Two weeks after visiting the New York Stock Exchange with the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team and ringing The Closing Bell, Bobby Douglas was playing a game of “Beat the Streets” back in the Midwest. “Listen to the instruction,” he implored youngsters during a warm-up session to launch a two-day wrestling clinic Friday at Shepard High School in Palos Heights. Douglas is a 70-year-old two-time former Olympian (1964, 1968), World silver and bronze wrestling medalist and a two-time former Olympic wrestling coach (1992, 2004). He still is fit as a fiddle. And he is preparing himself these days to …

Marist was down to its last six outs. The RedHawks trailed Sandburg 5-3 after the Eagles erupted for a five-spot in the top of the sixth inning in Friday’s Class 4A softball sectional semifinal in Orland Park. After Sandburg’s Sarah Herold smacked a three-run homer off the scoreboard in left field, there was every reason for gloom and doom to spread like wildfire in the Marist dugout. Heck, Herold hit the ball so hard she momentarily knocked out the power on the scoreboard. You’d think the power in the RedHawks’ bats might have been drained, too. Never happened. Two reasons: Denise Bromberek’…

Running up the score is a dirty subject no one in sports wants to talk much about, particularly not when it involves high school sports and accusations of poor sportsmanship on the part of coaches and/or players. The subject reared its ugly head on Patch message boards following Lincoln-Way East’s 45-9 girls basketball victory over district rival Lincoln-Way Central on Tuesday. “Shame on you,” is how one commenter chose to berate East’s coach. I say cheap shot. I’m sure there are occasions when coaches and/or players attempt to run up the score on opponents. It’s human nature to hold a grudge…

From now on, I will be prepared when somebody stops me and asks, “Why would anyone in his right mind play small college football?” My answer: St. Xavier University. The Cougars capped a stirring run to the NAIA national championship with a 24-20 victory over Carroll (Mont.) on Saturday at Barron Stadium in Rome, Ga. The game was a classic—just like St. Xavier’s season—featuring enough back-and-forth drama and late-game heroics to fill a scrapbook with memories that will last a lifetime. And that’s what small-college football is all about—making memories with friends and classmates, sharing in…

In the hours—then minutes—before kickoff, St. Xavier football coach Mike Feminis will not waiver his tried and true routine, at least not much. Feminis will call on his captains to speak in a team meeting at the hotel before St. Xavier takes the field to face Carroll (Mont.) in Saturday’s NAIA national championship football game (3:30 CST, CBS Sports Network). Then, ‘Fem’ will open the floor for other players and his assistants to say a few words. Finally, he will finish up with his own thoughts, those thoughts ranging from paying attention to assignment detail and execution of the Cougars’ …

In the sports world, there is a tendency for all of us to get caught up in hero worship. The big names and big stars are people all of us follow, if only to satisfy our celebrity curiosity craving. What does Bulls guard Derrick Rose think about getting back to work now that the NBA labor dispute has been settled? How much money did he lose during the strike? Who does a better touchdown dance? Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers? Or the two hopelessly out-of-touch folks in the television insurance company ad? You know the ones: they mimic Rodgers’ championship belt routine by working their hands…

Brace yourself college football fans for the Game of the Century, Part II. No, I’m not talking about a potential rematch of Alabama vs. LSU for the Division I national championship, though the SEC rivals remain in line for the game’s next great apocalyptic adventure. Rather, I’m referring to a semifinal matchup of St. Xavier vs. Marian as the cataclysmic battle of small-school college football powerhouses. The two will be meeting for the second time this season, a trip to the nationally televised NAIA championship game Dec. 17 in Rome, Ga., resting in the balance. Kickoff is at noon (CST) …

An old friend of mine, Edgy Tim O’Halloran, noted recently in his column for the Chicago Tribune how impossible it is to select a high school football Player of the Year and a Coach of the Year. To be sure, this is a task that falls under the category of inexact science. Do you side with the best player? Or the best player on the most successful team? And do you automatically pick the winningest coach? Or do you like the coach who turned a sleeping giant into a winner? Tough questions. No right or wrong answers, either. After boiling my list of candidates down to five, I picked Lincoln-Way …

If you’ve ever wondered why so many high schools offer ‘B’ team sports competition, let me point you in the direction of a recent column by the SouthtownStar’s Tony Baranek and the story of Marist senior volleyball standout Kirsten Ivkovic. Baranek recounts the tale of how Ivkovic made a meteoric rise from a freshman ‘B’ team player to a varsity leader during her career with the Redhawks. Let me add a few thoughts of my own here to help you fully grasp Ivkovic’s accomplishment. At 5-11, she played on the front line for Marist and finished a remarkable season as the Redhawks’ team leader in …

When the news broke about former Palos Heights resident and Sandburg cross country standout Lukas Verzbicas’ decision to leave the University of Oregon midway through his freshman year, I was concerned. My concerns were alleviated when I learned Verzbicas will enroll at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs as he turns from a career in distance running to the pursuit of his dream of making the U.S. Olympic triathlon team. Stay in school. The message is one worth repeating to young men and women, no matter how gifted they might be in endeavors outside the classroom. Think of it like this…