Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
By Michael Vasquez, The Miami Herald – MIAMI — The tone is hushed on the 911 emergency phone call that landed former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson in jail — there
By Tyler Dunne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – GREEN BAY, Wis. — Running back Cedric Benson said Monday he’s in shape, in tune with the Green Bay Packers’ offensive philosophy and in position
By Ron Green Jr., The Charlotte Observer – KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Tiger Woods was leaning on a podium late Sunday afternoon, a sheen of sweat still on his thick arms, talking
By Chip Scoggins, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MANKATO, Minn. — The No. 1 rule for any NFL preseason game is never, under any circumstances, overreact and make sweeping generalizations about what happens,
By Tyler Dunne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – GREEN BAY, Wis. — Training camp is often a game of chicken for safeties. When the ball’s in the air, they react, speed to the
By Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel – FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — LeBron James swung for the fences this year. He now has his grand slam. With the United States’ 107-100 victory Sunday over
By Dan Wiederer, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MANKATO, Minn. — Vikings defensive line coach Brendan Daly doesn’t need much time to begin rattling off the coaches who have had a major influence
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State Cyclones, who advanced to their second NCAA Elite Eight in two years last season, open the 2012 season ranked 10th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association
By Zach Berman, The Philadelphia Inquirer – BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Michael Vick walked off the practice field with a child in a DeSean Jackson jersey who carried his helmet. Autograph seekers serenaded
By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — The cool weather, thousands of empty seats and two teams on the road to nowhere lent an end-of-summer vibe to Wrigley Field on Monday
By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins had high hopes for outfielder Darin Mastroianni when they plucked him off waivers last offseason. With Samuel Deduno, they weren’t sure
John Shipley, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – Tsuyoshi Nishioka will be wearing a Twins uniform when the team starts a three-game series against Tampa Bay on Friday, Aug. 10, at Target
By Michelle Kaufman, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — Chances are, if you were watching NBC over the past 17 days, you saw The Queen jump out of a helicopter with James Bond,
By Bob Spear, McClatchy Newspapers – KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Maybe it’s premature to reserve his place on golf’s Mt. Rushmore, but man, Rory McIlroy took a giant step in that direction Sunday
By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Jake Varner learned to wrestle in Bakersfield. From his father, Steve. From his cousin, Andy, who coached Jake to two California high school state
By Michelle Kaufman, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — Anyone who thinks NBA players don’t care about winning an Olympic gold medal didn’t see the U.S. megastars dancing in a circle carrying a
By Jeff Miller, The Orange County Register – EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Before Dwight Howard played for the Lakers, before he donned the jersey of the Lakers, before he even was formally
By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — Yawn if you’ve heard this one before: The U.S. women’s basketball team won a gold medal. They did it with an 86-50 victory over
By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Mexico’s national anthem played at a medal ceremony for the first time in the London Olympics on Saturday, following its men’s soccer team’s
By Michelle Kaufman, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — Anyone who thinks NBA players don’t care about winning an Olympic gold medal didn’t see the U.S. megastars dancing in a circle carrying a
By Gil LeBreton, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — By their own troubling admission, the primary goal of the U.S. men’s 4 x 100-meter relay team Saturday wasn’t the gold medal. “I can
By Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – LONDON — The object at the Olympics is to get to the podium, and Team USA was the winner in that regard at the London
By K.C. Johnson, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Kevin Durant is one of the more polite and accessible stars in the NBA. Thus, it wasn’t surprising when he patiently listened to
By Mark Whicker, The Orange County Register – LONDON — They did forward rolls on the Earls Court floor. They reached down and drummed the medal stand, in unison, when it was
By Scott M. Reid, The Orange County Register – LONDON — When it was over Kenya’s Thomas Longosiwa could only shake his head, more in awe than frustration. Longosiwa was one of
By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — Nick Blackburn has tried studying video from better stretches earlier in his career. He has tried throwing from different spots on the pitching
By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — Obviously, Sue Bird can’t join the British populace who are allowed to wager on these Olympic Games. But if the three-time Olympian were so
By Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – LONDON — Carmelita Jeter glanced at the clock as she sprinted toward the finish line at Olympic Stadium and then pointed her baton at it,
By Scott M. Reid, The Orange County Register – LONDON — Just in case Usain Bolt’s resounding victory in the 2012 Olympic Games 200-meter final didn’t silence his few remaining critics, as
By Michelle Kaufman, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — The U.S. men’s basketball team had just crushed Argentina 109-83 in the Olympic semifinal Friday night with its high-octane offense, smothering defense, and unmatched
By Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – LONDON — One of the oldest dynasties in track and field is no more, brought down by a Caribbean nation with a population of 350,000.
By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — Kobe Bryant sank three 3-pointers and a reverse dunk in the first 4 minutes, 12 seconds. Kevin Durant drained four 3-pointers in the third
By Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Allyson Felix could not believe what the Olympic Stadium scoreboard was telling her. She had taken the baton from Tianna Madison and did
By Scott M. Reid, The Orange County Register – LONDON — As the lead group runners in the Olympic Games women’s 1,500-meter final crossed the finish line Friday night, they didn’t seem
By Stacy St. Clair, Chicago Tribune – LONDON—U.S. freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs made good on his tweeted promise to bring home a gold medal. Now he’s looking for the Twitterverse to show
By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Someone cut Destinee Hooker from a volleyball team once. She was 13 years old. Now Hooker is 24 and the brightest new star on
By Cam Inman, San Jose Mercury News – SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When it comes to exhibition openers, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith learned a valuable lesson last year in New Orleans.
By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Oh, great. You guys again. The shot heard ‘round the arena took place when the U.S. played Argentina earlier this week, a confusing and
By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — The U.S. qualified in the men’s 4×400 relay Thursday morning, but without three of their top runners in the final, questions abound about whether they
By Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — Go figure, Maggie Steffens was in the middle of everything as the orchestral music swooned through the Water Polo Center and she and her U.S.