Also More Stories, Religion and Classifieds November 8, 2018
Columnist
Umothy
Ramsey
Sports
Oakland is in
big trouble
This past off-season,
the Oakland Raiders
seemed to get the best
coach available in the
NFL by signing John
Gruden. Gruden, a Super
Bowl winning coach,
signed a 10-year $100 mil
lion contract with the
Raiders. After a loss to the
49ers on Thursday night,
the Raiders fell to 1-7 on
the year and the Raiders
team seems to be in total
disarray.
Coming into the year,
Gruden looked to be the
prized off-season coach
ing hire in the league. That
quickly changed when
there were whispers of a
riff between Gruden and
star linebacker, Khalil
Mack. Mack was looking
for a new contract, but
Gruden was not willing to
sign the All-Pro to the
contract he wanted.
Mack held out the
entire preseason, prompt
ing Gruden to trade Mack
to the Chicago Bears. That
move shocked the team
and the entire league for
that matter. Mack is
arguably the best defen
sive player in the league
and Gruden traded him
instead of paying him
what he was owed. That
was the start of the down
fall for Gruden.
The Raiders never
seemed to bounce back
from that move. From the
beginning of the season,
the team looked to be a
step behind in all phases
of the game. Couple that
with the bad play of quar
terback Derek Carr,
Oakland seemed to be in
big trouble.
It continued to go
downhill for Gruden as the
Raiders continued to lose
ballgames and lpok terri
ble while doing sb. Then
Gruden decided to make
another puzzling move by
trading wide receiver
Amari Cooper to the
Dallas Cowboys. That
move seemed to further
divide the Oakland locker
room.
No one is quite sure
what direction Gruden is
taking the Raiders. Prior to
the start of the season,
they seemed to have all of
the pieces to at least make
a playoff run. As they
stand now, they will prob
ably have the Number One
overall pick in next year's
draft. I'm sure this is not
what the Raiders had in
mind for Gruden's first
year.
Oakland really has hit
rock bottom after last
Thursday's game against
the 49ers. It wasso bad
that they lost 34-3 to San
Francisco, but what makes
the loss even worse is that
they lost to a third string
undrafted quarterback
making his first career
NFL start. No one had
ever heard of Nick
Mullens, but- the Raiders
made him look like an All- ■
Star.
I am not sure if Gruden
is delusional or just trying
to keep up morale, but he
doesn't seem to be both
ered by his team’s per
formance. These were
some of his words follow
ing the loss to the 49ers.
“Sometimes we miss a
tackle. Sometimes we
miss two tackles.
Sometimes we have a man
out of his gap. Sometimes
we‘ gotta coach perhaps
better. It all comes back to
me,” he said.
“We just got to do a
better job collectively.
Sometimes guys do a little
f
onB2
Tournament raises money
for breast cancer
awareness
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
For the past five years,
Hoops4L.Yi\E. (H4L) has
held an annual basketball
tournament to raise funds
and awareness for breast
cancer. This year, the non
profit decided to dedicate
the majority of the funds to
Taneisha Gist, who is fight
ing breast cancer.
Each year the nonprofit
focuses on an individual to
assist in her fight against
breast cancer. This year,
Gist was chosen by
Brittany Ward, founder of
H4L, because she has wit
nessed Gist battle cancer as
her close friend.
Ward started the tour
nament five years ago
Gist
because one of her close
friend’s mother was deal
ing with breast cancer. She
says another factor was that
many people donate to
research, but she felt it was
important that those deal
ing with the disease can
actually use those funds for
food or bills.
“Each tournament tells
a story and the story this
time is Teneisha Gist,” said
Ward. “She gets to tell her
story about the affects of
cancer and how it impacts
those in her family.”
This year, the tourna
ment was held at Hanes
• Hosiery Community
Center. Along with basket
ball, the tournament includ
ed several vendors and
games for the children to
play.
The Dunk Godz and
Hoops4L.Y.F.E 2.0 were
the two teams that faced off
in the final game of the sin
gle elimination touma
See Breast Cancer on B2
Photos by
The closely contested game went into double over
time.
Youth football takes
III *
•flight at Carver
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The state championships of American Youth Football
were held at Carver High School last weekend. Several
area teams were victorious and will play in the regional
finals this weekend in Fredericksburg. Virginia.
Photos by Alphonso Abbott Jr.
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
Three players from
t Forsyth County varsity
teams earned a spot in the
82nd annual Shrine Bowl
for the state of North
j | Carolina. The game is
’ scheduled to be played on
Dec. 15.
Lee Kpogba of
' Parkland, JaQuan
McMillan of West Forsyth,
I and East Forsyth's Khalid
Martin will all participate
in the all-star game for sen
iors held in Spartanburg,
S.C. The North Carolina
team will be led by Dudley
head coach Steven Davis.
t
Martin was surprised
he was selected for the
game. He says he just
hoped his play on the field
was enough to show the
coaches he was worthy of
playing in the game. The 6
foot 1, 200-pound safety
has been a key contributor
to the Eagles undefeated
season.
“It was kind of ironic
because, believe it or not,
the day it was announced I
was invited to the Shrine
Bowl was the same day as
my birthday,” said Martin.
“I was away from my
phone, so when my cousin
See Bowl on B2
?