KC Royals Spring Training 3/3

Kansas City played in their fifth Spring Training game of the 2008 season.  Kansas City won today 7 - 6 with a double to center that scored two runs.  The Royals are now 2 - 3 in Spring Training.  If my memory is correct, I believe that is a better start than they had last year in Spring Training.

 

I still feel the excitement with the new manager (Trey Hillman) leading the Royals.  From the few games that I have had a chance to listen to and from the radio discussion, it sounds like Trey has a completely different style of managing this team.  I sure hope so, because we need something new and different to put the Royals in a position to be a contender come September.  Trey is involved in all areas of the team and from what I have heard from announcers on 810 WHB, it sounds like the team has taken to Trey very well.

 

Carrie and I have already started talking about getting tickets for this season.  We received a notice that pre-sales take place this Wednesday prior to opening to the general public and is going out first to those that have ordered previously.  Yes, I am interested, but I also remember the second game of the season last year and freezing my butt off bundled up in the cold.  Oh, and KC lost the first and second game of the season....  They might have lost the first 10 - 15, I do not recall, but it was a bad bad start and season.

 

Kansas City takes on Colorado at 2:05 in Surprise, AZ.  While a lot of people say that Spring Training means nothing at all, it does give some hope when a team that has not produced does well in the pre-season.  Hopefully the hits (12 runs Friday, 7 runs Saturday, 7 runs Sunday, and 7 runs today) and runs will continue the rest of the March as well as into the regular season.  I would also hope that the excitement that I am feeling as well as the sports call-in shows will continue.  Time will of course tell.

 

Monday Night Tex. Tech vs. KU

Wow!  75 - 34 Jayhawks with more than 12:20 minutes to play.  Kansas was predicted to win by 20 plus points in the game against Texas Tech who just came off of a huge win against Texas on Saturday.  This has to be frustrating for first-time head coach Knight to have a huge game and then go up against KU on Big Monday on ESPN, not to mention that it is senior night in Lawrence, for a loss.

 

Kansas is getting production from every player with relative ease.  Texas Tech is not hitting their free throws, rebounding, and basically appear to be standing around watching the KU buckets drop. Twenty point favorites, this was completely predicted.  I did not think going into this game that we would beat them by this much, but senior night in Phog Allen Field House is no place where any team wants to play.  Tonight is no different!

 

It is good to see some of the players that help improve the starters on the floor and playing well.  Every player on the Kansas team scored tonight.  A well balanced attack from the starters and the bench.  Final score 109 - 51 Kansas with the second half basically a free for all with KU hitting everything they threw up at the basket.   Up next for Kansas is Texas A&M at 3 pm on Saturday, March 8.

 

Rematch of Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks

What a Saturday! Trip to Legends to celebrate a birthday (see Birthday Celebration for Juanca) and college basketball. It does not get much better than that to make for a perfect Saturday!

My day started off taking the Civic to get brakes checked, oil changed, and fluids checked. I was at Sharp Honda for a little over an hour. While I was there I test drove a Honda Accord 2008 which I liked, and watched ESPN Game Day. They were of course at Allen Field House the Home of the Jayhawks for Game Day. The place was already rock'n at 10 am and the game was not until that evening. This only fueled the excitement and environment for the rematch of K-State and KU.

Kansas State beat up on the Jayhawks back in February in Manhattan. The Jayhawks went to the "Little Apple" and suffered their first loss of the season. This started a slide for them of not playing well and another loss to Texas. After beating KSU yesterday 88 - 74. Beasley scored 39 points for the Wildcats, but he did not get much help from the rest of the Cats. I did not have a chance to watch the first half, but from what I read on Jason Whitlock's post on the KC Star that KU won with help from the officials. I did not see those calls, so I cannot comment on whether there was help from the officials to give the game to the Jayhawks.

I do know that Walker and Pullen got into some kind of funk and did not step up to what needed to be done to win the game. I do not care how many points a start player makes, there still has to be help from his teammates to win the game. Basketball is after all a team sport and it requires a team to win the game. Too often this season I have watched Beasley score a lot of points and Kansas State loses.

There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Beasley is a great player. He definitely has the talent to play in the NBA. According to Beasley, he has not stated whether he is going to the NBA or not. Read a interesting article posted on ESPN Saturday regarding Beasley and what he has gone through in his life to this point. (See Beasley teetering on the precipice of adulthood on ESPN.) I did find it interesting to hear what kind of vehicle Beasley drives and the fact that his Mom and siblings moved to Manhattan so Beasley could have his family close.

Kansas moved to 26 - 3 (11 - 3 conference) and are now tied with Texas for number one in the Big Twelve. Kansas State moves to 18 - 10 (8 - 6 conference). Kansas State is back in a position where they need to win their next two games to avoid being skipped over by the NCAA selection committee this year. Recall that last year they were skipped over as a bubble team and there is concern this could happen again this year even with a star player.

Kansas plays again Monday night against Texas Tech who just came off a huge victory of their own beating Texas 83 - 80. You can bet that Tech is going to be pumped up for Monday night when they face the league tied first place Jayhawks in Lawrence for senior night. The Jayhawks must win Monday night and again on March 8 when they face Texas A&M.

Have a great week and I will be back Monday night.

Birthday Celebration for Juanca

A group of us went to Dave and Busters to celebrate Juanca 18th birthday. We had a great time playing games, drinking, and generally enjoying ourselves. We got into Legends a little after 3 pm. This game us enough time to play games before 8 when the Kansas State vs. Kansas game was scheduled to start.

Five of us went into have fun. Juanca had been to Dave and Buster's once before when he visited Javi. Javier, Brenda, Carrie, and I had all been in 2007 when we came up to spend the night and have a night in and around Legends Mall. If you have not been up there, I highly recommend that you take the time to visit the area. Not only are there all kinds of shops, but there are great places to eat.

We were a little disappointed in Dave and Busters this time because it seemed there were so many little kids. Dave and Busters promotes themselves as being a playground for adults. Well, there were so many kids that they often would butt us out of a game so they could play. Overall, we had a great time!

Kansas City Royals Baseball... Can you Feel the Excitement?

Although it does not feel like it, baseball season is right around the corner. The Kansas City Royals had their first Spring training game of the season today. This has to make it feel warmer where ever you are at knowing that the Royals are taking the field.


I find myself once again excited for the season to start. To be able to go out to the ball park in the middle of the Summer and sweat. Last year I only made it to one game and it was the second game of the season. We froze at that game and the Royals lost the game. Not surprising seeing how their season finished up last year (69-93). OK, so last year they did not lose the 100 games that had been lost the previous three seasons, but still it was a miserable season.


In 2008, the Kansas City Royals have a new manager. Trey Hillman, who comes to the Royals from Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, has no MLB experience. This will be his first true test in the majors. However, he proved himself in Japan winning titles and taking the Nippon Ham Fighters to the post-season. Will the same continue for Mr. Hillman in Kansas City? We will have to wait to see what happens.


Today, Kansas City lost the game today 1 - 6. Ouch! Tough opening Spring Training game, but what do you expect when Grudzielanek and Guillen did not play. Grud not expected to attend his first spring training game until March 8. Still, I find myself being excited for baseball season to inch closer and closer.

Car Totaled and Wreck Update

We received the final word from insurance yesterday that our car has been totaled. We are now finishing up the paperwork to make everything official. Carrie and I will go out Thursday evening to look at new (or old) cars.


Today, Carrie went to the court house to determine a court date for the ticket she was issued. We were to pay it, but now we think we are going to fight it. More information on this later. While the ticket is not expensive, it is the principle of the matter that it was not our fault. The fault was that of the snow and ice on the highway that caused the wreck. Hopefully we will have a judge that agrees with us.

Update to the Car Wreck

As you may recall, the car wreck for our 2007 Honda Accord took place back on February 6 (What a Snow Day!). We have gone all this time not yet knowing the fate of our Honda. The car has been at a local shop for the past week being evaluated to see about repairs and up until this morning we did not have any news other than it was not being totaled.

Well, after they started pulling things apart, it was recommended that the car should be totaled. They have to tear apart the firewall between the engine and the interior. By doing so, this will cause a lot of work to be done on the dashboard. The body shop is recommending that the car be totaled, so it is back to our insurance agent to determine the next step.

I was told by our insurance agent that the car being totaled is on the fence. He is leaning towards totaling it out, but has to wait for more details to come in from the body shop. We are obviously hoping for it to be totaled, but time will tell.

Carrie and I are still trying to decide how to proceed with the ticket that was issued. It still makes no sense to us, but having to go to court to try and refute it seems crazy too. Odd Topeka law that requires a ticket to be issued.

Anyway, things are progressing and hopefully we will learn before the end of this week what is happening with our car.