By BHN - Alexandria Marie
In this episode, BHN sports commentator, Alexandria Marie, gives an update on WNBA Player Brittney Griner's release from the Russian prison, Coach Deion Sanders going for the Colorado football job, journalist athlete chronicles a police racial profiling incident, and futbol" (soccer) is the number one sport in the world.
The News Stories
Source: Russia Frees WNBA Player Brittney Griner (Texas Metro News)
A prisoner swap was conducted between the US and Russia. The U.S. released Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout and Russia Finally released the WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Griner is back home in Texas and being treated at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s reintegration facility to ensure she is well before being officially reunited with her family.
Griner is reported to be in good health and spirits. At a recent press conference Griner told reporters “Today my family is whole again”. Such touching words. It is such a blessing to for Griner and her family that she made it back to the US safe and she will be able to spend the holidays with her family. Many WNBA fans, including myself, are happy to hear that Griner is back in the US. We can only hope she has a smooth recovery.
Source: Sanders criticized for doing what white coaches do all the time (Minnesota Spokesman Recorder)
Once it became public that Deion Sanders was being courted for the Colorado football job, social media and pundits quickly got their criticism dandruff up. As expected, after he was hired by CU on Dec. 4 the criticism went bonkers.
Sanders, the football Hall of Famer, has been called about everything but a child of God. One adjective used against him was that he “pimped” Jackson State, the school he coached for three seasons.
However, there is a different perspective that some may consider before discounting Sanders.
Source: HBCU journalist, athlete wins best advocate of 2022 (Black Wall Street Times)
As reported in the Black Wall Street Times, this past season, Sydney Anderson was the winner of the Best Advocate of 2022 award, presented by USA lacrosse magazine. This award is given to athletes who are impactful to others and want to make a change both on and off the field.
Anderson was able to show the world just why she received this award when her avocation skills for change were put into play.
While heading home from a Florida game on the bus, Anderson and her lacrosse team were stopped in Liberty County, Georgia, where they were searched by the sheriffs. This was a traumatizing event for the athletes who were accused of having weed by the sheriffs.
Feature Story:
BHN Live: with Marie - World Cup 2022 is revealing the African impact on European football leagues
Argentina and France competed in the championship game and such a battle it was! France was the most recent world cup champion, bringing the title home in 2018. The France team consists of 25 amazing players, with 13 of them having African descent from at least 9 different African countries. Fifty percent of the team is from an African country and players whose origins are from French country range between 20-30%.
Some of these players may have had the opportunity to play for their home countries, but declined and decided to play for a better or more popular team. Playing for a popular team increases the chances of making it into prestigious tournaments, winning games, and being recognized off the field. For many athletes playing for teams who have a greater fan base can lead to better opportunities. Players from more known teams are often times get better endorsement deals that pay them a great of amount of money. Many professional soccer teams around the world consist of African players who choose not to play for an African country in order to increase the odds of a successful soccer career.
These African athletes may be representing another country on their jersey as they play the game they love; however, these African athletes are proud of where they come from, and are always indirectly representing their country.
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