State Senator Gary Nodler (R-Joplin) is in the race to succeed Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) as the Representative from southwest Missouri. "Historically, progression from the Missouri State Senate to the Congress in the State of Missouri is fairly common," said Nodler in an interview with the Missourinet. "We have Sam Graves, we have Lacy Clay, we have Ike Skelton – all of whom served in the Missouri State Senate before moving onto the United State House of Representatives. And I don’t think any of those examples are people who left the Senate office to pursue Congress, so I wouldn’t expect to do that, either." Nodler ran for the seat once before, when he sought to replace Congressman Larry Taylor, for whom Nodler had worked. The Senator says things are different now than when he first ran for the seat in 1998. "I am a State Senator," said Nodler. "I’ve been an office holder and I have a record as a legislator that people can examine. One thing that’s very different – the first time I ran for Congress I had never held public office, I had never run for public office." This brings to five the number of announced candidates in the hunt for the Republican nomination. Also in the race are State Senator Jack Goodman (R-Mount Vernon), Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore, Springfield auctioneer Billy Long, and Ozarks Technical Community College instructor Jeff Wisdom. While taking nothing for granted, Nodler likes his chances of winning the contest. "I believe I am in a better position to win it than any of the candidates that have thus far presented themselves." Blunt is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond. 
Twin announcements came Thursday as Nodler made public his plans at events in Springfield and Joplin – the two largest cities in the 7th District. Nodler plans to remain in the Senate as he goes after this bid for a seat in the U.S. House.
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh interviews Gary Nodler (10:00 MP3)
State Senator Gary Nodler running for Congress
Tiger Softball Ready for WCWS
Coming off of a Super Regional upset over No. 2 seed UCLA, the 11th-ranked and unseeded Missouri softball team is prepared to return to the Women’s College World Series for the first time in 15 years. Entering the double elimination tournament with a program best 50-10 record, the Tigers are the only unseeded squad to receive a berth to the eight-team tournament and the sole representative of the Big 12 Conference.
Missouri will take on Arizona State in its first game of the week-long National Championship, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. Thursday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. ESPN will air the game live, with Pam Ward and Michele Smith calling the action from the booth and Holly Rowe on the sideline. The second of four games on the day, the meeting between the Tigers and Sun Devils is the 13th in program history, first in postseason competition and first since 2007. Arizona State owns a two game advantage over Missouri, 7-5, in a series that dates back to 1983.
The Tigers’ fourth trip in the 34 year history of the softball program to the WCWS, Missouri has finished no higher than fifth in its previous three outings. Missouri’s fifth place showing came in 1991 under the direction of then-Head Coach Jay Miller. That same year, the Tigers were awarded the Big Eight title as well as a regional title before advancing to the World Series in Oklahoma City. Missouri Head Coach Ehren Earleywine, in only his third year at the helm of the program, becomes the second fastest Tiger softball coach to take a team to the WCWS. 1983 coach Joyce Compton accomplished the feat in just her first year with the reigns, while Miller took the team in his fourth year as Head Coach.
Owning a 5-1 record in NCAA postseason play, and 8-1 mark since the start of the Big 12 Championships, May 9, Missouri has captured titles in each of its last three weeks of competition. On May 10, after outscoring their three opponents, 16-0, the Tigers won the program’s second Big 12 Championship title. One week later, Missouri was awarded the NCAA Regional crown, marking the first time ever that a Missouri softball team won back-to-back regional titles. The following week, the Tigers went to Los Angeles and battled with the second-seeded UCLA Bruins, a perennial powerhouse with 11 National Titles. Opening with a game one win, Missouri struggled in game two, but rebounded with a 9-1 victory in five innings to lay claim to Missouri’s first ever NCAA Super Regional title. Missouri is 25-19 in NCAA postseason competition and 8-3 in the last two seasons alone.
Since beginning their run for a National Title May 15, at the NCAA Regional held in Columbia, the Tiger pitching staff has managed a 1.58 ERA with its three hurlers allowing a mere nine earned runs in 40 innings of play. NCAA opponents are averaging just .189 against Missouri while the Tiger bats are hitting at a .265 clip. Senior Lindsey Ubrun owns the squad’s best average at .500, one of three Missouri players hitting over .400 and one of five to hit above .300. Missouri’s aggressiveness on the diamond has accounted for six postseason home runs, two by redshirt junior Gina Schneider, eight stolen bases, four by sophomore Shana White, and a .961 fielding percentage. Missouri has come on strong for postseason play and looks to continue its momentum into the 28th annual WCWS.
Royals Drop Series Finale
Without manager Trey Hilman, the Kansas City Royals fell to the Detroit Tigers 8-3 at Kauffman Stadium Wednesday. Hillman could not manage the game after Major League Baseball suspended him for one game for inappropriate actions in an argument with umpire Paul Emmel in Monday’s game and ordered him to serve the penalty immediately. Bench coach John Gibbons took over for the day.
Hillman was ejected for comments from the dugout after Emmel called out Willie Bloomquist on strikes. Hillman went onto the field and a face-to-face confrontation went on until Hillman inadvertently spit in Emmel’s eye, causing the umpire to back away. Crew chief Bill Hohn finally intervened and Hillman left the field.
As for the game, a rough outing for KC starter Kyle Davies, allowing eight runs, five earned, in less than six innings to fall to 2-and-4. Mark Teahen was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and went deep in the loss. Billy Butler and Luis Hernandez drove in the other runs for the Royals, who dropped two of three in the series to the first place team in the AL Central.
The Royals, who have lost six of their last eight games, take Thursday off before hosting division rival Chicago for a weekend series starting Friday night..
Cardinals Back Atop NL Central
The St. Louis Cardinals won for the seventh time in the last nine games, taking the finale of a three game series from the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 at Miller Park Wednesday. With the win, the Cards moved a game ahead of the Brewers atop of the NL Central.
Jason LaRue’s single in the top of the sixth inning that plated Nick Stavinoha proved to be the game winner. Stavinoha drove in the other St. Louis runs as the team won the last two contests in the three-game set. Joe Thurston had two of the Cards’ seven hits. Todd Wellemeyer allowed two runs on six hits and struck our five over five plus innings. Ryan Franklin recorded the last four outs to pick up his 12th save of the season.
The Cardinals take Thursday off before heading west to start a series with the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
Missouri’s Anderson to Help USA Basketball
USA Basketball announced its six court coaches for the Men’s National Team Trials this summer and University of Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson has been tabbed to help lead the training for the 2009 USA U19 World Championship and 2009 USA World University Games teams.
USA Trials will take place June 16-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the six court coaches will work with approximately 40 athletes competing for spots on those U19 World Championship and World University Games clubs.
Anderson will join John Beilein (Michigan), Johnny Estelle (Navarro College), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Alan Magnani (Iowa Wesleyan College) and Herb Sendek (Arizona State University) as court coaches during the three-day event.
"This is certainly a great opportunity to get involved with USA Basketball," Anderson said. "For anyone affiliated with basketball here in the United States, it’s a dream to represent your country and help your national program."
The 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men will be held July 2-12 in Auckland, New Zealand, featuring 16 national teams comprised of athletes 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1990). Included in the field of nations are: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain, Syria and the USA.
Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon will serve as head coach of the USA’s U19 club.
The World University Games is a multi-sport competition organized by the International University Sports Federation and is held every two years. The 2009 men’s basketball competition will take place July 2-12 in Belgrade, Serbia. Participants must be between 17 and 24 years old and either a current college student or have attended a college or university within the past year.
Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan will be head coach of the 2009 World University Games Team.
Anderson is coming off a record-breaking season in which he directed Mizzou to a 31-7 record, a Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship and a berth into the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. The 31 wins established a new school record and Missouri was one of the nation’s most fundamentally sound clubs in 2008-09, as it ranked #1 nationally in assists per game (18.4), #2 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.56-to-1) and #2 in steals. Missouri’s also averaged just 11.8 turnovers pre game last season, which is the fewest in school history.
