SportsBeat KC

The Royals have a new left fielder. In a trade that involved three teams, the Royals acquired Andrew Benintendi from the Red Sox while parting ways with outfielders Franchy Cordero and Khalil Lee. The Mets get Lee. It’s the latest move that indicates the Royals are in a win-now mode. Benintendi joins fellow newcomers Carlos Santana, Michael Taylor and Mike Minor on the roster while parting with pl...

On today’s SportsBeat KC, we remember Terez Paylor, The Kansas City Star sportswriter who left us much too soon. He died on Monday at age 37. The tributes from across the journalism world have been overwhelming, and today some of his former colleagues at The Star got together on a zoom call to recall what we loved and admired about Terez. You’ll hear from Sam Mellinger, Vahe Gregorian, Herbie Teop...

The pain of the Super Bowl loss continues for the Chiefs. On Monday, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid provided their second day thoughts on the 31-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mahomes discussed the most lopsided defeat of his young pro career and how that will help motivate him. He also takes us inside a play that could have been spectacular, the incomplete pass to Darrel Williams when Mahomes...

This Chiefs took a 3-0 lead against Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl, but it was all downhill from there. Penalties, turnovers, poor execution — you name it, the Chiefs were guilty of it Sunday night. The disappointment will last long into the offseason. The Star’s coverage team of columnists Vahe Gregorian and Sam Mellinger and beat writers Sam McDowell and Herbie Teope unpacked what went wrong in a p...

Welcome to the final SportsBeat KC podcast before the Super Bowl! Today’s pod features a Chiefs player who isn’t with the team this season but played a major role last year. Offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff, who has a medical degree, opted out this season to help fight COVID-19. Duvernay-Tardif spoke with KC Star columnist Vahe Gregorian, whose column appears on kansascity.com today and...

Today’s SportsBeat KC gets in some final words before the Super Bowl. The Star’s coverage team of Sam McDowell, Vahe Gregorian and Sam Mellinger joined host Blair Kerkhoff to talk about the keys to Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and what kind of statistics to keep an eye on as the game unfolds. Beat writer Herbie Teope was on assignment. Updates on injuries and haircut safety are a...

It’s Tampa Bay day on SportsBeat KC, The Star’s daily sports podcast. On today’s show we visit two journalists with the Tampa Bay Times. Joey Knight covers the Bucs and breaks down the game from a Tampa Bay perspective. Also, Sharon Kennedy Wynne is the TImes’ family, entertainment and events editor. She provides a pulse of the region that is hosting the nation’s most popular championship in the m...

The quarterback matchup is biggest topic for the biggest game of the year. Patrick Mahomes is off to the best start to a career in NFL history and takes on the best body of work the game has seen in Tom Brady. The quarterbacks spoke glowingly about each other and covered many other topics on Monday as Super Bowl festivities kicked off. During zoom interviews, Mahomes’ spoke about his motivation, t...

Super Bowl week has arrived, and we kick it off with a SportsBeat KC podcast. Star columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian joined beat writer Sam McDowell and host Blair Kerkhoff along with viewers to the SportsBeat Live program in breaking down the Chiefs’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and answering questions. How will the reworked Chiefs offensive line perform? How big is the Buccane...

Kansas, Missouri and Kansas State are participating in the Big 12-SEC Challenge this weekend, and they all have their own challenges. The Jayhawks are looking for an identity, especially on the offensive end. The Tigers seek consistency, having followed their terrific victory at Tennessee with a loss at Auburn. Kansas State needs, well, everything. Beat writers Jesse Newell, Gary Bedore, Souichi T...

We’re getting you ready for the Super Bowl on today’s SportsBeat KC, The Star’s daily sports podcast. Columnists Vahe Gregorian and Sam Mellinger joined beat writer Herbie Teope and host Blair Kerkhoff on today’s show. Beat writer Sam McDowell was on assignment. Patrick Mahomes versus Tom Brady, the Chiefs’ makeshift offensive line against the Buccaneers terrific pass rush that sacked Aaron Rodger...

The subject is the Super Bowl, but it’s also college basketball, baseball, the NHL, cancer research and so many other topics, because when you talk to ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale, the conversation takes many interesting turns. But the Super Bowl is the primary focus because the pro teams in Tampa Bay have no bigger fan than Vitale, who lives in the region. Those fans have had a great year,...

The Chiefs’ “Run It Back” tour continues with a second straight AFC championship and Super Bowl appearance and SportsBeat KC will follow that lead and run back postgame interviews from Sunday’s triumph over the Buffalo Bills on today’s show. You’ll hear from Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman, Tyrann Mathieu and general manager Brett Veach on the 38-24 victory over the Bills and a look...

Next stop: Tampa, Florida, and the Super Bowl. The Chiefs are going to the big game for the second straight year after defeating the Buffalo Bills 38-24 in the AFC Championship Game. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and the offense were sensational. The defense was ultra-aggressive. After falling behind 9-0, the Chiefs dominated. The game and the Super Bowl matchup with the Tampa Bay Buc...

The Chiefs’ coaches and select players delivered their final comments before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills Friday, and a bit of critical news emerged: Patrick Mahomes is out of the NFL’s concussion protocol and ready to play Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. You’ll hear from Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Dan Sorensen and Frank Clark along with Andy Reid in this episode of our daily...

Three years, three AFC Championship Games for the Chiefs. On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills arrive at Arrowhead Stadium for a 5:40 p.m. kickoff and this one comes with its own set of questions: Patrick Mahomes’ health, the meaning of these teams’ regular-season game in Week 6, and the Bills’ hot hand over the past three months. Star columnists Vahe Gregorian and Sam Mellinger, along with beat writers S...

What’s the latest on Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ injury? Andy Reid provided the update Wednesday and you’ll hear it on SportsBeat KC, the Kansas City Star’s daily sports podcast. You’ll also hear from backup quarterback Chad Henne on how he remains prepared; defensive tackle Chris Jones on the difference between the Buffalo Bills now and when the Chiefs met them during the regular season;...

Kansas never led second-ranked Baylor Monday night and the Bears quickly opened a big lead. But the Jayhawks battled back a couple of times, reducing the deficit to as few as five in the late stages before falling 77-69. Beat writers Jesse Newell and Gary Bedore break down, as Bedore says, a “moderately alarming” second straight Big 12 loss for KU. After a break, you’ll hear what Andy Reid had to...

The Chiefs have now won playoff games in three consecutive years, but it wasn’t easy to get No. 3 on Sunday. After taking a 16-point lead over the Cleveland Browns, the Chiefs hung on to post a 22-17 triumph in the AFC Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs and will now face the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Star’s coverage team of columnists Sam Mell...

Kansas goes into Saturday’s game against Iowa State two games back in the loss column in the Big 12 race. Have the Jayhawks reached the point where playing for the league championship could become a secondary consideration as they spend the rest of the season preparing for the NCAA Tournament? Beat writers Jesse Newell and Gary Bedore break down that notion on SportsBeat KC, The Star’s daily sport...

The broader topics of the Chiefs-Browns Divisional Round playoff game were discussed earlier in the week on SportsBeat KC. Today’s program drills down into the game itself. How will the teams’ defend each other? Where can they take advantage? Star columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian joined beat writer Sam McDowell and host Blair Kerkhoff to break down the game at Arrowhead Stadium. It’s th...

What was Patrick Mahomes doing while waiting to learn the identity of the Chiefs’ first playoff opponent? What play did Tyreek Hill regret most from the 2020 regular season? How is Travis Kelce handling the attention from friends in his Cleveland hometown as the Chiefs prepare to meet the Browns Sunday in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs? Those questions — and many more — were asked and an...

Author Michael MacCambridge comes by his Chiefs fandom naturally. He grew up in Kansas City and worked at Arrowhead Stadium for a couple of years. He’s written several books, among them a biography of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt and ‘69 Chiefs: A Team, a Season and the Birth of Modern Kansas City. Also, Chiefs Kingdom: The Official Story of the 2019 Championship Season. Who better to break down the...

Kareem Hunt ... John Dorsey ... Mahomes-Mayfield ... The storylines are rich for Sunday’s Division Round playoff game between the Chiefs and Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium. SportsBeat KC takes a comprehensive first look at the matchup with Star columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian, beat writer Sam McDowell and host Blair Kerkhoff. The discussion started as a Monday morning SportsBeat...

This week, Kansas made a 54-point turnaround between Big 12 games. Missouri had a 29-point reversal in the same game. Kansas State? Just looking for a victory. College basketball is the topic on this episode of the daily SportsBeat KC podcast with host Blair Kerkhoff. Beat writers Gary Bedore and Jesse Newell (Kansas), Souichi Terada (Missouri) and Kellis Robinett (Kansas State) share updates and...