KANSAS CITY SPORTS AND FITNESS
BY JOHN LANDSBERG, SEPTEMBER 2009
The announcement that Joe Posnanski will be writing full-time for Sports Illustrated should be more upsetting to sports fans in Kansas City than the plight of all our professional sports teams put together. Sure, he says he will continue to write for the Star, but we all know that is like when a girl breaks up with you and she says she hopes you can remain just friends.
That just never happens.
JoPo was a local treasure whose takes on sports issues of the day were simply remarkable. The man wrote superb columns at the Kansas City Star, a ton of fascinating blogs and books on a regular basis. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wrote interesting sports takes on restroom walls around town. He was a prolific writer.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Star’s other sports columnist, Jason Whitlock, has mastered the art of what we used to call in journalism as “phoning it in.” That means he basically writes stories that rarely require any effort or research on his part. He often doesn’t quote any athlete in his stories. He just gives his random opinions and often tries half-heartedly to be controversial by routinely dropping the race card.
I guess the best thing we can say about JoPo is that Kansas City was lucky to have such a shining star in our midst for so many years. It will probably never happen again in our lifetime.
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The older I get the less I care about professional football. It all seems somehow choreographed with money as the goal for everything. Want to go to a good match-up? Buy a ticket for an exhibition game.
College football is slowly but surely getting the same way as witnessed by Florida International dropping its band to spend more money on its football team. Still, virtually nothing can match the intensity, excitement and tradition of a major college game.
This season don’t discount The (yes, the “T” is capitalized) Ohio State Buckeyes. Head coach Jim Tressel is once again reloading and the pride of Baldwin-Wallace College (my alma mater) will once again be in the title hunt. No matter how things actually turn out you have to give him props for being willing to play Southern Cal in the second game of the season. That takes cojones.
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I think the biggest disappointment to me this baseball season is not that the Royals are having another awful season. It’s that Manager Trey Hillman obviously has been unable to teach the players the basics of playing baseball.
Many of us felt that with Hillman coming from Japan that he would teach the Royals some of the basics he witnessed in Japan. The basics our team never seemed to have learned earlier in their careers. Unfortunately, hitting a cutoff man is something that seems beyond comprehension to most of our players. A routine ground ball often turns into some sort of strange vaudeville act. Baseball purists can often be seen weeping at Royals games.
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On the other hand, Todd Haley is on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Kansas City Chiefs Coach has a take-no-prisoners attitude about the game. Produce on the field or you won’t be on the field.
After years of Herm Edwards trying to be the players’ best buddy, Haley is a breath of fresh air. Most of the players might be millionaires, but that doesn’t mean Haley is going to be smooching their butts anytime soon. You can be sure he is not impressed with Larry Johnson’s $300,000 wristwatch (true) or his chauffeured automobile (also true).
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I just don’t get the legal system in this country anymore regarding football players .
Michael Vick does his dog thing and gets two years in prison. Donte Stallworth runs over a guy while driving under the influence and he gets 24 days in prison. Yes, less than a month for killing a guy.
But the Giants’ Plaxico Burress shoots HIMSELF and gets two years in prison. It seems to me if you are dumb enough to shoot yourself that should be punishment enough. Unfortunately, his sentence reminds me of the old joke he will likely go into prison as a tight end and leave as a wide receiver… Sorry, couldn’t resist. (Joke removed by editor!!)
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