By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
-- Has anyone noticed who leads the Chiefs in tackles?
-- Why that would be Daniel Sorensen with 35 total and 26 solo stops.
-- Makes you think, someone and something other than Sorensen and his shortcomings hinders that unit.
-- Yes, I know, many of Sorensen’s flaws are evident in pass coverage, and he tends to miss tackles.
-- And yes, I know that this whole mystery of why Juan Thornhill does not play more snaps is wacky.
-- Yet if Sorensen is still your tackling leader, then opponents are rumbling into the secondary far too often.
-- Why? Poor coverage. And, others are missing far too many tackles or woefully out of position.
-- We can all see that from a Chiefs defense operating off one principle, “guess we better blitz now.”
-- The defensive woes are all too much to bear for Patrick Mahomes, whose Superman cape frays when he starts pressing.
-- He’s still outstanding, the face of the franchise, and the key to a turnaround that better begin with wins in each of the next three games.
-- Face it. The Chiefs have looked distracted since the head coach’s impaired son crashed his truck into another vehicle and severely injured an innocent girl.
-- Kansas City has not been the same team since.
-- Andy Reid can disappoint us sometimes, including off the field.
-- His refusal to take questions pertaining to Jon Gruden, and the emails that led to the Las Vegas coach’s resignation, should be categorized as weak.
-- “There’s nothing going to be gained by me with my remarks,” said Reid, apparently afraid to take a stand despite coaching two franchises to 100 victories.
-- At this point in his NFL career, Reid has the stature to make a credible point on NFL matters.
-- Of course, not everyone would have accepted whatever comment Reid might have made.
-- On Sunday, the Chiefs play in a town where lack of consensus is even reflected in the nickname of its NFL Football Team.
-- For years no Kansas fan I know gets altogether excited about the Jayhawks being picked first in the Big 12 preseason basketball poll.
-- That’s true of the latest predictions coming off a season when KU did not claim the conference title.
-- National expectations always exist and this team has the goods to contend for an NCAA championship.
-- Of course, I write that practically every year.
-- Proven transfer Remy Martin adds a lot of sizzle as the Big 12 preseason player of the year.
-- I’m often impressed, though, by players who grow in Self’s system.
-- As much as many like to celebrate the one-and-dones, I marvel at improvement over time from the likes of David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji.
-- Glad to see former KU football coach David Beaty exonerated by the makeshift court of NCAA opinion.
-- Though overmatched directing KU, Beaty deserves to get back into coaching.
-- KU’s football saga, including the Orange Bowl rise and subsequent unraveling, could be a sensational documentary.
-- The whole saga of the Big 12 would be even better.
-- Excited to see one of Topeka’s all-time greats, Nija Canady, headed to Stanford to play softball.
-- Canady has been an incredible force since stepping her sneakers inside Topeka High.
-- Softball has long been one of the city’s predominant sports, perhaps tops among all sports contested among the city high schools.
-- Hmm, sounds like a lunchtime discussion to have with my editor, Mr. Peterson.
-- Laughed the other day when my wife Kris said she was making cabbage rolls.
-- I almost called Pistol. He once ran the old C-J cafeteria out of cabbage rolls.
-- Kris didn’t make that many cabbage rolls, so I will stick to meeting Pistol for lunch.
-- Imagine, a newspaper staffed so well it could support a cafeteria. And be housed in its own building.
-- A ruling made 90 feet from the play (a little longer than that, actually) ended an MLB divisional series.
-- That’s what happened on a blown called third strike against the Giants, allowing the Dodgers to advance.
-- Legitimate complaints have escalated about how umps miss balls and strikes while crouching behind the plate. Now this.
-- I get why umps on the first and third base lines are responsible for watching each swing, but I always wondered how often they locked in on such calls.
-- Gotta think Gabe Morales might not have been watching that closely.
-- Different deal, but a 30-yard chip is the same distance. How tough is that for some of us to get right?
-- It is for me, but sadly, it’s not my eyes that keep me from executing well in golf.
