Florida Sentinel Bulletin

The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival (TBBHF) invites golfers to the 6th Annual Heritage Golf Classic to be held on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at Westchase Golf Club located at 11602 Westchase Golf Drive, Tampa, 33626. Registration begins at 7 a. m.

Participants will help a charitable organization and experience an exciting day of golf along with celebrity guests Ricky Reynolds, president, National Football League Players Association of Tampa, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and founder of the Ricky Reynolds Foundation, and Henry Lawrence, former Oakland/LA Raider of 13 years, two-time Super Bowl champion and founder of the Henry Lawrence Youth Foundation. Additional celebrity guests to be announced.

Proceeds from this pre-festival fundraising event support the annual Heritage Photography Contest, providing at-risk middle school youth an opportunity to compete in an artistic photo contest.  The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners are awarded scholarships in the form of savings bonds that will mature when they graduate from high school.

Previous winners from Van Buren Middle School are: Janasia Harris (1st place), Kayla Pinkney (2nd place), and Keziah Moncur (3rd place). In addition, this event launches the 12th Annual Festival on January 12 – 21, 2012 and generates opportunities to support the 10-day celebration.

For a complete listing of TBBHF events, to register for the Heritage Golf Classic or for sponsorship opportunities please visit http://www.tampablackheritage.org.

For more information contact Demetrick Anglin, Heritage Golf Classic Chair at 813-532-0700 or golf@tampablackheritage.org.

Sugar Shane Mosley moved his training camp from Southern California to Las Vegas where this weekend he will face eight-time world champion Manny Pacquiao.

Mosley, a five-time champion, is coming into the fight as a major underdog. The odds have Pacquiao winning 8-to-1. In this video Mosley tells us people shouldnít underestimate the match:

“I’m going to be the hardest fighter he fought in his whole life. He’s never going to fight a guy like me, never!” said Mosley. He goes on to say that the world has no idea what they’re in for.

The fight between Pacquiao and Mosley is going down Saturday, May 7th in Las Vegas and will air on PPV on Showtime.

LOS ANGELES — Miami Heat star Chris Bosh is suing the mother of his child for appearing on a reality TV show called “Basketball Wives,” which he said intrudes on his private life.

Bosh claims in a lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court that Allison Mathis and Shed Media are trying to unjustly enrich themselves by using Bosh’s name and intruding into his private affairs.

He acknowledges he and Mathis have a child together.

The suit says Mathis was hired to appear in the third season of the VH1 reality show and wants to use it to become a TV star. Bosh seeks damages and an injunction to block her and the media company from trademark infringement by using his name and disclosing private facts about his life.

“Though the reality television show is titled, ‘Basketball Wives,’ the featured women in the show are not the current wives of NBA players,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, the show follows the lives of women who are dating or who dated NBA basketball players or who were formerly married to NBA players. “

It says the show, “provides these women with a vehicle and worldwide platform” to use the names of players without permission for commercial gain.

CHICAGO — Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose is the NBA’s MVP, becoming the youngest player in league history to win the award.

The news is hardly a surprise.

Rose is the second Bulls player to win the MVP, but has a ways to go before he catches Michael Jordan, who won five – but he sure is off to a good start. In his third year, the dynamic point guard led the Bulls to their best season since the Jordan–Scottie Pippen championship era.

He ended the two-year MVP reign of LeBron James.

A product of Chicago’s South Side, Rose continued his impressive rise this season.

He established himself as one of the top players in the league after going from Rookie of the Year to an All-Star in his first two seasons with one of the best all-around performances by a point guard.

He averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists while leading Chicago into championship contention.

LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin played his entire rookie season like a man making up for lost time.

Now that the Los Angeles Clippers’ dynamic dunker has been named the league’s top rookie in a landslide, he’s already thinking about ways to improve on a delayed NBA debut that was well worth the wait.

Griffin accepted the Rookie of the Year award on Wednesday, becoming the NBA’s first unanimous choice for the award in 21 years.

The No. 1 overall draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2009 missed all of the 2009-10 season after breaking his kneecap in the Clippers’ final preseason game. But Griffin returned with one of the most impressive debut campaigns in a generation. Griffin frequently thought back to that season in limbo while picking up his award during a party at the Clippers’ training complex.

BY LEON B. CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer

Beginning June 14th and running through June 17th, high school athletes all over the area are invited to an event called “Road To Signing Day,” being sponsored by Unsigned Preps.

The event is inviting athletes to get on the bus and join other top ranked prospects from the area for a three-day high school football camp and college tour.

Being showcased as the opportunity of a lifetime, athletes are encouraged to come and showcase their talent and meet with coaches from three top rated Division I universities.

Unsigned Preps is here to assist student-athletes in achieving their potential and realizing their collegiate goals.

Space is limited, so for more information, contact Coach Sailor at (813) 766-2813

WASHINGTON — Serena and Venus Williams aren’t ready to tell the world when they will return to the tennis tour.

The sisters, who own a combined 20 Grand Slam singles titles, declined to say on Thursday when they will compete next.

Venus hasn’t played since January because of a hip injury; Serena has been out since July after two foot operations, then blood clots in her lung.

They were on adjacent courts on Thursday, offering coaching tips and playing points against kids aged 7 to 17 during a 45-minute clinic to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center.

The next major is the French Open, which starts on May 22.

“It’s a great event, and we definitely want to be there,” Venus said. “We just take it week by week, evaluating, and the good part is we both get better every week.”

Both sisters moved around the court without any visible hitches on Thursday.

Their connection to the center dates to before the $5.1 million facility was built, when former Washington D.C. first lady Cora Masters Barry, the center’s CEO, spoke to the Williams’ mother about plans for the center. Their older sister, Isha Price, is a member of the center’s board.

Pictured: Serena Williams hopes to return to tennis in summer Serena Williams, left, and her sister Venus Williams talk during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center in Washington.

The bright future of 16-year-old Kabiru Adewunmi was tragically killed last Tuesday night, as he was walking with friends to a convenience store on Chicago’s South Side.

Adewunmi, an optimistic, intelligent teen born in Nigeria, had played for the Chicago Fire’s 17-and-under soccer league, where he attracted the attention of Division I scouts from around the country.

But on the night of his death, Adewunmi was celebrating a different sport. The Chicago Bulls had just eliminated the Indiana Pacers in the NBA playoffs, advancing to the conference semifinals. Adewunmi and his friends were celebrating that win when they were attacked.

The incident appeared to be gang-related, although Adewunmi had just moved to the neighborhood and had no connection to gangs.

He was found unresponsive in an alley, and was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has upheld its punishment for former Southern California assistant Todd McNair for his role in the Reggie Bush case.

The Division I Infractions Appeals Committee announced its decision Friday.

McNair was punished for what the NCAA claimed was his role in the scandal surrounding the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback. USC was hit with a two-year bowl ban and severe scholarship restrictions, and McNair was prohibited from contacting recruits.

McNair was an assistant to former coach Pete Carroll for six seasons, and the NCAA claimed McNair knew about some of the gifts lavished on Bush’s family by two aspiring sports marketers hoping to land Bush as a client.

Pictured: This Jan. 4, 2006, file photo shows Southern California’s Reggie Bush, right, being consoled by USC running back coach Todd McNair after their 41-38 loss to Texas in the Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, Calif.