http://www.kansascity.com/180/index.xml News, sports and entertainment from Kansas City Star en-us Copyright 2008 Kansas City Star Joe Posnanski 60 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:36:10 CDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys feedback@kansascity.com http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/694366.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/694366.html Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:40 CDT ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | The Royals did play sloppy on Sunday. Sure. Pitcher Luke Hochevar did not cover first on a double-play grounder. Center fielder Joey Gathright threw to third when he had no chance of getting the runner, allowing the hitter to advance to second. The Royals’ lineup drew just one walk. And so on. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/683832.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/683832.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:21 CDT Here is a fun little baseball story. You obviously know all about Joakim Soria now. He has emerged as one of the premier closers in the game. He has given the Royals something they have lacked for a long time — a sure thing. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/683010.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/683010.html Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:43 CDT You're not going to like my idea. But I would cheer Royals outfielder José Guillen tonight. I would cheer him as he's never been cheered before. I would cheer him and stand for him and stomp for him and applaud him as if he's the hottest hitter you've seen around these parts in years. Which, in fact, he is. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/673996.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/673996.html Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:03 CDT This week, you will hear one side of the argument. This week, NBA teams will draft all those one-and-done college players — Michael Beasley, of course, Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, and so on — and questions will be asked: Shouldn’t colleges be more than extended NBA tryout camps? What happened to education? What exactly do players owe their colleges anyway? http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/643527.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/643527.html Sat, 31 May 2008 00:58 CDT Notes from a columnist held hostage: Royals lose 12th in a row . . . Where the heck was David DeJesus going? … A historic walk streak … José Guillen hits a ball as hard as he can hit it … Manager Trey Hillman says, “I don’t know what to tell ya, fellas.” http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/642103.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/642103.html Fri, 30 May 2008 00:57 CDT Notes from a columnist held hostage (again): Loss No. 11 in a row. Three years ago, you might recall, the Royals lost a few games in a row. That’s when my editor decided it would be good if I stayed with the club and wrote columns every game until they finally won. Great idea, you know, until the Royals lost 19 consecutive games, three weeks of losing, and I had to go to Oakland to see the streak break. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/638895.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/638895.html Wed, 28 May 2008 00:53 CDT If you were a baseball fan growing up in Kansas City in the 1970s, you would not know anything about nine-game losing streaks. In those days, that stuff happened to other teams in other cities, far-off places like San Diego and Cleveland and Chicago. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/630685.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/630685.html Thu, 22 May 2008 01:52 CDT BOSTON | Some smart people have run all sorts of calculations and figured out that baseball lineups really don't matter much. Every baseball fan knows how a lineup is supposed to look: You want a leadoff hitter who gets on base and can run a little bit, a second hitter who can handle the bat, a third hitter who hits for average and power, a cleanup hitter who can crush a baseball a long way, and so on. It makes sense. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/629148.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/629148.html Wed, 21 May 2008 01:20 CDT BOSTON | This will be a story about a golden scoring opportunity. There’s no need for suspense. The Royals will not score a run at the end of the story. It’s a familiar story. It’s a second-run movie. The Royals haven’t scored runs all year. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/627285.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/627285.html Tue, 20 May 2008 01:18 CDT BOSTON | There are not many places in the world that are quieter than the losing clubhouse after a no-hitter. Everyone speaks in whispers. Televisions are dark. The stereo is mute. Kansas City’s Billy Butler, the 22-year-old kid from Florida who loves nothing more than talking and swinging bats at incoming fastballs, shakes his head. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/624842.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/624842.html Sun, 18 May 2008 01:10 CDT There’s a sweet song on Jim Cosgrove’s new album “Upside Down,” which he will release online Tuesday. The song is called “Let’s Stick Together.” It’s not complicated. You know, they say that it took Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys more than two months and six different recording studios to record and mix “Good Vibrations.” http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/614798.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/614798.html Sun, 11 May 2008 01:06 CDT There’s an old line that goes something like this: Bankers get together to talk about art, and artists get together to talk about money. It also can go like this: When football coaches get together, they talk about war — bombs, sacrifice, shotguns, stealth bombers flying over stadiums, ground attacks, courage, defensive lines. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/587975.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/587975.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:34 CDT There’s not much to say about the Royals’ humiliating 15-1 loss to Cleveland, other than to say it was humiliating, and it will be interesting to see how Royals manager Trey Hillman responds. The Royals have lost five in a row now, and they did everything wrong on Tuesday, and you get the feeling that Hillman will have to do something. Hold a team meeting. Send someone down. Pick today’s lineup out of a hat. Something. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/587994.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/587994.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:26 CDT Tuesday night, during the bleak final innings of the Royals’ humiliating 15-1 loss to Cleveland, the Chiefs did something they have never done before in their history. They traded away their best young player in the prime of his career. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/585801.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/585801.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:53 CDT They both kept using the word “literally” a lot. As in: “We literally almost died like 20 times every day.” And: “The guy literally told us that our rickshaw wasn’t smoking enough.” And: “We were literally told if it came down to a choice between hitting a cow or a person, hit the person.” http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/583629.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/583629.html Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:18 CDT The Chiefs, as you no doubt have heard several thousand times in the last couple of weeks, have the fifth pick in Saturday’s NFL draft. It is their highest pick in almost 20 years, going back to 1989 when they snagged Derrick Thomas at No. 4. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/582529.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/582529.html Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:48 CDT Jared Allen was stuffing his clothes in these special packing boxes — stuffing in so many clothes that every so often you could hear plastic cracking — and he was trying to come up with a sensitive way to say that he would love to get away from the Chiefs. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/574671.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/574671.html Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:48 CDT AUGUSTA, Ga. | Trevor Immelman blasted his drive down the heart of the 18th fairway, using that beautiful swing that golfers say is the closest thing going to Ben Hogan. And it was official. He would win the Masters. More than that. He would become the first man in more than 30 years to lead the Masters from wire to wire. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/573702.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/573702.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:26 CDT AUGUSTA, Ga. | A lot of the time, you get the sense that golf is just too easy for Tiger Woods. He swears at himself when he hits the ball to the wrong side of the fairway. He angrily blames a burst of wind or an unexpected shift in the earth's rotation when he doesn't hit his iron shots close enough. He acts as if wronged by the fates whenever his putt, no matter how long, does not drop in the cup. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/573412.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/573412.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:41 CDT Everyone remembers Carlton Fisk's homer. It is unforgettable. Fisk came up in the bottom of the 12th inning of perhaps the greatest World Series game ever played, game six, 1975. The score was tied. Fisk crushed a Pat Darcy pitch down the left-field line. He jumped up and down and tried to wave the ball fair. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/572457.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/572457.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:11 CDT A UGUSTA, Ga. | The good doctor does not understand why it’s a big deal. Television cameras? Newspaper reporters? He’s just lived a long time. He comes from good stock. His father lived to 96. The good doctor will be 93 in October. You know what they say in the movies. You just can’t keep those Baileys down. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/571009.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/571009.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:21 CDT AUGUSTA, Ga. | There was a brief moment at the Masters Thursday afternoon, a brief and fun moment when Tom Watson made back-to-back birdies, almost chipped in on the 14th hole, and even at age 58 looked like his swashbuckling old self. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/567611.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/567611.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:28 CDT SAN ANTONIO | OK, I may finally get what Kansas coach Bill Self has been trying to say all along. For the last few days, as talk about Oklahoma State oil money filled the basketball backrooms, Self had been oddly vague. It's not like him to be vague. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/565754.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/565754.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:56 CDT SAN ANTONIO | Mario Chalmers sat on the podium in the moments after the game, and he wore his “National Champions” hat backward, he had a sort of dazed smile on his face, and he did not know. He could not know. He’s history now. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/564174.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/564174.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:00 CDT SAN ANTONIO | This is the Alley-Oop Final, which is a big reason why I think it will be a great one. We all know that Kansas and Memphis do a lot of things well. Both teams have great athletes. Both teams run the floor. Both teams play tenacious defense. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/563320.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/563320.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:39 CDT SAN ANTONIO | The lasting image happened in the final seconds, when Roy Williams stood on the sideline, and Kansas fans chanted “Rock Chalk.” It was the first time as a head basketball coach that Williams heard that chant from the losing bench. There had to be some strange emotions rumbling inside the man. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/562010.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/562010.html Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:52 CDT SAN ANTONIO | At first, it seemed a fairly obvious answer. Another reporter had asked Bill Self another question about Roy Williams. Why? Because this is the Final Four, and that means all of us reporters are doing the same exact four stories. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/560591.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/560591.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:07 CDT SAN ANTONIO | This one's personal. Saturday night, as everyone knows, Kansas plays North Carolina in the Final Four, and there's so much history between the two schools, a little bad blood, some brotherly love, a few memorable games, fascinating connections, a longstanding Roy Williams wrestling match and so on. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/554993.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/554993.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:23 CDT DETROIT | The first second-guessable decision of Trey Hillman’s major-league career happened in the eighth inning on opening day. The Royals were up one run in Detroit against the team many believe to be the best in baseball. Hillman sent Brett Tomko back out to the mound. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/553656.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/553656.html Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:07 CDT DETROIT | Bill Self watched the last shot on both knees. It was that sort of ending. Someone should have passed around a collection plate. Self watched Davidson’s Jason Richards catch the ball at the top of the key, shoot it in an off-balance way, and as the clock dropped to 0:00, the ball lofted toward the basket, it looked no good, then good, then not so good again — victory, then defeat,  then … http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/551667.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/551667.html Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:46 CDT DETROIT | Villanova coach Jay Wright said something interesting this week. He was asked to describe the thing that separates the big-city, New York point guards from the rest. He said there was one thing: New York guards seem to have this inner sense about when they need to step out of their character and make something happen. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/551547.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/551547.html Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:49 CDT DETROIT | Nobody wanted him. That’s the amazing part. Stephen Curry, the new face of college basketball, the Babyfaced Larry Bird, could not find a big-time school that would take him just two years ago. Even Virginia Tech, where his father Dell was a basketball-scoring machine and his mother Sonya played volleyball, would only take him as a walk-on. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/549740.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/549740.html Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:13 CDT DETROIT | Bill James came up with this formula. It’s always good to start a column like that. Bill has been coming up with mind-bending baseball stuff for so many years that he’s helped change the very look of the game — so much so that he will be featured on “60 Minutes” this Sunday to talk about all that. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/542876.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/542876.html Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:11 CDT OMAHA, Neb. | Jack Hartman had it right. People always used to marvel at how Hartman, the old Kansas State basketball coach, could win so many games with so much less talent than other teams. He never bought the premise. He liked his talent. He never accepted the notion that “talent” means players who can jump higher or move quicker or stretch higher. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/543054.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/543054.html Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:11 CDT OMAHA, Neb. | The party game is still two ugly victories away. If everything works out, then on the first Saturday in April, Kansas will get to play North Carolina in the Final Four. And that would be fun for about 50 different reasons. There's basketball history. There's Roy. There's Dean. Both teams would run like mad and attack the basket and rain threes. Both teams would play free. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/541865.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/541865.html Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:11 CDT OMAHA, Neb. | Time flies when you haven't won. That's the funny thing about sports. One minute, you're an overachieving young coach busting up NCAA Tournament brackets and building ram-tough teams to bruise through the Big Ten. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/540593.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/540593.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:33 CDT OMAHA, Neb. | They sat on the podium, and they were stunned, shocked, speechless. Kent State had been a terrific basketball team all year. The Golden Flashes rolled through the Mid-American Conference. They rolled through the MAC tournament. They destroyed Akron in the championship game. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/540693.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/540693.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:43 CDT OMAHA, Neb. | Bill Walker has been a wild card all year. Thursday night, he was the ace of clubs. Thursday night, he scored 17 points in the first half. He dominated his old friend O.J. Mayo. He carried and dragged and shot Kansas State to a 10-point halftime lead while Southern California’s trick defenses and overzealous officials temporarily smothered the best player in the country, Michael Beasley. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/538766.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/538766.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:27 CDT OMAHA, Neb. | College basketball has never made peace with the league above. It is the only major-college sport, I think, that has not. You will see that up close in this year’s NCAA Tournament, where freshman stars are the focus in every bracket. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/534308.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/534308.html Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:10 CDT Danny Manning did not want to talk for this story. There's a reason. He's had enough fame. He's had enough words written about him. He's a Kansas assistant college basketball coach now. He's just another guy. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/533359.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/533359.html Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:49 CDT When I was a kid, I always wanted to know what we were going to do tomorrow. This used to drive my parents crazy. We'd be at an amusement park or having a picnic at Round-Up Lake or on our family vacation at some educational place like Gettysburg, and I'd inevitably say those words: “This is fine, but what are we going to do tomorrow?” http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/532536.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/532536.html Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:02 CDT Here is the problem with being a one-man basketball team: The four other men. Kansas State lost a heart-wrenching game to Texas A&M on Friday night in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals. It was the Wildcats’ sixth loss in nine games. After it ended, lots of people asked coach Frank Martin whether he was worried about missing the NCAA Tournament. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/528951.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/528951.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:31 CDT Basketball games end this way only in the movies. The basketball bounced and danced around the rim — it was in, out, in again, it was out — as if it was deciding what to do, deciding whose heart to break, whose day to make, deciding who would celebrate and hug at midcourt. Basketball games end this way only in the movies. And in tournament games. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/529010.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/529010.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:59 CDT Jon Wefald likes to say he grew up in the pool hall on the wrong side of the tracks in his small hometown of Minot, N.D. He smiles when you tell him you are surprised that Minot actually has a wrong side of the tracks. “You’d be surprised,” he says. “You’d be very surprised.” http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/523305.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/523305.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 02:35 CDT AMES, Iowa | Well, it did not end with balloons falling from the roof or a raucous victory speech or even with anybody looking all that happy. But we can now project with some confidence that Kansas State will indeed make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a dozen years. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/520713.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/520713.html Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:38 CST T here's a great Brett Favre story, one that came to mind often on Thursday as Favre held his retirement news conference. It was his second year in the NFL, maybe his third, and he was sitting in the meeting room, bored silly as usual. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/517565.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/517565.html Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:00 CST MANHATTAN, Kan. | With about 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half on Kansas State Senior Night, something happened to Michael Beasley. It was minor. Less than minor. But it was something that everyone who chants “One more year” at him, everyone who asks him what he plans to do after this season, everyone who is thrilled and mesmerized by his absurd freshman season might consider. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/513276.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/513276.html Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:01 CST SUN CITY, Ariz. | There wasn't much said when he died Feb. 19. Oh, the papers mentioned the news — Bob Howsam died a few days before his 90th birthday. The news was in the “briefs,” that out-of-the-way place in the paper where minor trades, injury updates and tennis results are briefly reported. ESPN showed a photo of Howsam in a little square box behind the television personality's shoulder. It included that stark “1918–2008.”... http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/512066.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/512066.html Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:14 CST PEORIA, Ariz. | One of the unspoken secrets of this year's Royals camp is that the competition is more or less closed. Yes, there are two or three pitching spots that are somewhat up for grabs. But that's really about it. There are, you figure, 13 spots on the roster for everyday players. You can count along, if you like: http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/502797.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/502797.html Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:02 CST Absolute No 1: Don't bang your heel. SURPRISE, Ariz. | They call Bill Fischer “Walking Wisdom” around here, which makes the guy laugh. Walking Wisdom, eh? Yeah, they should have been there that day in '63, 11th inning, when ol' Walking Wisdom pitched for the Kansas City A's and decided to throw a bleeping fastball to Mickey Mantle. The Mick blasted it off of the bleeping right-field facade at Yankee Stadium. They called it 620 feet. They... http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/500147.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/500147.html Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:30 CST SURPRISE, Ariz. | The best part is the talk. It's everywhere at spring training. Baseball people wander from diamond to diamond and spout out opinions about everything from John McCain to the food at Chipotle to the question of whether a dry heat is really all that comfortable (especially when it's a dry 118 degrees). http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/497223.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/497223.html Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:27 CST SURPRISE, Ariz. | Everyone was watching Trey Hillman closely on Tuesday, the first day of full-team Royals workouts, his first real day as Royals manager. The question: Would the Royals be turning Japanese? People really seemed to think so. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/495431.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/495431.html Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:16 CST SURPRISE, Ariz. | There is no place in America more hopeful than a spring-training camp in February. The sun shines. The baseballs gleam bright white. Every pitcher is throwing great. Every hitter looks in terrific shape. Every offseason move seems perfect — exactly what the team needed. It is like living inside a Barack Obama speech. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/494175.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/494175.html Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:34 CST Sunday was a Bill James kind of day. I was sitting in the Kansas City airport, minding my own business, waiting for my airplane escape out of the snow and ice and into the sunshine of spring training in Surprise, Ariz. That's when the woman behind the counter announced that the airport had closed down because of the snow and slush. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/493241.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/493241.html Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:42 CST MANHATTAN, Kan. | They say you can find anything on the Internet these days. You can look up old flames, find more than 1,000 recipes for McDonald's fries or locate instructions for building an atomic bomb. So it should not be too hard to find the voice behind a mother's favorite quotation. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/489086.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/489086.html Thu, 14 Feb 2008 01:56 CST So, here's what I was left thinking Wednesday after watching the four-and-a-half hour torture chamber that was the Roger Clemens congressional hearing: I hope and pray that I never do anything that gets me called in front of the United States Congress. Wow, how uncomfortable was that? I wouldn't wish that fate on the person who broke into my car. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/475648.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/475648.html Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:17 CST There is something unconditional about sports. You don't just want to be good at something. You want to be the best in the world. The whole wide world. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/474298.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/474298.html Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:37 CST GLENDALE, Ariz. | The perfect team flailed. The unflappable quarterback flapped. The genius coach got outsmarted. And in the last minutes of Super Bowl XLII, in that frantic time for legends, Eli Manning became a hero. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/473154.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/473154.html Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:10 CST New England coach Bill Belichick does not want to talk about perfection. His Patriots are 18-0, on the cusp of what would have to be called the most perfect season ever in American team sports. But he doesn't want to talk about it. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/471959.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/471959.html Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:07 CST PHOENIX | Here’s why I think so many people get emotional about Halls of Fame: It’s because we want these Halls to justify what we saw and what we believe about sports. And, often, the Halls of Fame just don’t do it. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/470427.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/470427.html Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:55 CST CHANDLER, Ariz. | Eli Manning likes to keep things simple. That's his charm. Someone asked him this week what has changed in him. Well, lots of people have asked that question. Everyone knows that Eli was a New York pariah, the ne'er-do-well Manning brother who threw interceptions and fumbled the ball and had every taxi driver, corporate executive, pretzel hawker and fashion model in Manhattan cursing his first name. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/468603.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/468603.html Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:05 CST P HOENIX | So an e-mail popped into the inbox Wednesday afternoon with the intriguing subject line: “The Chiefs Want Your Opinion.” http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/466995.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/466995.html Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:20 CST PHOENIX | The members of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins would like to make it clear to everyone that, despite how it may seem, they're not just grumpy old guys hanging on to past glory. Trouble is, even while explaining, they might sound a bit like grumpy old guys hanging on to past glory. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/462636.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/462636.html Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:02 CST LAWRENCE | Bill Self loves this Kansas team. You know why? They're winning games by an average of 25 points. Sure. But there's something else. They get him. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/452546.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/452546.html Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:25 CST So, you say that Chan Gailey does not excite you as the Chiefs' new offensive coordinator. Well, nothing new there. This has been the running theme of the man's life. You think there are a bunch of NFL head coaches who took teams to the playoffs their first two years and then got canned? There aren't. You could hold a meeting with all those guys on top of a unicycle. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/444710.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/444710.html Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:33 CST This isn't the world's best time to be a Herm Edwards fan. I appreciate that. The Chiefs are coming off their worst season in 30 or so years. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/434987.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/434987.html Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:26 CST NEW ORLEANS | You won't believe this. You won't. But it's the gospel truth. Monday night, while Louisiana State was exposing The Ohio State football team as pretty much everyone expected, I was counting your national championship votes. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/433363.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/433363.html Mon, 07 Jan 2008 01:13 CST NEW ORLEANS | Everything here feels just a little odd. We're in a party city that is still, more than two years later, trying to find its old soul after Katrina. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/432492.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/432492.html Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:12 CST NEW ORLEANS | Hold on. We're about to enter some emotional territory here. We're about to infuriate some of you and delight some of you and drive the rest of you batty. We are about to choose, once and for all, between Kansas and Missouri football. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/430328.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/430328.html Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:45 CST MIAMI | There are no questions now. Doubters may quietly exit the dance floor. Thursday, midnight, Kansas football fans stood in a cold Florida mist and listened to their bear of a head coach Mark Mangino speak loudly for them all. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/428285.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/428285.html Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:06 CST FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | You know, it wasn't so long ago when we all just picked pretty much whatever national champion we wanted. Remember those days? http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/423471.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/423471.html Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:45 CST This is a man on a shopping spree. You can see the determination on Jared Allen’s face. He pushes the shopping cart, gets some momentum going, hops on back. Whee! He rolls up to a rack of hats, a Christmas tree of Bass Pro Shop baseball caps, and he throws five of them in the cart. Naw, make it six. What the heck? Seven. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/417773.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/417773.html Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:38 CST Opinions differ, of course. Many will tell you that there's nothing to be gained from losing, nothing at all except perhaps a better draft choice and an appreciation for better days. Bob Huggins, that basketball philosopher, probably expressed it most clearly. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/415487.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/415487.html Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:14 CST The strange part is that when they met, the football player felt like a little kid. And the little kid felt like he was 100 years old. Maybe that's why it worked. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/414420.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/414420.html Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:39 CST Every so often you happen across a little story so perfect that you just have to share it, even if it doesn’t really have much to do with anything else. This story is about New England coach Bill Belichick. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/408103.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/408103.html Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:14 CST There were some wow moments, sure. He made one powerful drive and forced the ball into the basket even while getting tackled midair. He blocked one shot so hard it sounded like Joe Frazier working the body. He grabbed rebounds even when three guys held him down, as if he were Gulliver. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/406888.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/406888.html Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:16 CST Arrowhead Stadium hasn't been like this for a long, long time. Here are some of my scribbled notes from the day: http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/405684.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/405684.html Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:41 CST There are a lot of people trying to take the blame over at One Arrowhead Drive. The Chiefs' offices resemble the “I'm Spartacus” scene in the movie, you know, when all the slaves were jumping up and shouting, “I'm Spartacus.” It's just like that, except without Kirk Douglas and people wearing tunics. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/403200.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/403200.html Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:33 CST OK, so, now what are we supposed to do? Now we have a few more names to grind our teeth about. Now we can start to persecute Roger Clemens the way we have persecuted Barry Bonds. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/401452.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/401452.html Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:12 CST Nobody in Kansas City is crying this morning in the aftermath of the Royals’ terse 33-word announcement Wednesday that they have nontendered Emil Brown. Quite the opposite, I would imagine. There are probably a few “Emil Brown is gone” parties breaking out across town. Some people are probably re-enacting Emil’s singular “wall dance” that he would often do when a ball skipped around him at the warning track. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/395858.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/395858.html Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:16 CST NEW YORK | The whole Heisman Trophy thing is bigger than you might expect. That's because New York during the holidays is bigger than you might expect. People everywhere. Taxis. Lights. Salvation Army bells ring on every corner, car horns blare. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/394813.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/394813.html Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:48 CST They call the place The Downtown Club now. New York is filled with places like this, apartments where there used to be something grander. The Jackie Robinson Apartments are on the corner in Flatbush where Ebbets Field used to be. Polo Grounds Towers are where Willie Mays and the New York Giants used to play. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/389748.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/389748.html Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:34 CST All along, I've been with Dayton Moore. You know how it goes sometimes when you're watching a game, and you're following the coach or the quarterback or the pitcher or whoever, and you're just with them, you know? http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/387163.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/387163.html Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:35 CST When the wake-up call rang at 5 a.m. in Texas — jolting me out of a fitful 1 hour and 57 minutes of sleep — there was only one thought echoing through my mind. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/386146.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/386146.html Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:23 CST SAN ANTONIO | This is an evil game. That's all there is to it. They call it the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship, which is only right. There needs to be a doctor in the house after they play this game. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/385724.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/385724.html Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:33 CST This is about why the Chiefs need to move on, why they need to hire a new general manager at the end of this season, but I don’t want it to sound like just another bash Carl Peterson rant. He deserves more than that. Peterson has been good for Kansas City. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/383096.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/383096.html Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:49 CST Today’s question: Does Missouri’s Chase Daniel have a legitimate chance to win the Heisman Trophy? http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/376799.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/376799.html Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:59 CST There are two dirty little secrets that the Kansas City Chiefs have been trying (and, more or less, failing) to keep away from fans and potential ticket buyers all season long. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/375924.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/375924.html Sun, 25 Nov 2007 02:08 CST Well, we have some answers after Saturday night, after Missouri beat Kansas 36-28 in one of the wildest sports scenes in the history of Kansas City. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/374518.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/374518.html Sun, 25 Nov 2007 02:07 CST Biggest Missouri-Kansas game ever? Bah! Humbug! We’re always doing this in sports, always jumping the gun, always declaring some 18-year-old kid the greatest player ever, always hyping our games before they’re even played. It’s not just the championship of the NFL — no, it’s the Super Bowl (with Roman numerals to boot). It’s not just a set of games to determine this year’s best baseball team — no, it’s the World... http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/372163.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/372163.html Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:11 CST When Sunday's game ended, I waited around for Priest Holmes. I did not have anything in particular to ask him. Waiting him out after games had become something of a ritual. I have joked with friends that I have spent half my career waiting for Priest Holmes to get dressed after a game. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/370511.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/370511.html Sat, 24 Nov 2007 07:38 CST LAWRENCE | He might be the most amazing story in college football. He never played college football. He dropped out of college. He drove an ambulance around Pennsylvania highways near his hometown until he was in his late 20s. He went back to school. He was a high school coach for one year. His team went 1-9. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/367190.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/367190.html Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:06 CST INDIANAPOLIS | Frustration bubbles now. It had to happen. Coaches, players, fans, you name it — when you score 13 offensive touchdowns in 10 games, everybody will start to get testy. They were plenty testy after Sunday’s loss in Indianapolis. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/366074.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/366074.html Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:02 CST KANSAS CITY | Chiefs coach Herm Edwards does not duck the question. You can say what you want about him, and people do, but he doesn't duck many questions. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/363426.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/363426.html Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:30 CST Here's one more thing to get your head around in the wildest college football season ever seen around these parts: Missouri's Chase Daniel and Kansas' Todd Reesing have real shots — legitimate, genuine, authentic chances — to win the Heisman Trophy. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/357008.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/357008.html Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:40 CST Herm Edwards is a patient man. You get the feeling he's the kind of guy who would show up at a crowded restaurant, hear there's a two-hour wait for a table, and say: “OK, I'll be standing over there.” You get the feeling he plays five-hour rounds of golf. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/355995.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/355995.html Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:39 CST COLUMBIA | You never know how a college career will turn out. Tony Temple came to Missouri with two Heisman Trophies and a multimillion-dollar NFL contract stuffed in his back pocket. That’s how it goes with recruiting hype these days. The standing ovations begin before the curtain rises. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/346903.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/346903.html Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:42 CST After all the years and all the stories, Priest Holmes still never fails to surprise people. Sunday afternoon, after the Chiefs lost to Green Bay and running back Larry Johnson twisted his ankle so badly he could not walk, I went up to Holmes to talk about the latest turn in his amazing comeback. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/345951.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/345951.html Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:11 CDT KANSAS CITY, Oct. 19, early afternoon: Royce Hillman sits in the front row for his first-ever news conference. He is 73. He sits tall in his chair — school principals do sit tall. He stares at the stage, where his son, Trey, wears a crisp blue and white Kansas City Royals uniform. http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/343293.html http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/343293.html Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:10 CDT NAGOYA, Japan | The imperfect pair pitched a perfect game. You have to excuse this little nod to one of the great sportswriting leads of all time, the first line in a New York Daily News story the morning after troubled and ordinary starter Don Larsen threw his World Series perfect game. “The imperfect man pitched the perfect game,” the Daily News wrote. But what happened Thursday night here at the Nagoya Dome in the Japan Series is, if possible, even more incredible and absurd...