John W. Pollard as ESPN's daily NBA studio show. NBA Today NBA Today is an American television sports talk program on ESPN (or on rare occasions ESPN2), hosted by Malika Andrews, featuring Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike, Vince Carter and Zach Lowe as panelists. The show premiered on October 18, 2021, on ESPN2. NBA Today airs live on weekdays at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT. NBA Today includes latest news, opinion and analysis on the National Basketball Association (NBA). The show is based in Los Angeles. In the future, NBA Today will travel to marquee NBA events, including the NBA Finals for on	NBA Today
10014576	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun The Vz.53 (Also widely known as the M53 in western sources) is an anti-aircraft weapon system produced in Czechoslovakia during the 1950s. It combines four Vz.38/46 (DShK) 12.7mm Machineguns on a wheeled mount with a 360° traverse. It's full Czech designation was 12,7 mm PL štvorguľomet vz.53. History. Following World War Two, the Czechoslovakian military was equipped with a wide mixture of Anti-Aircraft weapons, including many German weapons such as the Flakvierling 38, a quad-barreled 2 cm weapon. However, these weapons use proprietary ammunition, production of which had ceased after 	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun
10014577	Germany's surrender. The Czechoslovak People's Army was already producing the Vz38/46, a copy of the Soviet DShKM 12.7mm Machinegun, and decided to create a light quad-mount anti-aircraft carriage mounting these guns to serve as a low-level air defense weapon. The resulting system was designated Vz.53 and entered service in 1953. The Vz.53 complemented the towed 30mm Vz.53/59 and it's self-propelled version, the M53/59 Praga, which were not effective at extremely close ranges. The Vz.53 was similar to the Soviet ZPU-4, but the Vz.53's lighter 12.7mm cartridge had a lower 	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun
10014578	effective range and did less damage than the Soviet 14.5mm weapon. However, the Vz.53 was approximately 3 times lighter than the ZPU-4. Regardless, both weapons were quickly rendered obsolescent as super-sonic jet fighters began to enter service in NATO countries. The Vz.53 was mostly withdrawn from Czech service by the early 1960s, but was not fully replaced until the 9K32 Strela-2 became available in the early 1970s. Combat History. Many Vz.53s were sold abroad, or given as aid to Soviet client states as part of the Cold War. Cuba was one of the largest operators of the weapon	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun
10014579	, using several during the Bay of Pigs invasion where they were reportedly responsible for shooting down a Douglas A-26 Invader bomber., Cuba later brought these to Angola and provided some to the Angolan MPLA to be used during the Angolan Civil War. Cuba used M53s until the 1990s. Cuba also later provided at least half a dozen M53s to Grenada where they were used against US forces during Operation Urgent Fury in 1983. It is suspected that an M53 was responsible for shooting down a UH-60 Blackhawk during this operation, the first UH-60 ever to be shot down. Some were 	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun
10014580	also used during the Nicaraguan Revolution, provided by Cuba. M53s were also sold to Egypt as part of the Egyptian–Czechoslovak arms deal in 1955, and were used during the Suez Crisis. Some were also supplied to Iraq and Syria. the Arab nations used large numbers of M53s during the Six-Day War and Yom-Kippur War, where many were captured by Israel. A small number of M53s were provided to North Vietnam and used during the Vietnam War As of 2021, the Vz.53/M53 is not known to be service anywhere in the world, though some may be in 	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun
10014581	storage in Cuba. Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun The Vz.53 (Also widely known as the M53 in western sources) is an anti-aircraft weapon system produced in Czechoslovakia during the 1950s. It combines four Vz.38/46 (DShK) 12.7mm Machineguns on a wheeled mount with a 360° traverse. It's full Czech designation was 12,7 mm PL štvorguľomet vz.53. History. Following World War Two, the Czechoslovakian military was equipped with a wide mixture of Anti-Aircraft weapons, including many German weapons such as the Flakvierling 38, a quad-barreled 2 cm weapon. However, these weapons use proprietary ammunition, production of which 	Vz.53 Anti-Aircraft Gun
10014582	John W. Pollard John W. Pollard John William Pollard (1846 – 1932), born in Virginia into a family of free black farmers while the slave trade was still thriving in the South, was among the first group of African Americans to join the Union Army in 1862, serving in a colored unit during the American Civil War. He later worked as a barber and eventually settled with his wife Catherine Amanda Hughes in Chicago, where his family included five boys and three girls who made pioneering achievements in sports, music, film, and community service. Pollard lived at 1928 Lunt and had his barber shop 	John W. Pollard
10014583	at 7017 North Ravenswood. Several family members are buried at Rosehill Cemetery. Family history. Pollard's family was emancipated near the end of the American Revolution and settled in a community of freedmen in Northern Virginia. His father died in a lumbering accident when Pollard was eight; his mother, fearing that Pollard and his sister would be kidnapped and sold, sent them to be raised and educated in Kansas Territory.<ref name=Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society"></ref> At the age of 16 in 1862, using the name Jackson Ridgway, Pollard joined the Union Army to serve in the Civil War , during which he became regimental boxing champion, returning to Kansas after service. His determination to further his education was frustrated when he contracted smallpox on his way to Oberlin College, where he planned to study law. When he recovered, he became a barber in Mexico, Missouri, where he met his future wife Catherine "Amanda" Hughes (1856–1937). She worked as a seamstress and was of mixed heritage. They married and had their first three children, before moving to Chicago and settling in the Rogers Park neighborhood, an area of mostly white German immigrants, where educational opportunities were better and they had  a further five children. His eldest son Luther Jay Pollard was a star athlete who entered the advertising business after being denied entry into the segregated world of professional sports. He fronted Ebony Film Corporation. Another of his sons, Leslie Pollard, was an accomplished athlete in high school, played football for Dartmouth College, and coached at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, from about 1910 until 1915, when he died of accidental gas asphyxiation in an apartment. Hughes Pollard (January 5, 1892–1926) was an accomplished high school athlete and trap drummer with The Melody Four. He was injured in a gas  attack while serving with the French army during World War I, and died several years later from complications. College and Professional Football Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard (born January 27, 1894) was his youngest son. According to a 1970 interview Fritz gave at Brown University his sisters Ruth, Artemesia, and Naomi also had successful athletic and academic careers. Fritz Pollard Jr. was a hurdler who won an Olympic bronze medal. John W. Pollard John William Pollard (1846 – 1932), born in Virginia into a family of free black farmers while the slave trade was still thriving in the South, was among