Sports
Breakdance after the Paris Games and the glow that hangs over art

VENICE BEACH, Calif. — “I still consider breaking through as a limit.”
Reggie Noble talks on the roof of a loft gallery on Windward Avenue, across from the centerpiece of the Venice Beach Boardwalk, one in all the most famous boardwalks in Southern California. There are murals on the wall depicting Gang Starr’s 1998 album, and the one actually visible from the street depicts Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson from their cult film set on this very place.
You probably know him as Redman, the rapper who rose to fame as an EPMD acolyte in the early ’90s, grew up as a solo artist, and teamed up with Method Man to form one in all the best duos the game has ever seen. The 4 pillars of hip-hop: breakdancing, graffiti, DJing and MCing are still very near his heart.
He opens the proceedings with a performance at the Red Bull BC One competition, during which the best US breakdance champions are chosen, who will then play in the finals in Brazil in December. Downstairs, b-boys and girls of all types are milling around the gallery, enthusiastic about the afternoon ahead.
“There’s still a strong element of hacking everywhere, especially on the East Coast and overseas, right? And when you have one of the elements of hip-hop that’s been brought to where kids want to do it, it’s just like rap. It’s no different from rap,” he said. “Like everyone else, he wants to be a rapper. There are many people who want to breakdance, who want to dance, who just want to make a living dancing. They don’t care about money. They want to do something that will make them feel good.”
Red Bull Media House
16 dancers of each sexes participate in the competition called Cypher. This is a single-elimination event and judging is easy. Judges raise their hands a method or the other to vote. There is not any one who can be embarrassed by a low and even non-existent result.
Why does all this matter? Because the weight of what Rachael Gunn completed at the Paris Olympics still hangs over the world of breakdancing, whether anyone likes it or not. As a lifelong fan of hip-hop and its culture, there was nothing funny about the sight of a white woman named “Raygun” jumping, jumping and jumping around the Olympic stage, causing laughter around the world.
When rumors emerged that she hadn’t exactly “cheated” her strategy to the Olympics, but had taken advantage of a shady system – which one way or the other involved her husband – it felt like a kick to the gut. Let’s just ignore the fact that there have been apparently few blacks in the Paris competition, and next to “Nicki” was a Lithuanian woman in a durag.
“Honestly, I looked at it as if it was a privileged move. He must be someone important. Australia is, is a serious country. It’s not just a city, it’s a country,” Redman said with an incredulous laugh. “So you’re trying to tell me that the whole country said, ‘Yes, she’s going to represent us there,’ I don’t think that’s what happened.”
The event was a reminder of how great this whole idea might have been if the International Olympic Committee had waited to host the competition in the country where breaking was invented, quite than a half-hearted effort that seemed designed to undermine it. Add to that the fact that Gunn played in our faces and made a reputation for herself by desecrating this art form.
It was pretty clear: breakdancing must have made its debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, and where everyone was standing can be the perfect place to host it. Besides, you do not have to arrange entire competitions to see people dancing in the streets on a given weekend.
How an energy drink like Red Bull became the sport’s final frontier isn’t the point, but it surely definitely seems essential. Some of us won’t ever forgive the Olympics for botching a culture’s entry into the global arena. However, this didn’t make it difficult to make use of this feature. The crowd was stuffed with semi-celebrities, but mostly families and other crowd pleasers who just desired to be an element of the event.
The winners were Vicki Chang, aka La Vix, of San Jose and Jeremy Viray, aka Icey Ives, of Anchorage, Alaska. Additionally, Victor Montalvo, medalist of the Paris Games, was honored by the city of Los Angeles.
Red Bull Media House
The sights and sounds of real hip-hop don’t at all times outshine the antics of faux imitations, backed by “scholarship” or not. Which was a shame, because as the sun set over the Pacific and various other groundbreaking codes entered the crowd – together with young children imitating what they saw and just doing something between tumbling and dancing on the makeshift linoleum – you may feel the purpose and camaraderie in the air.
“I’ll admit I laughed at the Australian girl, but it surely began to trouble me in a short time, yes, because I felt it was only a distraction from what she really was, and because my first exposure to hip-hop culture was, it was attempting to be a b-boy trying out pop and lock,” said DJ Babu, member of the world famous Beat Junkies and Dilated Peoples. “So this (Red Bull BC One) is about seeing this dream come true and turn out to be a reality, I give it some thought emotionally and then I reduce it to memes and jokes… that really bothered me. I didn’t even like talking about it.
“But what a milestone for hip-hop and culture generally, to have it legitimized on arguably the biggest stage one could ever perform on. Overall I used to be really completely happy and proud. Recognizing any element at the next level is amazing, but it surely’s not perfect. This was the first yr and it’s just disappointing that I believe it won’t come back.
On December 7, the best breakers in the world will compete in Rio de Janeiro. What happened in Paris this summer was NOT this. When they arrive in Brazil, there will likely be no drug tests, PhDs or governing bodies that will spoil the viability of the genre created by black and Latino kids in New York in the Seventies.
“We can avoid this if we have communication and we have to educate ourselves,” Redman told the crowd. “So I salute Red Bull for taking this culture seriously and organizing events like this so that we can all learn from it.”
People was once afraid that corporate greed and interests would spoil the soul of culture. Now not less than one corporation is keeping the art alive.
“It’s a bit tricky because, like anything else, everything takes time to develop and refine, and mistakes need to be fixed and lessons learned from them. It’s almost like a big mockery, especially since I’m here in Los Angeles and the Olympics are coming here. I can only imagine what b-boying would look like at the next Olympics after his first attack,” DJ Babu said.
“I used to be unfortunately dissatisfied to listen to that it would not be coming back to Los Angeles. I mean, I hope that’s the case in the future, but a part of me tends to feel that b-boying will likely be effective with or without the Olympics should you come from that culture and realize it.
Sports
Jalen Milroe can follow the Jalen path in NFL

Star Black playmakers aren’t any longer an exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the entire football season, this series will discover the importance and influence of black QB from bottom -up to NFL.
Indianapolis-keep me, should you heard it earlier: playmaker Alabama born in Texas, who’s a stronger runner than a passerby, will probably be called outside the first round of the NFL Draft.
The playmaker was undefeated in Sec as a primary -year starter.
The playmaker never played for the same offensive coordinator.
The name of the playmaker is even Jalen.
But it isn’t clear that Jalen hurts. This winter he was busy winning the Super Bowl MVP, and he didn’t play Iron Bowl or against Michigan.
Instead, it’s a former playmaker of Crimson Tide Jalen Milroewho last week Combine Combine tried to convey the case to the trainers and evaluators that he – like his namesake – is price being their playmaker franchise in the future despite questions on his ability.
“I went through adversity. I saw everything as a quarterback, “Milroe said on Friday. “I played at the most difficult conference in the country. It would be easier to play at other conferences, but what I could see in Sec catapulted me that I was ready to play NFL. “
Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Departing from Katy in Texas, she originally got involved in Texas in 2019, but a 12 months later she fell to Alabama. After he was sitting behind the Crimson Tide Starter Bryung for 2 seasons, Milroe took his reins in the 2023 season. He helped Alabama survive Sec (8-0) this 12 months, won by the conference rival and two-time defender Georgia in the SEC championship, which caused Crimson Tide to the play-off collection.
But while Milroe had a big arm (his 10 yards for the test took third place in Sec in 2023), the pass was not his strong suit. For two seasons as a starter Milroe never achieved 3000 yards in one season, the first starter of Alabama, who did it because it … hurts.
Hurts, from Houston, led Crimson Tide to the National National Championships in 2016–17, but during these two seasons were lower than 5,000 yards. While Hurts was a singular Rusher (1,809 yards and 21 sticks) at the moment, his weakness as a passerby is known for led to the spare Tua Tavailoa during the break of the national championships in 2017.
In the mix, Milroe decided that despite his pedestrian passes, he was still worthy of being a start at NFL.
He is aware of his weaknesses and swore that he worked in the ass to enhance outside being “one dimension.” He could move when his legendary trainer, Nick Saban, retired after the 2023 season, but decided to not fall off. He traveled six miles a day to ensure that that something was left in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. He studied progression and reads after I-SNAP to lift his IQ in football.
Unlike the forecast sorts of the first round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, Milroe threw a mix on Saturday, hoping that he would show the bands that he has mechanics to do that to the playmaker NFL. It turned out to be a mixed bag. Milroe showed strong arm strength and a very good location of sail routes, curls and it while throwing exercises, but fought accuracy on intermediate and on the routes.
“That’s so many things that I can learn more where I am today and where I will be when it comes to day 1, starting with NFL,” said Milroe before Saturday exercises. “Always be a game student, at all times attempt to develop, because it would be so many opportunities in which I can look back and say that it was the moment after I grew up as a playmaker.
“That’s right now, I’m just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look for development.”
Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images
Milroe was asked that he was one other playmaker in Alabama to succeed in the mix, following in the footsteps of the role (who moved to Oklahoma in 2019), Tavailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe said he appreciates being in the company of others, but he added that it’s difficult to check him with others.
“We had different bands, we had different players around us, we had a different system,” he said.
But when he specifically asked what he could study the journey of Hurts-from the first manager of the game after the super Bowl-Milroe master said he inspired him his companion Alabam.
“The most important thing I learned from J. Hurts is how he kept his head (I) always continued to work,” said Milroe. “He at all times raised his game, he has never been self -deserved, and all the pieces you see is great progress from him.
“And I have to applaud him as a person, he as a man, because he is definitely inspiring for many playmakers of my image, as well as many playmakers throughout the country. He leads to all of us. “
The couple isn’t completely similar. Hurts had about 20 kilos on Milroe when he was in college. Milroe has a stronger arm, while Hurts played more and not using a mistake of football: Milroe threw 17 interceptions and ate 67 bags for 2 seasons as a starter in comparison with 10 captures Hurts and 43 bags.
But they can each be changing the game when their teams need them. In a highly publicized match against Georgia at the starting of the last season, Milroe finished almost 82% of his passes on 374 yards and two appointments, adding 117 yards to the ground for the next two results.
Milroe can also match the wounds in the so -called “Jalen-ISMS. “
“Climbing upstairs is not easy, but when you reach the top of this mountain, you will learn so many things when it comes to adversity when it comes to difficulties, things along the way,” said Milroe in a mix.
Sports
Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos from 1968. Black Power Salute inspired me to find my goal

I’d say that I grew up within the household to be sure that that me and my siblings were aware of the black history. My parents invested in the gathering of black encyclopedias. On the duvet we had a version of the Bible with Black Jesus. Our house was stuffed with books of black novelists and thinkers, and if a black document appeared, we watched it. I watched all movies made on television about Dr. King, each “Roots” and “Alex Haley’s Queen” and I sat for all 14 hours “Eyes on the reward”-as a toddler. Bless my heart.
Having said this, there have been pockets of black history, and more likely that I had no opportunity to delve into once I was a toddler. The college was where all the will for information and understanding of the combined. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., One of a very powerful historically black universities within the country. It was there that I met people from around the globe whose knowledge about black history differed (often depending on the colleges and the communities by which we lived), but everyone had hunger to learn more.
One day, through the first yr, I remember one among my friends in a T -shirt by which I had definitely seen before, but I never paid attention to. There was a black and white screen printing on the shirt (what I do know now) the enduring moment on the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, where on the rostrum for 200-meter medals, Tommie Smith, John Carlos (races 1. And 3. Place Finaners) Everyone gathered a black fist in gloves while he played “Star Spangled Banner”. Peter Norman, the second place from Australia, wore a human rights badge, like Smith and Carlos.
Not only did they raise the fist of black power (although they each said it was for human rights), they received medals in black socks to represent poverty within the black community, and Smith wore a black scarf for black pride. Carlos showed solidarity with blue-wheeled employees, unpacking the jacket and wore a necklace from the beads for individuals who were lynched. Due to the state of Black America in 1968 and a continuing struggle for equality and civil rights, there have been calls to a boycott of the Games. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also killed in April this yr – and all three athletes were inspired enough to find a way to do it on the rostrum, which led to one of the crucial durable images of public protest.
I remember how I learned history and realized that on the most important scene these brave men used their moment of triumph and victory to quietly protest against the conditions of underrated communities in America. I felt strengthened; We often discuss standing on the arms of giants, however the more I got into the history of black in America, the more I spotted what number of giants there have been. In college I used to be very bad and for a while ready to burn every part that represented the establishment or any obstacle to black liberation. I felt like all those individuals who even saw their space on the planet in reference to individuals who could never give you the option to speak as heroes whose lives were to be modeled later. Especially since it was also fastidiously that putting people in front of him can often bring an enormous personal loss.
When Smith and Carlos took their position, they were booed on the stadium and ordered to be sent home by the International Olympic Committee. The athletes returned home, but they weren’t welcomed by the hero, but as a substitute of rough sleds, and even in some cases the specter of death. They were also not beloved by athletes. Two men, associated eternally in history, even have a good relationship –Carlos even claims that he let Smith go within the race Because “Tommie Smith would never put his fist in the sky if I won this race,” the claim that Smith denies.
History ultimately has a way of rights, but it surely took a few years and realizations on the front of social policy, in order that the actions of those persons are perceived as brave and needed, not only selfish and smug.
The lessons that I learned from College and continuous reading and education I gained (my head remained within the book about black history) were one among the best advantages in HBCU. The very variety of books I learned about about which I actually have never heard of – I actually have upheld me all my life.
That is why I remember sooner or later I used to be walking around Washington, the eastern Washington market and a street seller was selling different photos of moments in black history, and he had a 40 -inch photo within the Tommie Smith and John Carlos frame. I paid for it in money and spent it across the capital of the country until I returned home. I do know that it happened in 2005 (I finished Morehouse College in 2001) because I just moved to my first apartment with no roommate and it was the very first thing that I actually have ever suspended on the wall. This picture within the frame still hangs on the wall in my home in 2025 and I used it to teach my children about sacrifice and privilege and how you may have to discuss individuals who cannot.

The query that my youngest children often ask: “How do I know who can’t speak for herself?” Which is an incredible query. For this I answered an easy fact, pointing to the photo:
“These men have made a gesture that gave people whose most of us, including them, would never see or never know them, but on which life negatively affects the alternatives of the wealthy and the federal government. Sometimes you may have to take this chance to say something because you do not know in the event you’ll ever have such a big platform.
Son, there may be at all times someone who cannot speak for himself, and you may have to use it in a voice, because perhaps the thing you say or a stand that can help someone you understand, live a greater life. ”
I take advantage of words that may understand a little bit higher, but I can inform you that my children have a look at this photo on a regular basis, and once one among my sons said: “These guys are heroes, right?”
I say yes, they’re. They are the heroes of the Black History.
They will live eternally for speaking, and even quietly, in solidarity with those that couldn’t.

(Tagstranslate) @Ap
Sports
Main Treasury Official Morgan State University, Sterling Steward, died

Morgan State University announced that his older associate athletics director and tax director, Sterling Steward, died.
No reason for death was disclosed, but the college has confirmed his contribution since he was employed in December 2022.
Morgan State University Athletics mourns Sterling Steward’s departure https://t.co/avjzilxhja
– Grizzly Life (@grizzlylife22) February 26, 2025
Steward died on February 26. In Morgan State he was accountable for the event of university programs, supporting partnerships and strengthening the financial and operational success of the Faculty.
“Sterling was more than a colleague-he was a respected leader, mentor and friend,” said in a written statement by Den Freeman-Patton, vice chairman and director of inter-university athletes. “His passion for athletics and commitment to raising Morgan programs were visible in everything he did. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our sports students had resources and the possibilities of distinction, and its impact will be felt for many years. We expand our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, especially his three sons and sister when we mourn this huge loss. “
While the steward worked in Morgan, strategic growth and cooperation occurred. His work with the institutional development department helped to offer more opportunities and created lasting relationships to support sports programs.
Steward earlier he worked At the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an assistant to the college athletics director for strategic income generation. He also made stays on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Savannah State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Eastern Oregon University and Xavier University in various roles, including for a senior consultant athletics director and sports director.
He was from New Orleans, who received the title of bachelor and master’s degree on the University of Southern Mississippi. He won a bachelor’s degree in the sphere of coaching and administration/history of sport and his master’s degree in the sphere of sport management.
(Tagstransate) Morgan State Universiry
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