Back then, St. Joseph’s reputation preceded its residents.
Bill France traveled to a convention in 1983 and even in San Antonio, Texas, people remembered the town television touted as the place Jesse James died along the banks of the Missouri River.

In order to prepare me for what I was about to face, LeBlond coach Chris Losson told me that a lot of people watch Wimbledon on TV and think they could do that.

For a recent book, current author and former prep tennis player, Todd Gallagher challenged America’s top tennis pro, Andy Roddick, to a match — with one caveat.
Roddick had to use a frying pan instead of a racket.
Roddick agreed but couldn’t overcome a culinary handicap that neutralized his serve and made it nearly impossible to hit backhand returns.

Lonnel Johnson won’t join the exodus from the Missouri Western men’s basketball team after all.
The Griffons’ second-leading scorer from last season will return for his senior season, coach Tom Smith confirmed Thursday.

The sand might be whiter and the water bluer in Jacksonville, Fla., but the grass wasn’t greener for Jen Bagley. The Missouri Western softball coach turned down the head coaching position with Division I North Florida last month to remain in St. Joseph. Bagley interviewed with the Ospreys — who jumped to the D-I ranks in 2005 — May 30, and North Florida offered her the position in early June. Bagley, whose former assistant was friends with North Alabama’s outgoing coach, Sonya Wilmoth, had 12 days to consider the Ospreys’ offer while she coached for American International Sports Tours in Italy. And the further along Bagley got in the process, the more hesitant she felt about it.

For my weekly exercise in humility — otherwise known as this edition of Put Me In, Coach — I played goalkeeper to John Chavez’s striker at the Riverside Soccer Complex.
Chavez is a 30-goal scorer each of the past two seasons for LeBlond, earning first-team, all-state honors as a senior, and will play for Cloud County (Kan.) Community College in the fall.

After watching Peter Crouch score goals Liverpool and England the past few years, I’m convinced I missed my calling as a soccer player.

KANSAS CITY — The only mitt missing from Mark Teahen’s collection is a catcher’s glove.

After 31 years of tracking the declining number of female coaches, Dr. Linda Carpenter — co-author of the annual Women in Intercollegiate Sport study — still finds reason for optimism. The source of the renewal of her hope this year is the number of paid assistant coaches.

After an 11-month investigation into its women’s basketball program, Missouri Western State University concluded that former coaches probably provided three players with cash payments during and after their careers. The alleged NCAA violations happened under head coach Josh Keister from 2005 to 2007 and amounted to at least $1,000, according to the 29-page report Western released Wednesday. Three sources, who wished to remain anonymous, told the News-Press the players involved were Inga Buzoka, Kala Sledge and Renata deAlmeida.