With PBA greats Patrick Allen and Tom Baker on the same team at this weekend’s tournament at Wayne Lanes, the congratulations to the two on their win have started even before the first ball was rolled.

The Ninth Annual Decker Appraisal Pro-Am will kick-off Friday at Wayne Lanes in Waynesboro. Players from the Professional Bowlers Association will match their skills against local bowling enthusiasts.

NEW YORK — The Arena Football League canceled its 2009 season Monday pending an agreement with its players union. The decision throws the future of the 22-year-old league into question just days after it said next season had not been suspended.

SWAT has been on the move this year.

Danny Doring slips seamlessly in and out of his wrestling persona. So seamlessly, in fact, it’s tough to tell which is which.

SWOOPE – Stuarts Draft South’s Drew Gibbons was right where he wanted to be. He was able to take the same field as his idol, Pickle Nuckols of Buffalo Gap varsity team did on Friday night. He also took part in the senior team’s victory on Saturday morning during the Augusta County Quarterback Club’s Superbowl.

* U11B Augusta FC Fusion(R) 0, U11 SOCA Metro 2

*U11B Augusta FC Fusion(R) 1, U12B Lynchburg United White

Everybody in Staunton seems to know who Jarrett Hatcher and Chris Davis are.

In a politically correct world, Dan DiLucchio proudly says he is what he is — a midget wrestler.

Shenandoah Marlins Aquatic Club coach Ryan Sprang picked up the Coach of the Year award on Oct. 6 at the Virginia Swimming Banquet in Richmond for his success in the nine and 10 year-old age group. It was recognition for his work statewide by his peers.

The Staunton Waynesboro Augusta Tennis Association will be sponsoring a tennis tournament to raise money for the American Cancer Society at the new Ridgeview Park tennis courts at 6 p.m. on Oct. 9 and 10 in Waynesboro.

While it may look like your average run-of-the-mill 5K run, Saturday’s event at William Perry Elementary School is a little bit more than that.

Every four years a Summer Olympics rolls around and we all pause to watch the extraordinary displays of athleticism from some of the greatest athletes around the world.

AFTON — The Swannanoa Country Club held its yearly Golf Classic on Sunday afternoon in Afton.

The horses weren’t talking, but surely they had a tale to tell.

Trying to keep the Michael Phelps glow, NBC has agreed to televise next year’s World Swimming Championships from Rome, along with the 2009, 2010 and 2011 national championships.

Virginia’s LaShawn Merritt ran a personal best of 43.75 and blew away the field in the 400-meter Olympic finals Thursday.

Outplayed and overwhelmed for most of the night, the Americans got the only shot they needed.

Olympic champions, once again.

The U.S. women’s basketball team passed its first test of the Olympics, beating Russia in its closest contest in Beijing. Now it’s on to a fourth straight gold medal game.

Losing for the first time since 2000, the U.S. softball team was denied a chance for a fourth straight gold medal Thursday, beaten 3-1 by Japan in the sport’s last appearance in the Olympics for at least eight years — and maybe for good.

The first time Sheena Tosta ran the hurdles at Gar-Field High School, she stood on the carpet-covered floor inside the school.

In Rohullah Nikpai’s war-torn country, fighting is a part of life. Living in tough conditions is a given. Training for the Olympics is a luxury few can afford, or even imagine.

Usain Bolt. Insane speed.

The Jamaican wunderkind hurtled to his second world record and his second Olympic gold medal, finishing the 200-meter race Wednesday night in 19.30 seconds to break Michael Johnson’s 12-year-old mark.

Don’t doubt this U.S. men’s basketball team — and sure don’t challenge them, either.

Especially if it’s going to make Kobe Bryant flash his NBA MVP form.

About 1,000 people in Michael Phelps’ hometown celebrated with a “Phelpstival” four years ago when he brought back six gold medals and two bronzes from the Sydney Olympics.

BEIJING — Michael Phelps kept every swimsuit, every cap, every pair of goggles he wore during nine magical days at the Water Cube. Every memory will be savored, too, from goofing off with his U.S. teammates to bowing his head not one, not two, but eight times to receive a gold medal at the Beijing Games.
“There are moments I’ll never forget,” he said.

Imagine being a child with a disability and seeing all your friends running around playing or participating in community based youth sports.

BEIJING — Michael Phelps locked arms with his three teammates, as though they were in a football huddle calling a play, then hugged each one of them.

U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has achieved super-stardom after winning eight gold medals, breaking Mark Spitz’s 1972 record. He tied the mark on Saturday morning, Beijing time, winning the 100-meter butterfly by .01 second. The next day he won No. 8 in a relay.

BEIJING
The famous mustache is long gone, the jet black hair now gray. His record is about to crumble, and someone else has already taken his place as America’s greatest swimmer. The seven gold medals from another time gather dust in a California bank vault.