POPLAR BLUFF — The Mineral Area Cardinals started their official season this week, and on Friday they picked up their first ‘W’ with a 79-59 win over the Southeastern Illinois Falcons in the first round of the Three Rivers’ “Tournament of Champions”.

NEW YORK (AP) — Crowds roared, church bells rang and streams of paper rained down on Broadway as the New York Yankees celebrated their 27th championship Friday in a way only this city can, with a parade up the Canyon of Heroes.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Jeff Gordon is suddenly having all kind of success at Texas Motor Speedway, a track where he had never won until earlier this season.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team has defeated division II Truman State 96-33 in its first exhibition game at Mizzou Arena.

SHANGHAI (AP) — The gallery kept growing until it stretched along all 603 yards of the eighth hole at Sheshan International. It took a little longer before Tiger Woods gave them what they came to see Friday in the HSBC Champions.

After the Central and Potosi football game which was played in very muddy conditions for the District championship, several of the seniors from both teams (Central in white and Potosi in purple) posed for a photo showing the camaraderie of fellow athletes who leave it on the field. Several of the players have played against or with each other ever since MAFL. From left to right are: Back Row - Brandon Bourbon, Tyler Friend, Dillon Cordia, Chris Kelly and Jordan Pace. Front Row - Brad Bales, Ryan Calvird, Dylan Wyrick and Hunter Belfield.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — When they last met, Alabama vs. LSU was all about Nick Saban coaching against his former team.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — After hobbling on a sprained right ankle for three weeks, Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert is feeling a lot better.

FARMINGTON — A pinpoint free kick by junior Drew Fuemmeler from 30 yards out brought the Farmington soccer team within striking distance of its first state-playoff appearance in school history on Thursday night.

POTOSI — The Potosi football team captured the MAFC White Division title during a perfect regular season, and has been rewarded with six offensive and six defensive First Team selections by the league coaches.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Calgary Flames don’t mind playing a little longer to get a win.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Marc Bulger has thrown just three touchdown passes and has a passer rating of 68.2 for the scuffling St. Louis Rams.

STE. GENEVIEVE — They could have stopped the game after three-and-a-half minutes, and the outcome would have been the same as the entire 48-minutes which was eventually played. The Valle Warriors had already scored three touchdowns and they would go on to win their Regional game with the Hayti Indians by a score of 69-18.

POTOSI — Touchdowns on seven straight first-half possessions helped the unbeaten Potosi football team notch its first state-playoff victory since 1992 on Wednesday night.

Earlier this week, I wrote an article about the results of the District Cross Country Meet held at Farmington, and  I was wrong in reporting the runners who qualified for the State Meet were the two top teams along with the first 15 runners from the rest of the field. The actual ruling is that only the first 15 runners placing in the meet qualify for State, regardless if any of those 15 were on the first or second place teams.

CARTERVILLE, Ill. — The Mineral Area College women’s basketball team erased a nine-point halftime deficit, and briefly surged ahead down the stretch of its season opener on Wednesday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball’s best again.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 has plenty of elite defensive linemen — Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick and Texas’ Sergio Kindle to name a few. It may be time to add Missouri freshman Aldon Smith to the list.

FARMINGTON — A confident Farmington soccer team penetrated a suspect Perryville defense with relative ease on Tuesday night, earning a repeated barrage of point-blank scoring chances against Pirates keeper Cody Call.

NEW YORK (AP) — Andy Pettitte leaned forward in his chair and recounted a recent chat he had with Derek Jeter as soon as they realized what was next in this World Series.

CARTERVILLE, Ill. — Jesse Perry scored 21 points and Lazeric Jones added 19 on Tuesday night, leading John A. Logan past Mineral Area College 77-74 in the basketball season opener for both teams.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri is coming off a postseason run that ended one game shy of the Final Four and lost its top two scorers. Expectations are down, right?

SHANGHAI (AP) — The field for a World Golf Championship is never as strong when Americans require a passport.

FARMINGTON — The Farmington soccer team attempted 11 corner kicks and 25 total shots with constant pressure in the offensive zone, and achieved the first 20-win season in program history on Monday night.

District meets for high school cross country were held across the state on Saturday and the area high schools fared very well. Saga Barzowski of Arcadia Valley and Jacob Grass of Valle won their respective meets to join Potosi’s Sarah Jacobsen as district champions (See Sunday’s Daily Journal for results of the Class 3 District 1 meet held at Farmington).

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As Steven Jackson rambled into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:38 to go, St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo felt no sense of elation.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Put those parade plans on hold, New York. The Phillies are coming back.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — NASCAR will point to the 58 lead changes among 26 drivers as proof of a good race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Luke Harangody should get used to being on top of lists.

DETROIT (AP) — The St. Louis Rams beat the Detroit Lions in each phase to snap their 17-game losing streak.