What began as a simple announcement over the loud speakers at St. Louis University High School in 1985, when the racquetball program needed a coach, became a success story that’s almost too hard to believe. Even Joe “Doc” Koestner, the coach himself, gets a kick out of retracing the roots of history. “It was the… Read more »
He was introduced to organized football at a Kansas City Boys Club on 43rd street in the 1960s. That is, despite his mom’s fears of an injury, which were understandable, given Eric Williams was basically 5-foot-nothing, 100-and-nothing. By the time he graduated high school, he was a 6-foot-2, 225-pound wrecking ball. “I always played in… Read more »
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame appreciates the calls and emails in regard to Rams owner Stan Kroenke. A number of comments have asked that Kroenke, a 2009 inductee, be removed from the Hall after the National Football League approved the Rams’ desired relocation to Los Angeles. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame has never… Read more »
Tim Grunhard laughs about it now. After all, he was just a rookie. But the first time he walked into the Kansas City Chiefs locker room, he assumed the “old guy” standing next to his locker was just another assistant coach. Turns out, it was his mentor for his 1990 rookie season – future Hall… Read more »
He could have flung aside his ball glove and walked away at age 18 when life tugged on the back of his jersey. After all, Lance Brown graduated from West Plains High School in 1960 with a bum pitching arm and without so much as a scout or college recruiter on his heels. In fact,… Read more »
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame joins with the family and friends of Walt Schoenke in mourning the passing of one of the state’s influential sports contributors. Schoenke passed away Saturday in St. Louis. He was 83. Schoenke was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 as a sports contributor. He enlisted… Read more »
Quick, remember the moment you knew what wanted to be in life? Jerry Reuss does. He was 8, and had just attended his first St. Louis Cardinals game at old Sportsman’s Park. This was, of course, long before he led St. Louis County’s Ritenour High School to the 1966 and 1967 Missouri state baseball championships… Read more »
Parkview High School’s famed Jolly Green Giants, Missouri State’s 1952 and 1953 NAIA national championship men’s basketball teams and two notable basketball figures – coach Gary Stanfield and former Missouri State Lady Bear Karen Rapier – are now inductees of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. All were honored during the Basketball Tipoff Luncheon sponsored… Read more »
University of Central Missouri athletic director Jerry Hughes will be honored as a Missouri Sports Legend, and longtime Mizzou Tigers football coach Gary Pinkel is among 15 individuals, a football program and a college football team who will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday, January 31 in Springfield. The Enshrinement… Read more »
You can make a case that Anita (Rank) Oplotnik put Lincoln High School girls basketball on the map, and she wasn’t done there. She also enjoyed a record-setting career at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. Her career will soon be remembered by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which will recognize Oplotnik during its… Read more »
In his playing days, Nevada High School standout Kevin Williams was a shot-blocking machine. In fact, his name is still atop one, all-time defensive category in the documented history of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. Now his career will soon be recognized by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during its upcoming Basketball… Read more »
When basketball fans of the Ozarks think of the area’s best basketball players of the past 20 years, Terianne (Wolford) Brown is certainly in the conversation. She starred at Nixa High School in the late 1990s through March 2000 as the center, leading the girls team to a state championship. Now her career will soon… Read more »
It didn’t matter where he played. When 6-foot-8 center Mark Sparks played for Neosho High School and later for the Mizzou Tigers and Drury Panthers, he was a force in the paint. Now his career will soon be recognized by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during its upcoming Basketball Tipoff Luncheon presented by Mercy.… Read more »
In the early 2000s, the Kickapoo High School girls basketball program won a pair of state championships, and among the standouts was Laura (Granzow) Buetow, a center who went on to star for Canisius College in New York. Now her career will soon be recognized by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during its upcoming… Read more »
In the mid-1980s, the formula was simple at Rogersville High School: Feed the basketball to 6-foot-9 center Chris Harville. In fact, he parlayed his success into a scholarship on coach Charlie Spoonhour’s NCAA Tournament teams at Missouri State. His career hasn’t been forgotten as the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will recognize Harville during its upcoming Basketball… Read more »
He didn’t play organized sports during his childhood and attended eight different schools through the eighth grade. At times, he lived with his father, grandmother, aunt as well as in foster homes and in the Colorado State Children’s Home. However, challenging times led to a championship coach, one who gave back what was once given… Read more »
