Andscape Staff — Andscape

Andscape roundtable: ‘Absolutely gutted’ Talladega gymnasts fight to save program

Andscape Staff — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:01:22 +0000

A year ago, Talladega College became the second historically Black college and university to offer gymnastics, alongside Fisk University. However, college President Walter M. Kimbrough announced Monday the program would be shut down effective July 31 due to a lack of resources.

Good morning. Talladega Gymnastics needs you! As most of you are aware, Talladega College is trying to dismantle our gymnastics team. This is devastating to us, but WE ARE STILL FIGHTING to keep it. Click the link below to help. Thank you so much! https://t.co/3UDtalPtL1
— Kyrstin Johnson (@KjFlips05) July 14, 2024

In its inaugural year of competition, Talladega became the first HBCU program to win an NCAA-sanctioned meet, and freshman gymnast Kyrstin Johnson won the USA Gymnastics national championship in the vault.

Johnson and fellow Talladega freshmen gymnasts Alexa Chuy and Kiora Peart-Williams, who described the program’s end as “absolutely gutting,” and Derrin Moore, founder of Brown Girls Do Gymnastics, sat down with Andscape reporters Mia Berry and Ari Chambers. They discuss their fundraising efforts to try to save the program, their initial response to learning their program will be shut down and why Talladega has been special for them.

Andscape roundtable: U.S. women’s basketball Olympic roster takeaways

Andscape Staff — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:26:10 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne, senior HBCU writer Mia Berry, senior writer Sean Hurd, and Ari Chambers, a commentator for Andscape and ESPN, break down the USA Basketball women’s Olympic team roster for the 2024 Paris Games, including their biggest takeaways, projected starting fives, who’s on deck in case of injury, what went into selecting the 3×3 roster and where the current U.S. basketball talent pool ranks against past groups.

Here are the starting lineup predictions for the Summer Games:

Berry: Kelsey Plum, guard, Las Vegas Aces; Diana Taurasi, guard, Phoenix Mercury; Jackie Young, guard, Las Vegas Aces; Alyssa Thomas, forward, Connecticut Sun; A’ja Wilson, forward/center, Las Vegas Aces.

Chambers: Chelsea Gray, guard, Las Vegas Aces; Jewell Loyd, guard, Seattle Storm; Breanna Stewart, forward, New York Liberty; Wilson; Brittney Griner, center, Phoenix Mercury.

Hurd: Gray, Loyd, Stewart, Wilson, Griner.

Andscape roundtable: Grading Deion Sanders and Colorado’s offseason

Andscape Staff — Tue, 28 May 2024 17:48:05 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne, columnists Clinton Yates and William C. Rhoden and JJT Media Group president Jean-Jacques Taylor give their letter grades of the intriguing offseason of the Colorado Buffaloes and Deion Sanders.

Andscape roundtable: Scottie Scheffler arrested

Andscape Staff — Fri, 17 May 2024 16:39:33 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne and senior writers David Dennis Jr. and Martenzie Johnson discuss the questions and details about Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world, being arrested before the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday. The team talks about what the taking of sides will look like in online discussions, the privilege of white golfers and police, the significance of this happening in Louisville, where Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed in her apartment by police in 2020, and more.

Andscape roundtable: Reacting to Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy ‘reinstatement’

Andscape Staff — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 17:44:06 +0000

Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy is back where it belongs.

The Heisman Trust announced the formal “reinstatement” of the 2005 trophy Wednesday to Bush, who had to forfeit his Heisman Trophy in 2010 after an NCAA investigation found that he received what were then considered improper benefits during his tenure at USC from 2003 to 2005.

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne and senior writers Martenzie Johnson and David Dennis Jr. discuss the decision by the Heisman Trust, Bush’s legacy and what the decision could mean for the legacy of other players and programs punished by the NCAA in the past.

Andscape roundtable: O.J. Simpson’s death and place in culture

Andscape Staff — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 19:58:06 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne, writer-at-large William C. Rhoden, senior NFL writer Jason Reid and senior writer Martenzie Johnson talk about O.J. Simpson, who died on Wednesday at age 76. Simpson, a Heisman Trophy winning running back at USC and Pro Football Hall of Famer in the NFL, was acquitted of charges that he killed his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, but was later found liable in a civil suit.

The panel discusses the myriad ways Simpson came into their lives including a face-to-face meeting, watching him on the field, the media frenzy of the 1994-95 trial and how he became a part of pop culture in the last 30 years. The panel also talks about the importance of the 2016 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series “O.J.: Made in America” and how it contextualizes society before and during the trial, and Simpson’s acquittal.

Andscape roundtable: LSU-Iowa, Angel Reese’s future and South Carolina’s Final Four run

Andscape Staff — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 19:04:57 +0000

The women’s Final Four is set. LSU and Iowa provided a classic showdown, with superstar guard Caitlin Clark ending LSU’s season on Monday. LSU star forward Angel Reese was in the spotlight again for her play, her emotional comments during in a postgame news conference and her looming WNBA draft decision. The Final Four will include another SEC power, South Carolina, looking to make history with an unbeaten season.

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne and senior writers Jerry Bembry, Mia Berry, Sean Hurd and writer-at-large William C. Rhoden discussed the dramatic events leading to LSU’s exit from the NCAA tournament, South Carolina’s chances at the national championship, Reese’s future and more.

Andscape roundtable: Justin Fields, Russell Wilson and the intriguing Pittsburgh Steelers

Andscape Staff — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 23:40:31 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne, writer-at-large William C. Rhoden, senior NFL writer Jason Reid and senior writer Martenzie Johnson talk about the most interesting move in NFL trade/free agency season, as Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick. What are the Bears doing? What are the Steelers doing? What does the combination of Fields and quarterback Russell Wilson mean for the AFC North?

Andscape roundtable: Russell Wilson is a Pittsburgh Steeler. What’s next?

Andscape Staff — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:48:09 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne, writer-at-large William C. Rhoden and senior NFL writer Jason Reid talk about Russell Wilson signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the winners and losers in the deal and what it means for the other Black quarterbacks of note in the NFL and coming into the league via the draft, particularly Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns.

0:40: Initial thoughts on Wilson signing with Pittsburgh
7:09: The intrigue of the AFC North with Wilson moving to Pittsburgh
15:24: Where does Justin Fields land?

Andscape Roundtable: The case for Doug Williams in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Andscape Staff — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 18:13:14 +0000

Andscape senior editor Erik Horne talks with writer-at-large William C. Rhoden and senior NFL writer Jason Reid, who are in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII, about pioneering quarterback and Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams and why he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite not having the statistical profile of a traditional Hall of Fame quarterback.

Williams was the first Black quarterback to win Super Bowl MVP honors in 1988 when the then-Washington Redskins beat the Denver Broncos 42-10 in San Diego.

Check out the rest of Andscape’s Super Bowl LVIII coverage here: