Sports

It has been more than a decade since Art Chansky released “Blue Blood: Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops.” In it he traces the relationship between the two schools from 1954 through 2005, analyzing everything from the contentiousness between the coaches to the role ESPN played in hyping up the storyline.

Georgia Beasley was one of the most impressive athletes to come up through the Duke University women’s basketball program. When she graduated in 2001, she was part of the then-winningest senior class in its history, with 111 career victories. Beasley was named ACC Player of the Year in 2000 and 2001, and her performance led her to be drafted into the still-young WNBA. But Beasley always knew her remarkable sports career would not be a lifelong pursuit.

 This weekend football fans will watch the Los Angeles Rams take on the New England Patriots in the 2019 Super Bowl. While many are wondering when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will retire, one thing is certain: he will have plenty of options and protection.

In Lori Leachman’s family, football was life. Her father Lamar Leachman was a former player for the Calgary Stampeders and later a coach with the NFL, Canadian Football League, and now-defunct World Football League. He was a defensive line coach with the New York Giants when they won Super Bowl XXI in 1987. But later in his life, his family started to notice changes in his personality, including increased anger and forgetfulness.

Arthur Ashe is known best as a tennis champion who achieved many firsts, including becoming the first and only African-American man to win a singles title at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. But many do not know about his early years. Before he was acclaimed, Ashe was a small kid from Richmond getting soundly beat at the Algonquin Tennis Club in Durham’s Hayti District. The club sponsored annual tennis tournaments in the 1920s that would see the likes of Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. 

Morgan Wootten is one of the most successful coaches in high school basketball history. Those from the Washington metro area may remember him for the legendary success of his DeMatha Catholic High School basketball team. During his close to 50 year tenure, DeMatha won more than 1,200 games and never lost more than two in a row. One of the most historic moments of his career was the team’s unexpected win up against a powerhouse team led by a player we now know as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

After a temporary hiatus due to Hurricane Florence, a number of college sports teams across the state are back in action.

While some North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University student athletes had to stay in Greensboro during the storm and the immediate recovery, their minds were elsewhere.

The 21st FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia heads toward the final game on Sunday when France and Croatia will battle for the top spot. The tournament attracts millions of viewers from around the globe, with the last World Cup final between Germany and Argentina in 2014 drawing a record 1.01 billion viewers worldwide, according to FIFA.

Football has remained one of America’s favorite forms of entertainment for years. Even as its ratings fall, the National Football League is estimated to have made $14 billion in 2017 alone. But science is finally catching up to the sport, and it suggests the big hits that delight fans do not come without a price. 

When he first started playing football, Jason Brown saw it as a business decision. He wanted to get a scholarship to college so that he would not be a financial burden for his parents.

Each year the Valor Games come to the Triangle and give disabled veterans and those in the armed services the opportunity to compete in sports that help them build strength, confidence and tenacity.

College basketball is part of North Carolina’s lifeblood, and team allegiances are not taken lightly. Yet the head coach of North Carolina Central University’s men’s basketball team is deeply respected by both those who wear the Eagles jersey and those who compete against it.

When Mark Mehler and Charles Paikert first met to watch their favorite college basketball teams duke it out, they had no idea it would become a tradition. But year after year the two continued to meet at the same local bar, often times cheering for opposing teams. Journalism was their trade, but college hoops was their passion.

The Winter Olympics kick off this week in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but the headlines leading up to the international games are dominated by a doping scandal. The International Olympic Committee banned Russia’s team as punishment for systematic state-sponsored doping.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s accreditor is looking into recently disclosed statements made by the university to the NCAA.