The Sporting Life

By Maurice Berry

            First of all, I want to welcome everyone back and I hope everyone has a productive semester. Being that it is Black History Month, I want to give respect to some of the African-American athletes and coaches who have paved the way for numerous blacks in sports. People like Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson, Doug Williams, Althea Gibson, and Tony Dungy just to name a few.

             Growing up I heard many stories about these people and I had the chance to watch Coach Dungy become the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl. That affected me the most because I have been coaching youth football for the past five years. I hope to be an assistant or head coach in the NFL one day. The people that I have named gave us the belief --- from a sports and from an outside sports perspective --- that anything is possible with faith and hard work.

            It's that time again, the CIAA Basketball Tournament is coming up and I love our chances for both the men's and women's side. Both our men's and women's teams are ranked in the NCAA Atlantic Region, the men are ranked ninth and the women are ranked fourth. The men are currently (12 -7, 10-5 in CIAA) and the women are (12-5, 12-3 in CIAA). Both head coaches have done a great job with their squads and the present and future looks very bright for both programs. The men are led by Duke Crews (Hampton, VA, Bethel, Univ. of Tennessee) who had 23 points and 10 rebounds in a recent win over Virginia State University. Crews is averaging 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game for the men's team. The women are led by Teaunsha Robinson and Bianca Lee who average 12.8 and 11.0 points per game respectfully. There are still some games to go and the race is getting tighter game by game, but one thing I know for sure is that both our men's and women's teams will be a tough come tournament time.

            The men and women came close to winning the tournament last year, with the men losing in the semifinals and the women losing in the finals. I feel that both can make it to the finals because both teams have great coaching, both play great defense and both team have great leaders. The men are a great road team, 8-4 away and the women are a great home team, 7-0 at home this season. Both have a shot at making the Division II Tournament. It will take a team effort and the support of the bowie state family.

            After the CIAA, we have more things to look forward to like the softball team going for its fourth straight conference title. The Bulldogs football team was a few plays away from winning a CIAA championship and I know they are ready to get back to work this spring. The track team has been in the championship race year after year.  It's an exciting time in athletics at Bowie State University. The best is yet to come.