Hochman: 10 最新杏吧原创 athletes who impacted (and even changed!) sports history
Curt Flood, pictured in his rookie season, signs autographs for young fans before a game in 1958.
Post-Dispatch photo
The 12-year-old loved the Philadelphia Phillies聽鈥 and this was their year. Had to be! The Phils led the National League by 6 1/2 games with 15 to play.
鈥淵eah, so the Cardinals very vividly came into my world in 1964,鈥 said the acclaimed author and Washington University professor Dr. Gerald Early, who has a star on the 最新杏吧原创 Walk of Fame.
Curt Flood鈥檚 paved the way for modern-day free agency in not only baseball, but all American professional sports. Flood believed contracts that bound a player to one team were unfair and took his argument to the . Flood was unsuccessful but inspired a new wave of athletes to push for鈥攁nd win鈥攆ree-agency rights.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee claps with kids in the audience as they sing a song on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, at the Wilkinson Early Childhood Center in 最新杏吧原创. Joyner-Kersee visited the school to read from her new children's book, "Jackie Joyner-Kersee Running for the Gold: Connecting Kids to Dreams."聽
Mark McGwire points skyward after hitting his final home run of the year, No. 70, in the seventh inning of the game on Sept. 27, 1998, against Montreal at Busch Stadium.聽
View life in 最新杏吧原创 through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.
Post-Dispatch photographers
Hochman: During RAF 10 in STL, Mizzou legend Keegan O鈥橳oole will wrestle a past hero
Before wrestler Keegan O鈥橳oole won the national championship for Mizzou聽鈥 and yet again the next year聽鈥 he was a 15-year-old boy in the heartland (literally: Hartland, Wisc.), watching an Olympic great fall.
Entering the 2016 Olympics, Jordan Burroughs was a U.S. wrestling icon, a reigning gold medalist. But Burroughs lost to a fellow named Bekzod Abdurakhmonov.
Worthy: Mizzou's Dennis Gates' job is simply 'to win a national championship. That's it.'
I walked away from my talk with Missouri men鈥檚 basketball coach Dennis Gates this week in Creve Coeur feeling like his message was clear, though not exactly what I鈥檇 anticipated.
Since Gates has completed a four-year cycle at the helm in Columbia, it seemed almost natural to reflect on how Mizzou has progressed.
Missouri head coach Dennis Gates watches the action on the court in the first half against Miami in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament at Enterprise Center in 最新杏吧原创 on Friday, March 20, 2026.
How would NCAA's proposed '5-in-5' eligibility rules change affect Mizzou?
COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 The concept of athlete eligibility in college sports is close to changing, and its effects on schools like Missouri could be interesting.
The NCAA continues to move closer to adopting a 鈥渇ive-in-five鈥 model for athlete eligibility that would ditch the longstanding four-year set of rules that allows athletes to preserve precious years of eligibility for redshirts, medical waivers and through litigation.
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We're talking basketball scheduling, nonconference tournaments and Hearnes Center memories in this edition of our weekly Mizzou Q&A. As always, you can submit questions at any time for these Thursday pieces using our simple 24/7 form.
Mizzou football to play at least 4 night games, 3 morning games in 2026
COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Missouri football will play at least four聽primetime games in 2026, with three聽of its home contests set for morning kickoffs.
On Wednesday, the Southeastern Conference announced broadcast windows for its slate of league games, marking three聽of the Tigers' games as "flex" matchups that could be played in afternoon or night slots.
Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz speaks with the media on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, during the Southeastern Conference spring meetings in Destin, Florida. (Courtesy SEC)
