My Sports Teams Are Doing Really Well This Year…

My Sports Teams are doing really well this year….

I have been trying very hard not to bore you non-sports readers.

I really have.

But it is difficult especially when my sports teams are doing so well.

I am not going to brag.

I will try to stay humble.

Wait! If you say you are humble, doesn’t that negate any humbleness? 

If so…just ignore that last comment.

 

But if you are a true sports fan, aren’t you supposed to support your teams?

Oh course, I am.

So please bear with me as I give you a few sports facts….for 2016/2017.

The Kansas City Royals won the World Series and I know that is old news.  They went to two World Series in a row and they took it all the second time. Then last year…they played well but were tired from back to back seasons and they were close but didn’t go to the World Series.  Remember, this was/is a team that most didn’t think stood a chance to win many games.

Manager Ned Yost has talked often about how fatigue and injuries derailed the 2016 Royals. And he also spoke at the Winter Meetings of how having a full offseason of recovering, training and conditioning could raise the energy and health level of his team heading in 2017.  I certainly hope so, as I remain ForeverRoyal!

So, the 2016 baseball season ended and football season began.

The Kansas City Chiefs also had it’s detractors who said…The Chiefs would always be a bridesmaid but never a bride.

Guess what?

The Chiefs won their division this year, the AFC West and received an automatic bye into the play-offs, despite the sports pundits who say the Chiefs will go nowhere. “They” say the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is NO Tom Brady.  No, his name is Alex Smith and he has been leading the Chiefs towards the play- offs and hopefully on to the Super Bowl.

This year, the Kansas City Chiefs have been solid on offense and good on defense and while a lot of their games have been close, they have also found ways to win. If they were to win it all, they would just need to use the same game plan they have been using all year. Play solid offense focused on the run, and using their terrific special teams to give them great field position.

Go Chiefs!!!

Then there is the college basketball season that got on a roll in late November which leads me to talk about my Kansas Jayhawks. They are ranked number 2 in the nation and have won 13 games and lost 1.  They have the longest running home winning streak in all of the NCAA. 47 games.  What a record.

Yep! But unfortunately, the last game the Jayhawks won there was controversy….over a “travel” that was not called.

Below is a commentary of a disgruntled reporter.

“That’s where Kansas just beat Kansas State on a blatant travel that went uncalled in the final second, which preserved the Jayhawks’ 46-game home winning streak. The play in question came with the game tied at 88-all in the closing seconds as Svi Mykhailiuk went coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup at the buzzer. Problem is, Mykhailiuk clearly traveled, but the refs never called it”.

Perhaps you are wondering what a “travel” call is: Most commonly, a player travels by moving his or her pivot foot or taking three or more steps without dribbling the ball.
What this reporter fails to report is that a travel call is not a review-able call by the Refs and there are many travel violations in every basketball game.  You have to remember that there are 10 players on the floor in a fast paced game and if someone holding the ball lifts a foot or takes one step too many, it is difficult for Refs to catch it. Some travels are called and some are missed. Just as there are many fouls missed by the Refs.  Many times the Jayhawks are on the receiving end of missed calls as are other teams.

Is it right or fair?

No, but it is simply the luck of the draw, and if the teams and coaches want to make a “travel” call a review-able call…then good luck with that.  Basketball games are already long events and especially with the calling of “time outs” at the end of a game.  A game can be extended by 30 minutes or more with strategically called time outs.

So I say to the whiners…suck it up and put your big boy pants on.  If the travel call would have been called, the game would have went into a 5 minute overtime and Kansas (13-1 overall, 2-0 Big 12) shot 53 percent from the floor, and finished with five players in double figures while K State (12-2, 1-1) shot the ball 50 percent from the floor. K State will have a chance to win the next Sunflower Showdown match-up in K State’s Manhattan home, with home court advantage in a few weeks.   

In spite of all the hub bub, it isn’t the first or will it be the last time a call of any kind will be missed.  It happens in all sports.  In fact a couple weeks ago, the KC Chiefs football team lost their game in the last 5 seconds due to a ref not catching a time out call.

Who said life is fair?

OK, I think I have this sports stuff out of my system now.

At least until the next game.

I hope your team(s) win too!