Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
By Mark Whicker, The Orange County Register – LONDON — Ryan Bailey was too upset to talk, Tony Azevedo was mystified, and Coach Terry Schoreder admitted to some concern. The U.S. men’s water
By Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – ST. LOUIS — The word has spread steadily in the past month through comments made in the Cardinals’ clubhouse and into the manager’s office. First, it
By Scott M. Reid, The Orange County Register – LONDON — She has been gone for almost four years now, and still he couldn’t let go. For four mostly trying years, hurdler Felix
By Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal – BEREA, Ohio — Coach Pat Shurmur revealed one of the worst kept secrets in the NFL on Monday evening when he formally named rookie Brandon Weeden
By David Wharton, Los Angeles Times – LONDON—No American men will stand on the podium in beach volleyball at the 2012 London Olympics after Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal lost in a
By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — A header from Alex Morgan in overtime stoppage play lifted the U.S. women’s soccer team to a 4-3 victory over Cananda on Monday,
Marc Morehouse, CR Gazette – NCAA eligibility standards are changing. This might be the silent subhead for the season that ends up being a bigger story in the future. The latest changes
Mike Hlas, CR Gazette – Injuries were not a problem for cornerback Shaun Prater in his Iowa football career. Prater played in 48 games over the previous four seasons, made 171 tackles,
by Jody Spear and Kelly Meyer – MASON CITY – The most exciting challenge of the Stock Car Special, Sunday night at the 1-35 Speedway, was when a fluke caution had to
By Tyler Dunne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – GREEN BAY, Wis. — Each week in training camp, players receive a per diem check. The longer players are in the league, the more they make.
By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — The U.S. women’s soccer team will face the most dangerous opponent it has seen in these Olympics when it squares off against Canada in
Mike Hlas, CR Gazette – Eight years ago, offensive tackle Robert Gallery was the second pick in the NFL Draft. Four months after winning the Outland Trophy winner at Iowa as the
By Vaughn McClure, Chicago Tribune – BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — Brian Urlacher will miss Thursday night’s exhibition opener against the Broncos, and it remains unclear how long a sore left knee will keep the
By Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press – As Michigan opens fall football camp for Team 133 — practice begins Monday — there are a number of questions. A year ago, everything was uncertain
By David Ramsey, The Gazette – LONDON — United States wrestling coach Steve Fraser summed up the first day of Greco-Roman competition. “A tough day,” Fraser said. “Yeah, that was a tough day
By Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — There he was, in just the seventh race of his four-month-old steeplechase career, running with U.S. teammate Don Cabral on the lead of the Olympic
John Shipley, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – BOSTON — Cole De Vries is turning heads among Twins management, who are eager to see what the Eden Prairie right-hander does the final two
By Dan Pompei, Chicago Tribune – ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos’ team logo still shows a horse’s face, not Peyton Manning’s. He is not playing defensive end, kicker and punt returner in addition
By Jim Utter, McClatchy Newspapers – LONG POND, Pa. — Everything that could possibly go wrong has for Jeff Gordon and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team this season. That’s left them on
John Shipley, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – BOSTON — The Twins seem to be in a quandary about what to do with Chris Parmelee, who has been crushing Class AAA pitching but
Scott Dochterman, CR Gazette – CHICAGO — Purdue defensive tackle Kawann Short has some lofty expectations, and this year they might have some merit. The Boilermakers long have been a Big Ten
By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — Across the board, from coaches to players, the U.S. women’s volleyball team said resting starters or taking a look at different playing combinations was never
By Phil Sheridan, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — The match was tied early in the first set when a voice behind Roger Federer rang out with the words most of the fans at
By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times LONDON — Talk about fast-forwarding the process. The U.S. women’s water polo players were barely out of the pool before questions started coming about a familiar opponent
By Jim Souhan, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – LONDON — Before the Olympics began, U.S. women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma spoke of how much teams around the world have improved and how, despite his
By Scott Fowler, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — The U.S. men’s basketball team just completed what coach Mike Krzyzewski refers to as “the week before the week.” Now it gets serious. Team USA
By K.C. Johnson, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Closing pool play unbeaten and with its 38th straight Olympic victory, the U.S. women’s basketball team destroyed China 114-66 Sunday afternoon at Basketball Arena.
By Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — The amazing Olympic run of the Williams sisters continued Sunday when they teamed to win the gold medal in women’s doubles. Venus and Serena
By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — McKayla Maroney can seem severe. She has a competition face that comes with a glare. But after she had an unlikely fall on a
By Sam Mellinger, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — The fastest race in the history of man sounds like a riot. There is nothing quite like this in sports. More anticipation than the Super
By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — Sanya Richards-Ross thought the gold was hers. But then, she has thought that before and been wrong. In 2008, Richards-Ross was ranked No. 1
By Gil LeBreton, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — They said his back hurt and that he was seeing some witch doctor in Germany. His inconsistent starts, they claimed, were a sign that he
By Jason Lloyd, Akron Beacon Journal – AKRON, Ohio — Jim Furyk walked off the 18th green to the same roars and cheers he heard all weekend trudging up and down Firestone Country
By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – BOSTON — The Minnesota Twins were down to their final strike Saturday night, lamenting a night of missed chances at Fenway Park, when Joe Mauer changed
By Joe Juliano, The Philadelphia Inquirer – The chaotic offseason for Penn State football continued Sunday when the Nittany Lions lost wide receiver Justin Brown to Oklahoma. Brown is the ninth player lost
By Jeff McLane, The Philadelphia Inquirer – BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Garrett Reid, son of Eagles coach Andy Reid, was found dead in a Lehigh University dorm room early Sunday morning. Reid’s body was
Jeremy Fowler, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – MANKATO, Minn. — Vikings rookie wide receiver Greg Childs will miss the entire 2012 NFL season after tearing the patellar tendon in both knees toward
Mike Hlas, CR Gazette – Notes columns are the laziest form of column-writing known to our civilization. So anyway, I’m looking at the brighter side of this so-called curse plaguing University of
Matt Levins, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – CEDAR FALLS – The University of Northern Iowa football team has been synonymous with winning ever since head coach Mark Farley returned to his
By Jo-Ann Barnas, Detroit Free Press – LONDON — Michael Phelps swam to the edge of the warm-down pool, and his coach bent over to hear him, just as he always does.