Local News

Zach Johnson wins BMW Championship

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Zach Johnson shot a 6-under par 65 in the final round Monday to win the BMW Championship by two strokes at Conway Farms and earned a top five seed in next week's TOUR Championship.

Johnson played the final 31 holes without a bogey. He rolled in birdie putts on the 16th and 17th holes to take command of the tournament, the third leg of the FedEx Cup championship playoff series on the PGA Tour.

The win was Johnson's first of the season and his first career win in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Johnson moved up to a No.4 seed for the TOUR Championship, which features the top 30 players in FedEx Cup points. A win at the TOUR Championship would give him the FedEx Cup championship, which carries with it a $10 million bonus.

Read more...

Football prevues - Sept. 13

The upstarts take on the established powers in the third week of the prep football season.

Prairie takes on No.1 Xavier for the third time in the past 12 months Friday night.

Undefeated Kennedy travels to No.6 Iowa City West.

And a Washington team that started the season with games against Kennedy and West, gets no breather - traveling to the UNI-Dome for a date with No.2 Cedar Falls.

Read more...

Football prevues - Sept. 6

The second week of the prep football season brings more crossover matches in the Mississippi Valley Conference and one huge non-district encounter for the Marion Indians.

Four games take place on Metro fields, highlighted by Kennedy's trip to Prairie. A year ago these teams engaged in a highly entertaining shootout that showcased Prairie's Demetrius Harper (13 catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and a 90-yard kickoff return for a score) and Kennedy's Alex Hillyer (214 yards rushing and two TDS). Those guys are gone, however, now teammates at Iowa Western Community College.

This appears to be a more traditional, smash-mouth matchup. And both teams have brawn in the lines, making for an interesting tilt.

Elsewhere in he Metro, Jefferson travels to Xavier, Dubuque Senior is at Linn-Mar and Washington hosts Iowa City West at Kingston Stadium.

Marion travels to Decorah to take on the defending state champion Vikings, who throttled the Indians 35-0 a year ago.

Read more...

MSR Photo Gallery adopts 24-hour rule

The Metro Sports Report has adopted a new system to help readers get the pictures they'd like to order from the Photo Gallery even faster than before.

The Metro Sports Report has embraced a new "24 hour rule," which means the company is committed to posting pictures on the Photo Gallery within 24 hours of an event taking place. In most cases, the pictures will be posted even faster than that.

The Metro Sports Report began the Photo Gallery in September 2011 and has sold 3,759 pictures since then (through Aug. 31, 2013). The Photo Gallery has quickly become an important part of the website.

"We know our readers enjoy our pictures from the many favorable comments we've received," said MSR President Jim Ecker. "We also know people want to order their favorite pictures as quickly as possible, which is why we've adopted the new '24-hour rule' to accelerate the process.

"Readers do not want to wait several days to see our pictures and order them. We agree."

Margaret O'Banion is the director of the Photo Gallery for the Metro Sports Report, as well as one of the company's top photographers. She will coordinate the postings of all pictures.

Read more...