Top KC-area sports stories of 2014: Royals, Chiefs, Michael Sam and more
Call it The Year of the Royal: In terms of top sports stories for the Kansas City area in 2014, nothing came close to matching the excitement and newsworthiness of the Royals’ return to the playoffs for the first time in nearly three decades.
In fact, our Top 10 list of the year’s biggest sports stories could’ve been nothing but Royals moments.
Instead, we decided to strive for diversity of subject matter and include other notables, such as the Chiefs’ shellacking at Indianapolis (has it really been almost a year since they blew that lead?), Michael Sam’s revelatory coming-out, and milestone accomplishments by KU and Mizzou.
1. ROYAL RETURN
Long the doormats of Major League Baseball, the Royals break their 29-year playoff drought by winning an epic Wild Card Game and eventually advance to the World Series as American League champions.
2. WHAT THE ... ? The Chiefs blow a massive playoff lead against the Indianapolis Colts in January, prompting a certain KC newspaper to publish a blaring headline reading “HORSE(BLEEP),” and then narrowly miss a return to the playoffs in the fall.
3. HISTORIC REVELATION
Mizzou’s Michael Sam comes out as gay before the NFL Draft and is selected by the St. Louis Rams. He’s later cut, then signed to the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad, then released again.
4. CHAMPS AGAIN
Kansas wins its 10th straight Big 12 title in men’s basketball, loses to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament, then has two players (Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid) selected in the first three picks of the June NBA Draft.
5. THEY’RE BA-AACK
Missouri football returns to the Southeastern Conference championship game for the second straight year. The Tigers lose to Alabama at the Georgia Dome but solidify their standing as one of the top teams in the SEC.
6. WORLD LEADERS
Sporting Kansas City stalwarts Matt Besler and Graham Zusi represent the United States in the World Cup in Brazil. Besler is the first Kansas City-area product to play in soccer’s most elite international event.
7. #BERRYSTRONG
Chiefs safety Eric Berry is diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma after complaining of discomfort after the team’s loss at Oakland. Berry, 26, is placed on the team’s non-football injury list and returns to his native Georgia to receive treatment.
8. SACK ARTIST
Linebacker Justin Houston breaks Derrick Thomas’ Chiefs record for most sacks in a season, with 22. Four sacks against San Diego’s Phillip Rivers on Dec. 28 leave him just a half-sack shy of Michael Strahan’s all-time NFL record of 22.5.
9. THE TRUE SON
Missouri hires Kim Anderson from Central Missouri, the newly crowned Division II champion, to replace men’s basketball coach Frank Haith. A former player for the Tigers and assistant coach in CoMo, Anderson had long coveted this job.
10. SCARY INJURY
Olathe East High School football player James McGinnis is severely injured during a September game. His collapse from a brain injury stuns those in the school’s immediate community and beyond.
Plus a few more ...
▪ DOUBLE STUFF: Pairing with Vasek Pospisil, former BV North standout Jack Sock dethrones top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan in the Wimbledon doubles final in May. Says Sock: “To be able to go out there and play the best doubles team of all time and to get a win was pretty incredible.”
▪ AFTER DARK: Offering fans the sights and sounds auto racing after dark, the first major night competitions take place at Kansas Speedway on May 9-10.
▪ TOP HAWK: The University of Kansas hires Texas high school coaching veteran David Beaty to lead the Jayhawks’ football program after the failed reign of Charlie Weis. Beaty comes to Lawrence from College Station, Texas, where he’d served as the Aggies’ wide receivers coach.
▪ SOCCER SWEEP: The Missouri Comets and FC Kansas City complete a soccer-championship trifecta by claiming titles in the Major Indoor Soccer League and National Women’s Soccer League, respectively. Sporting KC got the ball rolling in December 2013 by winning the MLS Cup.
This story was originally published December 30, 2014 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Top KC-area sports stories of 2014: Royals, Chiefs, Michael Sam and more."