Gay rugby championship coming to Nashville

It was our Southern hospitality that attracted the gay rugby world cup to Nashville.

The 2016 Bingham Cup, the world championship for International Gay Rugby, will be played May 27-30, 2016, on the fields at Ted Rhodes Park in Metro Center.

The Nashville Grizzlies will serve as host for the competition, which is played biannually. The Grizzlies beat out a team from Chicago for the right to serve as host.

"Both Chicago and Nashville responded with comprehensive plans that not only provided for excellent rugby, but an opportunity to raise the visibility of our sport and our mission to another level," IGR chairman Jeff Wilson said. "We look forward to joining with all of our rugby brethren in a city synonymous with hospitality."

The Bingham Cup is the second-largest rugby tournament in the world behind the World Cup.

IGR is not only for gay players. It is committed to wiping out stereotypes and perceptions of gay men and open to all players regardless of background, sexual orientation or ethnicity, said Thomas Hormby, who plays for the Grizzlies, serves as the team's secretary and is the press officer for the Bingham Cup.

"We call it gay rugby, but it's actually inclusive rugby," Hormby said. "For the Nashville Grizzlies, it's like 50-50 gay and straight. For a long time, gay men have been excluded. Calling somebody a sissy or gay was an insult suggesting that they weren't athletic. That's what gay rugby is trying to address."

The Bingham Cup is named in honor of Mark Bingham, a member of the San Francisco and New York gay rugby teams who died on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

A couple of events later this month will kick off the Bingham Cup coming to Nashville.

On May 27, there will be a host committee party for city officials at the home of Grizzlies retired players Jim Schmidt and Joe Woolley.

On May 29, there will be a bachelor auction/kickoff party from 9 p.m.-midnight at Tribe on Church Street. It is open to the public.

A total of 45 teams from 15 countries will compete in the Bingham Cup, which was played in 2014 in Sydney, Australia, and won by the Sydney Convicts.

Former Belmont star Jenkins joins FRA's Wade at VCU

Former Belmont basketball standout Blake Jenkins has accepted a graduate assistant position at VCU.

Jenkins will work for Will Wade, a graduate of Franklin Road Academy who left Chattanooga in April to take over at VCU.

Jenkins, a 2014 graduate, scored 918 career points at Belmont and helped the Bruins make three NCAA Tournament appearances and one in the National Invitation Tournament.

Ex-Vandy coach Schmittou to be honored as SEC Legend

Before he brought the Nashville Sounds to town in 1978, Larry Schmittou built a winning program at Vanderbilt.

Schmittou will be recognized as an SEC Baseball Legend during the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.

In 1968, Schmittou took a program that had won a total of just 18 games in the previous three seasons and led it to four consecutive SEC East Division championships (1971-74). His 1973 and 1974 teams also won the SEC Tournament.

Schmittou finished his career at Vanderbilt with a 306-252-1 record overall and 98-98 record in the SEC.

You can catch every pitch from the SEC Tournament

Speaking of the SEC Baseball Tournament, WNSR 560-AM/95.9-FM will carry every game beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The tournament will run through Sunday with the championship game set to start at 3:30 p.m.

Every game will be broadcast on TV on SEC Network leading up to the championship, which will air on ESPN2.

TSU women's coach Inman recovering after knee surgery

Tennessee State women's basketball coach Larry Joe Inman is recovering after double knee replacement surgery Tuesday.

Inman lives in Lebanon, and the surgery was performed there at University Medical Center. He already has started rehabilitation.

Mt. Juliet golfer makes double eagle at Old Hickory

Luke Rains of Mt. Juliet made a double eagle while playing in a tournament last weekend at Old Hickory Country Club.

Rains, a club member, made his second shot from 230 yards out on the 491-yard No. 14 hole using a hybrid club.

Old Hickory general manager Joey Hickman said he could not remember the last time a double eagle was made on the course.

Former TSU receiver heads north to CFL

Devin Wilson, a wide receiver who played at Pope John Paul II and TSU, signed this week with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

The CFL season begins in June.

Wilson had been playing with the Richmond Raiders of the Professional Indoor Football League.

Wilson was a three-year starter (2011-13) at TSU and had 102 career catches for 1,200 yards and six touchdowns.

Ensworth to get new tennis facility

Ensworth officials announced that a "generous donor," who asked to remain anonymous, has provided funding for a new tennis facility.

Renovation and new construction will take place on the western side of the campus.

It will include six new indoor courts with about 200 spectator seats, a redesign of the outdoor courts, a press box overlooking the track and turf field, a new indoor locker room and training room.

Construction is scheduled to begin late next fall and be completed by winter 2016-17.

Franklin golfer wins Senior State Open





Doug Harris of Franklin held off Nashville's Stuart Smith to claim the 2015 Senior State Open Golf Championship on Wednesday.

Harris headed onto the 18th green with the chance to take a two-stroke lead but missed a 10-foot putt for birdie at Stonehenge Golf Club in Crossville.

Smith also had a 10-foot birdie putt, which would have forced a playoff with Harris, but he missed.

Harris then tapped in for par to finish at 1-over 73 and 144 for both days.

Smith finished tied for second with Pikeville's Bob Rice with a two-day total of 145.

All three are amateurs.

Lipscomb pitchers dominating the A-Sun

This marked the fourth consecutive week and sixth time this season that a Lipscomb player has been named the Atlantic Sun pitcher of the week.

Freshman Jeffrey Passantino earned the honor after tossing eight scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over Stetson on May 9.

Brady Puckett, a freshman from Riverdale, earned the award the week before, Nick Andros earned it the previous week and Passantino shared it with Kennesaw State's Jordan Hillyer the week before that.

Lipscomb's Ian Martinez-McGraw was the pitcher of the week for the first week of the season, and Andros was honored after the fourth week.

Martin Methodist AD named one of nation's best

Martin Methodist's Jeff Bain was named one of the nation's top athletics directors by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

A total of 28 athletics directors were honored — four in each NCAA and NAIA division.

Bain was in the NAIA division along with Jim Abbott of Oklahoma City, Kevin Steele of MidAmerica Nazarene and Darin Wilson of Georgia Gwinnett.

The Football Bowl Subdivision winners were Mitch Barnhart of Kentucky, Chris Del Conte of TCU, Warde Manuel of Connecticut and Ian McCaw of Baylor.

Bain, a former coach at Tullahoma and Giles County High, is in his 22nd year at Martin Methodist. He recently was named to the NACDA executive committee.

Register for alumni golf tournaments

The Glencliff High Alumni & Friends Golf Tournament will be played Monday at Forrest Crossing in Franklin. It will be a scramble format with noon tee times. Cost is $60 per player. Teams from area schools are welcomed.

To register or for more details, call Jim "Catfish" Knight at 615-481-4356.

•The East Nashville High Alumni Golf Tournament is set for 8 a.m. June 11 at Two Rivers. The cost is $75 per player and $300 per team. Proceeds go to the William Henry Oliver Scholarship Fund.

To register or for more information, call Rip Ryman 615-859-0409 or Jesse Jones 615-227-1590.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter, contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

SPORTS ON NASHVILLE TV

The top five ratings for local sporting events on television for May 4-10.

1. PGA: Players Championship (final round), 5.3 rating

2. NBA Playoffs: Warriors-Grizzlies (May 9), 4.7 rating

3. NBA Playoffs: Warriors-Grizzlies (May 5), 4.6 rating

4. NBA Playoffs: Cavaliers-Bulls (May 10), 4.5 rating

5. NASCAR: Kansas 400, 4.0 rating

SEC Network ratings not available.

Each rating point is equal to 10,028 Nashville homes.

Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 program & research director