Who's coaching your kids?

Published May 15, 2010.

Watching her 5-year-old son participate in a Tot Ball practice last week, Brandi Cline said she feels her boys are safe playing sports for the Republic Parks and Recreation Department.

But the Republic resident expressed concern about the organization's lack of background checks for volunteer coaches.

Cline watched her son and 11 others play tee-ball with 11 adults on the field helping the 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds with guidance.

"I'm surprised about that," Cline said after learning the city does not check its prospective coaches. "I just assumed they all did that."

A year after his death, Patrick Clegg on minds of friends, family

Photo by Nathan Papes / News-Leader; Published April 18, 2010.

One year after tragedy struck in the mid-Missouri Army town, Waynesville has returned to normal.

Even in Mary Clegg's lively house in nearby St. Robert, there still are people of all ages buzzing around most days.

Most of her grieving over the death of her 16-year-old son, Patrick, is done alone.

Several times a week, Mary Clegg spends time at Patrick's grave in Sunset Memorial Estates Cemetery to feel close to him.

Prep golfers missing too much school

This is one of my first columns published in the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader. Published on April 12, 2010.

Everyone has regrets about high school.

But one I hear often is not taking advantage of the prep golf scam.

Think about it: If you can make the team, there are many rounds of daily free golf to be had in the spring during the offseasons of football and basketball.

What could be better, I've heard many wise wistful men ask.

Boy, would they really regret not teeing it up in this area.

Combing through the spring schedules, I noticed an extra perk for our young golfers.
They very nearly become part-time students.

Lexington native shows write stuff to lead at MSU

Note: The folks in Lexington actually did a great job showing this article on a web page here. Published May 8, 2009.

His Michigan State Spartans football team made a New Year's Day bowl game; his men's basketball team made a magical NCAA Tournament run.

Even his Croswell-Lexington Pioneers made their deepest run in the high school football state playoffs this fall.

Mediate, Achatz seek more than PGA title

Note: Localizing a big event. Without many Michigan ties to the field of the PGA Championship in 2008 at Oakland Hills, we had to resort to writing about the caddies. Achatz is a great guy and I also hooked him up with my friend Jamie Samuelsen for a radio interview on WDFN-1130 AM. Published Aug. 7, 2008.

BLOOMFIELD TWP. -- Rocco Mediate has dreams of making his first Ryder Cup team.

His caddie, St. Clair's Matt Achatz, feels like he's already living his own dream.

The pair is hoping for a strong weekend in one of golf most prestigious events so they can qualify for another of golf's most prestigious events.

The upcoming Ryder Cup looms and Mediate is right in the thick of things, hoping to fill one of 12 spots on the American team in the international event.

Pirates didn't do what was necessary to ensure stay

Note: However, things weren't so rosy off the field for the Pirates, who left Port Huron midway through the second season for Flint, only to have attendances go from bad to worse. Here's a column I wrote after the team's unceremonious exit from town. This ran June 21, 2007.

One thing that Josh Reasoner said to me about a year ago has been sticking in my head lately.

I asked the then-president of the Port Huron Pirates if the team would be sticking around for the offseason in the Blue Water Area.

"No," he said. "We came in like Pirates, and we're going out like Pirates."

Now, as the team sets sail down I-69 to head to Flint, the former team president's words seem prophetic.

Proud to be an American

Note: One of the highlights of my time in Port Huron has been serving as beat writer for the former Port Huron Pirates of the Continental Indoor Football League for two years. Some of these guys had some stories to tell. My favorite profile was of Wael Jarbou, an offensive lineman from Iraq. From July 5, 2006.

Seated in McMorran Arena's promotional "Best Seat in the House," Wael Jarbou of the Port Huron Pirates recounted his long and arduous journey from Iraq to the Blue Water Area.

There were the dirt fields he played in when he was 9 years old in northern Baghdad, enemy fighter jets patrolling the skies above.