Metro Sports Report

A whole new ballgame

The 2012 high school baseball season starts Monday afternoon with the annual Vrbicek Metro Baseball Tournament, not only a great tribute to a great man that I was lucky enough to know, but a sensational way to look at all of the Metro's baseball squads.

The season promises to be a interesting one, as always, and Don Taylor did a great job with his preview stories that you can read online here at the MSR website. Instead of rehashing what Don wrote about each team, I wanted to paint the picture with a much broader stoke of the brush, and discuss what I think will be the biggest story by far of the upcoming spring and summer.

Hogg running straight to Harvard

Cedar Rapids Washington will have a Harvard man on its team for the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines this week.

Robert Hogg, a superior student and one of the top half-milers in Iowa, will enroll at Harvard University this summer as a member of their cross country and track squads.

He visited the Ivy League school in Massachusetts this spring and fell in love with the historic college.

Heart problem stalls Teply's shot at NFL

Jay Teply impressed the Minnesota Vikings at a free-agent camp earlier this month and was going to be offered a contract, but first he had to pass a routine physical exam before the Vikings could sign him to an NFL deal.

That's where the problem started.

The team doctor in Minneapolis discovered that Teply has an irregular heartbeat, enough of a problem that the Vikings withdrew their offer. Teply, a 6-foot-7, 325-pound offensive lineman from Cedar Rapids, was stunned.

First the Vikings had told him on Sunday, May 6 that they were going to offer a contract, and then on Monday, May 7 he was told he had a heart problem and they couldn't sign him to a pro deal.

Olberding's ace helps Saints win title

Xavier High School junior Lisa Olberding had two reasons to celebrate at Ellis Park Golf Course Monday afternoon.

Olberding collected the first hole-in-one of her golfing career and the Saints topped Linn-Mar for the team championship at the 2012 Kennedy Invitational.

Olberding used a pitching wedge to ace the 98-yard 14th hole.