SportsBeat KC

In this episode of SportsBeat KC, The Star’s daily podcast, we talk about the Royals, especially the future of left fielder Andrew Benintendi. But there was also some big Royals news after we finished recording. The Royals have promoted general manager Dayton Moore to club president and elevated assistant GM J.J. Picollo to Moore’s former position. We discuss that and other Royals developments. Be...

Early in the fourth quarter, the Cleveland Browns had about an 87% probably of winning their season opener against the Chiefs. Never count out Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who rallied for a 33-29 triumph Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The SportsBeat KC crew discussed the dramatic triumph after the game. You’ll hear from The Star’s Sam Mellinger, Vahe Gregorian, Herbie Teope, Blair Kerkhoff and Sa...

Missouri visits Kentucky on Saturday in an SEC East game between teams that aren’t in the polls. But there’s plenty riding on this contest. Both teams are bidding to become the top challenger to division leaders Georgia and Florida, and there’s the matter of Mizzou ending a five-game losing streak in the series with an emphatic victory last season in Columbia. In this episode of SportsBeat KC, The...

The team that has played in three straight AFC Championship Games and back to back Super Bowls is about to kick off the 2021 season and we’re here to talk about it. Beat writers Herbie Teope and Sam McDowell and columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian join Blair Kerkhoff to discuss all things Chiefs. The show started as a SportsBeat Live stream with questions and comments from you. We covered...

Major college football in Kansas is undefeated after one week. Kansas State was an impressive 24-7 winner over Stanford and Kansas won its first game since 2019 by defeating South Dakota 17-14. On today’s episode of The Star’s daily podcast, SportsBeat KC, beat writers Jesse Newell and Kellis Robinett break down the games and discuss whether those outcomes change their perspective about the season...

One more victory and the Royals can’t lose 100 games this season. So, that’s one objective that should be easily met. How about the rest of them? We talk about that and more Royals topics in this episode of SportsBeat KC with beat writer Lynn Worthy and columnist Sam Mellinger. How are the Royals going to use Adalberto Mondesi the rest of the season? And why do advanced metrics seem to disrespect...

Missouri’s football season begins Saturday. The Tigers open the second year of coach Eli Drinkwitz’s tenure Saturday, when Central Michigan visits. It’s also the second year as a starter for quarterback Connor Bazelak. Nationally, the Tigers are seen as middle-of-the pack in the SEC East. We should have a better feel for that in the season’s second week, when the Tigers visit Kentucky. In this epi...

Kansas State opens the football season on a big stage — AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — against Stanford on Saturday. There is optimism in the Wildcats’ camp, with starting quarterback Skylar Thompson back after sitting out most of last season with an injury. Only a handful of major-college quarterbacks have more career starts than Thompson’s 30. On today’s episode of our daily SportsBeat K...

A new era begins for Kansas Jayhawks football, and maybe it’s time to see signs of progress. New coach Lance Leipold got a late start on the job when he was hired in April, and as of midday Wednesday he still hadn’t named a starting quarterback for Friday’s opener against South Dakota. But there is nowhere to go but up for a program that went winless in nine games last season and hasn’t won more t...

Behold Salvador Perez. He’s swinging baseball’s hottest bat, with home runs in five straight games. That matches a Royals record, which he can own exclusively Tuesday night. He has also tied the team mark for home runs in a month with 12. Perez has gone from being a good hitter to great this season, and we talked about why it’s happening this season on SportsBeat Live, The Star’s daily sports podc...

The Chiefs checked every box in their preseason finale on Friday, a 28-25 victory at home over the Minnesota Vikings. The starters on offense and defense excelled and Patrick Mahomes and company looked ready for the regular-season opener against the Cleveland Browns. But there is some work to be done before that Sept. 12 game. The roster must be trimmed from 80 to 53, and on this episode of Sports...

KC NWSL is on a roll, and that’s a nice change from the season’s first few months. The team picked up its second straight home victory, a 2-1 decision against Louisville this week, and now seeks its first road win of the year this weekend. In this episode of our daily SportsBeat KC podcast, soccer writer Shaun Goodwin explains how the first-year club has turned the corner. Also, Sporting KC contin...

One preseason game remains for the Chiefs, Friday at home against the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs’ starters are expected to play most of the first half. After the game, it’s decision time for Andy Reid and Brett Veach. The team’s decisions makers must get the roster to 53 players by next Tuesday. Where are the roster battles? The starters are established, so the shakeups lurk down on the depth c...

A new alliance of power conferences was formally introduced Tuesday, when commissioners Kevin Warren of the Big Ten, Jim Phillips of the ACC and George Kliavkoff of the Pac-12 met with reporters to lay out their plans for consolidating influence in the wake of the SEC’s recent power-grab of Texas and Oklahoma. Conspicuously absent from that allied group? Bob Bowlsby and the Big 12. In this episode...

Only a few weeks of evidence is available, but what a stretch for the Royals’ rotation. With Carlos Hernandez and Daniel Lynch leading the way, they’ve won seven of eight and their starters are 5-0 in that run. On this episode of our daily SportsBeat KC podcast, which originated as SportsBeat Live stream Tuesday morning, beat writer Lynn Worthy and columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian proje...

The Chiefs returned from Arizona with a victory in their second preseason game, a contest where the starters played well into the second quarter. The defense was terrific for a second straight game. The starting offense put together two long drives against the Cardinals’ starter but managed only three points. No cause for concern. But there’s plenty to discuss when it comes to personnel. What will...

Daniel Salloi continued his magical season Wednesday evening with another goal. This one, in extra time, enabled Sporting Kansas City to salvage a draw against the visiting Portland Timbers. We asked soccer writer Shaun Goodwin where he would’ve placed Salloi on a list of preseason MVP candidates. Also in this episode of SportsBeat KC, our daily sports pod: KC NWSL won its first game, then traded...

Starters will see more action Friday when the Chiefs play their second preseason game, It might be an entire first half of snaps for the first team offense and defense as the regular season inches closer. On today’s SportsBeat KC, beat writers Herbie Teope and Sam McDowell share what they expect to see when the Chiefs travel to Arizona, and who needs to make a good second impression. Also on today...

Kansas State and Kansas are preparing for football season, which kicks off in two weeks, and it’s never not basketball season at KU. But any discussion involving athletics at those schools starts with conference realignment. Among the latest news: Officials from the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 meeting last week without the Big 12. Not good news for schools in this part of the country. On today’s Sport...

Whit Merrifield is the Royals’ new iron man, breaking Alcides Escobar’s club record for consecutive games played. The streak stands in contrast to the status of infielder Adalberto Mondesi, who has suffered another yet injury setback. Merrifield’s streak is the leadoff topic in this episode of SportsBeat KC, The Star’s daily sports podcast, with beat writer Lynn Worthy and columnists Sam Mellinger...

Offensive line performance? Check. Defensive front pressure? Check. No injuries. Check. Those important boxes were filled by the Chiefs in their preseason opener at the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. As a bonus, they got a late touchdown drive from reserve quarterback Shane Buechele to win the game. On today’s SportsBeat KC, beat writer Sam MCDowell and columnist Vahe Gregorian break down the ga...

Members of the Chiefs’ new offensive line have had a few months to get acquainted and acclimate. Now they get to work as a group and battle someone besides their own teammates. The Chiefs’ 2021 preseason begins with an opener Saturday evening in San Francisco, and while there are plenty of players at several positions to watch, the offensive line is the position group that commands the most attent...

To be or not to be—at full strength. That was the question for Sporting KC’s Peter Vermes this week as his team was assigned at Leagues Cup contest in the heart of a busy stretch of MLS games. Sporting lost to Club Leon of Liga MX 6-1 at Children’s Mercy Park and on today’s SportsBeat KC, Shaun Goodwin, who covers soccer for The Star, speaks to the Cup conundrum with host Blair Kerkhoff. After a b...

Missouri rolled out the welcome mat to new athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois on Wednesday. Hear what she had to say on several topics, including why she was interested in the job; how her son, Jackson, had agreed to walk on to coach Cuonzo Martin’s basketball program before the Mizzou job came open; and lessons learned from one season of rowing at UCLA, even though she didn’t earn a letter....

The Royals-Yankees game on Monday was one for the books. All zeroes on the line score through six innings, and all runs for both teams every inning after that. The Yankees prevailed 8-6 in 11, blowing four leads along the way. It was a gritty effort by both teams. We talk about the game, and the emergence of starting pitcher Carols Hernandez plus several other topics, in this edition of The Star’s...