It looks like the K is all but announced as the site of the 2012 All-Star Game. The MLB Owner's meeting just wrapped in Chicago, and Commissioner Bud Selig hinted that Kauffman Stadium's recent renovation has impressed a lot of people.
As a small digression, can you think of a better name for commissioner of baseball than "Bud." For some reason that just tickles me to no end. Yeah, I wrote "tickles," what of it?
Selig was quoted on MLB.com: "I haven't made a final decision, but we did promise (the Royals) an All-Star Game at some point. They did a magnificent job there. But I'm not going to say more than I've said."
If you met mixed martial arts fighter Rudy Bears in a darkened alley, you'd probably ask for directions. Heck, he'd probably offer them.
Outside the ring, the 31-year-old Independence man (Truman High class of '98) has an air of relaxed calm about him. You might even say soft spoken. Yet in the ring, he sheds his approachable demeanor and becomes a vicious beast.
Tonight, at Memorial Hall in KCK, Bears (10-3-0) will square off against undefeated up-and-comer Tyron Woodley (4-0) in tonight's STRIKEFORCE Challengers main event. Then, if Bears is successful he'll try to knee him in the kitchen and land a couple forearm strikes to his grill.
The Octagon
For those who don't know -- and since mixed martial arts is one of the fastest
growing sports in the country, there probably aren't too many of you --
the action takes place in a octagonal ring surrounded by a head-high
chain link fence. Competitors with lots of tattoos try to pummel each
other with whatever skills and appendages they have available until one
of them is knocked out, can no longer defend him/herself, or submits.
Bears says he's been preparing and training for the last two months at Caveman Crew Mixed Martial Arts, a pretty badass-looking gym in Raytown. People bleed there.
There are rules but not with respect to style, and fighters come from a variety of different people-hurting background. Bears, a 31-year-old with a wiry muscular frame, is trained in jujitsu and is mostly a stand-and-striker, which means he likes to fight on his feet.
Watch him pummel a dude after the jump.
Woodley, Bears' body-fat-lacking opponent, is a two-time All American wrestler for the University of Missouri, so Bears said he's been training counter-wrestling maneuvers. Bears is considered the underdog.
Bears says he likes fighting at home. "Definitely," he says. "They chant my name because of the movie Rudy."
The action starts tonight at 10 p.m. Undercards begin at 8 p.m.
University of Kansas football coach Mark Mangino is on the hot seat. KU's meter maids hate him. Former players hate him. The parents of former players hate him. Even some current players don't like him.
My decoder ring says Mangino has lost the confidence of Athletic Director Lew Perkins. But Perkins will be in a tough spot if the Jayhawks knock off No. 2-rated Texas in Austin
This is what happens during a disappointing, losing season. The Kansas Jayhawks have lost five games in a row and with Saturday's game against No. 2 Texas in Austin looming, looks like loss No. 6 isn't far away.
So the chorus calling for Kansas football coach Mark Mangino's head is getting louder as the losses mount.
No one was speaking out when Mangino led the Jayhawks to an Orange Bowl, a school-best 12-1 record and received National Coach of the Year honors. That's not to discount what's going on with Mangino because, as my buddy Jason Whitlock wrote today, Mangino is a bully.
But with the latest allegations of verbal and emotional abuse, comes names.
ESPN cites several former players, including former receiver Raymond Brown, who referenced a rather low blow from Mangino.
[Brown] said that once, his younger brother had been shot in the arm in St. Louis. Then came a game.
"I dropped a pass and [Mangino] was mad," Brown said. "And I said,
'Yes, sir. Yes, sir.' The yelling didn't bother me. But then he said,
'Shut up!' He said, 'If you don't shut up, I'm going to send you back
to St. Louis so you can get shot with your homies.' I was irate. I
wanted to hurt him to be honest with you."
"Not one bit," Mangino replied. "I may have lost some people around here, but it's not the players. Take it for what it's worth. You decipher and see."
My decoder ring says he's talking about athletic director Lew Perkins, who is leading the investigation.
There's more allegations and, of course, the YouTube video.
And here's the topper: parking tickets.
Scofflaw Mangino racked up 23 parking tickets for parking in a loading zone near his office between 2004 and 2007, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.
Ticket No. 23 allegedly set Mangino off. The rotund coach tracked
down the student meter maid and chewed the guy's ass.
Sinister portents abound, Kansas City! Normally, as rational skeptics, we'd laugh at the idea of anything unusual happening in 2012 -- a date getting a lot of attention for being the last year on the Mayan Calendar.
But then there's this story about the owners of Major League Baseball teams gathering in Chicago today to hash out a few things.
One of the topics that's reportedly up for discussion: the site of the 2012 All-Star Game.
And guess which city's stadium is considered the frontrunner?
Mayor Mark Funkhouser's dismal outing in this week's fantasy football match up has got us asking, "What the Funk?" Again, our Vulcan mayor got spanked, this time by Results Minneapolis, 86-54.
Funk got 251 passing yards and touchdown from Dallas quarterback Tony Romo and 68 yards and touchdown from Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, but it wasn't good enough.
Couldn't have guessed Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop would ding three field goals -- including a 50-plus yarder -- and a point-after. Neither could Funk. He sat Succop. There's no hometown pride in the rough-and-tumble "Mayoral Face-off."
Funk's Footballers dropped to 4-6, good enough for tenth place out of 12. We'll see how the mayors in rival football towns duke it out: next week Funk takes on Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett's eleventh-place OMG it's OKC.
The Kansas City Chiefs' fortunes have not changed, even after beating the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
The Chiefs announced today that wide receiver Dwayne Bowe has been suspended four games for "violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances."
Being a Chiefs fan must be like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown and then kicking him in the nuts over and over and over.
Just look at the picture (Mangino is on the left).
The Lawrence Journal-World quotes KU athletic director Lew Perkins saying "an internal review is underway" about a "personnel matter."
Of course, that makes the whole thing "confidential." But in the middle of a disappointing 5-5 season and on a five-game losing streak, this isn't good for Mangino.
The Kansas City Star gets a little closer to what's going on, saying the investigation involves an incident between Mangino and a player. The Star says players were invited to tell a "formal panel" their concerns about Mangino, and there is "an organized group of former players' parents" who are "ready to air their concerns."
Again, not good. Doubt it has anything to do with Mangino's gentle coaching style (NSFW).
If you want to speculate as to what those "concerns" may be, hit the boards cause the rumors are already running wild.
"It was time to move in another direction," Kansas City mayor Mark Funkhouser said at a press conference. "There were some vested incentives that would have automatically kicked in if the Royals had finished higher than last place, or won more than one championship in their existence. But we just couldn't afford to make another mistake like that 18-year extension back in 1991."
The Kansas City Star's unhealthy obsession with former Kansas City Chief and future Cincinnati BengalLarry Johnson continues.
Star sports reporter Kent Babb updated his Twitter yesterday after spying King Pink's posts on Facebook and Twitter.
This comes less than a week after Babb blabbed on Twitter that LJ was in Dallas -- citing the GPS coordinates on his Twitter page. That proved to be a non-scoop.
LJ might want to learn the word of the year: unfriend.
Darrel Wayne Mohler, the 72-year-old brother of Burrell Edward Mohler Sr., is charged with two counts of felony rape.
The latest charges come after authorities cleared a man that they claimed was a suspect in the case.
Also, the father of an alleged victim is speaking out.
In other news, The Kansas City Star had a nice piece on the life and death of Ryan Goodman, the ironworker killed at the construction site of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
The Weekend Scoreboard
The cancer-free Kansas City Chiefs beat the hated Oakland Raiders, 16-10, for win No. 2.
Via Deadspin
Missouri destroyed old man Snyder's Kansas State Wildcats. K-State needs a win next week at Nebraska to clinch the Big 12 North and become bowl eligible. That's what you get for scheduling weak non-conference competition (and losing to Louisiana-Lafayette). And do Tiger fans know how to celebrate or what?
Speaking of Nebraska, the Cornhuskers rolled the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. The good news for Jayhawks -- no charges will be filed against football and basketball players after their family feud, and it's basketball season.
*** It's rainy. It's crappy. It's another Monday in the fake empire.
Tomorrow would have been Buck O'Neil's 98th birthday.
In honor of the true Kansas City legend, all 10 local First Watch breakfast spots are donating all -- all -- of Friday's profits to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Pretty sweet deal.
Several old ballplayers will be signing autographs at the First Watches around the city. The NLBM knows who and where.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (1616 E. 18th St.) also has a day of events planned for Saturday, including $1 admission and free cupcakes!
Mayor Mark Funkhouser didn't do shit with his fantasy football team this week, and he got his ass handed to him by The Commish, 74-45.
Funk played Philadelphia running back Brain Westbrook-- who hasn't played a game since October 26 when he suffered a concussion. Why the fuck he's in Funk's lineup is beyond me.
Also in Funk's lineup, Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee, who ran the ball twice for negative 1 yards, and Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis, who caught one pass for three yards.
Just ugly.
By the way, Funk picked up Lewis after dropping Oakland Raiders tight end Zach Miller, who caught five passes for 52 yards.
White Owl is still locked up in the Douglas County clink.
The man cracked down on the 62-year-old, unofficial third-string mascot of the Kansas Jayhawks, whose real name is Jimmy Neil Tucker, after he amassed an impressive rap sheet in the last couple of years -- including allegedly stealing books from KU's library.
White Owl ended up locked up in the DoCo jail after allegedly no-showing a court date on charges that he violated a protect order in September -- taken out by his ex-, a 23-year-old KU student.
White Owl was already on diversion for possession of marijuana in 2007. No way.
The Lawrence Journal-World says a judge would like to talk to him on January 28 about violating his diversion.
The Journal-World also reports that White Owl will be in court on December 31 for allegedly stealing three books from KU's Anschutz Library.
White Owl is being held on $5,000 bond for allegedly violating the protection order, and his trial is scheduled for January 27, 2010, according to the University Daily Kansan.
Fear not men of KU. Unless White Owl posts bond, you no longer have to worry about a 62-year-old burnout stealing your girlfriends.
Former Kansas City Chief Tony Gonzalez is no furry.
The Atlanta Falcons tight end is swearing off fur coats and stripping down for PETA as part of the "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Tony G. told the AJC that he's buff because he's a vegan.
He added:
"We should be protecting animals, not sacrificing their lives for the sake of fashion or luxury. October and I have changed many of our habits in light of the inhumane treatment of animals that occurs not only in the fur industry but also on factory farms."
But what about pigskin?
I'm not complaining, especially since Gonzalez' wife, October, decided to join him.
No one claimedLarry Johnson from waivers yesterday, which means the Chiefs are on the hook for the remaining $2.1 million of this year's salary.
Plus, LJ can now sign wherever he wants -- if they'll take him.
And in the biggest bit of bullshit you'll read today, Johnson toldSports Illustrated's Dan Patrick that he'd like to finish his career with the Chiefs and become the team's all-time leading rusher.
"Hopefully, maybe someday, when I'm 33, 34, and I've still got a little bit of burn left, they'll allow me come back and get those yards. ...
I started in Kansas City. I wouldn't have no problem going back and trying to finish my career in Kansas City. To me, it seems only right."
NFL Network insider Jason La Canforasays the Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Washington Redskins have all expressed interest in "King Pink." And LJ might end up with the Houston Texans, despite the Texans denying that they're interested. (Hat tip to Arrowhead Pride).
But there may be hope for LJ. ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted this:
Larry Johnson's agent Peter Schaffer said he's "talking with many teams and two you would never guess." I tried to guess, he wouldn't bite.
Johnson has said he wants to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Arrowhead Pride also breaks down the interest by team. A real lack of CFL teams on that list.
Maybe I'm still getting a contact high from the K2, but I really like the Chiefs' 30 Rock knockoff, 1 Arrowhead.
Good job out of cheerleader Kerriand announcer Mitch Holthus in the Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) roles. Not sure who KC Wolf is supposed to be ... Tracy Morgan?
This follows a pretty damn good parody of The Office, which debuted during the preseason.
Since the video starts automatically, I put it after the jump.
The unofficial third-team mascot of Kansas Jayhawk football is locked up in the Douglas County jail.
Jimmy Neil Tucker, aka White Owl, skipped a court date on charges that he violated a protection order in September, so the man tossed him in the clink on November 5.
The University Daily Kansan reports that the 62-year-old is scheduled to appear in court today.
White Owl's year has been almost as tumultuous as the Jayhawk football team.
In July, White Owl claimed officials with the University of Kansas told him he was banned from campus. White Owl
couldn't name any of these administrators, but this made the old burnout cry and tell a fantastic story of praying on campus only to be told by a police officer that he was barred and would be arrested if he came back. Except, campus police denied this ever happened.
White Owl was so distraught that he decided to run away to California (because of the great hippie shortage of 2009). Sadly, White Owl only made it 30 miles before "God" intervened, telling him to go back to KU.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported last night that Larry Johnson, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs (just writing it feels good), wants to play for the Pittsburgh. Who doesn't want to play for a winner?
Last night, Schefter tweeted, "When Larry Johnson left Penn State, the one team he wanted to most play for was the Steelers. If he clears waivers, he'd love Pittsburgh."
Yeah, we knew that.
Back in 2005, then-Pitch reporter Kendrick Blackwood profiled the troubled running back, "Big Johnson," and there were subtle- and not-so-subtle hints. The Steelers were Johnson's team of choice during a game of Madden football. He also flat out told Blackwood that he hoped the Steelers would draft him ... but he fell to the Chiefs.
No indication if the Steelers are interested. There's also still a chance that a team might claim "King Pink" off waivers.
Guess the days of Larry Johnson cashing fat checks are close to over.
The Chiefs just released him.
Here's the official statement:
The Kansas City Chiefs released RB Larry Johnson on Monday. In 75 games (55 starts) with Kansas City, Johnson rushed 1,375 times for 5,996 yards (4.4 avg.) with 55 touchdowns. He also registered 151 receptions for 1,369 yards (9.1 avg.) with six TDs. He concluded his Chiefs career with 30 100-yard rushing games and also added two 100-yard receiving games.
Johnson established an NFL single-season record with 416 rushing attempts in 2006 when he set a franchise single-season mark with 1,789 rushing yards. He originally entered the league as the Chiefs first-round selection (27th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Penn State.
Looks like the Chiefs heard the fan's pleas to not let LJ become the team's all-time leading rusher.
The Sprint Center hosted a live broadcast of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Rawand a taped-for-television SmackDown event in 2009.
2010 may be even better for Kansas City wrestling fans.
WWE has tentatively scheduled a pay-per-view event for July 18 at the Sprint Center.
If memory serves, the last WWE pay-per-view event in Kansas City was 2007's New Year's Revolution at Kemper Arena.
Nothing is set in stone, and tickets are not on sale yet. But Wikipedia lists the name of the event as the "King of the Ring," a tournament last won for William Regal in 2008.
It's no WrestleMania, but it's bigger than Raw and SmackDown.
We're almost as dumbfounded as Todd Reesing at Kansas State's hot start.
Kansas football fans have to be melting down after losing the Sunflower Showdown to Kansas State. Old man Snyder has the Wildcats in the Big 12 North lead. So much for the Reesing for Heisman talk. Oh, and yes, it's basketball season.
Speaking of meltdowns, Baylor shocked Missouri ... in Columbia.
The Jacksonville Jaguars outlasted the Chiefs. Welcome back, Larry Johnson.
Also this weekend, the health-care bill that passed the House on Saturday is meeting a quick death in the Senate.
Sunday's Star also featured one of those crazy stories of a country drive turning into really bad luck ... or really good luck.
A man was in critical condition Sunday night after a shooting in the 3400 block of Locust.
A Kansas teacher allegedly lied about being stabbed.
Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of a missing Kansas woman.
Workers will be putting in long hours in the next few days preparing the Independence Events Center for its opening weekend.
The building holds 5,800 for hockey. Its principal tenant is the Missouri Mavericks, who are 2-5 in Central Hockey League play. The team practices in an adjacent rink that's open to the public when large, skilled Canadians are off the ice.
In addition to hockey, the events center is vying for concerts too big for the Uptown but not quite worthy of the Sprint Center. The Zac Brown Band and Tech N9ne perform this month.
A ribbon cutting and open house take place on Saturday. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, varsity high school teams representing Independence and Rockhurst will play in the main arena. (The game is free.)
The road-weary Mavericks play their first home game on Friday, November 13, at 7:05 p.m.
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