There are certain names that become synonymous with a high school sports program in small-town Minnesota. From the Schilling brothers down in Ellsworth to the Boumans in Ruthton or the Dolan family in Milroy, these names became central figures that helped bring communities together around ...
Hello, Marshall community! My name is Samantha Davis, and I joined The Independent team this week. I can already tell this is going to be fun. I am very excited to provide news and chase down stories, but I thought I would introduce myself first. I will be providing coverage as a sports and ...
The 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame class is special. Not just because its members — Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol and Dwyane Wade — combine for 10 NBA Championships and 28 All-NBA selections. Not because it features an all-time WNBA great in Becky Hammon and arguably the greatest coach of all time in Gregg Popovich. Rather, the reason that the 2023 class is so important is because it’s a milestone moment in showing how much the game has grown internationally. International players being enshrined in Springfield isn’t anything new. Soviet gold medalist Sergei Belov was the ...
For the past 19 months, I have accepted the responsibility of being a sports reporter in a community that I truly love, support and have been involved in since my arrival in January 2022. I have gotten a chance to cover some amazingly talented athletes and report on some big-time state events that I could remember dreaming about while I was working for the lottery in Georgia. Due to some opportunities presented to me, I have decided that this was my last week with the Independent. I am blessed to have several options and have been thinking about what direction I am going to go in. The ...
I have always been one of those fans that doesn’t like to reward losing. Once you get to a certain level of play in sports, winning is the name of the game. We cannot pull a Jill Biden and invite the second-place team to the White House. I see now in sports that every organization wants to expand the playoffs to add more teams to it. Obviously, it makes sense for financial reasons but it is only delaying the inevitable: they’ll lose. The Minnesota Twins, our hometown team, is currently on a five-game losing streak and was just swept by the lowly Kansas City Royals. The Royals ...
A week into NBA free agency, Minnesota has been relatively quiet. The Timberwolves were able to bring back Naz Reid on a three-year, $42 million contract — the move that fans of the organization rejoiced after speculation that the team wouldn’t be able to afford him. Still, has Minnesota gotten any better? Not quite. Aside from Reid’s return, Minnesota’s financial situation has prevented them from much activity. They brought back Luka Garza and waived Taurean Prince for cap reasons. However, they’re yet to bring in any new talent and have five players from last year’s roster ...
