS) on April 4th at 10:00 PM. Contact your local PBS station to find out when it will be aired locally.

This Documentary Brings Alive the Legacy of the First and Only College Lacrosse Team at a Historically Black Institution in the 1970's.

WASHINGTON, DC - College lacrosse was at the center of a significant storm in the early 1970's, a riveting story that is coming into full view for the first time on television with The Morgan Lacrosse Story, a new documentary film for PBS. An accounting of the first and only college lacrosse team at a prestigious and historically black institution, Baltimore's Morgan State University.

When a young white administrator reluctantly accepted the position of head lacrosse coach at Baltimore’s Morgan State University, a six-year journey culminating in a shocking upset began. The Bears’ solidarity and determination to succeed changed the sport of lacrosse forever, even as they played in a racially charged period in our nation’s history — the early 1970s.

An emotionally-charged film that deals with issues of race and class during the Civil Rights Era, The Morgan Lacrosse Story uses the official team sport of Maryland as a vehicle to tackle complicated issues, and to honor the legacy of a groundbreaking team who would eventually pull off one of the greatest upsets in intercollegiate sports history.

By introducing viewers to the courageous individuals who made this important part of history and allowing them to tell their stories directly, this highly dynamic one hour documentary film connects the audience to the real emotions of their experience.

The Morgan Lacrosse Story was deeply inspired by the book Ten Bears, co-written by Chip Silverman, the team's coach, and Miles Harrison Jr.

"It's rare to get the chance to work on something that you want to be a part of, a legacy worth preserving," David says. "Once I became aware of this story, there was no way I was going to let it go, or leave it in someone else's hands.

"With the archival resources that Chip had available, we knew we had to get things moving right away while everything was still intact. The real hook came once I started meeting the players and I realized how compelling they were as individual characters, let alone the civil rights backdrop of what they accomplished."

The Morgan Lacrosse Story is set in Baltimore, but the themes contained within quickly reveal themselves to be universal. The events of the team's formation and rise to prominence are re-told by the players themselves, and examined in historical context by thoughtful and informed narration by Wendell Pierce from HBO's "The Wire".

In addition, hundreds of photographs from the collections of Silverman and his players have been gathered for the film, as well as newspaper clippings from almost every game they played.

Through the prism of a sport infused with the spirituality of its Native American roots, the Morgan Lacrosse Story shows how this determined group harnessed the power of the game to change the college landscape forever.

"This is a positive story," Luke David concludes. "So many stories about race relations have a sour ending or feel hopeless, but here there's a resolution and a spiritual element. I hope people take the time to watch it, absorb the material and realize that things aren't always as inclusive as we think they are, but with courage things can be different and better."

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I expect this documentary to be as good as "Black Magic" was last month and it's definitely worth your time to watch and learn about the rich sports history of HBCUs during this era.

-beepbeep McDonald

MEAC's Suber, Oakley and Butler invited to WNBA Pre-Draft Camp

Photo: CSU's Rashida Suber, 5-8 shooting guard, Reading H.S./Reading, PA.

BALTIMORE, MD -- Coppin State seniors Rashida Suber and Shalamar Oakley have each been invited to the Women's National Basketball Association pre-draft camp held at the University of Tampa April 4-5.

The pre-draft camp will be held at the Bob Martinez Center located on the campus of the University of Tampa and will give WNBA coaches and general managers an opportunity to evaluate the skills of the approximately 40 prospects that will be attending the camp.

The camp will consist of on-court sessions, games and team interviews conducted by the head coach and general manager.

Suber led the Eagles averaging 17.9 points per game, while Oakley was second on the team averaging 17.5 per contest.

Photo: CSU's Shalamar Oakley, 5-6 point guard, Woodrow Wilson H.S./Camden, N.J.

Oakley was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2007-08 as well as earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the conference tournament.

Suber earned the conference's player of the year honor in 2006-07 and was a three-time first team All-MEAC selection.

Oakley, Suber and Hampton University's Rachel Butler are both profiled in the wnba.com draft section of the website.

Photo: Hampton University's senior guard Rachael Butler, Lincoln High School, Dallas, Texas.

Hampton University's Lady Pirate 5-8 shooting guard Rachael Butler is the only other MEAC player profiled on the WNBA pre-draft website. Butler was: Second Team All-MEAC selection for the third consecutive year (2007, 2006, 2005)...Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year (2005). Butler also averaged 13.3 ppg., 4.8 rpg., and 1.5 apg., and played in 115 games in her stellar four year career for the Lady Pirates.

The WNBA draft will be held on April 9 at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla., and will be televised live beginning at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

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AAMU Jennings alternately praised, criticized during tenure

Change welcome in beginning, but soon led to friction.

Dr. Robert Jennings was never trustees' first pick to become the 10th permanent president of Alabama A&M University.

They voted 5-4 to offer him the job on Dec. 16, 2005, after their unanimous first choice, Dr. Julian Earls, then director of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, had turned them down in October.

Jennings, now 57, was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Future Focus 2020, an academic think tank and research training center in the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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AAMU Jennings fired for financial improperiety

Grambling State fires both head basketball coaches

By GSU Sports Information

GRAMBLING, La. – The Grambling State University Department of Athletics has announced that head men’s basketball coach Larry Wright and head women’s coach David “Rusty” Ponton will not be retained for the 2008-09 season.

"I applaud the dedication both head coaches have put into their programs during their tenure at Grambling," stated Grambling State Director of Athletics Troy Mathieu. "However, as we look to take our basketball programs to a higher level of competitiveness, a change in leadership was necessary.” ,

The university will begin the process of conducting a comprehensive search to fill both positions. While the search is taking place, Senior Woman Administrator and Lady Tiger assistant coach Sharon Perkins and men’s assistant coach Kenny Sykes will serve as interim coaches for their respective programs.

B-CU speedsters on Thunderbirds

DAYTONA BEACH -- Lamont Finnie and Louis Brown first met on the streets -- the streets of Bethune-Cookman University.

The two Daytona Beach Thunderbirds speedsters shared a common bond there.

"Me and Louis met back at Bethune, we were racing on the street with each other. We'd race and everything on the strip on foot," said Finnie, whose Thunderbirds play their Arena Football League2 home opener Sunday vs. Wilkes-Barre. "It was 60 yards. Everybody comes out. They say, 'You're fast,' well, then they text you and tell you to come out to race. If somebody calls you out, you go race."

Apparently, foot-racing is an age-old tradition among the football players and students at B-CU.

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This must be a southern thing--running in the streets for no other purpose than someone called you out...

Relief pitcher Ross stymies Southern in LSU Tigers’ 8-3 win

Photo: (L) LSU Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri; and (R) SU Jaguars Coach Roger Candor.

What was shaping up as a thriller between crosstown rivals — with Southern’s Human Jukebox grooving a cozy full house and seven runs already on the scoreboard — got quelled quickly when LSU coach Paul Mainieri made the unusual move of going to the bullpen in the second inning.

Freshman Austin Ross answered the extremely early call.

Ross struck out eight and walked one, scattering four hits, in getting his first collegiate win and making his longest appearance as LSU won 8-3 Tuesday night, in front of 660 fans, the band and onlookers from the Harding Blvd. overpass, at Lee-Hines Field.

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Southern University baseball is 2-43 all-time against LSU.

Alcorn State basketball coach West fired

Photo: Alcorn State's head men's basketball coach Samuel West (gray suit) ends 12 year coaching career with the Braves. West is a native of Natchez, MS and a 1977 graduate of Texas Southern University.


Alcorn State men’s basketball coach Samuel West was fired Tuesday after five seasons on the job, a school official confirmed.

West’s removal coincides with the arrival of new athletic director Darren Hamilton, who started Tuesday, replacing interim AD Wiley Jones. Alcorn State officials would not comment further but said a news release with more details would be issued on Wednesday.

West, 52, won 44 games and lost 103 in his five seasons as the Braves coach. The former Northwest Rankin High School boys coach was an assistant at Alcorn for seven years under legendary coach Davey Whitney before being named head coach in April of 2003.

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