About Me

For sports fans, the teams we cheer for are more than just part of our personality, they are part of the fiber of our being. We schedule our lives around games and events. We link sports memories to moments of our lives (and vice-versa). We instinctively know exactly what will happen at certain points of the season, or at specific moments in the game. We're superstitious. We're irrational in our rationality. We're flat-out crazy sometimes (okay, all the time).
I'm creating this blog post so that arguments, feelings and rants have a reference point. I'll link readers back to this point so they can answer the "what did he mean?" questions.

First, (as of July 27, 2010) I'm 28, married for just over a year, and child-less. I was born and raised in Prairie Village, KS (SW suburb of KC). I have two Bachelors and a Masters from the University of Missouri. I'm 6'3" and 275 lbs. I was a high school athlete, and have logged time in basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and track/cross country.

Who are my teams? First, you must know that growing up in Kansas City in the '80s (and I consider your formidable sports years as 6-18) and '90s, the local teams left much to be desired. Early on, I picked the teams that were a direct rival to my dad's teams, switched once, but I've always leaned towards the KC teams.

Baseball - My father chose the Pittsburgh Pirates as his team when he was a kid. You have to remember, even though the Athletics franchise was in KC from '55 to '67, they NEVER finished above .500 and were constantly laughable (often referred to as the Yankees' farm team). Ironically, they finished 82-80 in their first year out in Oakland. So you can't blame my dad for not adopting the temporary team that wasn't good.
Early on, I cheered for the Royals. I have NO recollection of the '85 season. Since then, they had a better record ONCE, no playoff appearances. The late '80s and early '90s were the beginning of the slide. They were good, but not great. Since the AL and NL were essentially different sports, I felt it was okay to also be a Cincinnati Reds fan. In 1990, they beat the Pirates in the NLCS and cheering against my dad was fun. My love for them has faded, since with the invention of interleague games, it seems wrong to be a baseball bigamist.
Here's the thing about being a Royals fan. There isn't much hype for the baseball season. When you prefer football and college basketball, the summer can be boring. Every year, there is something about the season to get excited about, but you're grasping at straws. This year, they have the defending Cy Young winner (Greinke) and a solid closer (Soria)... meaning, every 5 days they just need to score 3 runs and they win. They picked up some more 5-tool-like players (Ankeil and Posednik) and appeared more capable of producing runs on a regular basis. Almost 100 games later and most of us have given up. 42 - 57, 4th place, 12.5 games out of 1st, Greinke struggling, Ankeil enjoying collecting money on the DL. As you can see, baseball season ends in early June for most Royals fans. Since I have no memories of the '85 Championship, I don't really have much to go on. But, I'm enough of a fan that if I was living in KC and earning a solid paycheck, I'd find some people to go in on season tickets... could be the year, right??

Basketball - Speaking of franchises that stopped over in KC on their way to California... it's the Kings, or as they were know before the move the Royals. Previously in Rochester and Cincinnati, the Royals moved to KC (and Omaha, NE) before the '72-'73 season and were renamed. While we had to share them with Omaha for 3 years, they were an entertaining bunch. Unfortunately, once again, their best years were before my time. In a three season span from '78 to '81, they went 135-121 with 3 playoff appearances (including a conference finals trip in '80-'81). After I was born, they had a solid 45-37 season (no playoffs somehow) in '82-'83, then a playoff appearance the next year (despite finishing 38-44), then a 50+ loss season, then they moved to Sacramento.
They are still the team I like to cheer for, especially with the 8 straight playoff appearances from '99 to '06. The '01-'02 team that went 61-21 got robbed in the conference finals against the Lakers. Before that, like any other kid without a home-town team, I was drawn to Jordan's Bulls. It's the only time I've ever really rooted for a dynasty team. It just didn't feel right after he retired, so I gravitated towards the Kings and also the Pacers... man I loved Reggie Miller. The Pacers were another team with tough breaks (including the Melee in Detroit in '04 that got their best players suspended for a long time).
Currently, with NBA teams I gravitate towards likable players like Wade, LeBron, Durant, etc. I usually don't care about the NBA until the playoffs, unless the Kings or Pacers are doing something special.

Football - A similar situation as with baseball. The Chiefs were not around until '63 and even then they were an AFL team, which garnered them less respect. My father first chose the Detroit Lions, then the Washington Redskins as a kid. So, in my formidable years I chose to root for the Dallas Cowboys, the Redskins rivals.
Now the Chiefs have won a Championship (3 AFL titles and a 1-1 Super Bowl record), but well before I was born. From then until '90, the Chiefs went 109-154-4. Their only playoff appearance in '86 was also their only 10+ win season (10-6) and one the five times they finished above .500 in that stretch. So for the first couple of years of my "fandom," I was a Cowboys fan. Then I latched on to the fun-to-watch Buffalo Bills, and of course during that time ('88 - '94) the Bills were 77-35, they won the AFC East every year; but, of course, they were 10-6 in the playoffs. Most importantly, they lost 4 consecutive Super Bowls (one to the Redskins). I'm pretty sure I cried after Scott Norwood missed the game-winning field goal attempt against the Giants in Super Bowl XXV... but I had just turned 9. (Underrated in that loss was the fact that if the NFL allowed 2-point conversion attempts at that point, the Bills would have gone for two when the scored in the fourth quarter to go up 18-17. A two-pointer makes it 20-17, then the Giants' late field goal only ties it and their is less pressure on Norwood.)
Lucky for me, the Chiefs picked it up in the early '90s. During Marty Schottenheimer's coaching stint, the Chiefs were 101-58-1. They made the playoffs 6 out of 9 seasons, but fell short (losing to the Bills in one AFC Championship). Since Marty left, they've had the 2 playoff appearances (both losses) and have gone 79-97 (including the latest 8-38 stretch).
It's tough to be their fan... of course, I also picked up a casual fan-ship with the Carolina Panthers. Of course, they have had like 3 good years, and sucked otherwise.

Hockey - Since KC doesn't have a hockey team, who cares about hockey?

College - This is the most important part. Growing up in Kansas, it was hard to avoid the Jayhawkers. I made due by becoming a K-State fan. Sure there are pictures of me in kU gear, but it was primarily free. The loathing I have for the Jayhawks started my senior year of high school. I applied to both Mizzou and kU and was accepted to both. My dad is a kU alum, while my mother (and most of the rest of her family) is a Mizzou alum. Mizzou made a good offer: $22,000 scholarship over four years to offset the out-of-state costs, plus I was accepted to one of the top Journalism schools in the country. The offer from kU came almost 3 months later. I was to get $8,000 over four years. Here's what "angered" me. I thought I deserved more of a full-ride. I graduated in the top 10% of my high school class of 456 with about a 4.3 GPA. I had a 1350 on the SAT and a 29 on the ACT. Where's the love?? Once enrolled at Mizzou, I learned how the rivalry worked... especially that the historic football record was in dispute because kU used an ineligible player in one game in the '60s. And so it began...
Sure, I missed the tragic NCAA Tourney game against UCLA (when Tyus Edny went coast-to-coast with 4 seconds for the winning LAY-UP! Not jumper, LAY-UP). I also missed the "5th Down" game against Colorado in '91. Also, the "Kicked Ball" game against Nebraska in '97 (it'd be referred to as "the Nebraska game" if there weren't more memorable Nebraska moments). In my 10 years following the Tigers closely, they've given me some great moments...
- The 4-OT basketball thriller in '01 against Iowa State
- Both Elite Eight runs in '03 and '09.
- The "Christian Moody Game" (Mizzou beat kU in '06 in Columbia when Moody missed two free throws with no time on the clock)
- All three of Zaire "Mr. Big Shot" Taylor's game winners (at Texas in '09, v. kU in '09, and at Iowa State in '10)
- JT Tiller, TJ Soyoye, and DeMarre Carroll... enough said.
- Three National Champion wrestlers
- Beating Nebraska in football for the first time in 27 years in '03... then again in '05... then again in '07... then finally winning for the first time in Lincoln in '08... and we didn't just beat them, we dismantled the "Black-Shirt Defense" by 175-71 in four games.
- The endless parade of entertaining, big-hitting linebackers... James Kinney, Ming "the Merciless", and Spoooooon!
- Beating then #2 kU in Kansas City in '07 to move to #1 after previously #1 LSU had also lost... the safety in the end-zone, the grass stuck in Todd Reesing's helmet, the "We're Number One!" chants.
- That whole 2007 season was awesome: 12-2, witnessed all 6 home games plus both neutral-site games (8-0 in those games), took in that kU game in Arrowhead with K-Wall (just a girlfriend then, but not for long), my dad (in kU gear), and my maternal grandfather (a Mizzou alum), the Tigers scored like 500 points that year, won the North division (outright, dammit), destroyed Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl after being jilted for the Orange Bowl by kU (who they beat). Except for the two losses to Oklahoma, a perfect season.
- Mike Anderson and his defensive wizardry
- Ressel's game winning field goal (and the "Beast Mode" uniforms) against kU in '09. (Don't forget the comeback was aided by another safety of Reesing in the same end zone as '07)
- Oh, and Brad Smith... can't forget the most exciting player in recent history.

Then there are the bad times...
- The women's soccer team missing the NCAA tournament despite winning the conference regular season in '09.
- The BCS selecting kU over Mizzou (ranked #8 and #6, respectively) for the Orange Bowl in '07 despite the ranks and that Mizzou beat them on the field.
- Eric Crouch turning a close (6-3 at halftime) Mizzou v. Nebraska game in '01 into a 36-3 shellacking by breaking a tackle in his own endzone and scrambling 107 yards (97 from scrimmage) for a touchdown in the third quarter.
- Quinn Snyder, Rickey Clemens, Kurt Farmer, Larry Smith, Darius Outlaw, Trevon Bryant, Josh Kroenke
- "The Club Athena Incident" and ensuing fallout (most of the remaining Snyder recruits getting suspended or benched by Mike Anderson in his first year).
- Two words: Paige Lorie
- The baseball team not begin able to get over the hump and make the College World Series despite countless pitchers being drafted into the Majors in the last 5 years.
- Losing to Troy on ESPN2 (while ranked #18) in '04
- The many thumpings the Jayhawks have handed us in Allen Fieldhouse (some really embarrassing losses)
- The '06 Sun Bowl (calling timeout to ice the Oregon St. kicker on his game-tying extra point attempt with no time left, then having the Beavers come out and go for two... and getting it)
- The "gold" jerseys against kU in '08

I could probably go on... but you get the picture. I may not be a fan of Cleveland teams, or the Cubs, or from Seattle... but I'd say I'm a tortured fan.