By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
• Could the rise of middle school sensation Aria Pearce become the next Jim Ryun moment for Kansas high schools?
• More than a half-century since Ryun’s landmark achievements at Wichita East, and later KU, Pearce is setting American middle school records.
• Oh, I know track meets don’t fill grandstands like they did when Ryun drew throngs at Memorial Stadium.
• However, Pearce could become a box office hit.
• As a sprinter, she runs events that are now more popular than Ryun’s jaw-dropping times in the half-mile and mile.
• Pretty cool that Pearce made her splashy Kansas Relays debut at the 100th anniversary of the event.
• Allow me to wax on a bit about the term, sensation.
• After my sister Diane and her husband Jim moved to Topeka, Ryun worked out here while competing among the best in the world.
• They told me he often jogged down her street.
• Sure enough, I spotted Ryun one day during a routine jog.
• That’s when my jaw dropped, knowing his Olympic races were must-see TV throughout the US.
• Later in life, I interviewed Ryun multiple times, completing a what-goes-around-comes-around oval of my own.
• Credit, by the way, to those who have worked with Pearce to date. Amazing feats and incredible top-end speed.
• Hey, I get to watch the Royals again after a long hiatus using Dish Network as my TV provider.
• Hooked up with an internet provider. It declared my rural locale to be in the Kansas City market.
• Pretty certain I missed very little from not accessing the Royals.
• They struggle, it seems, to hit baseballs thrown with velocity and hit baseballs thrown with movement.
• Not a good combination.
• Things like the NFL Draft and the NCAA transfer portal just don’t get me as excited as they do most fans.
• Maybe because in football, the innovative Patrick Mahomes is going to get it done for the Chiefs. Also, few are going to outfox Andy Reid.
• Maybe because in basketball, I know KU will be loaded as long as Bill Self is coach. Best in the business.
• I’m intrigued by Jerome Tang at K-State, but he sure seems to be the real deal at securing talent and coaching it up.
• To echo many, Markquis Nowell’s jersey belongs in the Bramlage rafters.
• Eventually, he was left to do too much for the Wildcats on their run to a regional final.
• But what we did with broad shoulders and short legs was irresistible to watch.
• Is it OK to drink my Bud Light now? I can’t keep up.
• I surprised myself during the recent Masters by not rooting ardently against LIV Tour players.
• Maybe it just seemed natural to see Lefty, Brooks, DJ and Cam Smith in a star-studded major.
• Frankly, I mostly just watch the majors, which also happen to be events a group of us choose for a pool we’ve conducted for years.
• Our Masters picks proved melancholy.
• We all gathered in the same place, but saw no one else occupy other seats at other tables.
• As we got up, we all mingled and had our own conversations.
• Well, after going to the restroom, which is essential for the over-60 (70?) crowd.
• Finally, I wanted to sit on a familiar bar stool another time.
• It was there, after many desk shifts for the newspaper, that I often exchanged a first edition for a free beer.
• Conversations ensued at that bar – many forgotten, many embellished and many that will forever make us laugh.
• I told my wife Kris about the Masters draft gathering, and she first remarked how sad it seemed.
• But then she reminded me it’s not the gathering place that matters, but instead, the people gathered – the stories they share and the memories they make.
• She’s right; I love her for that and many other things.
• But I’d be remiss not to salute Terry Walker.
• You’re the best, my friend, and so was Terry’s Bar and Grill (formerly the Ginza).
• See ya in the funny papers.
