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Transcript of Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine
2 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
Steve FischPublisher
11730 W. 135th St., Suite 18
Overland Park, KS 66221
Phone/Fax: (913) 764-2050
Email: [email protected]
www.kcsportspaper.com
EditorAlan Eskew
Sales913-764-2050
Steve Fisch
Ed Coan
Contributing WritersBill Althaus, Chris Balda,
Audrey Harman, Tom Cannon,
John Doolittle, Greg Echlin,
Alan Eskew, David Garfield,
Bill Grigsby, Alan Hoskins,
Dr. Andrew Jacobs, John Landsberg,
Jim Potoski, David Smale,
Marc Bowman
Contributing PhotographersScott Thomas, Ed Graunke,
Alan Hoskins, Tom Cannon,
Scott Weaver, Jim Gill, Warren Ingram
On The CoverNew Teams In KC!
ABA and CHL
Published MonthlyEntire Contents © Kansas City Sports& Fitness 2009. The views and opinions
of the contributing writers contained in
this publication do not necessarily reflect
the views and opinions of the editor
and/or publisher.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE JULY 2009
COUPONINDEX
NOW HIRING
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Commission Ad Salespeople for
Kansas City Sports & FitnessMagazine
�Full Time�Part Time�Contact Steve at
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Sports Entertainment Report6 Harrah’s, Toby Keith’s site for Beer Pong Tourneys
6 Harrah’s Entertainment Calendar
Use these couponsfor special savings
in JULY!
Cargo Largo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back Cover
Cover Stories: New Teams in KCAmerican Basketball Franchise awarded . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Mavericks Hockey to play in Independence Arena . . . . .3
Sports & Fitness ResourceWorld Championship Karate and Amerikick School . . . .13Family-Friendly Volleyball Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Heartland Sportsman's Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Dragon Family Martial Arts celebrates 10th Anniversary 15Anytime Fitness: A whole new health club philosophy . .15Tennis Anyone? Metro East Tennis Center . . . . . . . . . .16
Golf ReportWin-Win Watson Challenge earns A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Bonneville, Arbanas’ greens draw rave review . . . . . . .18Wrist exercises for power golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Colbert’s grandson making his own name in golf . . . . .21
CommentaryStallworth lucky he didn’t strike a dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23When the game was a game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Soldiering on dutifully for Family and Country . . . . . . . .25Bill Grigsby: Great time to get Chiefs Tickets . . . . . . . .25
HORSE ’N Around HoopsFinals scheduled for July 17 at CBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
KC Baseball Report8 What if the Royals had drafted Pujols?
9 Royals can blame injuries partially for record
9 Seven questions with John Mayberry
Chiefs Report27 Haley wants Chiefs to be in superb condition at camp
Health & Fitness Report10 Sports performance enhancers
11 Lose weight without changing lifestyle
12 Exercise...the heat...and you
AmeriKick . . . . . . . . . . . .13Rockwood Golf . . . . . . . .17Brookridge 9 West Golf . .18
Teetering Rocks Golf . . .19Blackberry Trails Golf . . .19Eagles Landing Golf . . . .20
Join the KC Sports & Fitness RadioShow LIVE at the ZouireWarehouse Sale, Saturday, July 118 AM at 7226 W. Frontage Rd. in Merriam
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 3
American BasketballAssociation awards
franchise to Kansas CityBy MARC BOWMAN, Contributing Writer
Professional basketball is returning to
Kansas City.
I n May, the rapidly-expanding American
Basketball Association (ABA), awarded
Fame Sports & Entertainment (FSE) a
Kansas City franchise. The league has
added 25 teams within the past month, and
now boasts 60 franchises in 24 states from
coast to coast.
“We feel that Kansas
City is a tremendous mar-
ket for the ABA,” said
ABA CEO Joe Newman in
a May press release. “The
key is strong ownership,
management, marketing
and community relations.
In Fame Sports &
Entertainment, we believe
strongly that the sports and
entertainment combined
with the business experi-
ence of this group will
maximize the potential of
the team there. We are thrilled to have them
as part of the league.”
The focus of the latest Kansas City entry
into the ABA will be on community.
“This is a new team with new manage-
ment,” said General Manager Reggie
Harris at the introductory press conference
at the end of June. ‘We have a marketing
plan and we will stick to it. We see this as
an opportunity to see us prove to you how
involved and active we can be in the com-
munity from now to October. We will give
of ourselves first.”
“It’s about community,” said COO
William Palmer. “We’ll be organizing in
the community and putting on fun events.
This is going to be about community, about
families, about adults with children.
We’ll be getting with the schools. We feel
it is very important to give back to the
community, and not just basketball. I teach
the game, and not just on the court.”
Harris and CEO David Francis fielded a
number of questions about the recent fail-
ures of ABA teams in Kansas City.
“We feel like this is one last chance with
Kansas City,” Harris said. “We’ll have no
other options and we know we have to do
some repair (to Kansas City’s ABA rela-
tionship to the local fans).
We believe we can do that
by focusing on our mar-
keting plan and focusing
on the community.”
Said Francis, “Our
focus is on getting the
community involved. We
recognize that there
always has been a trust
issue in the past, either
due to marketing or own-
ership. We’re moving
beyond that. We’re strictly
business and we have a
strong business plan.”
The new, as-yet-unnamed franchise
hopes to distance themselves from past
ABA failures.
“It’s not fair what has happened in the
past,” Palmer said. “But we aren’t that
team. We are a completely new organiza-
tion. We show it in how we are approach-
ing this opportunity. We have a solid busi-
ness plan and we are not in competition
with the NBA or NFL.”
“We don’t want to be seen as never
sticking to our marketing niche, Francis
said. “We know we can’t compete with the
NBA or the NFL. We will be sticking to
Hockey returns withMavericks at new
Independence arenaBy ALAN ESKEW, Editor
They have a name, the Missouri
Mavericks. They have a new arena to
open this fall, the Independence Events
Center, which will seat 5,800 for the
Central Hockey League club and be their
home for 32 regular season games.
They have a coach, Scott Hillman, and will
begin naming players in July.
The Mavericks unveiled their new name
from a name-that-team contest before an
overflow crowd at the
WhistleStop room at the
Harry S. Truman
Presidential Library and
Museum in Independence.
The Mavericks will be he
first professional hockey
team in the Kansas City
area since the Outlaws in
the 2004-05 season in the
United Hockey League, the
year of the National
Hockey League lockout.
The Outlaws were one and
done. Before that, there
was the Kansas City Blades for several
years at Kemper Arena, but the league
folded in 2001.
The Mavericks should fill a void for the
hockey-thirsty fans.
“Judging by the events I’ve attended,
this is unbelievable,” Hillman said of the
enthusiasm and interest in the Mavericks.
“It looks like we’re on the right start.
I’m excited to be here, to be the first
hockey team in Independence, to develop
a new team.
This is pretty amazing, the turnout for
midday on a week day months before we
take the ice.”
A little background on Hillman. He
played eight years in the CHL. He was
with El Paso for nine games and then spent
the rest of the time with Odessa (Texas).
“I was an offensive defenseman,”
Hillman said.
He said “coaching had always been a
part of my makeup even when playing.
“I was involved in the most technical
sides,” he said. “I was a thinker in the
game and liked to help younger players. It
seemed like a very natural step for me to
get into coaching.”
The past two years he was the head
coach at Knoxville, Tenn.
in the Southern Hockey
League. The team won
two regular season titles
and two post-season
championships under
Hillman’s leadership. He
was a player-assistant
coach with Odessa before
retiring from the ice.
Hillman said he is in
negotiations with several
players.
“I’m looking for much
more than hockey players,
but good people to really make an impact
in this community,” Hillman said. “Their
job and living is to play hockey, but it is
more than that. We want our guys in
schools reading to the kids.”
It has been publicized that the Mavericks
want to lead the team in penalty minutes.
Not true, Hillman said.
“We want to be a physical team and an
intense team and smarter penalties come
with that,” Hillman said. “We want to be
disciplined. You can be physical, but
you’ve got to know how to be in control.”
He said training camp would open in
early October at a youth rink adjacent to
continued on page 5continued on page 4
4 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
ABA awards franchise to Kansas City...continued
our niche. Our marketing plan is to stick to
our niche and to stabilize our focus. The
way we will stabilize our focus is that we
know we are not a major league team. We
are a minor league team.”
Foremost in the franchise’s community
focus will be education.
“We are working on a partnership with
the Kansas City School District,” Francis
said. “We hope to implement a reading and
math program, to help the district regain
their accreditation and to get the MAP
assessment program back up. The hook is
sports, but the reality is: what good are a
professional basketball player’s skills - he
may be able to dunk a basketball - but what
good are those skills if he can’t read the
contract? Education is the key.”
Additionally, the team hopes to partner
the schools with area businesses.
“We plan to go to youth sports programs
and20the schools, to reach out to the
schools,” Harris said. “We are in contact
with some corporations right now to have
them buy blocks of tickets to donate to
schools.”
Although the team does not yet have a
head coach, they expect to name someone
to the post in July.
“We have made contact with a couple of
head coach prospects,” Francis said.
“We’re reviewing their resume and creden-
tials and we expect to have a major press
release soon.”
The new head coach will “definitely be
somebody you’ll know,” Francis promised.
“It’ll be someone with college experience
and with pro experience, too.”
Dennis Still, the brother of Chiefs Hall
of Fame defensive end Art Still, has been
named an assistant coach.
“We have a short list but we aren’t ready
to release any names yet,” Harris said of
the head coaching search. “Dennis has
almost 20 years experience overseas
and we think he can help us with players
who have played overseas or expect to
go overseas.”
Said Still, “I have 19 years in the game,
in Europe, in South America. I’ve traveled
a lot. We expect to bring a couple of
ballplayers in from overseas.”
Still believes he is able to reach players
from all areas and help them become pro-
fessionals.
“I’m an Indian; I’m not a chief,” Still
said about why he wanted to be the assis-
tant coach even though he had the opportu-
nity to take the head coaching position.
“I like to be in the background, teaching.
I like teaching and helping the players in
going to the NBA. We will be seeing a lot
of kids looking to go to the NBA or go
overseas. We will do it ‘old school’. We
will teach the real game. They’ll see what
the game really is and respect the game.
They’ll earn the respect.”
The player pool is expected to include
undrafted NBA prospects, NBA players
hoping to revamp their career and former
players from local schools. Leo Lyons,
who went to Missouri and played high
school basketball in Kansas City, would
seem like a natural fit for the ABA Kansas
City team. Lyons was not picked in the
NBA draft.
“There is major talent in the Midwest
region,” Francis said. “There are a lot of
undrafted players and a lot of NBA-drafted
players may not make it, so they have a
shot with the ABA. Some players may be
looking at going overseas, but if players
want to stay in
the country and
get their shot
they have that
chance with the
ABA. We’re
definitely look-
ing at potential
players from
KU, MU,
Avila, and a lot
of undrafted
free agents. We
will have top-
notch undraft-
ed players from
local schools.”
The ABA
could be a
stepping stone to the NBA for players.
“This is a minor league, a developmental
league,” Harris said. “We are here to devel-
op talent, not to compete with the NBA.
A lot of our players will be fringe
prospects, some of them undrafted players,
some of them perhaps going overseas. This
is an option for them to play in the states
instead of going overseas. These guys
aren’t coming because of pay. It will be
about developing their talents.
We expect to have some close and recog-
nizable names. It is about logistical things
and about being closer to us. There are
some really good programs within a couple
of hours from Kansas City.”
The team will hold try-outs July 11,
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Will Shields’
68 Inside Sports Fitness Center at 11301
W. 88th Street in Overland Park.
Participants may register the day of the
event, or online at www.fseglobal.com or
www.kcabateam.com.
Members of Fame Sport & Entertainment (from right) Chris Brown,President; William Palmer, COO and David Francis, CEO and team GMReggie Harris answer questions from the media.
ABA - continued from page 3
continued on page 6
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 5
Hockey returns with Mavericks...continued
the Independence Events Center.
“Anytime the surface (in the arena) is
available, we’ll practice there,” Hillman
said. “If it’s not, we have a second surface,
which is a big advantage.”
While the schedule will not be released
until August, the CHL will open the week-
end of Oct. 23-24 with the Mavericks first
home game on Nov. 13 or 14.
Brad Lund is president and a minority
owner of the Mavericks and has been in
the CHL since 1992. He has been with the
Oklahoma City Blazers the past 16½ years
and that has been called the most success-
ful minor league franchise in the United
States. He said the Blazers led the CHL in
attendance for “all 16 years I was there.”
“This is only the second job I’ve ever
had,” Lund said. “It’s exciting.”
The name Mavericks was chosen from
more than 12,000 votes cast. More than
1,200 people submitted names. The club
narrowed it down to 10 finalists for the
voting. Others in the voting included the
Maulers, Mules, Pioneers and Outlaws.
Jim Collings of Platte City was chosen
from those submitting Mavericks and
won a $2,000 gift certificate at the
Independence Center.
“In Independence and in Missouri, peo-
ple kind of stand out on their own,”
Collings said. “They do things the uncon-
ventional way. A maverick is somebody
that does things that way.”
Words to describe a Maverick in the
publicity video included untamed and
unbroken.
“I would love it if our players will
remain unbroken,” Hillman said.
Lund said the team would reveal their
uniforms in October.
“As rough and tumble as the sport is, a
hockey uniform is beautiful from head to
toe,” Lund said. “A lot will go into it and
we will certainly welcome input of any
hockey fan out there.”
Since he was at the Truman Library,
Lund joked that Harry Truman said, “the
puck stops here,”
instead of the
buck.
They will soon
be dropping the
puck at the
Independence
Events Center.
Hockey is back in
Kansas City.
Team presidentBrad Lundannounces thatthe new hockeyteam will beknown as theMissouriMavericks. Theannouncementwas made at theTruman Library inJune.
ABOUT THEABA,CHL &
KC’S NEW TEAMSABA CHL
# of teams 60 19
# games in season 30 64
Home-Away 15-15 32-32
Regional St. Louis ColoradoRivals Stunners Eagles
Aurora Rocky Mt.Force Rage
Chicago Rapid CitySteam Rush
Cleveland WichitaRockers Thunder
Detroit OK CityHoops Blazers
Lake Michigan TulsaAdmirals Oilers
‘09 Kentucky TexasChamps Bisons Brahmas
TeamWebsite kcabateam.com missourimavericks.com
League centralhockeyleagueWebsite abalive.com .com
TeamPhone 816-392-0396 816-252-7825
Mavericks Hockey - continued from page 3
6 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
June was a good month for Missouri
Western in St. Joseph. The Kansas City
Chiefs made it official they’re moving
their training camp there in 2010 to the
Missouri Western campus.
Missouri Western students Dallas Mesa
and Ben Jeschke accomplished a feat at
the end of June that could put them in
world Beer Pong tournament.
Mesa and Jeschke qualified for a local
World Series of Beer Pong tournament
(WSOBP), July 31, with a chance to go
to Las Vegas. Out of a field of 30 teams
that competed at Toby Keith’s Bar and
Grill on the Harrah’s North Kansas City
complex, the top eight actually qualified
for the WSOBP tournament to be held in
the same venue. But Mesa and Jeschke
took home the cash on the evening of
June 26. They are first-time qualifiers,
first-time winners of the double elimina-
tion tournament. The WSOBP is also
double elimination, consisting of 64 teams.
In three overtimes, Mesa and Jeschke
nosed out Justin Farmer, a seasoned beer
pong tournament competitor, and his part-
ner, Cory LeCuru. Farmer, who lives in the
Waldo area and attends Missouri-Rolla, has
stepped up his beer pong tournament
schedule in the last year with hopes of
earning a trip to Vegas.
“It’s a very social sport,” said Farmer
when trying to explain the appeal of
beer pong.
Unfamiliar with Beer Pong? Here are a
few pointers:
1. Yes, it’s played with ping pong balls.
2. It is played with cups slightly filled
with liquid (commonly beer, but water dur-
ing tournament play at Toby Keith’s Bar
and Grill).
3. Ten cups are lined up on each end of
an eight-foot by two-foot table in the same
triangle manner of a pool table racking.
4. Then it’s “Fire Away!” Try to get the
ping pong ball in the cup on the other side,
either on a fly or a bounce, and eliminate
that cup each time the ball goes in.
5. First team to eliminate all the cups
wins. Overtime consists of a three-cup
triangle.
Ziggy Ziegler traveled to Harrah’s in
Kansas City from St. Louis to serve, to use
the term loosely, as the tournament host
and will conduct the WSOBP tournament
on July 31. Though Ziegler couldn’t play
as the host, he’s an active player who paid
the $1,000 entry fee to play in Las Vegas
last year.
“I like meeting all the new players,”
Ziegler said. “That’s the best part about
beer pong. It’s really competitive. You and
your partner can talk as much trash and
smack as anyone that’s on the other side of
the table, but when it’s done there’s no
hard feelings whatsoever.”
Mesa fit the role of the trash talker on
his way to winning the qualifier. After he
and Jeschke made it to the finals through
the winner’s bracket, Mesa was hovering
around the table of Farmer and LeCuru in
the semifinals. They even passed out
compliments on Farmer’s toss technique:
a body dip with the
elbow close to the table,
then rising up and
cradling the ping pong
ball before the release.
But when Mesa trash
talked his way
through the title
match, he backed it
up with clutch tosses.
The best roll of the
night belonged to
Scott Sellmeyer, a
Gladstone native who
attends William Jewell. Sellmeyer and
Matt DiMiceli were matched against
their St.Pius X high school buddies,
Victor Dau and Dangphy Du. Farcing
their first loss in the double elimination,
Sellmeyer was forced to hit on the
remaining cups. One miss and the
match was over.
Sellmeyer hit all five cups.
Sellmeyer and DiMiceli were among the
eight qualifying tandems. Du and Dau nar-
rowly missed out, but planned on continu-
ing their attempts to qualify through tour-
naments in the ensuing weeks.
Just like the NCAA basketball tourna-
ment bracket, Ziegler will seed the teams
based on what he has seen through the
qualifying tournaments.
“I have learned bracketology pretty well
doing Beer Pong,” Ziegler said.
presents THE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT REPORT
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For more information on these events
and other events at Harrah’s,or
for more on the hottest gaming action
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visit harrahsnkc.com or call
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Contributing
Writer
Harrah’s, Toby Keith’s site for Beer Pong tourneys
Practices will also be held at Will
Shields’ 68 Inside Sports Fitness Center,
but the team does not yet have a venue for
games.
“We are looking at a couple of loca-
tions,” Harris said. “It has to be a minimum
capacity of about five thousand and it has
to be civic-owned and operated. We aren’t
going to be playing at high school gyms.
We want to conduct ourselves professional-
ly and you can’t do that in a high school
gym. We will be keeping our mind on the
end goals and training our players and staff
accordingly.”
Francis said tickets are expected to be in
the $10 to $25 range.
The team will play 30 regular season
games, 15 each at home, mostly played on
mid-week dates as a way to not conflict
with weekend dates scheduled by the
NBA, NFL and local college teams. The
exhibition season will begin in October
with the regular season running from
December through February and the play-
offs in March.
“There is not a schedule yet because the
ABA is still adding teams,” Harris said.
Harris is hopeful of bringing a fun prod-
uct to the court.“If you put the right prod-
uct out there, the people of Kansas City
will support it,” Harris said.
Chris Isaak Toad the Wet Sprocket The Wallflowers
ABA - continued from page 3
presents THE KC BASEBALL REPORT
8 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
By ALAN ESKEW, Editor
What if the Royals had drafted Pujols?I n 1999, the Kansas City Royals had six
draft picks in the first two rounds,
including four extra choices for losing
free agents Dean Palmer to the Detroit
Tigers and Jose Offerman to the Boston
Red Sox.
The Royals used those six picks, in
order, on Kyle Snyder, Mike MacDougal,
Jay Gehrke, Jimmy Gobble, Brian Sanches
and Wes Obermueller. In the fifth round,
the Royals picked K en Harvey. In the
ninth, they selected Mark Ellis, who was
traded to Oakland. In the 12th round, they
selected Stanford left-hander Tony Cogan,
who would pitch in the majors. In the 13th
round, the Royals chose Pepperdine third
baseman G.J. Raymundo.
In the 13th round, the St. Louis
Cardinals also picked a third baseman.
Somebody named Albert Pujols from
Maple Woods Community College and had
played high school baseball at Fort Osage.
While Pujols is headed for Cooperstown
and the Hall of Fame, it is not that the
Cardinals were that much smarter than
anybody else in the 1999 draft. There were
401 players picked before Pujols. Think of
that number again, 401. The Cardinals
passed on him for the first dozen rounds.
The Cardinals has four picks in the
first two rounds and used them on Chance
Caple, Nick Stocks, Chris Duncan and
Josh Pearce.
Scouts give various reasons on
why Pujols went so low in
the draft. Many believe he
is two to four years older
than his age, 29, in the
Cardinals media
guide. He was born
in the Dominican
Republic. He was
considered a
below-average
runner, but he
seems to circle
the bases fast
enough when
the ball clears
the fence. They
did not like his
body type, too
bulky. He did
not have a posi-
tion and was
considered below
par defensively,
although he won a
2006 Gold Glove at
first base.
There was plenty of
talent in the 1999 draft. The
first overall pick was Josh
Hamilton by Tampa Bay, while the
Marlins selected Josh Beckett second.
Others chosen in that first round
included Barry Zito, Ben
Sheets, Brett Myers and
Jason Jennings.
After watching
Pujols absolutely
destroy the Royals
as a one-man
wrecking crew
over a weekend
– three home
runs and 10
RBIs in the
Cardinals’
three-game
sweep –
I decided to
rewrite history.
What if the
Royals had
drafted Pujols,
who was in their
own backyard,
instead of the
Cardinals?
Pujols will be
selected to his eighth
All-Star game this year.
The Cardinals have been in
the playoffs five times in the
Pujols era, including two World
Series and winning the 2006 World Series.
The Royals haven’t20had a scent of the
playoffs since 1985, when ironically they
beat St. Louis in the World Series.
Initially I envisioned the Royals would
have made the playoffs at least three times
with Pujols’ bat in the middle of the order,
possibly even another World Series flag
flying at Kauffman Stadium.
But after thinking it over, the Royals
would still be losing 90 to 100-plus games
if they had drafted Pujols.
Why you ask? In 2004, the Cardinals
gave Pujols a seven-year contract for $100
million and will be worth $111 million if
they pick up the option for 2011. You think
they might pick that up?
Knowing the Royals’ frugal ways, the
Royals would have had to get rid of Pujols
by 2005 because he would have been a
free agent after the 2006 season. They
weren’t about to pay him $100 million, so
the Glass family would have instructed
then general manager Allard Baird to ship
him out.
We know how these Baird trades had
worked out for the Royals. It was five
years ago, Baird traded franchise player
Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros in a
three-team deal. The Royals acquired
pitcher Mike Wood (out of baseball),
Mark Teahen and John Buck.
In 2001, Baird dealt power-hitting out-
fielder Jermaine Dye to the Colorado
Rockies for shortstop Neifi Perez. Yes, this
has to rank as one of the Royals’ all-time
worst deals.
The previous year, the Royals shipped
Johnny Damon to Oakland in a three-team
deal. The Royals received Angel Berroa,
A.J. Hinch (the Arizona Diamondbacks
manager) and Roberto Hernandez in the
deal. The Royals also threw in minor
leaguer Mark Ellis in the trade and he
developed into the Athletics starting
second baseman.
On the July 31, 1999 trading deadline,
the Royals moved Kevin Appier, a premier
pitcher, to the A’s for right-handers Blake
Stein, Brad Rigby and Jeff D’Amico.
Those are four All-Star caliber players,
possibly future Hall of Famers in Beltran
and Damon, but the Royals received little
in return.
Pujols would not be a Royal today if
they had drafted him. They couldn’t or
wouldn’t afford him. He might be a
Yankee, Met or Red Sox, possibly a Cub,
Angel or Dodger. He would be traded and
in return, however, the Royals would
receive anything but All-Star players. Look
at the above list of what the Royals
received in return and Teahen and Berroa
would top the talent list. That is an unim-
pressive list of players the Royals received
for quality talent in previous trades.
On KCXL 1140 AM and KCTO 1160 AM
Friday and Saturday evenings from 6-10 pmand on Sundays from 12-9 pm
Local and National Sports Coverage
Sports Page � Forward ProgressWise Guys � Courtside � Go Deep
Sports Smucks � BLTDon’t Talk Back
KC Sports & Fitness Radio Show
presents THE KC BASEBALL REPORT
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 9
By ALAN ESKEW, Editor
Royals can blame injuries partially for recordW e all expected the Kansas City
Royals would be better this year.
The Glass family hiked the payroll
to $70 million. While that is a
franchise high, but to put it per-
spective it ranks only 21st among
the 30 Major League clubs and
fourth in the American League
Central. Only the Minnesota
Twins, $65 million, have a small-
er payroll in the division, while
the Detroit Tigers check in at
$115 million and the Chicago
White Sox at $96 million.
The Royals picked up Mike
Jacobs, Coco Crisp and Willie
Bloomquist in the off-season to
supplement the offense and added
Kyle Farnsworth, Doug Waechter
and Juan Cruz to the bullpen, the
latter at the expense of losing
their second-round draft pick to
the Arizona Diamondbacks. All
but Bloomquist have underper-
formed and/or spent time on the
disabled list.
It just hasn’t worked. The
Royals began July 10-games
below .500, hopelessly out of the
playoff chase and kept out of the basement
only because of an underachieving
Cleveland Indians team, which has already
started to dismantle their club, trading
Mark DeRosa to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Royals teased us by starting the sea-
son 18-11 and were in first place, but then
they hit the skids, big time. So why are the
Royals in this predicament this season?
Injuries, injuries and more injuries. The
Royals need a M*A*S*H unit to handle
the wounded.
The Royals ended June with seven play-
ers, including three everyday players when
the season started, on the disabled list.
Third baseman Alex Gordon, who many
projected would have a breakout year after
working with new hitting coach Kevin
Seitzer during the winter to
tinker his swing, played a total
of seven games, hitting .095
with one extra-base hit, a home
run, before needing hip surgery.
He is on a minor league rehab
assignment, but is not expected
back until after the All-Star
break.
Crisp won’t be seen again on
the field this year, maybe ever
in a Royals uniform since he
has an $8 million option for
2010. He had season-ending
surgery to repair a torn right
labrum. Crisp gave the Royals
solid defense in center, although
his throwing was limited
because of the shoulder injury.
He hit a career low .228 in 49
games, but did steal 13 bases in
15 attempts.
Mike Aviles hit .325 in 102
games as a rookie and there
were questions whether he
could duplicate that as a sopho-
more. We never found out. Aviles hit .183
with only five extra-base hits in 36 games
r
The following is from the “Behind the Stats” radioshow with Matt Fulks and Toby Cook, who werejoined by Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame playerJohn Mayberry.
1. My idol growing up was...?John Mayberry: Al Kaline. He was a Hall of Famerwith a lot of hits who played a great outfield. And, hewas a good guy. I got achance to meet him andplayed against him. Hewas the toast of Detroit.
2. If not for baseball, I would’ve been a...?JM: A mortician.[Laughs.] I guess thatfaked you out, didn’t it?When people would saythey wanted to be a fire-man or whatever, I’d yellout, “I want to be a morti-cian!” It sounded better, but I don’t think I would’vebecome that.
3. My greatest day in baseball was....?JM: I have two, and both of them revolved aroundthe bat. I hit three home runs off Ferguson Jenkinsone night in Texas. And then I hit for the cycle, but Ididn’t even know it because my last hit was a doublein a game when we blew out the Chicago White Sox.I was standing on second base with my last hit, andpeople gave me a standing ovation. I didn’t evenknow I hit for the cycle! I was just taking my lead off,making sure I didn’t get picked off. Buck Martinezgot a hit that scored me, and guys started asking mein the dugout if I knew what I’d just done. I wasn’t
worried about cycles; I just wanted to get somehome runs.
4. My favorite vacation spot is...?JM: Going home to Detroit. Going there and seeingsome of my family and some of my friends, andgoing back to some of the old baseball fields where Iplayed when I was 12 and 13 years old or whatever.
To be home with thefamily has always beena great vacation forme.
5. My favorite movie ofall-time is...?JM: “Glory,” the CivilWar movie.
6. My message to parents of young ath-letes is...?JM: Get them to the
games on time. Besides that, as parents, we’re allguilty of snapping at umpires or thinking our kidsshould be playing this position or that positionbecause it’s better for them. Just let your kid be akid. Let him go out there and have fun.
7. The one person in history I’d like to meet is...?JM: President Barack Obama. I’m not big into poli-tics, but I’d like to ask him about growing up and seeif he ever had any doubts, or ever thought that hegot in over his head at times. You know, I wasaround in the 1960s when things were hard so forhim to win was really special.
For more information or to find out the next broad-cast time for “Behind the Stats,” please go towww.BehindTheStatsRadio.com.
7 Questions with John Mayberry
John Mayberry joins Behind the Stats radiohost Matt Fulks (left) and the Royals Toby Cook(right).
continued on page 12
Phot
os b
y W
arre
n In
gram
presents THE HEALTH & FITNESS REPORT
10 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
Are sports performance enhancers worth the risk?I often am asked which sports perform-
ance enhancers I have used, and what
works as so many people are looking for
a quick fix to replace hard work and sacri-
fice. I know this is going to be a very con-
troversial topic, but here goes.
The increased avail-
ability and over-
whelming number of
sports supplements
presents an ongoing
challenge for practi-
tioners (dietitians,
nutritionists, coaches-
trainers) and the ath-
lete needs to keep up-
to-date about the
validity of claims and
scientific evidence.
However, the fact
remains that very few
improve performance.
Unfortunately, as long
as a supplement label
indicates the active
ingredients and the
entire ingredients list
is provided, claims for
enhanced perform-
ance can be made,
valid or not. The manufacturers are not
even required to demonstrate the safety
and effectiveness of their products.
Ultimately, athletes are responsible for
the products they ingest and any subse-
quent consequences.
Dietary supplements or aids will never
substitute for genetic makeup, years of
training and optimum nutrition.
From a practical standpoint, most
aids can be classified into one of four
categories:
• Those that perform as claimed
• Those that may perform as claimed,
but for 20 which there is insufficient
evidence of efficacy at this time
• Those that do not perform as claimed
• Those that are dangerous, banned or
illegal and, therefore, should not be
used.
Aids That Perform As Claimed
Creatine
Currently the most widely used aid
among athletes wanting to build muscle
and enhance recovery. Creatine has been
shown to be effective in repeated short
bursts of high-intensity activity in sports
that derive energy primarily from the ATP-
PC energy system such as sprinting and
weight lifting, but not for endurance sports
such as distance running. Most of the
research on creatine has been conducted in
a laboratory setting with male athletes.
This is a key factor because the researchers
know if the creatine is pure, not tainted
with a illegal substance.
The most common adverse effects of
creatine supplementation are weight (fluid)
gain, cramping , nausea and diarrhea. The
long-term effects of creatine use remain
unknown but athletes should carefully be
monitored for any risk of liver or kidney
dysfunction or, in rare instances, anterior
compartment syndrome.
Caffeine
Is still a restricted substance by the
NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic
Association), and can lead to a positive
doping test. Using high energy drinks con-
taining caffeine can be potentially danger-
ous when used in excess or in combination
with other stimulants, etc. Adverse effects
of caffeine are anxiety, jitteriness, rapid
heartbeat, gastrointestinal distress and
insomnia. There is little evidence to
support the use of caffeine as a weight
loss aid.
Sports Drinks, Gels and Bars
Are commonly used as convenient
dietary supplements or aids for busy ath-
letes and active people. However, this is a
mixed bag (depending on the ingredients),
and knowing how to evaluate the “prod-
uct” content is very important.
Sodium Bicarbonate
May be an effective aid as a blood buffer
(role in acid-base balance and prevention
of fatigue), but its use is not without
unpleasant adverse effects such as diarrhea.
Protein and Amino Acid
Supplements
Current evidence indi-
cates that protein and
amino acid supplements
are no more or no less
effective than food when
energy is adequate for
gaining lean body mass.
They are a potential
source of illegal sub-
stances such as nan-
drolone, which may not
be listed on the ingredient label.
Aids That May Perform As Claimed but with Insufficient Evidence
• Glutamine
• B-hydroxoxyme-thylbutyrate
• Colostrum
• Ribose
Aids that Do Not Perform as Claimed • Amino acids
• Bee pollen
• Branched chain amino acids
• Carnitine
• Chromium picolinate
• Cordyceps
• Coenzyme Q10
• Conjugated linoleic acid
• Cytochrome C
• Dihydroxyacetone
• Y-ormyzanol
• Ginseng
• Inosine
• Medium chain triglycerides
• Pyruvate
• Oxygenated water
• Vanadium
Audrey Harman
Contributing
Writer
continued on next page
presents THE HEALTH & FITNESS REPORT
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 11
To date none of these products has been
shown to enhance performance and may
have adverse effects.
Aids That Are Dangerous, Banned, or Illegal • Androstenedione
• Dhydroepiandrosterone
• 19-norandrostendione
• 19-norandrostenediol
• Other anabolic, androgenic steroids
• Tribulus terrestri
• Ephedra
• Strychnine
• Human growth hormone
It is unfortunate many sports supplement
manufacturers are taking advantage of
young people and adults alike. To get peak
performance from your body you need the
best quality fuel available. Clean proteins,
grains, fruits and vegetables combined
with Juice Plus+®
whole food-based con-
centrates of 17 fruits, vegetables and
grains-and you have everything you need
to increase your nutritional intensity at
the cellular level. Delivering this kind
of fuel to your body guarantees peak
performance (with training, of course)
the “natural” way.
Audrey Harman is a nutrition consultantand can be reached at 913 707-4717 or atwww.NutritionByAudrey.com.
How to Shed Weight Without Changing Your Lifestyle
H ave you tried several diets and failed? Maybeeven tried some exercise only to find you losesome weight but it comes straight back again?
Well don’t panic! There’s a reason for that and inthis article I’ll explain why it happens, and how tofight it.
Stress it not just a mental reaction but a physicalcondition. When placed under stress your body willproduce adrenaline but it also secretes a hormonecalled Cortisol. This hormone is responsible forpumping energy in the form of sugar into the blood-stream to fuel the adrenaline rush. Stress is then anatural bodily function designed to help keep usaware and reactive to things going on around us.
Unfortunately there is then a negative by-productif you are not using this energy. Stress in the mod-ern world often takes the form of money worries,issues in the office, family problems and muchmore. The extra blood sugar that is being secretedhas nowhere to go except settle around your bellyas fat to be used later.
Because of this, many people are keeping orputting on weight without even realizing it. Ofcourse, there are other reasons, but stress is onethat very few people talk about. Stress, however,needs to be controlled and fought against just as anunhealthy diet needs to be. It may be the one thingstopping you from shedding the weight you so des-perately want to.
Stress and anxiety are, in fact, a double edgedsword. Not only do they produce the excess bloodsugars that turns to fat but they also encourage you
to eat more for comfort. You may consume choco-late or fast food for that instant high that is the culi-nary equivalent of a warm hug from a loved one.
Eating these foods that are not good for youwhen you are stressed does not mean you areweak-minded. You are just following your body’sprogramming. Tests on rats have shown that, understress they engage in pleasure seeking behavior,consuming high calorie treats.
Other tests have shown that men who only man-age to get four hours sleep a night have on averagea 37% higher level of Cortisol (the hormone that isresponsible for energy - sugar) than those who geta full night’s sleep. And what is one of the biggestreasons for insomnia? Stress.
On top of that, it is important you have a goodnight’s sleep when trying to lose the weightbecause a deep sleep results in higher secretionsof a natural occurring hormone called HumanGrowth Hormone. This protects your muscle mass.It is muscle that helps to maintain a steady burningmetabolism. We’re not talking bodybuilder typemuscle here either. Just the natural muscle we all have.
Of course if you are already stressed thechances are you are not getting enough sleepalready and may be trapped in a vicious circle thatis impeding your weight loss. Going to your doctorto ask about prescriptive sleeping tablets is oneidea, but should be used alongside a healthylifestyle not instead of one. Fortunately, despitestress being the silent diet destroyer, there are
some easy ways to combat it.First, with a little bit of exercise you can help
yourself get an easier night’s sleep. Just a briskwalk every day will be enough for your body to fallto sleep naturally at the end of the day.
A hearty breakfast is also associated with lowerstress levels. Skipping breakfast is just asking fortrouble and will actually have a negative effect onyour weight loss. You should eat breakfast to fuelyour energy resources. This will also manage yourCortisol levels. Cereal is very good at this.
Fish, although not to everyone’s liking, is anotherfood that should be added to your menu to reducestress and therefore help weight loss. Oily fishespecially are high in Omega 3s. A tin of bonelesssardines costs little and is delicious on toast. Thisalone contains a week’s worth of Omega 3 which isperfect for your health plan.
Finally, learn to embrace stress and use it. Inother words let stress work for you. We all need alittle stress to keep us on our toes, and in this dayand age it is everywhere. The trick is to put thingsinto perspective and ask yourself “Are things reallythat bad?” There are worse situations across theworld and often we let every day issues stress usout when they needn’t. Remember, fighting stresswith a healthy diet could just be the miracle weightloss plan you’ve been searching for.
Article by Lorraine Brown, provenweightlossfor-mula.com. Article Source: http://5star-articles.com.
Enhancers - continued from previous page
presents THE HEALTH & FITNESS REPORT
S ummer means outdoor activities and
heat. From outdoor jogging to laps in
the pool, regular exercisers love to
embrace the sun as they exercise.
However, the heat is a intense environment
and seasonal changes can leave even the
most elite athlete unprepared for a poten-
tially lethal scenario-heat stroke.
While your body is working hard to
keep up with whatever activity, it is also
susceptible to the external temperatures.
Without preparation, a heat related illness
can lead to something as annoying as
cramps, but also something as serious as
death. Why is this?
The concept known as acclimatization.
Acclimatization is the way your body
adapts to weather changes. For example
the first few days of winter can be quite a
jolt. Why? Because your body is used to
the previous season and its temperatures.
Now, as the season progresses, you get
better adjusted to the cold.
Likewise populations who live in tropi-
cal or artic climates have adapted to their
temperature extremes. Also consider mili-
tary divisions such as Navy SEALS train
specifically to adapt to grueling activity in
extremes of heat or cold. The body really
can adjust. It just needs time.
The problem is many do not acknowl-
edge or know this process and can inno-
cently find themselves in a dire situation.
These situations are all known as heat
related illnesses and there are varying
stages and symptoms.
Heat cramps are an initial stage. With
heat cramps you will feel involuntary
spasms or cramping in specific muscles
(usually the ones exercised). This form is
usually caused by imbalances in fluid lev-
els and electrolyte concentrations. To
prevent future cramping drink copious
amounts of water before an event and add
a extra pinch of salt to your meals a few
days before.
Heat exhaustion happens quite a lot at
the beginning of summer temperatures.
It is mainly due to unacclimatized people.
Symptoms include a weak, rapid pulse,
headache, dizziness and general weakness.
Sweating may be reduced, but body tem-
perature is not significantly increased.
If you find yourself in this situation, stop
your activity and go to a cooler environ-
ment. Fluid intake is a must. Generally the
risk of heat exhaustion will decrease after
about a week of regular activity in the heat.
Heat stroke is the most serious form of
heat illness
and requires
immediate
medical
attention. The
symptoms
and onset are
similar to
heat exhaus-
tion, with one
big difference
- core body
temperature.
With heat
stroke your
body temper-
ature can
reach excess
of 105
degrees.
If you or
someone you
know is in
this situation,
immediately
stop the
activity, call
for medical
help, and do
everything
possible to
cool the indi-
vidual down - water, ice bath, etc.
All of these heat related complications
can be prevented with some smart plan-
ning. Check the forecast and see how long
you will be in the heat. Two-plus hours is a
little excessive at the beginning. Dress
appropriately, wear light breathable cloth-
ing. Drink plenty of fluids prior and
AVOID stimulants like coffee and
Red-Bull, which dehy-
drate you. Above all,
think ahead and be safe.
Chris Balda is a USAWeightlifting coach,National Strength andConditioning Associa-tion Trainer and owner ofFixXprt, a fitness andtraining consulting busi-ness. Contact him at(913) 244-0287 or at [email protected].
12 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
Exercise...the Heat...and You
ChrisBalda
Contributing
Writer
before going on the disabled list with a
right forearm injury. He is scheduled for
season-ending elbow surgery in July.
While Mark Teahen is a suitable replace-
ment for Gordon at third, the injuries to
Crisp and Aviles left gaping holes. The
Royals lack of depth could not adequately
replace either.
John Buck, the starting catcher in
past seasons who was relegated to second-
team this year behind Miguel Olivo,
missed all of June with a herniated disc
in his lower back.
Waechter, who the Royals signed as a
free agent after he was non-tendered by the
Marlins, appeared in just three games
before going on the disabled list with a
strained right elbow and then while rehab-
bing in the minors pulled an oblique mus-
cle to delay his return.
Kyle Farnsworth, who the Royals are
paying $4.25 million this year, went on the
disabled list with a torn right groin. Sidney
Ponson went on the disabled list with a
right elbow strain.
The current list does not include closer
Joakim Soria missing 17 games with a
right rotator cuff strain. Jose Guillen was
also on the 15-day disabled list in April
with a partial tear of his right hip flexor.
Reliever Robinson Tejeda was out 26
games with right rotator cuff tendonitis.
Some of the walking wounded will be
returning in July and that should help, but
it won't be enough to turn around this mis-
begotten season.
Sure, the Royals can use injuries as an
excuse, but there are other reasons why
they have played poorly. The defense is
atrocious. Only the Seattle Mariners and
White Sox have made more errors in the
American League in the first three months
of the season.
The offense stinks. They ranked next to
last in the American League in batting
average, runs scored, slugging percentage,
on-base percentage, home runs, hits, total
bases and walks. The Royals scored three
runs or less in 38 of their first 76 games.
That does not harvest many victories in the
American League.
The pitching dropped off. After ranking
second early in the year in earned run aver-
age, the ERA dropped to 10th in the league
by the end of June.
With the trading deadline July 31, look
for general manager Dayton Moore to
spend hours on the phone wheeling and
dealing this month. It is not too early to
look to 2010 and beyond.
Centerpoint MedicalCenter presents
Sports Seminars in July and August
SPORTS NUTRITION SEMINAR
& RUNNING CLINIC
On Tuesday, July 14, at 6:30
p.m., Midwest Sports Medicine at
Centerpoint Medical Center will
offer a free program on nutrition
for athletes with special guest
speaker Sally Berry Brown, MA,
RD, CSSD. Sally is a registered
dietician and nutrition therapist,
certified in sports nutrition. Sports
Medicine physicians from
Centerpoint will also be on site to
answer questions.
CONTACT SPORTS INJURY
PREVENTION SEMINAR
Centerpoint Medical
Center Sports Medicine
and Wellness is offering
a free contact sports
injury prevention semi-
nar on Tuesday, August
18, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. A
seminar presented by
Dr. David Dyck,
FAOSM, and Dr. Lori
Boyajian-O’Neill,
FAOSM will be followed
by a question and answer period.
These programs will take place
in the Auditorium at Centerpoint
Medical Center, 19600 E. 39th
Street, Independence, MO. Call
816-751-3000 to register. More
information can be found at
www.centerpointmedical.com.
Injuries - continued from page 9
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 13
World Champion Karate and AmeriKick SchoolWW orld Champion Karate of Overland
Park has been in existence forover four decades. World
Champion Karate is part of the world famousAmeriKick network and regarded as one ofthe nation’s premier martial organizations.
TheOverland Parkoperation isheaded up by9th DegreeMasterInstructor andsix-time WorldChampion BobLeiker. MasterLeiker hasbeen inductedinto countlessmartial artsHalls of Fameand recentlyinducted intothe LivingLegends Hall.Master Leikeris assisted inthe businessoperations by his seven-time WorldChampion son Jarrett Leiker. Jarrett Is cur-rently one of the Nations top Sport Karateathletes. He is a member of the AmeriKickWorld Team a member of the WKA UnitedStates Karate team and a member of WAKOUnited States Karate team.
In addition to the operation of the martialarts school the family is proud to be the
developers of the TAKE defense program, oras some know it, The Ali Kemp Educationalfoundation. The non-profit foundations’ criti-cally acclaimed self defense program is ledby Jill Leiker an 8th Degree Master Instructor.
AmeriKick of Overland Park is a family-establishedbusiness thatcaters to families. Theschool has anenrollment ofover 300 stu-dents rangingfrom the ageof 3 up tofolks in their60’s. The cur-riculumoffered is agespecific andthe classesoffered are forchildren andadults. AtAmeriKickyou will find fitness
programs, self defense and awareness programs and training in all aspects of themartial arts.
At AmeriKick the belief is that individualswith strong personal activities that boost selfconfidence deal with a lot less problems andsocial issues including excelling with schoolwork for children. Self confidence and selfesteem are the keys to success...just turn on
any channel on television and see what theyare trying to sell you about becoming a per-son in charge - or in other words personalpower.
In addition, at AmeriKick the belief systemand practice is that a person who has defini-
tive positive goals, respect for himself or her-self and others, a positive outlook on life, aself disciplined life-style along with a healthyself esteem will be a successful productivemember of our community.
You will find it here at AmeriKick.
Jarrett Leiker
14 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
Heartland Sportsman’s: a unique hunting clubHH eartland Sportsman’s Association
(HSA), Inc. is a new company that isleasing attractive farms and property
for its member’s to hunt and fish. New members
in the Associationwill be the chartermembers and willhelp choose whattype of property isleased for theother club members.
Additionally,HSA is offeringthose chartermembers a one-year money backguarantee, and aspecial discount on their membership dues.Once 100 charter members are signed up,this special offer will cease to exist. Thenmembership will still be a good deal, but itwould not have all the extra perks of thecharter group.
What sets Heartland apart from some ofthe other hunting clubs is members will beable to hunt in various other clubs throughoutthe United States. HSA has worked out adeal with a national group that allows mem-bers to get a reciprocal membership in “sister” clubs throughout the nation.
Heartland has also has integrated high tech-nology into their club. They will offer arialphotos of properties available, as well asGPS coordinates, so finding the right farm is
easy formembers.This will alsoensure noone tres-passesunknowinglyonto anotherproperty.
Oneunique bene-fit of theHeartlandplan is mem-bers will be
allowed to bring family members along withthem at no cost. So, if a potential hunter ischecking out the club he/she could save byinvesting in the charter membership and still take advantage of all the perks without having to pay extra for spouse or kids.
Heartland is setting up meetings withpotential clients daily, They can arrange ameeting with your group, answer your questions and iron out any details. HSA can be reached via the web at heartlandsportsman.com or by phone at 877-405-1110.
1/4
Family-friendly Volleyball Beach - inexpensive exercise & funFF or 20 years Volleyball Beach has been
an entertainment mainstay in southKansas City.
Whether you are a competitive volleyballplayer or a novice out for a night of exerciseand fun, Volleyball Beach has a league foryou. This family-friendly complex providesplayers with 13 well-lit and groomed outdoorsand courts. When you sign up, you’ll playthe same night and time that you chooseevery week. There are two levels for recre-ational play and power leagues available for2, 4 or 6 people.
And playing at Volleyball Beach is inexpen-sive. It costs the average person only fourdollars per week to play. Volleyball Beachhas daily open times at no charge for league
players. No uniforms are required plus all theequipment you’ll need to play is supplied.That’s why Volleyball Beach can say they areKansas City’s Cheapest Entertainment.
Besides league play, Volleyball Beach isavailable for groups, company parties, pic-nics, walk-in play and tournaments. The facil-ity can accommodate up to 300 people. Theirfull service bar/restaurant and experiencedstaff make it easy and convenient to planyour next event.
You can sign up today to play at VolleyballBeach. Summer leagues are in progress, butare accepting players and teams, and Fallleagues begins August 17th.
To join the fun at Volleyball Beach, call816-942-2820 or visit volleyballbeach.com.
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 15
Anytime Fitness OP: a whole new health club philosophyWW hen Kim Peterson decided to open
a new Anytime Fitness in OverlandPark last year, she set out to create
a club based on everything she’d alwayswanted in a gym. Marketing specifically toregular folks, her goal was to create a wholenew group of gym users who might otherwisenever feel comfortable working out. What she discovered is that serious gym users and ath-letes had been looking for the same featuresthat made sense to her.
For her, the worst part of any gym mem-bership always began with the sales staff.Commissioned salesmen never had theprospective members’ needs in mind, and theinflated price that they would cut as soon assomeone said, “I’ll get back to you,” wasoffensive. Kim shares her prices up front andgives every member the opportunity torewrite their contract if she ever offers a bet-ter price or special. And with prices starting atless than $1/day, everyone can affordAnytime Fitness.
Experience also told her that a great pricemeans nothing if a club is too crowded, soAnytime Fitness plans to cap their member-ship, ensuring that members will never sufferlong waits to get on the equipment.
Member loyalty is the easiest way to mar-ket any business, so the Overland ParkAnytime Fitness rewards their members forreferrals with up to one free year of member-ship and free personal training sessions. Add24-hour access and nationwide reciprocityand there are few excuses to keep anyone
from joining this club.Kim knew from personal experience that
intimidation is often a problem for people newto the gym, but you won’t find anythingthreatening or uncomfortable at this club. It isspotlessly clean, with a lobby that blocks theview from outside for privacy and security.The colors are warm, the equipment is effec-tive and easy to use, and the staff is helpful,friendly, and low-key.
The biggest surprise in her first year hasbeen the number of gym regulars and seriousathletes who are as thrilled by this new con-cept as the rest of the members. It seemsthat her low-key, family-run philosophy thatconsiders the members’ needs first is whateveryone has always wanted in a gym.
AnytimeFitness is locatedacross from OakPark Mall in theQuivira 95 Shopsat 95th & Quivirain Overland Park. You can reachthe club at 913-599-3700
or check them out online at http://club.anytimefitness.com/clubs/over-landparkks.
UU nder the direction of Sifu BryanStevenson, Dragon Family MartialArts and Professional Fitness center
has been in existence now for 10 years.Unlike most Martial Arts Schools, DragonFamily offers a wide-range of non-traditionalas well as traditional martial arts and profes-sional fitness programs.
Classes are available in Jeet Kune Do,weapons, MMA, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, and more.
Our goal is to provide you with the tools toenhance your life. Whether your motivation isin self-defense, physical fitness, emotional/
spiritual enhancement, or a heatlhy lifestyle -we have the program for you.
We have children’s classes as well. Ourskilled staff is committed to teaching yourchildren the value of dedication, honesty,teamwork, plus much much more.
We are located at 13901 E. Noland Courtin Independence and can be reached at 816-536-7493.
Or check us out on the web at www.dragonfamilymartialarts.com
Kim Peterson
Dragon Family Martial Arts celebrates 10th anniversary
16 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
AA t Metro East Tennis Center, our mem-bers’ enjoyment always comes first!METC offers a friendly, down-to-earth
surrounding managedby people who trulytake pleasure in thecamaraderie, and par-ticipate in, the greatsport of tennis.
We continually lookfor ways to improve notonly the tennis atMETC, but we alsooffer many new novelways to improve ourmembers’ health andwell-being.
The METC facility includes:• Five Indoor Tennis Courts - two cush-
ioned hard courts and three syntheticclay courts.
• Members Lounge - with refreshment andviewing area for social gatherings.
• Locker Rooms and Showers
• Pro Shop - that offers racquets, racquetrestringing, and tennis gear.
METC is situated along Woods Chapeland Vesper Streets in Blue Springs, Missouri
and offers members a place to engage incompetitive tennis, enhance their tennis andfitness potential, socialize with like-mindedindividuals, and bond with family members.
Tennis activities include:• Men’s and Women’s singles and dou-
bles leagues • Mixed doubles leagues • Club challenge ladder system • Interclub tennis tournaments • TenCap league tennis • Cardio Tennis • QuickStart Tennis • Youth Tennis Programs • Junior Excellence Training Program • Tennis lessons and drills • Drop-in tennis For more information on Eastern Jackson
County’s finest indoor tennis facility, visitmetroeasttennis.com or call 816-224-7999.
Tennis Anyone? Metro East Tennis Center is the answer
Why Advertise With KC Sports & Fitness?
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To learn more call 913-764-2050or contact Steve at [email protected]
THE GOLF REPORT
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 17
Win-Win Watson Challenge earns grade of A+G rading the Watson Challenge: A+.
A win-win-win for all involved, here
are the winners:
Tom Watson won his second straight
championship, proving once again that
despite nearing 60 and giving up some dis-
tance off the tee,
he’s still Kansas
City’s best golfer.
Kansas City’s
golf community
– both the ama-
teurs and profes-
sionals who were
given the chance
to challenge
Watson and in
some cases play
with the Hall of
Famer – and the
fans who were
able to watch
one of golf’s all-
time greats but
from a few yards
distance.
The members
of Shadow Glen got a chance to show off
one of Kansas City’s toughest and best-
landscaped golf course.
And last but certainly not the least, the
First Tee of Greater Kansas City. Although
the tournament was not originally set up to
raise charitable money, more than
$150,000 has been pumped into the First
Tee coffers over the three-year history of
the Challenge.
“At first, we just
wanted to have the tournament for the
players, the best tournament possible for
the players,” Watson said. “But we had
such a wonderful response at Hallbrook,
if was asked if a charitable element could
be added and we said by all means.
I suggested First Tee and they said sure.
That’s where the players of the future are
going to come from; the only place they
can come from.”
Despite a
course made
soggy by a
couple of
rains includ-
ing one that
caused a
three-hour
delay in play
in Monday’s
final round,
high and
humid tem-
peratures and
a brand new
left hip cour-
tesy of hip
surgery last
October,
Watson
opened the 54-hole tourney with a 4-under
par 68 and then turned back Sean Doug-
herty’s every challenge over the next
two days.
“I was looking at you all three days,
thinking that here’s my
competition right here
and it was almost to be,”
Watson told Dougherty,
who was first out in a
three-man playoff with
Watson and champion
Blake Graham in 2007
and then tied for second
last year on his home
course at Milburn.
“You’re a fine player and
you’re going to win this
championship when my
tooth gets a little longer.”
However, that may be a while. Leading
Dougherty by three shots going into the
final round, Watson had his lead cut to one
when he bogeyed the par 5 second hole (a
hole he had previously eagled) only to
rebound with back-to-back birdies at Nos.
4 and 5 and then stretch his lead to four
with a 30-35 foot birdie putt on No. 9.
Dougherty came again, making birdie at
No. 10 while Watson bogeyed No. 11 as
his lead fell to two shots heading into what
proved to be a pivotal 13th hole. While
Watson was making par with two putts on
the 477-yard dogleg, Dougherty missed the
green, chipped to within eight feet and then
With a 7-under par 209 total for 54 holes, TomWatson (right) took home the Watson Challengechampionship cup for a second straight year.Dick Landon, the president of host ShadowGlen, made the presentation.
Frank Zuk (left) and Mike Hardesty happilyaccepted a check of $25,000 for the First TeeFoundation of Greater Kansas City.
Phot
os b
y Al
an H
oski
ns
AlanHoskins
Contributing
Writer
continued on page 24
18 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
Bonneville, Arbanas’ greens draw rave reviewsJust like E.F. Hutton, when Craig
Schreiner talks, people listen. And well
they should when he talks about his
most recent favorite subject, the Fred
Arbanas Golf Course at Longview Lake.
“Unbelievable. Russell Bonneville is the
hero. I have never seen greens this nice in
just nine months,” said Schreiner, the
nationally known golf architect who got his
start here in Kansas City and is headquar-
tered in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“I worked on the Ryder Cup course at
Oak Hills in Rochester, N.Y., and the
greens there are not anywhere close to
being as good as these. I re-did the
Firestone Course in Akron, Ohio, and they
did not have greens this good.”
It is not his
own horn,
however, that
Schreiner
blows.
“I gave them
the design but
the golf course
superintendent,
Russell
Bonneville,
made it hap-
pen,” Schreiner
said emphati-
cally. “What
Russell and
his staff have
done in the
last four
months
exceeds anything I’ve seen. He’s put his
heart and soul into it. He’s the consummate
professional, not the kind of employee who
goes home at 3:30 p.m. You can’t educate
that kind of person, it’s born into them.”
Said Arbanas at the grand opening,
“A lot of love has been put into this golf
course. This is the finest public course in
the area and maybe the country.”
From seeding and the laying of sod in
late July through the middle of September,
it was pretty much dawn to dusk for
Bonneville, who was at the course every
day while averaging 75 hours a week and a
lot of tender care.
“There were some concerns over two of
the greens going into the winter because of
late seeding, so we had to cover them,”
said Bonneville. “But once we removed the
blankets, they actually were the best two
greens out here.”
Bonneville, a graduate of Paola High
School has spent most of his life has been
on a golf course. His first summer job was
at Brookridge when he was 14 and he also
worked summers at St. Andrews and Paola
Country Club before graduating from high
school.
“I went to KU but
dropped out my sopho-
more year and went to
work the next day at
Alavmar and worked
two years there,”
Bonneville said.
The next nine years
were spent at McPherson
Country Club before
returning to Overland
Park Golf Course, where
he worked with
Schreiner in opening the
West Links course.
“I took a year off to pursue a song writ-
ing career but that didn’t work out so I
had to get
back into
golf,” said
Bonneville,
who spent a
year and a
half at Loch
Lloyd before
taking his
present posi-
tion 12 years
ago.
Opened
originally in
1986 as
Longview
Lake Golf
Course,
aging greens
made worse
by significant drainage problems had long
been an eyesore to an otherwise exception-
al layout. On June 1, 2008, the Jackson
County Parks and Recreation Department
bit the financial bullet, shutting down the
course for 11 months to begin a $1.6 mil-
lion project that included renovation and a
new drainage system to alleviate a water
runoff problem that had plagued the course
for years.
“The greens were like a catcher’s mitt
and rains from peripheral mounding
drained right on to the greens which is the
worse thing you can have,” Schreiner said.
“Now the greens have been waterproofed
by channeling all the surface water into
strategic drainage locations so there will be
no more problems of runoff.
“We also created a wonderful assortment
of strategic pin locations by increasing
locations 15 fold. Some greens only had
two pin locations. Now every hole has 15-
17 pin locations, 70 percent of which will
be very accommodating and 30 percent
challenging. So the course can now be set
up any number of ways - six tough loca-
tions, six medium and six easy; all easy or
Thanks to the efforts of architect Craig Schreiner (left) andgolf superintendent Russell Bonneville, the Fred ArbanasCourse at Longview Lake boasts the finest greens in thegreater Kansas City area.
Phot
o by
Ala
n H
oski
ns
AlanHoskins
Contributing
Writer
THE GOLF REPORT
continued on next page
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 19
if you’re playing a men’s championship, all
difficult.”
The new greens, which were given a
foundation of a rock layer base and 12
inches of soil mix, featuring A4 bent grass,
which has become the state of the art grass
in the Midwest.
The restructuring did not stop at the
greens. As he did at Prairie Highlands,
Overland Park’s St. Andrews and West
Links, Falcon Ridge, Winterstone and
other area courses, Schreiner rebuilt the
entire green complex with new bunkers
and new zoysia approaches and collars that
make for much more manageable chips or
bump and run shots.
“Very friendly,” general manager
Bob McMillin said. “With the addition of
the zoysia around the greens, it’s a much
better opportunity to get up and down and
make par.”
While some greens were strategically
moved short distances, the course layout
changed very little.
“We did lengthen the par 4 seventh hole
25 yards to 180 yards and the par 3 No. 11
by 30 yards to 212,” McMillin said. The
big change aesthetically came at the par 4
12th hole, where the green was moved to
the left and lowered to open up a spectacu-
lar panoramic view of Longview Lake and
a large Oak tree at the back of the green.
It’s just gorgeous,” longtime head pro
Ron Flipowicz said. “Before you could
barely see the lake and the beautiful Oak
tree.”
“Said Schreiner, “When you come down
the fairway, you now can see why it’s
called Longview Lake. It adds a whole
new dimension to the hole.”
The closing of the course also gave
Bonneville an opportunity to tackle other
needs.
“Russell has done a fantastic job,”
McMillin said. “”It’s been a long winter
and he’s got a lot done. Three tee boxes, at
4, 7 and 11, have been enlarged and more
then 600 trees have been trimmed. And
after the renovation, there was all the clean
up and top dressing.”
Called by County Executive Mike
Sanders the crown jewel of Jackson
County, Sanders said the project actually
came in under budget and allowed for a
much-needed $130,000 renovation of the
clubhouse. An old farmhouse converted
into a clubhouse, its knotty pine paneling
was retained with re-staining and varnish-
ing.
“All 39 windows were also
replaced, which was a major
project,” McMillin said. “We
also put in all new lighting
throughout the entire area,
refurbished the counter tops,
kitchen and serving area; put in
all new bathroom fixtures and a
new tile floor; painted and laid
new carpet.”
In addition to its 18 champi-
onship holes, Fred Arbanas
offers a 9-hole20par 3 course
that remained open during the
renovation, as did the driving
range and clubhouse.
Flipowicz has two full-time
assistants, Jeff Sedorcek and
Kyle Piedomonte, and lessons
are available.
One of the metro area’s
busiest courses with 46,000-48,000 rounds
a year, not including 18,000 rounds on the
par 3, it’s also a very walk-able course.
Walking green fees are $25 Mondays
through Thursdays and $35 Fridays,
Saturdays, Sundays and holiday. For sen-
iors and juniors, it’s $22. Use of brand new
Club Cars from M&M are an additional
$14. Nine-hole fees are $11 for adults and
$9 for juniors and seniors.
Golfers at Fred Arbanas Golf Course now get a spectacular view of Longview Lake, thanks to moving andlowering the green at hole 12.
Phot
o by
Ala
n H
oski
ns
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THE GOLF REPORTTHE GOLF REPORT
Wrist Exercises forPower Golf
You want more power in your golf swing? Want aneasy exercise(s) to quickly see improvement in dis-tance? It’s all in the wrists! Yes…they say over 70%+of your speed comes from the hinging and unhingingof your wrists.
The only problem with that is many golfers, espe-cially older ones have both weak and inflexible wristjoints, and they cannot get or maintain their wrist cock(lag) during the downswing. This is a HUGE powerloss for golfers with these limitations.
I’ll bet when you hear power and distance, youwouldn’t think wrists would you? Just picture hitting agolf ball, baseball, or throwing anything without awrist cock with lag before release. It would be a pow-erless movement with no speed.
There’s a simple exercise I do for wrist strength,and I use my weighted golf club to speed up thestrength improvement, but if you don’t have one, youcan use an 8 iron or even your 3 iron. The longer the club the more the resistance on your wrist andforearm.
The exercise is so easy and simple you can do itanywhere. In your living room. At your office. Evenwhen you travel (with your clubs that is).
• Grab a single club as stated above. Start withsay a pitching wedge and work your way up to a3 iron.
• Your arm hangs at your side. Grab the club andlet the head rest on the ground at your side.
• Cock your wrist upward to raise the clubhead offthe ground as high as it can go while leavingarm at side.
• Slowly lower to ground uncocking your wrist. • Repeat this 15 times and switch hands. • You will feel a burn in your forearms. • Do this 2-3 times a week and you’ll be plowing
through the ball at impact!
These tips were provided by Mike Pedersen ofPerformBetterGolf.com. Mike is a Golf SwingBiomechanic specializing in helping golfers producemore power and distance in their golf swings. Visit hiswebsite at www.performbettergolf.com for more tips,and power golf training products.
Arbanas - continued from previous page
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 21
By CHARLES REDFIELD, Contributing Writer
Colbert’s grandson makinghis own name in golf
C urtis Yonke finished his high school
golfing career at Blue Valley West in
convincing fashion.
Yonke shot a round of 68 at the Kansas
Class 6A state tournament at the Shawnee
Country Club in Topeka to win the state
individual title. His score beat the runner-
up by four strokes and the state individual
title is his sec-
ond straight.
In 2008, he
tied with three
other golfers
for first place
and won a one-
hole playoff.
“I wanted to
avoid a three-
way tie,”
Yonke said. “I
backed into the
playoff last
year. This year
I didn’t want
any guessing
on the last
hole.”
The 68 was
the first-ever
bogey free round for the Jaguars’ senior.
“That was the most consistent round
I have ever played,” he said.
His best round ever was a 64 practice
round at the Wichita Country Club in late
April. Yonke is pleased with the back-to-
back state individual titles.
“It’s huge,” he said. “State golf in
Kansas is just one round and some say that
the champions are a fluke. I showed win-
ning it two in a row that it was not a fluke.”
Yonke moved to Overland Park in the
middle of his sophomore year from
Lubbock, Texas. He played golf at
Coronado High School, one of four
high schools in Lubbock. Yonke noted a
difference between the courses in Lubbock
and Kansas.
“The (Kansas) courses golf courses are
more challenging,” he said. “The courses
in Lubbock are flat.”
His father, Steve, came to Overland
Park to manage a weight management
company. Steve had been in golf course
management in Lubbock prior to moving
to Overland Park.
Incidentally, Steve graduated from
Shawnee Mission North.
Curtis, who first took up golf when he
was three, finished in a tie for 12th in his
sophomore campaign at BV West.
“I had a plastic club,” he said. “And
I was trying to hit it over the roof.”
Yonke learned the game from his dad,
Steve, older brother, Kyle, and grandfather
professional golfing great Jim Colbert.
“When I have a bad day, I go to see my
dad,” he said. “He has suggestions of what
to do to do it better.”
Kyle played four years of golf at Kansas
State and just graduated with a degree in
marketing and economics. He hopes to
play professionally this coming year.
“Kyle had a
great deal to
do with my
success,” he
said. “He is
great with
showing me
what to do
around the
green. He
always has
been there to
tell me how to
do it better.”
Colbert,
who was in
the first grad-
uating class at
Bishop Miege
High School,
went to
Kansas State as a quarterback. But he was
felled by an injury and turned to golf.
He played for many years on the PGA
Tour and is playing on the Champions
(over 50) Tour. Yonke credits Colbert for
much of his success.
“He taught me my swing, short game
and putting,” Yonke said. “He taught me
the game from the ground up. He made my
game where I can understand it. I know
what and how to do it. I know how to cor-
rect my game.”
When Colbert is not playing, he lives in
Manhattan.
“I have spent countless hours in the sum-
mer with him,” Yonke said. “When he was
not traveling, I’m in Manhattan.”
There is a routine Colbert uses to teach
his grandson the game.
“We will hit balls, and I couldn’t leave
until I was hitting it right,” Yonke said.
Yonke will follow the family tradition
and play golf for Kansas State, where
he can get help from his grandfather in
the fall.
Yonke joins a group of area golfers on
the Wildcats golf roster. Former BV West
golfer Kyle Smell will be a junior and
Rockhurst High School graduate Jason
Schulte will be a red-shirt junior. Yonke
will major in business and his dream is to
play golf professional. He practices three to
four hours a day during the high school
season and seven to eight hours a day dur-
ing the summer months.
Curtis Yonke
THE GOLF REPORT
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 23
Stallworth lucky he didn’t strike a dogH ow silly is it Cleveland Browns wide
receiver Donté Stallworth was given 30
days in jail for hitting and killing some
poor slob while driving drunk, but Michael
Vick was given two years in prison for killing
some dogs?
Talk about a screwed up world we live in
these days. It is a world where the NFL com-
missioner now has to punish Stallworth
because our legal system enables rich jocks
to buy their way out of trouble, but the com-
missioner will have to punish him for PR rea-
sons. He was suspended indefinitely.
It is a sad commentary to the youth that
athletic stardom and riches can virtually get
you out of anything (see Simpson, O.J.).
Who cares if Stallworth killed a guy who
was walking to a bus stop after getting off
work? Jock sniffers are quick to call into
sports talk shows and give their brilliant
opinion, “Hey, the guy may have been jay-
walking.”
Good point. If the guy was jaywalking he
probably deserved to get run over. Heck, is
there a way we can charge the guy for
scratching the hell out of Stallworth’s
Bentley? Those aren’t cheap cars to repair.
Vick and Stallworth (and let’s even toss in
Plaxico Burress, who shot himself in a night
club while playing with his Glock) epitomize
many of the
athletes we
see today.
They are a
product of
their genera-
tion where
athletic skill
and money
are all-
important.
They have the athletic skills, are paid mil-
lions, and therefore can do any damn thing
they want.
Unfortunately for Vick he really pushed
the envelope by offending dog lovers. The
worst thing anyone can do these days is be
politically incorrect and now PETA will use
him for years as its personal PR piñata.
Stallworth simply killed Mario Reyes, who
by all accounts was a good family man who
worked as a crane operator and could not
afford a car. Let’s face it, his loss is not near-
ly as big compared to Stallworth’s potential
contributions on a football field.
The reported fact that Stallworth “worked
out a financial settlement” with the Reyes
family pretty much says it all. It certainly
sounds like the famous “What will it take to
shut you up about me running down your
loved one?” The family probably used a
wheelbarrow to haul the money necessary to
get over their loss.
A New York prosecutor said the unspeak-
able in an article in the New York Daily
News about Stallworth’s sentence. “I believe
it undermines the public’s perception of fair-
ness in the criminal justice system. Whether
it is accurate or not, this sentence gives the
appearance that another wealthy celebrity
was given tremendous leniency.” You think?
Stallworth and Vick followed the same
path to the NFL. Stallworth was a star
receiver at Tennessee who bolted to the NFL
after his junior year. Vick bailed out of
Virginia Tech after his sophomore year. You
can bet both guys were dedicated students
who were not shown any favoritism during
their college careers.
I’m also sure that polar bears don’t crap on
the ice.
A guy who was a guard at Leavenworth
when Vick arrived sent me a note saying Vick
fit in perfectly in the prison system except he
received an enormous
amount of mail, mostly
from a bevy of “fat chicks
around the country.
“He blended right in
with all the other thug
boys, only he had a bigger
bank account,” said my
source. “He was caught
stealing chicken from the
dining room within his
first 10 days and had to
work it off washing dishes
in the kitchen.
“I wonder if he’ll put that in his book.”
I wrote in an earlier column Vick’s sen-
tence for dog fighting and related issues was
way over-the-top. One can only hope that he
learned an important lesson: animals’ lives
are more important than human beings.
It is a lesson that Donté Stallworth already
knows. He should thank his lucky stars he
didn’t hit a dog.
Send your thoughts, comments, com-plaints, etc., to John at [email protected].
When the game was a gameW hen it comes to sports and fitness,
bowling is usually mentioned dead
last in this category. Seriously, it has
to be the only athletic competition that actu-
ally encourages drinking and smoking.
I grew up working at bowling alleys and
I never really saw much stretching and jump-
ing jacks before the week’s match ups. More
often than not the pre-game ritual included
taking out your hand towel and ordering a
double-decker, bacon cheeseburger with
tater tots and the first round for the team.
You laced up your shoes, put on your glove
and grabbed a handful of yellow pencils as
preparation.
Computers, neon lights, funny graphics
have changed the game as we know it. Gone
are the days of the “Tele Score” that was
nothing more than 2 overhead projectors
screwed into the floor. That was it, all that
was left was to take a deep breath and roll
your first ball.
Bowling has been around for awhile with
its history is often debated. There are only a
handful of bowling alleys remaining in which
humans sit in the “pits,” clearing off the dead
wood on the alley to send the ball back to the
bowler. Brunswick
and AMF machines
would provide
“modern technolo-
gy” and elevate the
game in to the 20th
century.
But the biggest
change to the game
has been the ball
itself. Plastic and
rubber bowling balls
were standard equip-
ment. The bowling just relied on skill and
focus. Now the bowling balls are made with
urethane with inner cores designed to make
the ball curve more drastically, creating more
pin action.
With all this being said, the game is
about 10 percent athletic skill, 10 percent
luck and 80 percent mental. Sure, you need
to be shown the technique of how to roll
the ball and causing it to “hook,” creating
more pin action and
higher scores, but
the main difference
between a 190 aver-
age bowler and pro
bowler is focus.
This is what I call
mental fitness.
David Waswo
once toured with
the professionals.
He is one of the
best local bowlers
Kansas City has seen. At 43, he has bowled
as many 300 games as years lived. Naturally
a right hander, some of the perfect games
have come from the left side of the lane. The
Kansas City Bowling Hall of Fame has a
space waiting for him. I can remember one
time when his mom came to watch him bowl.
As a teammate, I had to tell my dad to leave
Dave alone, because he wanted to bowl a 300
game so badly for his mother, and he did. My
six perfect scores pale in comparison to his
and many other greats.
Mentally, I would dwell on a missed
shot or bad break and it would affect my per-
formance. But other times, I would concen-
trate really hard on my game and perform to
the greatest of my ability. One time I brought
back an old bowling ball (GTB for those
at home) and tossed strikes on my first
nine rolls.
The Pro Bowler’s Tour had a tournament
earlier this year in which
they brought back plastic
bowling balls and the
scores were still as high as
ever. The bowlers elevat-
ed their focus and scored
just as good with lesser
equipment as they did
with the higher tech bowl-
ing balls. I am a firm
believer that the physical
fitness of our mind
requires mental exercise
as well. All sports require
concentration while not over thinking. Last
month I wrote about Chi Chi Rodriguez and
golf in general. If you get in your own way in
that sport, you will slice or hook your shot.
Bowling is made easier by actually a line
of arrows that are on the lane just a few feet
in front of you. The actually lane length is 60
feet, but by focusing on the arrows that are
only 15 feet from you, you have a better
chance of hitting your mark. Like most
sports, bowling is a game of inches and miss-
ing your mark will make or break your score.
My wife bowled her one and only 300 after
adjusting to aiming at the arrows.
Whatever sport you play, you can gain a
competitive edge by keeping your mind sharp
but more importantly, positive. Tiger Woods
believes that he will win every tournament he
plays and causes his competition to believe
this as well. When you fail, you have two
options, either dwell on the mistakes or find a
lesson learned. When you approach the game
with a positive mindset, your chances of win-
ning is far greater.
John LandsbergContributing
Writer
JamesPeuster
Contributing
Writer
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24 JULY 2009 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
EVENT CALENDAR
UPCOMING EVENTS7/11 Zouire Warehouse Sale-KC Sports & Fitness Radio Live!,
8 AM, 7226 W. Frontage Rd., Merriam, KS 7/11 ABA Men’s Pro Basketball Tryout, 68’s Inside Sports, Overland Park, KS7/12 Shawnee Mission Triathlon, Shawnee Mission Park, Shawnee Mission, KS7/12 Run to the Sun 5K, Independence, MO7/13 Fore KC! Golf Classic, Blue Hills Country Club, Kansas City, MO7/14 Sports Nutrition Seminar & Running Clinic,
Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence, MO7/14 Runner’s Edge Summer 2009 Programs & Classes,
Garry Gribble’s Running Sports, Overland Park, KS & KC, MO7/16 Annual SPORT KC PROPS, Midland Theatre, Kansas City, MO7/17 HORSE ‘N Around Hoops Finals, CBE, Kansas City, MO7/22 Blazin’ 10K Picnic Run, Quivira Park, Overland Park, KS7/25 2nd Annual Start2Finish, Johnson County Community College, OP, KS7/31-8/2 Hoops 4 Hope Tournament benefiting the
American Cancer Society, Johnson County, KS8/2 Run Kansas City Fall Running Program Starts8/18 Contact Sports Injury Prevention Seminar,
Centerpoint Medical Center, Independence, MOIf you have a sports event you’d like included in our calendar, send it to
ssffiisscchh@@kkccssppoorrttssppaappeerr..ccoomm at least 45 days before the event.
three-putted for double bogey and a
four-shot deficit. “Just was not even
thinking,” said Dougherty of a missed
two-footer for bogey. “That pretty much
sealed the deal.”
Watson finished an even par 72 by
rifling a five-iron to the back of the green
on the par 5 18th hole and then two-put-
ting for a birdie.
“I was two shots ahead and it was
anyone’s tournament right then and all
of a sudden, bingo, I’m four shots ahead
and I had some real breathing room,”
Watson said of the 13th hole being the
decisive one.
Watson was particularly pleased with
his stamina and how well his new hip held
up on the rain-drenched course played in
the extremely hot and extremely humid
weather. “I was surprised I was in this
good a shape for walking seven miles a
day,” Watson said.
“I think myself and my caddy, Brian
Wright, each lost six or seven pounds,”
said Rob Wilkin, whose 69 on Sunday got
Wilkin into the final foursome with
Watson and Dougherty. “I don’t know if it
was the heat or the difficulty of the course
but I had trouble on 11, 12 and 13 all
three days.”
Despite a 78 on Monday that dropped
him to fifth, Wilkin said being in the final
group was something special. “Anytime
you play with Tom, even if it’s just a
Wednesday afternoon, it’s a big thrill and
you want to perform well,” Wilkin said.
“The way they set the tournament up with
marshals, signboards galleries makes it a
top notch professional event.”
The head pro at Heritage Park, Wilkin
is no stranger to the spotlight. He once
led the PGA Championship by posting
birdies on the first two holes and has won
two Midwest PGA assistant champi-
onships and been Section Player of the
Year 15 times.
One of just three players to break par
the first day with a one-under 71, Fred
Arbanas first assistant Jeff Sedorcek was
paired with Watson and Dougherty on
Sunday. The smallest golfer in the field at
5-6, Sedorcek nevertheless stayed in the
hunt until his legs gave out on the last five
holes and he finished with a 78 and even-
tually tied for sixth.
“When the ball starts going left and
right, you know your legs are going out,”
Sedorcek said. “But it was a lot of fun.
Tom is such a down to earth guy it was a
real thrill to play with him.”
Dougherty said his third straight near
miss only whetted his appetite for another
shot in 2010.
“Tom is a tough competitor and I
always love tough competition,”
Dougherty said. “Putting this week was
pretty much unacceptable. It’s not frus-
trating not to win but its frustrating not
to play as well as I know I can. But losing
to an eight-time major winner is not
too bad.”
The 2010 Challenge will be played at
Kansas City Country Club, a course
where Watson learned the game of golf,
and he will defend. “Darned right,” said
Watson, who obviously was pleased with
his successful title defense. “I’m feeling
good and with my advanced age and
being still able to get it done and beat the
best in Kansas City, I’m awfully happy
about that.”
Watson - continued from page 17
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 25
Soldiering on dutifully for Family and CountryThe scene played out like Graduation
day meets Hollywood film set.
The date was June 18, 2009. An eclectic
group of participants and well-wishers
had assembled on the north side of the
Liberty Memorial in downtown Kansas
City to witness a “Change of Command”
conducted by the U.S. Army Recruiting
Battalion Kansas City. Hooah!
The setting was gorgeous. The backdrop
spectacular. It was also stinking’ hot with
nary a breeze. Rain was in the clouds.
Humidity was at ground level. There was-
n’t a dry shirt in the crowd. Guests return-
ing to their offices, military posts or homes
were sweating like Royals’ pitchers facing
Albert Pujols. Nobody seemed to mind.
A little history first. The custom of
acknowledging a change in commanding
officers of a military unit in a formal cere-
mony traces back to Roman times. Its pur-
pose is to emphasize the continuity of
leadership and unit identity despite
changes in individual authority.
The ceremony also symbolizes the trans-
fer of command responsibility and
accountability from one individual to
another. The next senior commander tradi-
tionally performs this transfer from the
outgoing commander to the incoming
commander. The formal ritual is conducted
before assembled members of the com-
mand, colleagues, military counterparts,
honored guests, dignitaries, family and
friends.
Steve Fisch (owner and publisher of this
magazine) and I were invited guests under
the friends’ banner. Our Army chum, dedi-
cated sponsor and frequent radio-show
guest Lieutenant Colonel Eric T. Reinkober
was the Outgoing Commander. For the past
18 months or so he had enlightened us with
Army Strong stories as well as personal
experiences from halfway around the
globe. Cool dude. Terrific family man.
We’re gonna miss him. He’s heading to
Fort Bragg, North Carolina to reunite with
wife Jen and their two young children. Get
this – Jen is a LTC cur-
rently commanding the
330th Transportation
Battalion (Airborne) at
Fort Bragg. The girl got
game. Puts a modern-day
spin on “Honey, I’m
Home” family values.
The Incoming
Commander is Lieutenant
Colonel Ronald Tucker.
Fresh off a two-year stint
(among other duties) as a
professor of Military
Science at Southern
Illinois University. He
brings his wife Beth and
four children to town for
his newest assignment. According to his
bio, Tucker is a Bronze Star winner who
served as an Army Ranger during
Operation Urgent Fury in the battle for
Grenada and as a Battalion Operations offi-
cer for an Air Defense/Gun Truck Battalion
during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Welcome,
Ron. It’s reassuring to have strong, noble
leaders living in our community.
By the way, his unit’s
Grenada invasion was
turned into the movie
“Heartbreak Ridge,”
starring Clint Eastwood.
We’ll get more details
during an upcoming
Kansas City Sports &
Fitness Radio Show
interview.
The Change of
Command ceremony
only took about 35 min-
utes. The passing of the
command flag was conducted by 5th
Recruiting Brigade Commander and
Colonel Robert Akam. After a few speech-
es, the big finale was a rousing sing-along
of The Army Song (“...And the Army Goes
Rolling Along.”). Nice theater. The ensuing
after-party was mercifully held inside the
air-conditioned World War I Museum.
Thanks again, Eric. You’re a distin-
guished role model for our country. Hooah!
You were also very instrumental in getting
Steve and me to San Antonio in January for
the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Can’t thank you enough for that. It was a
memorable experience on multiple fronts.
Good luck in your new commission. If you
do indeed end up serving in Kuwait, we’ll
be staying in touch via e-mails and tweet.
JimPotoski
Contributing
Writer
HORSE ’N Around HoopsFinals scheduled July 17
The Finals for the HORSE ’N AROUND
HOOPS tournament are scheduled for
Friday, July 17 from 2 to 6 PM at the
College Basketball Experience in downtown
Kansas City.
“It’s appro-
priate that we
top off this
exciting event
at the CBE,
since that’s
where it all
was started,”
says Keith
Zimmerman of
Double Dog
Sports &
Entertainment,
the promoters
of the HORSE
competition.
In November of 2008 Zimmerman and his
partners announced the HORSE tournament
at a gala event held at the CBE.
The day will be divided into two segments,
playoffs of all qualified contestants from 2-4
PM and the finals where the local winner
plays trick shot artist David Kalb will begin
at 5 PM. Kalb is the man who beat Lebron
James at HORSE last fall in a highly-publi-
cized event in California.
A $10,000 prize is up for grabs if the local
winner is able to beat Kalb at the finals.
In addition to the competition, there will be
celebrities play-
ing HORSE,
too. Actors
Jimmy “J.J.”
Walker and
Cylk Cozart
from “White
Men Can’t
Jump” will be
on hand taking
their best shots
to entertain the
crowd in atten-
dance.
Tickets for
the final event
are available by contacting the College
Basketball Experience at 816-949-7500.
Information is also available online at
www.collegebasketballexperience.com.
For more information, contact HORSE ’N
AROUND HOOPS promoter Keith
Zimmerman at 913-568-8142 or visit his
website at www.doubledogsports.com.
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Reinkober (right) was honored in aChange of Command Ceremony in June at Liberty Memorial.Lieutenant Robert Akam (center front) presided over the cere-mony. Command of the recruiting battalion was transferred toLTC Ronald Tucker (left).
HORSE ‘N AROUND HOOPS held a competition at the recentSports Radio 810 Big Boy Toy Show at the Power & LightDistrict which was sponsored by the U.S. Army.
Great time to get Chiefs seatsR ight now you can see a Royals game at
the all new “K” - a great place to see a
major league contest. But in just a few
weeks, there will be excitement across the
parking lot at Arrowhead.
The baseball team got a year’s jump on
the Chiefs and the new “K” went over BIG
TIME! Win or lose, the Royals are drawing
from all over the Midwest. What the fans
have experienced has
drawn rave reviews.
Now the same excite-
ment awaits you at
Arrowhead, where close
to half a billion dollars
will have been spent by
the time20the 2010 sea-
son rolls around.
When the construc-
tion is all done, our
town will have the greatest dual venue sta-
dium in the world. Planners of the Truman
complex were brilliant in their design and
building of stadiums to accommodate base-
ball and football. Building two separate
stadiums meant a whole lot more parking
for fans at a much cheaper cost.
You see, for many years I have worked
in every stadium in America, and in most
the parking starts at $50-$60 or even $70.
And ticket prices are equal or more...some-
times much, much more.
I guess what I am get-
ting around to telling
you is right now is one
great time to buy season
tickets for football. For
the first time, there will
be quality seating avail-
able for the season ticket
buyer.
Back in the days, folks
bought everything in
sight. I got mine early
and in 46 years lots of
folks got to see the game
from great seats. Guess that’s why I have
so many friends.
Because of the nature of our financial
times, many folks have let their tickets go,
leaving thousands of great season ticket
buys. That also goes for the suites. New
luxury accommodations will be available
for the 2010 season.
Right now is the time to call the Chiefs
ticket folks and get lined up for the next 50
years. I’ve been around for 46 and I know
from past experience how tough it is to get
the good seat locations. As the team gets
better, the seats and suites get scarcer.
Don’t be left out because our team has
had its ups and downs...that happens in
every city. I advise you to get aboard for a
future of NFL excitement. I’ve been there.
It’s been a beautiful life.
BillGrigsby
Contributing
Writer
CHIEFS, COMMAND CHANGES AND CHAMPIONSHIPS
KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS JULY 2009 27
presents THE CHIEFS REPORTBy ALAN ESKEW, Editor
Haley wants Chiefs to be in superb condition at campTodd Haley, the first-year
Kansas City Chiefs head
coach, is known to be hard-
nosed and has a reputation of
yelling at his players on the field
when they get sloppy and make
miscues.
Haley, however, surprised most
everyone in June when he ended
the Chiefs OTAs with two days
remaining on the schedule, fin-
ishing it with conditioning tests.
It seemed like an unorthodox
move for a coach still learning
his players and the players trying
to adjust to the Haley playbook
and system.
“I think we made a lot of
progress overall, specifically in
some areas. In strength and con-
ditioning each and every guy was
clearly improved,” Haley said.
“We started this at the start of the
conditioning program, not the
OTAs, but we’ve come a long
way in that respect and I think
we’ve come a long way as far as
schematically and guys under-
standing what they’re supposed
to do.
“This wasn’t so much premedi-
tated as much as we as a staff felt
it was the right thing to do right
now for the guys. They gave such
a good effort that I thought it was
fair to give something back.”
Haley acknowledged he
believes the Chiefs are ahead of
the curve.
“I believe we all feel that way,”
Haley said. “Now, we’ve got a
long way to go, but from where
we started to where we’re at right
now I think the guys really
worked hard every day and we
had such a good attendance – so
many guys here – that it was
worth throwing them a bone.”
That was the Chiefs last organ-
ized practice until they leave for
River Falls, Wis. for one final
time. There will be meetings and
conditioning on July 31 and two-
a-day sessions beginning Aug. 1.
The first intra-squad scrimmage
is Aug. 8.
One of Haley’s final messages
to the squad was stay in excellent
shape.
“I don’t want
to go into train-
ing camp to get
into shape,”
Haley said. “I
want to go into
training camp in
shape. I think
that gives us the
best chance to
succeed since
that’s one less
thing to be wor-
rying about.
We’ll have more
focus on the
football aspect of
it. We’ll have less injury and all
the things that have to go along
with being a well-conditioned
team.”
Haley is switching to a 3-4
defense, which means Chiefs that
were on the line the last couple of
years will be switched to line-
backer. Haley said the defense is
a “lot further along than they
were at the start.” Let’s hope so.
“I think we’ve made great
progress,” Haley said. “Until the
pads are on and we’re really play-
ing we won’t know for sure. But
as far as understanding what they
need to do, I think we’re night
and day. Technique-wise, funda-
mentals, alignments, all the things
that go with making a big change
like we did, I think we’re a lot
further ahead. We put in a bunch
of our pressures, really all of
them, and I think that those are
the tough things for guys – get-
ting lined up correctly, under-
standing what gap they have to
take care of and I think overall
I feel encouraged by what I’ve
seen.”
Haley was not concerned he
omitted two days of OTA prac-
tices.
“That’s a decision we had to
make,” he said. “Was there going
to be a case of diminishing
returns because again these guys
started early, have been working
really hard? I just thought it was
worth the sacrifice and what we
need to get to in
training camp
other than hav-
ing pads on is
much more of
the situational
football. We did-
n’t get to a lot of
that in these
OTAs.
“I didn’t think
we would do it
(in the two other
days), so in
training camp
we’ll have to see
a lot more prac-
tice devoted to situations – all
kinds of situations, anything you
can think of to get this team to a
point where it’s a smart football
team and understands how to win.
That will be the next progression
along with getting into the full
pads and having some physical
practices.”
Besides being in tiptop shape,
Haley wants his players to study
their playbooks, knowing it by
the time they arrive in River
Falls.
“What we can’t do is go back
to square one in any way, shape
or form,” Haley said. “If we do
that it really just becomes a waste
of time which we don’t want it to
be. Teams that I’ve been a part of
that have been successful have
utilized this time efficiently and
been into training camp and been
a step ahead of where they were.”
He said not everybody passed
the conditioning test, some
because of injury, on the final
OTA day. He said all the rookies
did pass conditioning test. For
those who did not pass, he said
“that’s like an albatross hanging
over their heads for the next
month.” He said everybody
would take the conditioning test
again, which would be the first
thing in camp, even if they passed
it in the OTA.
“It’s a stressful test and not
easy by any means for any of
them, even for the top-condi-
tioned guys,” Haley said. “It’s
a20taxing conditioning run but it
has its purpose. When training
camp’s hot we need these guys in
shape. We don’t want to have any
issues. There are different adjust-
ments (for different positions).
It’s a test that I’ve been familiar
with for a while now and a num-
ber of teams use it I’m sure.
“It’s a tool to keep guys where
we need them. It’s just what I
believe. It’s not like the old days
where you had a long training
camp where you could get in
shape. It’s a short training camp
and it’s trying to get shorter.
These guys need to come in
condition for us to have the
best chance to compete at a
high level.”
Haley said he is looking for-
ward to his first training camp as
a head coach, but acknowledged
there is some trepidation.
“I’m a little nervous but we’ve
got some time to get over that,”
he said. “I’ll just try to get my
butterflies flying in formation.”
Haley guarantees it will be an
intense camp.
“You will see that,” he said.
“I’ll be fair to the guys, but at the
same time we’re going to practice
efficiently; we’re going to prac-
tice fast. Everything we do is
going to be fast and up-tempo
and we’ll see how much we can
get out of that without doing
too much.
“There is give and take. If
you’re going to have a long prac-
tice, you can’t be running from
drill to drill. You have to balance
it out. My goal is to practice fast
and efficiently and get on and
off the field and get ready to do
it again.”
COMING IN AUGUST:
CHIEFS SPECIAL REPORT & the
FANTASY FOOTBALL GUIDEAd deadline: July 29
For information call 913-764-2050or email [email protected]