' Black Magic ' sets ESPN ratings record
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Last week's first part of
ESPN's critically acclaimed
Black Magic, which aired
commercial free in two parts
March 16 and 17, was
watched by an average of
1,211,000 households (based
on a 1.3 rating), making it
ESPN's most-watched docu->
mentary.
The film, directed by Dan
Klores, tells the story of the
injustice which characterized
the Civil Rights Movement in
America, as told through the
lives of basketball players and
coaches who attended and
worked at Historically Black
Colleges and Universities
(HBCU).
"With the national dis
course swirling around the
topic of race, the success of
Black Magic speaks to the
desire of sports fans for con
tent that evplores new voices
on the American sports story,"
said Keith Clinkscales, senior
vice president, ESPN content
development and enterprises.
"We thank Mr. Klores for
delivering such a high quality
and thought-provoking film,
as we endeavor to deliver
more from ESPN Films in the
coming months."
Black Magic broke the
record set in March 2006 by
Through the Fire (1,140,000
homes, based on a 1.3 rating)
and averaged 1,546,000 view
ers (P2+). The second part of
Black Magic also performed
very well, with an average of
948,000 homes (1,182,000
viewers), based on a 1.0 rat
ing.
BLACWIAGIC
Jeptolo dominates field, wins
3000m steeplechase at Wake
CHRONICLE STAFF RHPORT
The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams showed the hometown crowd just what the team was made of
with some stellar performances on day one of the 2008 Wake Forest Open, last Friday. The Lady Rams
had a number of top finishes at the event, highlighted by WSSU senior Irene Jeptolo, who took her third
straight first place tirmn in the women s juoom steeple
chase.
Jeptolo, a senior from Kapsabet, Kenya ran her best
time of the season in the event with a time of 11:18.80. With
the win. she remains undefeated in the event this season.
Not to be outdone. WSSU junior sprinter Wykeita Barnett
continued her strong of impressive performances, placing
seventh overall in the preliminaries of the women's lOOm
dash and qualifying for the finals of the event. With a time
of 12.06, she left 51 runners in her wake, including sprint
ers from UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina A&T, Georgia
Tech, Morgan State, Hampton, and Appalachian. Barnett
had a great day with a pair of fantastic finishes as well as a
great performance with the women's 4x100m relay team.
Barnett got the day started with a women's 100m dash
finals. Barnett finished fourth in the finals in a time of
12.1 1 . The fourth place finish was the best finish of the sea
son for the Eden native. She also had a great finish in the
women's 200m dash, placing 22nd in the event in a time of
25.29. I
WSSU sophomore Kayla Long had the second best
WSSU finish in the event placing 31st in a time of 25.53.
The WSSU freshman duo of Chantelle Bethea and Allegra
Seegars aldb had some strong finishes in the event. Bethea
finished 32nd in a time of 25.56 while Seegars placed 35th
in a time of 25.75.
The Lady Rams 4x 100m relay team also had a great fin
ish op the day with a ninth place finish in a time of
48.17.The WSSU men closed out the meet with some top notch performances that gave the WSSU fans
an up close look at the team's progress and potential.
WSSU junior sprinter Richard Marcellus, Gerrod Sidbury, Jordan Holley ran good races for the
Rams. Rams sophomore James Legins.III was also strong in the event, finishing 30th in a time of 59.41.
The Rams will return to action this weekend when the team takes part Adidas Invitational in Raleigh,
which is hosted by North Carolina State.
File photo
WSSU senior Irene Jeptolo continues
to run well.
Wilkes
from page ST
right now.
"My mom lives there,"
Wilkes said. "... and she was
kind of laid off her job. I real
ly want to go down there and
help her out too. I want to be
there for my mom. That
played a part in me wanting to
work in Georgia too."
He's going to have his
work cut out for him at his
new school. Shiloh hasn't
exactly enjoyed the same type
of success as Carver. The
school hasn't even won five
games in two years.
"They're not a winning
program yet," Wilkes said.
"They've had three different
coaches in six years. But 1 feel
like it's a school with a lot of
potential. It had some of the
best facilities I've seen in
high school. They have a
10,000-seat stadium, with a
weight room that's as good as
Wake Forest. The size of the
kids let me know they have
some potential too. We're
going to see what we can do."
Wilkes will get to hire his
own staff in Gwinnett County
too.
"It's a different set up than
it is in North Carolina,"
Wilkes said. "You bring in
your coaches and handle the
whole program from a finan
cial standpoint to what you do
on the field. It's going to be
nice. But I'm still going to
miss it around here. I'm going
to miss kids coming back to
talk to me. I'm definitely
going to miss that. Like I said,
you can't get over the rela
tionships I've established
here."
No time table has been set
for the hiring of a new coach
at Carver. Montague said she
expects to receive a lot of
applications.
"We still have the student
athletes," Montague said. "We
just have to find someone that
can keep the program on the
level it has been. We don't
have a timeline yet. But we
hope to hire someone by the
end of May, or the first of
June. I'm sure we'll get a lot
of calls from all over. We're
Roing to post the job soon."
Photo by Charlie Pfaff
Wilkes seems excited to start at new program in Georgia.
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Hill
from page Bl
game to lose. The four
hour, two-part television show
earned black basketball from
the playgrounds, high schools,
colleges and on to its final desti
nation ? the NBA. This
brought full circle the hopes and
dreams of most black athletes, a
life in the fast lane of profes
sional sports. For some it was
their only way out.
The show's title, "Black
Magic" was the footprints in the
sand of the man who revolution
ized offensive guard play in bas
ketball ? Earl Monroe. He is
also a part-time magician. I
found the show to be enlighten
ing and educational even though
I lived most of it. I was a stu
dent, -athlete that played football
and basketball for the legendary
Clarence "Bighouse" Gaines at
Winston-Salem State. During
my era (5^63) I was the only
athlete under 6-5 he permitted
to play two sports. Bighouse
knew 1 could do two things
well, catch a football and score
on a basketball court. But he
made it clear that he had only
one basketball and it belonged
to Cleo Hill. Like it or not I had
to wait my turn.
The enlightening stories for
me started with Perry Wallace,
athletic director at American
University and the first black to
play at Vanderbilt University.
Also, the perseverance of NBA
player Bob "Butter Bean" Love,
and the hidden story that Ben
Jobes was one of the greatest
college basketball coaches of all
time. Coach Jobes' accomplish
ments and basketball success
stayed under the radar of major
media for decades. ESPN's
Black Magic made it perfectly
clear he could have easily been
a success on any level, but was
denied to excel because he was
black.
? The real story of the NBA
lynching of Cleo Hill by the St.
Louis Hawks was long overdue.
In Black Magic there was men
tion of Cleo being the greatest
player of his era. He could have
been the greatest player of any
era where he was allowed to
play. Cleo had every shot imag
inable.
Bell also wrote about coach
Gaines, who he called Big
Daddy; coach John McLendon
(who really invented Four
Corners), Sam Jones and sever
rue pnotii
Earl "Black Jesus" Monroe dunks.
al other pioneers.
"A re-done BLACK
MAGIC on DVD should be in
every middle and high school
library and every Blockbuster
Video Store in America," Bell
said. "With a financial support
ing cast like Spike Lee, Chris
Paul, Denzel Washington,
Samuel Jackson and others,
where is the beef? I've e-mailed
Earl Monroe, James Brown,
Michael Wilbon, Dave
Aldridge, Elmer Smith, Jarrett
Bell, Butch Mc Adams, Andrew
Dyer, Howie Evans, Anthony
Hill, Courtland Milloy, Coby
King ? among others, my
thoughts and concerns. Our
children need to be made aware
that they are decendants of king
and queens, and not hoodlums
and thugs. Earl Monroe and
company need to go back and
get the stories of Pop Gates,
Curley Neal, Sam Jones,
Spencer Haywood and more.
We must stop settling for sec
ond-best. Racism is alive and
well in American media. If you
think not keep watching the run
for the White House."
Harold Bell is a former stu
dent-athlete at Winston-Salem
State and a radio and television
sports talk show pioneer /
hkbell@comcast.net.
Wilkes will be missed
Most of you know that I
have a real good relationship
with coach Keith Wilkes. For
some reason he and I simply
clicked when I first moved here
over five years ago. He's easily
my favorite coach around here.
It's nothing for me to drive
to Carver real quick and get the
weight room keys from Wilkes
to get it on for a minute. We're
cool like that. I consider him a
friend. He's even invited me to
several CIAA cookouts in
Charlotte. So, I was extremely
sad to hear he was leaving last
week. It felt more like a tamily
member moving away than a
coach moving on. Underneath
the sadness, I am happy for him.
He's getting a chance to move
closer to his mother and make a
lot more money along the way.
That's always a plus.
I'm simply wondering
where this will leave Carver
athletics. Everyone knows that's
a football school. On top of that,
Wilkes was always the coach
you could say was going to get
guys in college. Not saying he's
the only one. But he was defi
nitely at the top.
"I'm sure they will bring in
a good coach," said Wilkes. "I
am sure the next coach will do a
good job. It was just time for me
to move on. It was sad. It's
probably the hardest move I've
had to make."
Just know that you'll be
missed Big Daddy. I'm going to
keep your number, and hit you
up when I'm in your neck of the
woods. Good luck to you
homie.
Coker could be named VUU
coach
Winston native Willard
Coker is rumored to be the next
head basketball coach at
Virginia Union.
1 can't get anyone to confirm
that for me yet. But it's definite
ly looking as if it may be true.
Hall of fame coach Dave
Robbins is contemplating retire
ment. I actually heard it was a
done deal. But no one from the
university has issued anything
official yet. So, I am just here
waiting. Well, I hope Coker gets
the job. And, I'm {poking for
ward to hearing the final news.
Anthony Hill is the sports
editor for The Chronicle. He
can be reached at 722-8624
(ext. Ill) or
ahill@wschronicle.com.
V
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