Topic: Sports

The team has no grandmaster, no local coach, little funding to speak of and no formal recruitment. Yet the U of I team has made it to the Final Four of competitive chess in the U.S. for the second consecutive year. 

This hour on Focus, we’ll hear from five-time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair, who is representing the U.S. as a delegate this winter in Sochi, Russia and other central Illinois Olympic skaters.

Northwestern football players want to unionize, could they be able to?

During this half hour on Focus, former major league baseball pitcher Jamie Moyer tells Jeff Bossert about his new book, “Just Tell Me I Can’t.”

There’s no question the game of baseball has changed substantially over the course of the 20th century. This hour on Focus, Jeff Bossert talks with Daniel Gilbert about his new book that explores the way the labor history of the MLB has shaped the game.

This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Eastern Illinois Head Football Coach Dino Babers about in-state football rivalries and EIU’s success so far this season. Then, we’ll hear from Sheldon Turner who works with youth in Champaign.

This hour, we hear from University of Illinois wheelchair athlete Tatyana McFadden about her Chicago Marathon win this past weekend. Jim Meadows also talks with IntelliWheels’ Marissa Siebel and Josh George, who took third place in the men’s wheelchair division of the Chicago Marathon, about their Champaign based company that makes geared wheelchair wheels.

The problems concussions can cause athletes long term is a hot button issue right now in the world of professional sports… but what are high schools doing to keep their athletes safe?

This hour on Focus, we’ll listen back to an interview with former Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Doug Glanville.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “circus?” Probably not a college campus… During this hour on Focus, Lindsey Moon talks with Marcus Alouan of Gamma Phi Circus at Illinois State University about collegiate circus and circus summer camps.