Struck Strikes Out : Questions desperately needing answers (02/22/08)
What gives, Strucker? My wife has recently lost a lot of weight, started going to the gym to work out five days a week, highlighted her hair, bought a bunch of new clothes including many sexy bras and panties, keeps buying more and more beauty supplies, jewelry, and fancy makeup, and spends a whole lot of time online and on her cell phone visiting with a male co-worker. ...

Struck Strikes Out :Struggling with 'When it's over' (02/19/08)
Sometimes, the striking beauty of sports can be as gut-wrenching as it can be celebratory, such as represented by the photo (right) accompanying my column today. Snapped by photographer Reta Todd, whose quality work has enhanced these sports pages this school year and heightened our presence in the River Valley and Galva-Holstein areas, the poignant photo encapsulates the heart and soul, and the ups and downs of athletic competition...

Struck Strikes Out: Mark the Beer Guy (11/07/07)
For many Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings fans, Mark the Beer Guy is one noticeable, cool cat - especially on really hot game days when a cold brewski soothes the palate. The fact that self-named Mark the Beer Guy also entertains, titillates, and livens up the MetroDome crowds with his theatrics, sense of humor, and incomparable pouring skills only adds to the experience...

Struck Strikes Out: A finger in the referees' dike (10/15/07)
In all my years of doing this stuff, I've never experienced what happened at the Cherokee Braves football game at Orange City Unity Christian Friday night Oct. 5.. The Class 2A, District 1 encounter was scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. at the lovely Korver Field on the lovely Northwestern College campus in lovely, Dutch, Orange City...

Struck Strikes Out: Wanna know me? Well, do ya punk? (09/26/07)
I've been knocked around pretty good by critics of my recent column about Michael Vick and pit bulls that opined that Vick's alleged dog fighting, although terrible, is not any worse than what society does to many animals for fishing, hunting, trapping, and dining pleasures...

Struck Strikes Out: Free Michael Vick or jail us all (09/04/07)
Come on, people, they're just freakin' pit bulls. Of course I'm speaking about National Football League quarterback Michael Vick and the deep doo-doo he's in for participating in dog fighting, dog killing, and gambling. Of course dog fighting and dog killing are nefarious, cruel, and inhumane activities. We don't need that in society...

Struck Strikes Out: The buzz about high school softball (08/29/07)
She was so naive that she once wore a bee keeper's suit to a Sting concert. When I told her we were going to see the movie "Cool Hand Luke," she asked me if I thought she would need her mittens. And then there's the time I invited her over for brats and she brought the DHS and a child therapist with her...

Struck Strikes Out: Don't shoot old Blue (08/21/07)
While we're still all abuzz over the Cherokee Braves baseball team winning the Class 2A State Championship last week in Des Moines, and how they showed such true class and dignity throughout their march to the title, let me tell you about another model of class and dignity...

Struck Strikes Out: Hey, Blue! Losing your cool not cool (08/21/07)
I've been hesitating addressing a recent incident that ocurred during the Cherokee Braves march to their third State Baseball Championships at Principal Park in Des Moines that began today. In a second-round Class 2A District game played in Cherokee featuring the Braves and Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto, a situation developed that I've certainly never witnessed in my 50 years of playing, coaching, watching, reporting, and photographing baseball games...

Struck Strikes Out: State Champs! How sweet the sound (08/06/07)
As if the Cherokee Braves winning the Class 2A State Baseball Championship for the first time in school history isn't enough, we'd be remiss if we didn't all stand back to cherish the classy, stylish way in which they did it. From head coach Scott Koch and assistants Steve Sonka and Jared Koch and their team, to athletic director Neil Phipps and the faithful Cherokee Athletic Boosters, to the hundreds of loyal fans comprising the huge crowds that followed the Braves all season, we say, nobody could possibly have done it better.. ...

Struck Strikes Out: Baseball Braves gain new fans (07/03/07)
Once again, the character, class, and caring of a Cherokee Washington High athletic team, its coaches, and fans has come to the fore. Without going into a lot of detail, let's just say "our" Braves have greatly impressed the parents of a Hull Western Christian baseball player who was injured on a courageous attempt at a fly ball in Cherokee's recent baseball game in Hull...

Struck Strikes Out: 50 ways to heave your putter (06/27/07)
For those of you crazy enough to play the crazy game of golf, I've got news for you - golf after age 50 can be one bittersweet pill to swallow because the peaks and valleys are lower, and the scores ain't. Please consider with me the good and bad ups and downs of Golf After Age 50:...

Struck Strikes Out:Toughest part of this job is... (06/11/07)
All good things must end, they say. Autumn leaves must fall... Sigh. It was with deep regret and sadness a few weeks ago when I learned that Cherokee Washington High girls basketball and volleyball coach Curt Klaahsen was leaving Cherokee to accept a lucrative job offer in Mason City...

Struck Strikes Out:Toughest part of this job is... (06/06/07)
All good things must end, they say. Autumn leaves must fall... Sigh. It was with deep regret and sadness a few weeks ago when I learned that Cherokee Washington High girls basketball and volleyball coach Curt Klaahsen was leaving Cherokee to accept a lucrative job offer in Mason City...

Struck Strikes Out: We must celebrate the victor (05/03/07)
Every track and field season I'm teased and sometimes chastised by parents and fans for favoring a certain athlete or athletes, or a certain school or schools. The alleged favoritism usually consists of the reader coming to the conclusion that I run too many photos, or write too much about the athlete(s) or school(s) in question in comparison with all the other athletes and schools we cover...

Struck Strikes Out: He can't say that, did he? (04/19/07)
It's a crying shame most of the wimpy national media and all of the naive political correct zealots out there are not correlating the sophomoric and stupid racist/sexist remarks made by white radio host Don Imus with those of the blundering black woman who falsely and publicly called three white, innocent Duke lacrosse players "rapists."...

Struck Strikes Out: Head up, Mac, your dues are paid (11/16/06)
Although I can't claim to be a longtime friend because we ran in quite different circles, suffice it to say that I'm a proud acquaintance of Iowa State Cyclone football coach Dan McCarney. No, we're not bosom buddies, but if our paths ever crossed (and they have on more than a few occasions), he would say, "Hey there, Struck," and I would respond "How's it going, Mac?"...

Struck Strikes Out: Dreckman earns off-season treat (11/09/06)

Struck Strikes Out: No turning back the time (03/24/06)
No turning back the time I realize stuff happens and life goes on, but I was struck with a double whammy recently when I learned that two solid gold, veteran coaches from the same school were hanging up the whistles. Well-decorated Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn coaches Dave Clayberg (football) and Steve Utesch (wrestling) have tendered their resignations...

Struck Strikes Out: 'It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...' (03/24/06)
'It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...' I credit my old baby-sitting buddy, the late Fred (Mr.) Rogers, the human answer to Valium and sadly gone too soon, for the following words of wisdom: "Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning."...

Struck Strikes Out: Mankind 20 points closer (03/06/06)
The sports world, and maybe even the whole world, is abuzz over the miraculous high school basketball game that played out in Upstate New York last week. The story concerns an autistic high school senior boy who was cut from the basketball team in middle school and had since served as basketball manager for the JV and varsity boys teams...

Struck Strikes Out: Your test, my test, Artest (01/31/06)
If anyone out there thinks Ron Artest, the National Basketball Association's most reviled player, won't shatter the psyche and future of his new team, the Sacramento Kings, I've got a blow-up doll to sell you that looks, smells, feels, purrs and kisses exactly like Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova combined...

Struck Strikes Out: Giving thanks for 'The Mitt' (11/29/05)
Joey, my friend, this one's for you. I would guess each and every one of us has at least one thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Undoubtedly, most of us have many, many things to be thankful for. Speaking of such "thanks," this year I'm going to re-run a column I wrote more than 20 years ago about the grief of losing my beloved baseball glove and then my eternal thanksgiving for having it returned several days later...

Struck Strikes Out: There for the asking (11/21/05)
Oh-oh. The pertinent questions are building up and it's been quite a long while since the last, "What Gives, Strucker?" column. Here goes... What gives, Strucker? - In your estimation, which college football conference is the toughest in the nation?...