Editor’s Note: Bryant University announced Wednesday evening that head men’s basketball coach Phil Martelli, Jr., stepped down. Virginia Commonwealth University said it had hired Martelli as its new head coach. Phil Martelli, Jr. had the weekend to savor his basketball team’s first trip to the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships. Bryant, seeded […]
On Sports
Former Providence Journal sports reporter Mike Szostak writes news and analysis about sports in the region.
Posted inLocal, On Sports
The best R.I. athlete you’ve never heard of: JWU’s Joziah Fry
Joziah Fry is the best college athlete in Rhode Island, and I’ll bet you have never heard of him. He is a two-time All-America and a two-time national champion. He has lost once in three years. He doesn’t just beat his opponents, he dominates them. But Joziah Fry does not perform before 12,000 cheering spectators […]
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Johnson & Wales is wrestling for a national championship this weekend
Big-time wrestling is coming to Providence this weekend. No, not WWE Raw theater with bodies flying over the ropes, heroes and villains performing to a choreographed script and spectators intoxicated from spectacle more than sport. No, 210 of the finest collegiate wrestlers in America will be in town for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships […]
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It’s Super Bowl Weekend! Let’s remember some of Rhody’s connections to this football spectacle
A defensive tackle from Warwick won four Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a fullback from Cranston picked up two with the Oakland Raiders, and a long snapper who played at Brown won a pair with the New York Giants. A return specialist from Cranston got a ring with the Giants, and a special […]
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New NFL head coach Liam Coen’s Rhode Island roots run deep
Liam Coen, 39, is the new coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. But you probably knew that because he has been in the sports news for about a week now. What you may not know is that Liam Coen’s football roots run deep right here in Rhode Island. His grandfather Phil Coen […]
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Winning the conference championship is the key to March Madness for RI teams
Win the conference tournament. That should be the mantra of every college basketball team in Rhode Island the rest of this season. Win the conference tournament. An at-large bid to the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments on Selection Sunday March 16 is unlikely for Rhode Island’s eight Division I programs. Big East, Little East, America […]
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Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was fired for winning
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Vince Lombardi, Hall of Fame coach of the Green Bay Packers Winning is the only thing? Not in Foxborough this week. Jerod Mayo won a football game last Sunday and got fired. He coached the New England Patriots to a 23-16 victory over the division-leading Buffalo Bills in […]
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Passages overshadowed championships in 2024
I usually launch this year-end review with upbeat anecdotes about championship teams, unexpected success stories, and feel-good memories of the previous 12 months. This time I chose a different approach. Jim Donaldson was an excellent sports reporter and entertaining columnist for the Providence Journal for close to 38 years. He had an acerbic wit and […]
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Christmas 2024: RI sports gifts received and awaiting delivery
We are still a few hours from Christmas, but some of us have received presents already. If you wore your Keaney Blue to the Ryan Center on Dec. 7, you went home celebrating URI’s 69-63 victory over Providence College. What a gift! The Rams improved to 9-0 and continued the program’s best start in 76 […]
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Five RI sports reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving
A loving family. Good health. Friends. An outlet for these musings. A decent crosscourt forehand. I have much for which to be personally grateful this Thanksgiving. But since we live in a world of fives — Five Reasons Why Trump Beat Harris, Five Dishes That Will Shine On Your Thanksgiving Table, for example — here […]
