Here's your daily dose of Kansas City sports news...
Royals lose again, hoping it doesn't affect trade deadline
The Royals have lost two in a row. Maybe it's just the Royals fan in me, but I feel this is the beginning of the end. I know it's just two in a row but I'm just waiting for them to go on some 8-game losing streak that effectively ends their division title dreams. It makes sense, right? The Royals are not a 10-win-out-of-13 type of team. They're more like a 10-win-out-of-21 type of team -- just slightly under .500.
But if the Royals are going to implode -- even if for just a week -- they need to do it now so management doesn't get any wild dreams about the season as the trade deadline nears.
If you're gonna sell, sell. Don't let a mini-winning streak change that.
Slow days in college land
There's not much going on with Kansas, Missouri and Kansas State.
Kansas basketball players have been doing some summer leagues and staying in tip-top shape. I'm pretty jazzed to see Marcus Morris next year. He should be big-time. Kansas football continues to recruit. I've said it before, but I really like all the offensive linemen Turner Gill is recruiting. That's the way to build a solid team.
Mizzou's 2010 recruiting class is coming together. They've got nearly everyone on campus except Tony Mitchell and Ricardo Ratliffe. Getting those two guys eligible and on campus is key. Mizzou football is rolling along. Blaine Gabbert will make them serious contenders in the Big 10, err 12, this year.
Kansas State lost Dominique Sutton on the basketball team recently. But, like a good recruiter, he had someone in the fold that was on campus a week later. Kansas State football doesn't have as much going for it as Kansas and Missouri but they'll be interesting to watch once again.
Chiefs draft pick signings going slow
We told you yesterday that it appears Javier Arenas is switching agents which means his signing won't come at least for a few days because of the five-day waiting period to hire new agents.
After that...not much news on the draft pick signing front.
Everyone but Eric Berry are essentially assured to be under contract before camp starts on July 30. Berry might be a few days into camp but it'll get done eventually.
World Cup final coming today
I'll admit it. I stopped watching the World Cup once the USA was eliminated. However, I do plan to watch the final today because, well, there ain't no party like a World Cup party.
It's Spain vs. Netherlands and SBNation.com has a great preview on the match:
Like Spain, the Netherlands have never won a World Cup--though they've been on the cusp, having reached the 1974 and 1978 finals. Unlike Spain, the Dutch don't carry two years' worth of expectations into Sunday's game. On the contrary, after the Dutch dominated group stage at Euro 2008 only to flame-out in the knockout round, there was a decided same ol' Dutch feel to it all. Those were the mixed expectations the Netherlands carried into South Africa, but thanks to an unanticipated change of style, those expectations quickly became inapplicable.
This year's Dutch team is consistent, stable, if stoic (relative to the days of Total Football), yet it's a style that's brought the Netherlands back to the finals, where this year's team will have a chance to succeed where their more romanticized predecessors failed.
If you haven't been watching the World Cup, read that preview and get ready for today's game at 1:30 p.m. (CDT).