In 1975, a quaint broadcasting company launched by Clyde Lear and Derry Brownfield struck a deal to provide radio network distribution of University of Missouri Athletics. It seemed simple enough. Carry all of the Mizzou Tigers football and basketball games and distribute the broadcast to dozens of other stations throughout the state. Little did anyone… Read more »
News
Sport: Football
Jim Lemen
Sometimes, life pulls the string on your coaching whistle and leads you on a path you never envisioned – and for the better. Jim Lemen had never heard of The John Burroughs School in St. Louis until he was well into a master’s degree program at Harvard University in 1963. At the time, John Burroughs… Read more »
Dr. James Leslie
Dr. James Leslie was born on August 12, 1922, in Rhineland, Missouri, the sixth child of Dr. James and Ella (McAfoos) Leslie. His family moved to Jefferson City when he was 5, where he graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1940, having been a State Champion swimmer and accomplished golfer. Leslie attended college during… Read more »
Dr. Leo Lewis III
For the sons of successful pro athletes, it’s often a challenge to emerge out of the enormous shadows of their dads. Fortunately, Leo Lewis III carved out quite a football career for himself, with a lineage from Columbia Hickman High School, on to the University of Missouri and then the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings,… Read more »
Leo E. Lewis, Jr.
They called him the “Lincoln Locomotive.” So you can imagine the thoughts of a linebacker or free safety when they saw Leo Lewis, Jr., bursting off tackle and running full steam ahead directly at them on Saturday afternoons. “He was suited to play offense and the position of running back,” said his son, Dr. Leo… Read more »
Lighthouse Christian Chargers Football National Title Teams
When folks heard about the possibility of a start-up, homeschool football program, anybody would have understood if it took years to build something special. Well, the Lighthouse Christian Chargers didn’t care to stick to the script. In fact, they’ve collected so much hardware already that there doesn’t seem to be any slowing down. Launched in… Read more »
Thomas A. Lombardo
Tom’s football career started in 1937 playing for Soldan High School in St. Louis, where he was a four-year starter and selected on the All-Star City Team all four years and All District Teams three years, as well as being voted MVP in his senior year. He also starred both on the basketball court and… Read more »
Scott Loveland
All these years later, it’s easy to look at the stats and the successes and assume that he was destined to play the part. The part being the state’s top small-college quarterback of the mid-1980s. However, Scott Loveland will tell you his career wasn’t designed that way. “Honestly it was after my senior football season… Read more »
Nick Lowery
He came at us with a No. 8 Kansas City Chiefs jersey, old-school mustache and a leg. But not any ordinary leg. No, Nick Lowery had one for the ages as he boomed game-winning field goals, scored points and broke hearts. To understand his success, however, think back to Lowery’s college and early pro years.… Read more »
Dan Lucy
Long before his TV sports broadcasting days, he developed his reporting chops as a free-lance writer the old-fashioned way: A student by day working his way into the University of Missouri School of Journalism. A beat writer at night covering the 1983-1984 Mizzou basketball team, even lugging around a portable typewriter and dictating two stories… Read more »
Marv Luten
He had left his hometown of St. Louis for Waynesville in the early 1980s, having graduated from a broadcasting center, and the plan was what you might assume it was. We’ll let Marv Luten tell the story. After all, he does this for a living. “I hoped to get back to St. Louis, but the… Read more »
Todd Lyght
Todd Lyght was an All-American for Lou Holtz at Notre Dame, and a national champion. In the NFL, Lyght was an All-Pro and Pro-Bowl selection over his 12 seasons. He helped lead the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV championship. His football legacy is more than secure. But did we almost have Todd… Read more »
Bill Maas
All athletes have a mentor or two pushing them to be better. To the Kansas City Chiefs’ Bill Maas, the 70,000 fans who packed Arrowhead Stadium for every game have to be counted among his. “About 27 years ago, the Denver Broncos came to Arrowhead,” Maas said, recalling a time when the National Football League… Read more »
Jeremy Maclin
The assumption is that major college football players see their campus only as a springboard into the National Football League. However, Jeremy Maclin proved that he cared deeply about the University of Missouri. When he announced that he would forgo his final two seasons and enter the NFL Draft, Maclin couldn’t hold back emotions at… Read more »
Jerry Mallonee
Don Claxton knew Jerry Mallonee needed something to do. Mallonee had recently started his own business and had gone through a divorce. A way to spend some time outdoors and make some extra money seemed perfect. Claxton had already been officiating high school and college football games for more than a decade and had been… Read more »
Greg Marecek
A pioneer in the field of sports entertainment and broadcasting, Webster Groves native Greg Marecek founded Sports Network Incorporated, where he produced programs for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Big Eight Conference, the PGA TOUR, St. Louis University, among others. In 1993, he founded Spirit Sports and continued the tradition of broadcast excellence by producing… Read more »