Founded in 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – BOSTON — On the day before Class AAA Rochester started its season, manager Gene Glynn gathered his players in the clubhouse and asked everyone to
By Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News – LONDON — Michael Phelps lifted himself onto the podium’s top step. He took a deep breath. He puffed out his cheeks. He visibly sighed.
By Juan C. Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel – ATLANTA — The Facebook pages of several Major League Baseball teams were hacked Thursday afternoon. In some cases, existing content was replaced with status updates
By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Gabrielle Douglas, a 16-year-old from Virginia Beach, Va., took the women’s gymnastics all-around lead on her first event, the vault, and never let it
By Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — It’s tough being a Chinese Olympian. When you win, people get upset. And if you try to lose, look out. First an unheralded 16-year-old
By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — Most everything the U.S. women’s basketball team does gets measured against its past success. Such is the price when you possess a 36-game winning streak
By Jason Lloyd, Akron Beacon Journal – AKRON, Ohio — When he arrived at Firestone last year for the Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods’ golf game — much like his health — was in
By Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — The Olympic flame will be extinguished in 10 days, and with it America’s love affair with swimming. Michael Phelps will retire, and we’ll see
By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — American Danell Leyva swung faster and faster around the horizontal bar, a piece of gymnastics equipment that can be a tease. It seems so
By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — In its 100-plus years as an entertainment arena, the aging but revered Earls Court served as the site of several events at the 1948
By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — With Big Ben nearing midnight in the background, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings were doing their best not to turn into Cinderella. The Americans
By Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Lions kicker Jason Hanson turned 42 in June. But Hanson’s right leg seems ageless. And even the 20-year veteran agrees that his leg still
By Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune – MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago White Sox achieved a winning six-game trip Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins behind a strong Jake Peavy outing.
Mike Hlas, CR Gazette – OK, I didn’t really need that exclamation point in the headline. Because I can wait. Not that I don’t enjoy college football season. For an Iowa sportswriter,
IOWA CITY, IOWA – – University of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz announced Wednesday that sophomore running back De’Andre Johnson has been dismissed from the program. “I am disappointed that things didn’t work
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s basketball will play in the Junkanoo Jam on Grand Bahama Island, Nov. 23-24. The Cyclones will play in the Freeport Division of the tournament. The
Mike Hlas, CR Gazette – Unless all reports of Penn State freshman-to-be running back Akeel Lynch considering a transfer to Iowa are bogus, Iowa could be facing quite the delicate little situation
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery will look back in UI basketball history to move the Hawkeyes forward this fall when the UI Athletics Department introduces
By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — Theo Epstein recently suggested the Cubs need “waves and waves” of pitching in the organization. Since becoming the Cubs president in October, Epstein and
By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — We interrupt the U.S. men’s volleyball medal quest, which continued Tuesday at Earls Court with a straight-sets victory over Germany, for some Philosophy 101.
By Reggie Hayes, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) – United States soccer officials won’t discipline soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo for her critical comments on Twitter about analyst and former player Brandi Chastain.
By Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Hall of Famer Barry Sanders isn’t blaming the Lions’ organization for players’ off-season legal troubles. At a ceremony honoring his legacy at the
By Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – GREEN BAY, Wis. — The amount of responsibility that safety Morgan Burnett has in the Green Bay Packers defense hasn’t changed. It’s just that one
By Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – LONDON — Routine after routine, rotation after rotation, the five members of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team kept hitting, kept smiling, kept their size 4
By Chip Towers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – ATHENS, Ga. — As it turns out, Georgia actually contacted 19 specific Penn State football players about the possibility of transferring. That’s according to a
By Jeff Wilson, McClatchy Newspapers – ARLINGTON, Texas — Weeks of conversations Texas Rangers brass held with other teams about their starting pitchers produced next to nothing. The final 10 minutes before
By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS—Francisco Liriano made it through six innings Tuesday night without the usual parade of mound visits Twins fans are used to seeing from his catchers.
By Tyler Dunne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver turned toward the rows of crowded bleachers and raised his arms into the air. On
By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Let the Games begin. For the U.S. women’s soccer team there was little drama in the first week of the Olympic tournament, which
By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times – LONDON—Coach Mike Krzyzewski had seen enough. The U.S. was barely beating the Tunisia men’s basketball team at halftime of a preliminary game at the London
By Linda Robertson, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON—One after another, American gymnasts sprinted down the runway, flipped onto the takeoff board and soared over the vault. They never really came down. Building on
By Dan Wiederer, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MANKATO, Minn. — The Great Mankato Seafood Scare of 2012 has passed. A day after suffering an allergic food reaction, presumably to his lunchtime jambalaya,
By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — Michael Phelps stood on the podium and tried to put on a happy face after the 200-meter butterfly. But his forced smile didn’t hide
By Les Bowen, Philadelphia Daily News – BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When he was making the transition from quarterback to wideout after his freshman year at Iowa, Marvin McNutt watched film of a guy
By Mark Craig, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – First down … Matt Kalil not only looks like he was built to play left tackle, it seems he might also be able to do it
By Dan Wiederer, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MANKATO, Minn. — For a moment, Michael Jenkins appeared ready to deliver the crowd-pleasing highlight of Monday afternoon’s practice. Freezing cornerback Chris Cook with a hitch,
By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — Francisco Liriano arrived at Target Field early Monday afternoon like he usually does — to start an unusual day. First, he
By Mark Craig, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MANKATO, Minn. — Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was rushed to a nearby hospital Monday after suffering what coach Leslie Frazier said was an allergic reaction
By Chad Graff, The Philadelphia Inquirer – The first domino has fallen. Now the most important piece appears close to tipping as well. Former starting quarterback Rob Bolden was reportedly released from his
By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins have terrible timing these days, and that’s not a reference to the batter’s box. The front office keeps making trades from a