KC sports replay: Analysis recap of big Chiefs, Royals news

It’s football season, so this space includes plenty of Chiefs — duh! this is Kansas City, after all. But our past week in sports delivered a forceful array of large-point headlines on other fronts in and around Kansas City, too.

Buckle up, because we’re about to drive headlong into the meaty recap.

A win, b-day + reunions for Chiefs

First, the Chiefs’ won their season opener against Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. Patrick Mahomes improved to 11-0 in September games with 35 passing touchdowns and no (zero, none, nada) interceptions.

Then star safety Tyrann Mathieu returned from the COVID list and defensive end Frank Clark, who’d missed all three of the Chiefs’ preseason games, got back on the practice field after dealing with an injured hamstring.

Mahomes’ 26th birthday closed out the week, and love poured in from across Chiefs Kingdom. Just for fun, headlines on page A1 of The KC Star on the day Mahomes was born (9/17/95) included a story on Bill Clinton, one on John Ashcroft, big photos of Hurricane Marilyn storm damage near Puerto Rico and (because, again, it’s Kansas City) an above-the-fold piece on ribs.

New GM, potent Perez, downtown move?

On the field, Salvador Perez rocketed his 45th homer Thursday, a two-run shot against the Oakland A’s, tying Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for the most in a single season by a catcher.

The Royals swung big off the field, too, announcing their intent to explore the feasibility and appetite for a new downtown ballpark, and presenting longtime club exec J.J. Picollo as their new general manager — a move that simultaneously elevated former GM Dayton Moore to a new gig of his own: president of baseball operations.

The notion of building a stadium downtown is akin in some ways to KC’s never-ending Who’s Got The Best BBQ Debate — everyone has an opinion. You can share your thoughts about a hypothetical downtown stadium via our poll at Kansascity.com.

Aidan Shaw, Missouri Tiger

Mizzou’s men’s basketball team made news Friday with the commitment of four-star forward Aidan Shaw of Blue Valley High.

The 6-foot-8 Shaw is ranked No. 53 overall in the country and the third-best player in Kansas in the 24/7 Sports Composite ratings. Our MU beat reporter, Lila Bromberg, wrote: “Shaw chose the Tigers over offers from Kansas, Iowa, Maryland, Oklahoma State and Arkansas, among others. He is the highest-ranked recruit to join the Mizzou men’s program since 2017.”

Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin tweeted a simple affirmation not long after the news broke that Shaw would cross state lines and don the black and gold: “Yes!!” (he actually used five fire emojis between that “Yes” and “!!,” but we didn’t figure fire emojis would transfer very well to print).

Boot camp begins at KU

An annual tradition under Jayhawks hoops coach Bill Self, “Boot Camp” began this past week in Lawrence as KU gears up for another season.

This is where the winning begins, and we can only imagine the grueling cadence Self employs to get his guys ready for the campaign toward another ticket to the Big Dance. Picture Bill in a dude’s grill, lovingly ripping him a new one with a trash can nearby in case someone pukes, and we’re probably painting the right picture.

Hard to argue with the results, eh?

Soccer! Don’t forget the soccer!

Last but not least, it was quite a week for pro soccer ‘round these parts.

Sporting KC winger Daniel Salloi reaffirmed his candidacy for Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot award as the top scorer in MLS, netting one of his team’s four goals at home Wednesday night against Minnesota United FC. Salloi and three of his SKC mates found the net as the home team won 4-0.

KC NWSL, meanwhile, announced Friday that it’s building a new $15 million training facility in Riverside. The facility will have a view of the downtown KC skyline and is scheduled to open next year. This club continues to build in important ways, and we can’t wait until they have a real name — a step we’re told is coming this offseason.