Edward Henry Osiek played football, basketball, baseball, and track at St. Charles High School from 1932 to 1936. After high school, he played minor-league baseball from 1936 to 1938. Osiek began his career as a sporting goods salesman in 1940 in his father’s business, Economy Sporting Goods, in St Charles. He later worked in sales… Read more »
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Category: Officials
Dave Phillips
Dave Phillips was born and raised in Jennings, MO. He attended Jennings High School and then Southwest Missouri State University. In 1964, Phillips made the decision to enter umpiring school, where he excelled and finished third in his class after the final evaluation process was concluded. He was quickly offered a job in the Midwest… Read more »
Gerry Pollard
For the better part of 33 years, Gerry Pollard sometimes has been a persona non grata in basketball arenas. How else to describe a person who gets yelled at by fans and coaches, plus draws eye stares from players? All for the thankless job of whistling players for fouls while running up and down a… Read more »
Francis Skalicky
Francis Skalicky still smiles about almost not applying for the position he now calls “the best job anyone could ever hope to have.” He recalls the fall of 1995 when he learned of a new position – media specialist – the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) would have at its Southwest Regional Office in Springfield.… Read more »
David Sturm
In 1976, his dreams of becoming a big-league baseball umpire were pulled away, as a pro umpire evaluator questioned his commitment to the profession. Call it a tough day for David Sturm. After all, years before, his doctor said he would have been legally blind if not for a pair of thick eyeglasses. And, if… Read more »
Jim Vaughan
He arrived to Springfield’s Hillcrest High School in 1963 with the basketball court understandably pulling on his heart strings. You see, Jim Vaughan had been a three-sport athlete in high school and a collegiate basketball player, too. However, contracts with Springfield Public Schools allowed teachers to coach only two sports, and he had already signed… Read more »
“Red” Weir
Harold “Red” Weir was raised in Fayette, Missouri, and was a member of the 1950 Central College basketball team that finished third in the NAIS national tournament. He became a high school coach in Stockton and Eldon, officiating when his team was not playing. Weir joined Snowden-Mize Sporting Goods Co., came to Columbia in the… Read more »
Ron Zetcher
Since 1968, Ron Zetcher has officiated baseball, basketball and football, becoming one of the nation’s top NCAA basketball officials. He has worked 17 NCAA Tournaments and 20 National Invitational Tournaments during his career. As an official at the collegiate level, Ron has worked the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the Big 8 Conference Tournament finals and… Read more »
Larry Zirbel
Larry Zirbel was born in Paris Township, Kenosha County, Wisconsin on June 13, 1921. Spent his boyhood in Algoma, Wisconsin, and graduated from Algoma High School in June 1939. He was a World War II veteran, serving from 1942 to 1945. He received his BS degree from Northwest Missouri State in 1950 and his M.Ed.… Read more »