In Today’s America You Have To Pay Attention

by Kevin Burton    Gonna make myself a sign, and I’ll tell you why.    First, by way of explanation, a bit from my coaching days.    When I began coaching the Wichita Sonics beep baseball team, I adopted the three rules that the late John Madden, the old Oakland Raiders coach, had for his …

Good Riddance Steve Physioc, Go Royals

by Kevin Burton    The Royals lost their season-opening baseball game to Minnesota 2-0 Thursday. The prediction I saw last week said the team would lose 103 games this year.    So why am I newly pumped about the team?    The team has promoted Jake Eisenberg, who had been doing play-by-play for its Omaha …

Wichita State Great Ron Baker Turns 30

by Kevin Burton    Ron Baker, the shooting guard who helped usher in the greatest era of basketball at Wichita State, turns 30 tomorrow.    Some of us may not be ready to hear that.    Some of us overlooked, downtrodden people clung tightly to those Wichita State teams, underdogs who routinely slayed giants (I’m …

Why Do We Love March Madness So Much?

by Kevin Burton   In the bad old days, being without a girlfriend, or a date, or even a prayer, on Valentine’s Day was a sharp searing pain to the psyche.    Now by comparison, being without a basketball team for the big dance, or even the little dance, is a dull ache. March Madness is …

SI: North Carolina’s NIT Decision Was Lame

by Kevin Burton    North Carolina head basketball coach Hubert Davis, hurting after his team coughed up a 16-point lead and the NCAA tournament final to Kansas last April, nevertheless had gracious words for his players.    “I can’t be more proud of the group that I just coached this year,” Davis said in a …

Old Times, Springtime And Baseball Cards

by Kevin Burton     Mid-March, this time of year. In the old days, when it wasn’t quite time for baseball, it was time for baseball cards.     Growing up at the school for the blind in Ohio in the 70s, with the gloom and chill of February fading, with temperatures perhaps in the high 40s …

Quibbles And Bits: Chiefs An Evil Empire?

by Kevin Burton    Today, some updates, passing asides and leftovers from previous posts. When I cook these up together, I call them quibbles and bits.    Come and get it!:    From my two posts about favorite duets:     I can not overstate how much I love much of the work of Paul McCartney. …

Sweet Dreams And Super Bowl Victory For KC

by Kevin Burton    My wife Jeannette got the news late: the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions!    She got the news late because she left the game in the second quarter and headed to bed. Her work starts very early and so bedtime comes early too, Super Bowl or not.    She …

Note To Bengals And Self: Don’t Lose Stupid

by Kevin Burton    Two takeaways from Sunday’s Chiefs-Bengals AFC Championship game, one a smirking aside, the other more lasting.    To set up the first one, I remember when the late great John Madden had just left his brilliant career as Oakland Raiders coach and just begun what would prove to be a brilliant …

Bengals Roar, Bills Snore, Cowboys Lose

   My father used to say that NFL games were fixed.  Then and now I scoff at that, but sometimes I wonder.    Like Sunday, when Buffalo was so passive and so awful in a blowout 27-10 loss to Cincinnati.  Maybe this is just me needing to adjust my expectations for teams as they coalesce …