Sporting KC season opener kicks off ramped-up week for KC Chiefs, KU, K-State, Mizzou
It seems like only yesterday we were watching Sporting Kansas City lose 2-1 to Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference semifinals.
Immediately, it was an MLS playoff game that team and fans alike wanted to put in the rear-view mirror — a frustrating outcome for a side boasting the potency of Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi.
Sporting has spent the offseason moving on, learning from that defeat and prepping for what’s to come in 2022. And now here we are, on the doorstep of another campaign.
So soccer kicks us off, but there’s a lot going on elsewhere this week, too. The Chiefs are wrestling with some tough decisions, Major League Baseball (and the Royals) remains sidelined and college basketball teams will be playing their last regular-season contests ahead of the conference tournaments.
Here’s our weekly KC sports rundown of what we’ll be watching in the days ahead.
Sporting KC opens season in Atlanta
It all starts in Atlanta for Sporting KC. The boys in blue play Atlanta United on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a game that kicks off at 2 p.m. Central on FS1 and FOX Deportes.
As newly minted sports columnist Sam McDowell writes in today’s edition of The Star, Sporting will start Khiry Shelton at the striker spot, or “Number Nine.” Coach Peter Vermes believes this will work because Russell and Salloi are so very lethal on the wings.
These are two of the league’s top teams, and they’ll be meeting for the first time since 2019. If you’re wondering when Sporting KC plays its home opener, that’s next weekend, on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., against the Houston Dynamo.
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Clark, Mathieu ... decisions loom for Chiefs
The Chiefs have jumped right into the offseason. That’s the only way to go about it — things move quickly in the NFL, and for a team hungry to return to (and win) the Super Bowl, it’s go-time.
Last week, the Chiefs released veteran linebacker Anthony Hitchens, saving $8 million-plus against the league’s salary cap. They also reportedly re-upped with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
So what might this coming week bring? Let’s start with (or go back to) payroll and personnel. Free agency begins March 16, and the Chiefs are determining who to keep, let go, and potentially add. To do the latter, they may need more available money ... and to free up more cash, they may not be finished cutting some recognizable names and/or restructuring an existing contract or two.
Frank Clark is one possible candidate for a reworked deal. Restructuring contracts is a means of gaining more cap space. Also on the table is whether to bring back star safety Tyrann Mathieu. The Chiefs have kicked this can down the road for a year. Gotta decide now.
Final regular-season basketball games
KU, K-State and Mizzou play their final regular-season college basketball games this week. Each will be playing twice, and then it’s time for the conference tournaments.
Kansas gets TCU twice: Tuesday in Fort Worth, Thursday in Lawrence. Both games tip at 7 p.m. Kansas State has an 8 p.m. Big Monday game at Texas Tech, then faces Oklahoma at 3 p.m. Saturday in Bramlage Coliseum.
Mizzou is at South Carolina Tuesday at 6 p.m. before playing host to Georgia on Saturday at 2:30.
The Big 12 Tournament is once again in Kansas City, March 9-12 at the T-Mobile Center. The SEC tournament is March 9-13 at Amalie Arena in Tampa.