With back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference championships and two straight trips to the FCS playoffs in its rear view mirror, Illinois State’s football team begins its journey for a third title and another to trip to the FCS national championship game when the Redbirds begin fall training camp Sunday at Hancock Stadium.… MORE
The Illinois High School Association is preparing for another year of sports across all levels, but this year they’ll be doing so with a new member on its staff.… MORE
The Normal CornBelters used a big fourth inning on the way to their sixth straight victory, 11-5 over the Joliet Slammers on Wednesday afternoon at Silver Cross Field.… MORE
The Illinois State men’s basketball team will play games against at least five 2016 Division I postseason qualifiers, including three NCAA Tournament teams, and five opponents who won 20 or more games last season as part of the Redbirds’ 2016-17 non-conference schedule.… MORE
Coming off a second-straight share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and an appearance in the FCS playoffs for the third time in the past four years, the Illinois State football team was picked to finish fourth in the 2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason poll, announced Tuesday by the league office.… MORE
The Illinois State women’s basketball team is slated to play an 11-game nonconference schedule, it was announced Monday by head coach Barb Smith. … MORE
Coming off back-to-back shares of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and playoff appearances, a trio of three Illinois State football standouts have earned a spot on the 2016 STATS FCS Preseason All-America Team announced Monday. … MORE
The Normal CornBelters won their fourth straight game and completed a season series six-game sweep of the Lake Erie Crushers with a 3-1 victory on Sunday at the Corn Crib.… MORE
The Normal CornBelters scored all of their tallies on four home runs as they defeated the Lake Erie Crushers 8-2 on Friday night at the Corn Crib.… MORE
The Illinois Wesleyan men’s basketball team begins practice on Friday, July 29, in preparation for a series of three exhibition games during an eight-day stay in Spain from August 11-20.… MORE
By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…