In 2012 while working as the sports editor of the Edwardsville Intelligencer, a small community newspaper in southern Illinois, I received a great privilege. I got a call to spend the day hanging around St. Louis Cardinals legend Ozzie Smith and getting a one-on-one interview with him.

It’s one of the proudest moments of my sportswriting career and then I stuck my foot in mouth. I said something that the Wizard took as a slight on his defense and offended him.

So did he chew me out? Did he end the interview? Listen to this special episode to find out.

Fresh out of high school in the summer of 1994, I just wanted to enjoy a weekend at the lake with a few beers while showing off my new truck. Enter, Reedy, some grape Mad Dog 20/20 and a prank that went totally wrong and it left my friends and I in a desperate situation.

With physical damage to that new truck, we had to formulate a fib that could hide the total truth from my father and keep us out of further trouble.

So, did it work? Did we keep out of trouble, or did my dad see straight through the ruse? Listen to find out.

And if you're enjoying the crazy stories about Reedy and I growing up in the Midwest in the 80s, 90s and 00s, now you can get them in not one - but two - glossy, Gen X nostalgic magazines that look like they came straight off of a store shelf in the 1990s. The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 1 and 2 both have five short stories about Midwest living as teenagers and young men in the 80s, 90s and 00s, plus extra stories, behind-the-scenes content and bonus Gen X nostalgia. Click the links below to get your copies today!

Bill Roseberry Stories come from a time before social media, viral videos and instant information. It's personal narrative storytelling about life and friendship.

Get The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 1 - https://bill-roseberry-stories.kit.com/3cdd2e3f61

Get The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 2 - https://bill-roseberry-stories.kit.com/df30402529

Today would have been Jason Reedy's 51st birthday. It's the second birthday he's celebrated in heaven. He passed unexpectedly from a heart attack on Jan. 24, 2025.

To celebrate him today we get the opportunity to hear his voice. For those of us that knew and loved him it may get emotional. For those of you who have met him through the stories, it gives you an opportunity to meet a piece of him and understand his boisterous and charismatic personality a little better.

I'm also releasing The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 2 today, so be on the lookout for that. There's even more Gen X nostalgia in the edition of the collectible series than there was in Vol. 1. It's got that same feel too, like it came straight off of a store shelf in the 1990s. It's rad, it's gnarly, so don't be bogus, pick yours up right away!

And make sure to hit like and subscribe so you can keep up with the nostalgic storytelling from before social media, viral videos and incessant cell phone scrolling, right here at Bill Roseberry Stories!

The pump of a gun in the dark is a sound you don't forget. Neither is realizing it is pointed straight at you.

Rewind a few hours: it's the summer of '94, and Reedy, our buddy, and I are unsupervised teenagers at a lake cabin, and looking to smuggle contraband beer back to camp inside three plastic Super Soakers. It should've been a clean bootlegging run. Instead, we had a fishtailing Mustang escape, a hammered stranger screaming into the dark about his "little red pony," and a furious old man who did NOT appreciate teenagers yelling outside his house at midnight, enough to grab a gun over it.

Did we make it out? Did we still get the beer? Hit play to find out.

This is Bill Roseberry Stories — fact and fiction from a time before social media and cell phone scrolling. No photos, no group chat, no proof any of it happened except the story we told the next morning.

👉 What's the closest call you ever had doing something dumb as a teenager? Hit reply and tell me, I'll read every one.

📖 Want more of Reedy? The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 1 is five Gen X short stories in a glossy magazine that looks like it walked straight off a 90s store shelf, plus behind-the-scenes extras. Grab it at the link below. And Vol. 2 is coming very soon!

Link: The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 1 - https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3333299?__r=8878383

The Tough Guy Picked the Wrong Person

It was 2 AM, the music had stopped, and one very drunk guy at the party decided he wanted to fight literally anybody. He got exactly what he asked for, just not in the way he expected.

This week, Reedy steps out of the crowd to accept a challenge nobody saw coming and shuts the drama down in a way that's become legendary among everyone who was there. Hit play to find out how fast a guy's mind can change about wanting to throw hands.

Have you ever had a friend who could kill an argument with one sentence? Or have you had that friend starting the drama after a few too many? Hit reply and tell me your craziest house party story. I will read every one.

📖 Want more Reedy? Get The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 1, my glossy, nostalgic magazine that looks like it came right of a shelf in the 90s. It features five Reedy stories, plus behind-the-scenes extras about our friendship and my writing career and other services provided through Bill Roseberry Stories. Grab your copy here — Vol. 2 is coming soon, too.

The Reedy Chronicles Vol. 1 - https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3333299?__r=8878383

New episodes drop every Friday. See you next week.

—Bill

In late 2007, just a month into my sports journalism career, I scored a press credential to cover my favorite NFL game - the Green Bay Packers at the St. Louis Rams. Legendary quarterback Brett Favre was on the brink of breaking Dan Marino’s all-time passing record, and I had a front-row seat to history (and the media buffet!).

In this episode, I take a trip down memory lane to share what it was really like stepping onto an NFL field at the two-minute warning, experiencing the jaw-dropping velocity of a pro pass up close, and standing feet away from a childhood icon.

Join the Conversation

Have you ever witnessed a sports legend live or had an unforgettable brush with greatness? Leave a comment on this post and share your favorite memory—I’d love to read it!

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, giving it a heart, and sharing it with a friend who appreciates a good sports memory.

Turn Your Own Memories Into a Story

Have a favorite family memory, childhood adventure, or wild life experience you want preserved? Through Bill Roseberry Stories – Written For You, I sit down with you for a one-on-one interview and transform your personal history into a beautifully crafted narrative short story to cherish forever just like this one and the rest of the content on Bill Roseberry Stories!

Bill Roseberry Stories - Written For You - https://bill-roseberry-stories.kit.com/1bd8f91c42

Episode Summary When you’re a college student trying to secure your Mass Communications degree, you expect to pull some long hours writing press releases or running community promotions. What you don't expect is suffocating inside a giant, sweat-soaked bulldog suit, effectively blinded, and fleeing a local sandwich shop after an accidental public groping incident.

In the scorching summer of 2001, I was working a public relations internship for the Bluff City Bombers summer league baseball team in Alton, IL. It was a sweet gig, but part of the deal meant wearing every single hat in the organization — including the massive, felt head of our mascot, Boomer.

In this episode, I take you back to the grand opening of the first Jimmy John’s in Godfrey, IL. Operating on zero visibility inside my furry sauna, I sauntered inside and attempted to give a friendly pat on the shoulder to a customer at the counter. Thanks to the mascot suit’s non-existent depth perception, my oversized paw missed and landed squarely on HER chest.

Before I could process what happened, a scream echoed off the walls that shattered the sacred, silent mascot code forever.

Did I get banned from the franchise for life, or did the anonymity of the suit save my career? Hit play on the audio above to find out.

💬 Join the Conversation Welcome to Bill Roseberry Stories, serving up authentic narratives and heavy doses of Gen X nostalgia on the regular!

Have you ever worked a bizarre summer job, had a total case of mistaken identity or accidental clumsiness in public?

Drop your craziest workplace mishaps in the comments below!

My First Covered Cardinals Game: When a Dream Debut Met Total Disaster ⚾️🎙️

For a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, getting a press credential to cover the team at Busch Stadium was the ultimate bucket list assignment. In this episode of Bill Roseberry Stories, we travel back to 2009 - the day of Matt Holliday’s home debut in Cardinal red following the trade deadline.

I was pulling triple-duty for the newspaper: covering the game, penning a column, and tackling the legendary "Heart Stopping BLT" at Crown Candy Kitchen. The energy in St. Louis was electric, and I was determined to walk into the historic Bob Broeg-Rick Hummel Press Box with the casual confidence of a seasoned professional.

And that is exactly when everything went horribly wrong.

Focused on the seating charts, I took my eyes off my walking path for a split second and plowed straight into a human wall, sending a St. Louis sports legend tumbling to the floor.

Listen in to hear the full story of a slow-motion nightmare that nearly ended my sports journalism career before the first pitch was even thrown.

🎧 What's Inside This Episode:

The Prequel: Confronting a mountain of thick-cut bacon at Crown Candy Kitchen to fuel up for the big leagues.

The Cathedral: Stepping into the Bob Broeg-Rick Hummel Press Box for the very first time.

The Collision: The exact moment a "big-time" journalist routine turned into total chaos on the press box carpet.

The Aftermath: How a fiery sports icon responded to being completely tackled by a rookie reporter.

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If you enjoyed this trip down sports history lane, consider upgrading to a paid subscription to support these awesome nostalgic tales and learn more about Bill Roseberry Stories.

Leave a comment: What’s the most embarrassing thing you've ever done while trying to look professional at work? Or just tell us something embarrassing that happened to you in public?

Episode Summary

When you think of sports journalism, you think of press boxes, locker room interviews, and front-row seats to history. You don't usually think of combat pay. But on a deceptively peaceful fall afternoon at Lockhaven Golf Course, a high school quad match turned into a lesson in the cruelty of physics.

In this episode, we break down the day a teenager's completely baffling swing defied the laws of sports and logic, turning a 50-yard fairway vantage point into the ultimate danger zone. From the rapid-fire camera clicks that caught a projectile heading straight for my lens to the softball-sized purple souvenir I wore for a week, find out how one awful tee shot turned a community reporter into an instant clubhouse legend.

What We Cover in This Episode:

The Glamour of the Beat: The reality of being a community newspaper "pack mule" journalist, tracking down stats across a scenic public course along the Mississippi River bluffs.

The Flawless Math (That Failed): Why standing 50 yards away on the backside of a right-handed golfer should have been statistically safer than winning the lottery.

The Shot Heard 'Round the Bluffs: The exact moment a teenager opened his stance, skipped the follow-through, and launched a line drive directly into my breadbasket at terminal velocity.

Suffering for the Art: Checking the camera gear before checking for internal bleeding, and why the surrounding golfers immediately lost their minds laughing.

The Evidence Table: Catching the literal "crown jewel" of bad luck frame-by-frame on my digital camera, and walking back into the next tournament as a local celebrity.

Connect With Bill Roseberry Stories!

💬 Have you ever been completely taken out by a rogue ball, a wild throw, or a terrible golf swing? Drop your best sports fail stories in the comments!

If you enjoyed laughing at my pain, please Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pods!