KC Replay: Big 12 makes it official, Chiefs brace for Browns, Benny comes up big ...
Top Kansas City sports storylines of the past week? There were p-l-e-n-t-y
The Big 12 officially added four schools, the Chiefs geared up for their season opener with a nagging question that was finally answered Saturday, a Royal’s dominance against a particular opponent was on full display and a Jayhawk hoops fave entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in New England.
Those highlights will get us started as we await kickoff for Sunday’s Chiefs-Browns showdown at Arrowhead.
Let’s do this.
The Big 12 footprint grows
BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida are officially headed to the Big 12, a Power Five conference that will be losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
The four newcomers will start playing in the Big 12 over the next several years as UT and OU phase themselves out.
The Big 12’s expansion is especially good news for Kansas City, which grappled with some uncertain moments over the past couple of months. KC plays hosts to the league’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments each spring, and that will continue. Good thing: It’s a great time and pumps big dollars into our economy.
It was unclear for a bit whether the Big 12 would survive the exodus of the Longhorns, Sooners and perhaps others who could’ve followed them out the door. Now we know that it will, at least until the next round of realignment rears its head.
Honey Badger: good to go
The Chiefs and Cleveland Browns kick off the 2021 NFL season Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium. Game time is 3:25 p.m. Central on KCTV Ch. 5.
The Chiefs want to extend their AFC dominance. The Browns want a piece of what the Chiefs have built for themselves since coach Andy Reid’s arrival in 2013. So this past week was about final preparations.
Was there trash talk between the teams? Not really. Both keep it pretty buttoned up in that regard. Heck, Patrick Mahomes and Browns counterpart Baker Mayfield are buddies.
Much of the intrigue over the past week, at least at 1 Arrowhead Drive, surrounded the availability of star safety Tyrann Mathieu, who missed three straight practices after landing on the league’s COVID-19 list. He was removed from the COVID list Saturday, meaning he should be good to go.
Pierce takes place among legends
Paul Pierce entered the Naismith Hall of Fame Saturday along with 15 other individuals.
For Boston Celtics and KU fans — anyone who’s followed Pierce’s career, really — it was a fun week of lead-up events as the 43-year-old took his place among the all-time royalty of basketball.
Pierce’s Hall credentials as a pro are undeniable: 19 years in the NBA, Finals MVP in 2008, the list is long. But he’ll always have a special place in the hearts of KU fans, too.
Among the other honorees: the late Cotton Fitzsimmons, the Hannibal, Missouri native whose lengthy resume included stints coaching the KC Kings and K-State.
Benny torments Twins, again
Andrew Benintendi capped a red-hot run in Minneapolis with an 11th-inning homer Friday night that lifted the Royals past the Twins 11-2. It was his second homer of the game but just the latest entry in his string of successes at Target Field.
In seven games there this season, Benintendi has gone 12-for-24 (.500) with four home runs and nine RBIs. The former Red Sox infielder is now batting a career .382 with 17 RBIs at Minnesota. Pretty great stats, if you can get ‘em.
The Royals remain mired at the bottom of the heap with the season winding down, but optimism about next season surges when Benintendi plays like he does in Minnesota against the Twins.
A royal weekend for Monarchs
What a way to begin the postseason.
The Kansas City Monarchs, the top-seeded team in the American Association’s independent-league baseball playoffs, beat up on the Sioux City Explorers 11-2 Friday night in game one of their postseason series at Legends Field in KCK.
The day before, Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra was honored as the American’s Manager of the Year for the second time. The Monarchs won 69 regular-season games, the most in franchise history and tops in the league in 2021, and are seeking their third championship.