#153 Bill Althaus | 40 Year Sports & Entertainment Writer for Kansas City/Blue Springs Examiner

Bill Althaus is a 1972 graduate of Truman High School. His senior year the school’s newspaper won the Robert F. Kennedy Award as the top high school paper in the country. He graduated from Northwest Missouri State University and has been an award-winning columnist and sports writer at The Examiner the past 33 years.

He has won eight Missouri Press Association first-place awards for columns, features and sports stories and been honored by United Press International, the Associated Press, Morris Communications and Gatehouse Media for his work. In 2009, he was named the Central Hockey League’s Media Member of the Year for his coverage of the new Missouri Mavericks hockey team and he is a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was the Kansas City Royals beat writer for 21 years.

Bill also hosts The Sonic Locker Room, a weekly radio program that features 18 area high schools. He has been honored by the Missouri Broadcasters Association for his work on that program and his play-by-play broadcast of last year’s Blue Springs South High School state championship basketball game.

Bill has written nine books, including his most recent – “From the Guys Who Were There” – which takes fans into the locker room and behind the scenes of the Kansas City Royals past two World Series appearances, including last year’s World Series crown. Some of the highlights: Alex Gordon lists his five favorite defensive plays, Salvador Perez talks about the origin of his post-game dunking celebration and Wade Davis details his dramatic ninth-inning performance against the Toronto Blue Jays that helped the Royals reach the World Series. He has also written books with Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame second baseman Frank White, former Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowlers Dante Hall and Priest Holmes and books tracing the history of the Chiefs and University of Missouri sports.

He and his wife Stacy have two sons – Zach and Sean – who are both members of the Grain Valley High School Hall of Fame, Zach for golf and Sean for basketball. Dad joined his sons in the Hall of Fame two years ago when he was voted in for his work covering Grain Valley sports for The Examiner. His constant companion is Marley, the family’s mini-wiener dog who has overcome paralysis and a laundry list of medical issues to inspire him in his daily walk through life.

When he’s not covering area high school or professional sports, Bill enjoys concerts and movies. If you ever want to talk sports, movies or rock ‘n roll, he’s your guy

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