Care to guess who has baseball’s best winning percentage over the last three weeks?
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So, that was something, huh? The Royals beat the Rangers twice in Texas — last night with Vin Mazzaro starting — and not-so-suddenly have the look of an able rotation, lockdown bullpen, and enough from the position players to be the promising group we all expected before the season. For … Read More ⇒
Twitter Tuesday: Royals, Chiefs, Duffy, Bowe, David Glass, Eric Hosmer, Florida State, great beer, Nick Wright, Sporting KC, and rock star vs athlete
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You know how I know criticism of the Royals feeds on itself? How I know that the Royals have been so bad for so long, with so many wild (if by now outdated) stories of cheapness that just about anything seems fair and nothing seems over the top? Because I’m … Read More ⇒
As we await Danny Duffy news, a note about teams that’ve lost 12 in a row that will surprise you
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The 1987 Brewers had a future manager at shortstop (Dale Sveum), an all-or-nothing slugger in left (Rob Deer struck out 186 times), an aging DH (Cecil Cooper’s last season), a Hall of Famer in center (Robin Yount) and plainly no identity. I “discovered” these Brewers while trying to find out … Read More ⇒
A stab at figuring out these Royals based on numbers that you may or may not dismiss
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You are free to dismiss the premise of this blog post, and that’s probably a presumptuous and unnecessary disclaimer. You’re free to dismiss the premise of this blog post or any other you damn well choose, of course, but I’m mentioning this here because this one is even goofier than … Read More ⇒
Twitter Tuesday: Royals pitchers, Chiefs coaches, KC stadiums, food, soccer, the NBA, frustrations and a Luis Mendoza lookalike
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Spent Saturday night in the Cauldron for what turned out to be Sporting Kansas City’s worst game of the season, a 2-0 stinkbomb to an expansion team playing something of a makeshift lineup. But I wasn’t there to analyze the soccer as much as do some reporting for a big-picture … Read More ⇒
What to do with Luke Hochevar?
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In Sunday’s column, the Royals got compared to the Titanic and we tried to get closer to the question about who these guys really are. Among the points — and, please, take a look if you have time — was Luke Hochevar having the eighth-worst ERA of any pitcher with … Read More ⇒
Quick thoughts on Danny Duffy and Mike Moustakas
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Twenty-four games in, this Royals season is an enormous disappointment. You know that. I know that. The Royals know that. But there are some encouraging signs beneath the crap, and I’m not just talking about Eric Hosmer’s awful luck. Specifically, I’m talking about Danny Duffy and Mike Moustakas. I said … Read More ⇒
Royals: BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
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The Royals are rotten right now, no other way to put it, and — with about one-sixth of the season gone — comfortably on pace for the most disappointing season in a recent franchise history stocked mostly of nothing else. They’ve had injuries, and they’ve had bad luck, but not … Read More ⇒
Twitter Tuesday: Black Keys, obviously, but also shampoo, Chiefs draft, Royals lineup, Dontari Poe, sandwiches, Sporting KC, Rex Hudler, David Glass, Kate Upton and Jim Bob Cooter
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The concert was ridiculous, thank you for asking. Got to go with a friend who’d never seen the greatest show on earth, and it was good to see that kid on Christmas come out, and even better to grab a cigar afterward. I’d also like to point out that, at … Read More ⇒
Chiefs draft rewind, and some numbers that might surprise you about Eric Hosmer
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In a lot of ways, consumption of the NFL Draft is sports’ ultimate Rorschach test. “Surprising pick” is often digested as “awful pick,” and “guy we’ve heard of especially at a skill position and/or major program” is often digested as “awesome pick.” So in that way, taking Memphis nose tackle … Read More ⇒
Dontari Poe nearly makes out with Roger Goodell, then gets booed in KC, but does any of it mean anything?
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Of course today’s column is about Dontari Poe and what is apparently the least popular pick the Chiefs could’ve made. No matter what happens from here, whether Poe is the bust most everyone expects or becomes the plug at nose tackle we’ve all been waiting on for years, his story … Read More ⇒
Actually, the Royals do have friends in low places
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Congratulations to the Royals who last night became just the 33rd team to lose 12 games in a row in the last 25 seasons. The Royals alone own five such streaks now, heady company with such trainwrecks as the 2010 Pirates, 2008 Nationals, and 2004 Diamondbacks. One of the company … Read More ⇒
Twitter Tuesday: strippers, bare hindparts, Vegas, mancrushes, and LOTS of Royals anger
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Well, first, many of you have asked so here’s something Royals general manager Dayton Moore told me that didn’t make this morning’s column you might be interested in: “I told Ned and the staff: as long as we come to the field every day with a winning attitude and winning … Read More ⇒
The week that’s coming starts, obviously, with the Royals going full stink-mode
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My week off was fantastic, thank you for asking. I slept in, watched a bunch of old episodes of The Wire, went to the gym, looked for a house, cooked some great food, went out for great dinners, generally reacquainted myself with my smokeshow wife and, well, I suppose my … Read More ⇒
On the Royals and Chiefs and Jonathan Broxton and Ryan Tannehill
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Mission 2012 begins today, in Kansas City for the first time, and like that hotty wrote in the paper today, baseball will never be the same around here again — for better or worse. A lot of the talk about this team — at least the talk’s that’s not about … Read More ⇒
Ozzie Guillen, Bobby Petrino (plus Pinkel, Snyder and Self), and some Royals
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First, the read of the day comes to you from Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, writing about the mess of Ozzie Guillen and forgiveness (Royals Hall of Famer Cookie Rojas makes a cameo, if that helps). Now, the OTHER major national story is Bobby Petrino taking about as big … Read More ⇒
Twitter Tuesday: P90Rex, Royals, Chiefs, Bo Jackson, Hosmer, authors and FHAHs
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Rex Hudler and the Royals are the hot topics this week, and let’s get this out of the way right at the top because a few of you wrote in: No, I didn’t like Ned Yost sitting Alex Gordon last night. I understand the motivation; Ned is trying to keep … Read More ⇒
My best attempt at explaining why I’m not disgusted Johnny Giavotella isn’t here
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NOTE: I wrote this column for what we call the early edition of the paper last night, so subscribers outside the Kansas City metro area saw this instead of the one I wrote after the game. ANAHEIM, Calif. – Ned Yost is sitting near the dugout, pounding the dirt in … Read More ⇒
The Royals and the future and the Over-Under stats
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — I haven’t seen an official count, but I’m guessing there are 3,284 reporters here to cover the Royals’ season opener. Of course, as far as writers actually here for the ROYALS, I’m guessing it’ll just be me, Dutton and Kaegel. Whatevs. This is the most anticipated Royals … Read More ⇒
Let’s all make a pact where we agree to stop believing every nonsensical thing AEG tells us
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So Tim Leiweke, trying to strong-arm the NFL into relocating to his AEG profit machine in Los Angeles, said something offensive to Kansas City: “We won’t have a cloud of uncertainty over our heads for the next two years and chase this. Phil (Anschutz, AEG boss) has made it clear … Read More ⇒
Twitter Tuesday: loaded with KU, K-State, Bruce Weber, Royals, Chiefs, floppy hair and propane tanks
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NEW ORLEANS — They’re already talking about next year. Or, perhaps more accurately, the Kansas basketball team is already answering questions about next year. Thomas Robinson is gone, of course, a high lottery pick who will find a spot in his NBA team’s schedule to show up at Allen Fieldhouse … Read More ⇒
The advantage KU has but isn’t being talked about much
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NEW ORLEANS — This is going to sound stupid, and maybe that’s because it is stupid. I think I believe this, but I’m willing to understand I very well may be wrong on this: Kansas’ biggest advantage that nobody seems to be talking about against Kentucky in tonight’s national championship … Read More ⇒
Bill Self’s good point about the “easy” job he’s had this year
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NEW ORLEANS — Bill Self made a good point. You probably know by now how much he loves this particular team, how he’s enjoyed this one more than any he’s had in years, the pushing and the pulling the especially the guts bringing Kansas to its 14th Final Four overall … Read More ⇒
Over-analyzing a game that’s still two days away while (hopefully) someone sweeps the streets clean of vomit
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NEW ORLEANS — You know, there is a certain hypocrisy in a purportedly high-minded institution like the NCAA holding one of its marquee events in a place that makes you feel like it’ll require conscious effort to avoid a misdemeanor. This is about student-athletes, you know, the kind who will … Read More ⇒
A follow-up on today’s column on Frank Martin, John Currie and K-State basketball
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One follow-up to this morning’s column on Frank Martin’s departure, John Currie’s silly fairytale and what it means for Kansas State basketball: KSU should be able to hire a damn good coach. Students and fans have turned Bramlage into one of the best atmospheres in the conference, the $18 million … Read More ⇒
Latest column
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Royals’ pain continues with Duffy’s injury
Dayton Moore must feel like locking himself in the bathroom and crying into a towel, but instead he is answering the unanswerable, explaining the impossible and talking about the depressing. He is the general manager of a franchise that right now can't get out of its own way, or the ... Read more »
Hey, you
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Tweets
- Ah, you are correct. My bad. Video: http://t.co/TnYyPplR MT @KellisRobinett @mellinger to be fair I think Rasheed got fined for that, too.
- @KCRoyalman haha, no worries. Let’s shoot for the 10th?
- @KCRoyalman those are Wednesdays.
- Don’t understand why Bynum takes a $15k fine for skipping a media session. Just go Rasheed and save the money. #BothTeamsPlayedHardMyMan