Brazile: But can the dude play?

My dad was an avid sports fan and a great athlete in his day. We used to watch basketball and football games together, and I know some of his proudest moments as a father were when I wore my sports uniforms in high school and college.

He was a man's man – a hard drinking, foul-mouthed veteran of the Korean War who came on to every voluptuous nurse who crossed his path. He passed away about this time last year.

I think about him often, and more during March Madness. I thought about him as I read about Jason Collins coming out as the first openly gay player in NBA history. I wondered, "If my dad were reading this, what would he say?"

Grizz poised for Game 5 after acing Clippers

The Grizzlies – having held serve at the FedExForum – will square off against the Clippers in Los Angeles on Tuesday before returning to Memphis for a critical Game 6.

The Memphis-LA duel in the NBA Playoffs first-round is even at two apiece after the Grizzlies aced the Clippers in games last Thursday and Saturday in Memphis' "Grind House." The Clippers took the first two games in Los Angeles, including a buzzer-beater in the second game.

The kind of defense that Memphis was known for in the regular season was on display in both games in Memphis. On Saturday, Los Angeles was held to 83 points in a 104-83 smackdown and averaged 82.5 points in the two games in Memphis. At the Staples Center in L.A., the Clippers averaged 102.5 points in the two games.

‘The murder, the ghost and the scholarship’

Johnathan Burroughs-Cook – a standout basketball player for Ridgeway High School – speaks about the murder of his assistant basketball coach (Jimmy McClain), the disappearance of his teammate (McKenzie Sewell), the married adult who posed as a teenager and enrolled to play on the team, and an end-of-season "blessing."

This is for real life and not something birthed from the mind of a Hollywood screenwriter, so hold on. We have to begin this somewhere, so let's start with the murder.

"Our coach, Wes Henning, came into the locker room and broke the news to the entire team about coach (Jimmy McClain), that he had been murdered at his home (February 22). We knew something was up because coach McClain hadn't been to school in a few days," said Johnathan Burroughs-Cook, Ridgeway High School's star point guard.

Marc Gasol’s ‘D’ secures Defensive Player of the Year

In the NBA, good defense is team defense, with each individual committed to doing his part. Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol knows that and he demonstrated it consistently throughout the 2012-13 season.

On Wednesday, Gasol was rewarded for doing his part, snaring the 2012-13 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. In the history of the Grizzlies' franchise, he is the first to be so honored.

Proof that Gasol "gets it" about good defense came as he accepted the award.
"On behalf of my teammates and our coaching staff, I am grateful to be named the Defensive Player of the Year," Gasol said. "We had a great season, especially on the defensive end, and that is due to the hard work of everyone involved."

After all that Jazz, Grizz ready for playoffs

The goal for the Memphis Grizzlies going into their final game of the regular season Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz was the same as it was for their first – to secure the win.

The hope after the game was to watch the Los Angeles Clippers lose to the Sacramento Kings. A loss would allow Memphis to snatch home-court advantage in Round 1 of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs.

So much for hope.

Will the Boston bombing affect London’s marathon?

I'm in France at the moment watching the horrible events in Boston and their effect on London. Brits who were there are returning to the U.K. with terrible tales to tell, some still in shock. It's the same in France. The Boston marathon is a huge international event that many nations see as their own, so what happened Monday is personal for many people in Europe.

And yet, the usual stuff in France, for example, continues. Monday in Paris, it was revealed in court that black and North African-origin railroad employees were banned last month from handling Israeli President Shimon Peres' bags because he might think that they were Muslims.

"No Muslims near Peres," the court heard that one train official said. If this happened, it's illegal. But you have to prove it happened. That's why the French railway has been taken to court.

Louisville beats Michigan in epic game to clinch NCAA title

The Louisville Cardinals defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 82-76, to win the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship Monday night in Atlanta.

The showdown was one for the ages, with a dazzling array of airborne theatrics, jaw-dropping dunks and 3-pointers from well behind the line.

The Cardinals surged from a double-digit deficit in the first half to lead during much of the second half and finally clinch the victory.

Serena Williams ‘chills out’ on way to history

Serena Williams (Photo: Mike Ehrman/GettyImages via CNN)

(CNN) – Defending champion Serena Williams edged towards another milestone with
the 49th WTA Tour title of her career on Sunday, coming from behind to beat Jelena
Jankovic in the final of the Family Circle Cup in South Carolina.

The world No. 1, who is seeking to become only the 10th woman to have reached a half-
century, triumphed for the third time on the green clay at Charleston as she won 12 of the
last 14 games.

The American, who had a similar run in vanquishing c to claim a record
sixth Miami title last weekend, posted a 3-6 6-0 6-2 victory in just under two hours.

Mike Tyson enters ring with top senators

The fight to pardon the late boxer Jack Johnson has a new man in its corner – Mike Tyson.

by CNN

Mike Tyson is putting his weight behind the effort to pardon late boxer Jack Johnson.

His heavyweight political punch, that is.

The boxer is rubbing shoulders with influential U.S. senators in the effort to pardon Johnson, the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion whose record was marred by his 1913 conviction for transporting a woman across a state line for “immoral” purposes. The woman was white; Johnson was black. They later married.

Bluff City Reign makes ABA’s elite eight round

Pictured (l-r) Leroy Watson Jr., Sidney Adkins, Marvin Grandberry, William Bedford, Deon Lawson, Winston Banks and Benjamin Richardson. (Photo: George Tillman Jr.)

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

The American Basketball Association (ABA) is alive and well, with over 90 teams scattered throughout North America. It is only logical that one of the original ABA cities, Memphis, should have a franchise.

The Bluff City Reign, representing Memphis, are in the 2013 ABA playoffs and looking to take full advantage of the opportunity. The Reign went 26-6 during the 2011-’12 campaign, but lost in the first round of the postseason to the Chicago Fire.

Conley paces Grizz to win No. 50 against San Antonio

Fifty was the number of the night and not because it is worn by Memphis All-Star Zach Randolph. Fifty marks the number of wins the Grizzlies now have this season after defeating the team that holds the number one spot in the Western Conference.

In an April Fools Day game at FedExForum on Monday, all jokes were put aside for a seriously-played basketball game. One of the most-respected coaches in the league, Gregg Popovich, was in town, along with a battle-tested San Antonio team that played without key players Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard.

First NBA player with MS takes the court

Chris Wright was playing professional basketball in Turkey last year, working toward achieving his lifelong dream of playing in the NBA, when something strange happened at the end of practice.

"I'm running sprints, just normal sprints, and I run and touch the baseline, go back and my foot gives out," said Wright, now 23.

"I just thought I slipped or something like that. But I noticed my foot started getting numb and it just got progressively worse."