It’s a great time to be a sports fan in our town!

The Royals

What in the world is going on with these Royals? They will not go away. They are a pesky bunch who fought their way back into a pennant race by using 4 of 6 games on a tough road trip to Miami and Boston.  There’s still a lot of work to be done in the final month, but I feel better about their chances now than at any other time this season.

It’s still a mystery how they have made this happen despite all the injuries to key people on the roster. This schedule sets up nicely in the final month of the season. 20 of the Royals last 32 games are at home, three against the Yankees this week and then 25 of the last 29 against division opponents from the A.L. Central.  The Royals have dominated the Twins, Tigers and White Sox.  Here’s how the Royals stack up against the AL Central:

Cleveland is the only team in the division with a winning record against the Royals. The tribe has won 8 of 13.

The Chiefs

Let’s switch gears to the Chiefs. One more of these practice games left Thursday night against the Packers at Arrowhead. It will be nothing more than a glorified scrimmage and final audition for a bunch of players who will not be with the team for the season opener September 11. It’s good to see Eric Berry back but chances are this will be his final season in a Chiefs uniform. With no Justin Houston and an aging Tamba Hali, Berry’s position becomes exposed more than ever with Dee Ford in the lineup.  The former first round draft pick has been a total bust in the preseason. He can’t rush the passer and he can’t hold his own against stopping the run. The secondary becomes vulnerable every time Ford is on the field. Still the Chiefs look like a solid football team that should dethrone the Denver Broncos who have taken the last 5 AFC West titles.

College Football

On the college front, football fans at Mizzou, K-State and KU might have rough seasons ahead. I do think Missouri will win half of its games which isn’t bad considering all the turmoil surrounding the University and the football team.  Barry Odom appears to have a solid grip and is running a much tighter ship these days in Columbia.

K-State will be an interesting team. The Cats battled the injury bug last year. They lost 2 quarterbacks and started 0 – 6 in the conference and were doomed. K-State did qualify for a bowl game but lost badly to Arkansas. The Cats will finish in the bottom half of the Big 12 for the second year in a row.

The big money in Vegas says KU will win at least one football game this season. The Jayhawks set a record for futility, failing to win a football game for the first time in over 60 years. KU finished 0 – 12. I’m taking the over (1.5 wins) that KU wins at least twice in 2016. If the Jayhawks go crazy and win something like 3 games, their head coach, David Beaty, might be in high demand by other downtrodden programs. Beaty appears to be the man to turn KU around.