Marilynne Robinson

Bottom of the ninth. Two outs, nobody on. Lucas Giles, senior superstar at Richmond High School, peered into his catcher and took the sign to throw his dominating two strike curveball, buried in the dirt. The opposing batter took a big hack but came up three feet short. The Lions piled out of the dugout and rushed to the mound to celebrate a feat they hadn’t accomplished in nearly two decades, winning the New York state championship. Growing up in the Queens, Lucas was born into a life of…

A lot of people who follow sports know about the Negro Leagues in baseball. Jackie Robinson played there before breaking baseball’s color barrier in the 1940s. But most people don’t know about the Black Fives. Beginning in 1904, this was the basketball league for only African-Americans. A man named Claude Johnson decided to dedicate an exhibit to the Black Fives. “There are ‘dozens and dozens’ of all-black teams that played basketball before 1950 — and that their legacy reflects the changing…

FLORENCE— Do you smell it? That smell. A kind of smelly smell. The smelly smell that smells... smelly. As you surely know, that smell is the legendary Samuel “Stinky” Smith, who found his way to our school and didn’t even need to compete for a place in our hearts. Some may have always wondered where this true hero came from, which is reasonable because a man like this doesn’t come very often in life. Fortunately, through working with him in recent work with the Florence Chronicle, we have…

Joe Maddon Some people heard of the Cubs winning the World Series but didn’t know much about them, how they made it to the Word Series point, and who taught them. Joe Maddon is the whole reason the Cubs won. He is a special manager with a special talent, finding new ways.(Joe Maddon-Overview, 2016) He lets his team play freely and is not a “crackdown” type of manager. Joe Maddon created a World Series winning baseball team, applied his past knowledge to spur his team to conquer their flaws, and…

From a young age people are raised with the ideals and values that represent the “American Dream”. Happiness and well-being do not define success; but shiny foreign cars, large houses, and the amount of money in the bank. To meet these standards that society sets, people find themselves trying show their success through material possessions and the façade that they present to others. Along the way people forget to be happy and take care of themselves, many finding themselves working themselves…

Walter Jerry Payton was born July 25, 1954, to Peter and Alyne Payton in Columbia, Mississippi. Growing up, Walter did not play football. “Payton took an interest in music and learned to play the drums. He joined the school band in high school, and he sang and played with various rhythm and blues groups in his spare time. During his freshman year of high school he participated in only one sport, track and field.” (Life of Walter Payton) Walter first started football his junior year of high…

respect me as a human being” this is a quote Jackie Robinson once said. Jackie Robinson is one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He is the first African American baseball player of the 20th century. He had many problems and troubles, but that did not affect Jackie at all. He would would think of the negatives of life, only the positives. He help show that it is not about the color of our skin, it is heart that makes as special. Jackie Robinson changed the world by breaking Baseball’s…

Jackie Robinson reminds us how far we’ve progressed in the world of sports. Given the frequency with which we see African-American superstars like NBA player LeBron James or NFLer Adrian Peterson light up the sports highlight reels, it's easy to forget that they wouldn't have been given the same opportunities a lifetime ago without Robinson, even though Jackie was not the first african american on a professional team. Who do you think was the very first african american to play on a professional…

“There are many actions and individuals who have made a substantial impression on the game of baseball. Together, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey are the most significant. Branch Rickey, the orchestrator of Organized Baseball's desegregation, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers believed that integration in Major League Baseball would be great for America. Branch Rickey put his knowledge into motion by seeking black baseball players looking for the perfect candidate to break…

ago. Jackie Robinson had one of the greatest influences in the world of baseball by opening rights for baseball and breaking down the color barrier. So keep reading this because it’s a catch! The world of baseball has been made what it is today because of Jackie Robinson gaining rights for baseball, becoming the first black person in the major league baseball, and for breaking down the color barrier. Jackie Robinson played a major role in gaining rights for baseball. First, Robinson finally had…