SPORTS 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW
Sharon Brummell, First Woman to Win National Bowling Championship
University of Maryland-Eastern Shore coach Sharon Brummell became the first ever female coach to win the national bowling championship. Her team, the Lady Hawks defeated Arkansas State University 4-2 in the championships finals.
Black Woman Settles $225 Million Suit Against NASCAR
Mauricia Grant settled her $225 million racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit against NASCAR arising from her two years working for the stock car organization.
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Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon in Basketball Hall of Fame
NBA legends Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks) were elected to the 2008 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. |
Florida State University Player is Rhodes Scholar
Defensive player Myron Rolle, 22, became the first football player in the school’s history to become a Rhodes Scholar which allows him to study at Oxford University in London.
Paul Pierce, MVP
Paul Pierce celebrated with his MVP trophy after the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in six games to win the 2008 NBA championship. The Celtics (17 titles) and the Lakers (14 titles) have combined to win half of the NBA’s 62 championships.
Leader of Black Coaches Considers Legal Action
The executive director of an association of collegiate Black coaches is considering legal action against NCAA Division 1-A universities. Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches and Administrators Association, estimated that the number of college football coaches is now down to four Blacks among the 119 football bowl subdivision teams, or only 3.4 percent.
Tiger Woods’ ‘Greatest-Ever Championship’
Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open in a thrilling 91-hole, five-day championship. Limping and grimacing, Woods was in pain from, among other stresses, a ruptured ligament in the knee – and just eight weeks after surgery to remove cartilage. Woods won his 14th major championship, his “greatest-ever championship,” he said.
Carlos Manuel Santiago, 82, a star infielder in the Negro Leagues during the 1940s; he was among the former league players invited to attend a ceronial draft organized by Major League Baseball. After Jackie Robinson broke the racial barrier in 1947, more Blacks joined the majors, and the Negro Leagues faded.