Growing up as a child in Southwest Missouri, I will never forget my summers helping Dad and Grandpa working on the farm. One of the things I remember most about these years, (other than the hard work and long days), is spending the evenings listening to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon on the radio, giving play by play of my favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals!

My first memory was when I was 8 years old, and having the opportunity to actually watch the Cards finish off the Brewers in the 1982 World Series. Back then we didn't have 150 sports channels to choose from like we do now! The only thing better than this moment, when it comes to sports anyway, happened 26 years later. The Cardinals won the 2006 World Series! I got to celebrate the same experience all over again, but this time, I got to do it with my 8 year old son. Talk about goosebumps! They say guys aren't supposed to cry, but I have to admit that a few joyful tears were shed that night!

As you can see I am a loyal and passionate fan, but I'm not alone. My wife and 2 sons are also sports junkies. Not only do we all love to watch and cheer for our favorite teams, we are very involved in sports ourselves and always have been. My wife was a gymnast as a child and was an all-state volleyball player in high school, and I was very successful at baseball and basketball in school. These days we still participate in sports, but we spend a lot of time practicing with our boys, and passing our knowledge on to them. Our 10 year old is currently on a traveling baseball team, and he also loves to play basketball and run cross county and track. As for our 2 year old, we can already see a lot of potential in him. He thinks he can do everything his big brother does! As you can see, sports is a big part of our life, and we love it!

Even though baseball is the true passion in our family, we love watching and cheering for other sports as well. We are big Mizzou Tiger fans. We have always followed the Mizzou basketball team, and while some might call us fair-weathered fans, the last few years of Mizzou football have been very exciting. Especially this year. We are so pumped about the 4th ranked Mizzou Football Tigers!

I will never claim to be an expert about anything, but I love to talk about anything that has to do with sports. I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions about your favorite teams. Especially if they are from the Midwest. I will give you my thoughts about any team. Even the lowly Cubs!