Draft Thoughts?

[Mloe68 1,521]

There just isn't enough sports action going on in KC to keep sports writers on the go and sports sections moving.

 

If the Royals suck (they do), not much of shit to write about for 7 months. Don't even mention Sporting KC because who gives a shit about soccer.

 

Not enough action in town to keep the sports team afloat. KC needs an NBA or NHL franchise.

I personally disagree . This is one of the most vibrant passionate sports cities in the country which is part of the reason we got so many good columnists to begin with. There’s only a handful of major cities out there that not only have every sport but also support them.

Like the sport or not Sporting KC has sold out every game for over 5 years for a reason. Like NASCAR or not this is one of only a handful of cities to host two major races. People are passionate about college sports which is why the Big 12 Tourney is here every year and we’ve hosted many Big 12 Championship games in football. This doesn’t even mention the fact we are one of only city within 500 miles to host NFL and MLB playoff games multiple times in the last 5 years. And on point my draft thought is we will host the NFL Draft very soon as well.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

I personally disagree . This is one of the most vibrant passionate sports cities in the country which is part of the reason we got so many good columnists to begin with. There’s only a handful of major cities out there that not only have every sport but also support them.

Like the sport or not Sporting KC has sold out every game for over 5 years for a reason. Like NASCAR or not this is one of only a handful of cities to host two major races. People are passionate about college sports which is why the Big 12 Tourney is here every year and we’ve hosted many Big 12 Championship games in football. This doesn’t even mention the fact we are one of only city within 500 miles to host NFL and MLB playoff games multiple times in the last 5 years. And on point my draft thought is we will host the NFL Draft very soon as well.

And with all that on the deck, sports reporting isn't generating enough revenue to keep sports reporters in town.

 

Sports around here doesn't generate enough buzz to move the needle.

[Chiefsfan1963 1,101]

KC needs an NBA or NHL franchise.

Had both, don't need again. I know the Scouts weren't on par with the rest of the NHL, but they also never really drew the fans.

 

It waters down the fan base and makes them wishy washy. Oh, Royals aren't playing good, we can root for the Chiefs in the fall or NHL/NBA team until Late May. Oh Chiefs aren't playing well we can root for the NHL/NBA team. Oh NHL/NBA team isn't playing well we can root for Chiefs or Royals whose ever season is going on.

 

I see it in Denver fans, saw it in Seattle fans. Sorry folks but fans are fans no matter where they are at.

[Mloe68 1,521]

And with all that on the deck, sports reporting isn't generating enough revenue to keep sports reporters in town.

 

Sports around here doesn't generate enough buzz to move the needle.

In the context of market size, I guess my point is we have very high level sports and sports coverage here. No we cannot compete with cities like Boston, NY or Philly in many ways but reality is as the newspaper business slowly dies it’s not those city newspapers we are losing quality journalists too. Instead it’s nationally syndicated operations that have a far different business model. We cannot compete with this butt neither can anyone else regardless of how many pro teams they have.

 

Below is a great blog from Joe Posnanski this week that gets into this. This has gotten way off topic but I appreciate the discussion and will leave it at this.

 

You probably know this but, whew, the business I’m in has changed. I’m sure this is true for every business, but I don’t know about any other business. I barely understand my own business. When I became a sportswriter some 30 years ago, there was a clear path for dummies like me. You started at a small newspaper and made your bones. If you were lucky, a slightly larger newspaper might call. If you did well there, an even larger newspaper might give you a shot, and then an even larger one.

 

Rock Hill, S.C. to Augusta, Ga. to the afternoon paper in Cincinnati to the Kansas City Star.

 

This was my path but, more, this was THE path. Newspapers were the life then. When I got to be the columnist in Kansas City I had arrived at the greatest job my mind could comprehend. And the job was even better than I imagined it would be. I was home.

 

Then Sports Illustrated called with a job BEYOND my comprehension, the job I only dared to dream about when no one was looking.

 

And … well, you know what happened next. The Internet happened. Progress happened. There was a time, not so long ago, when you got newspaper for a million reasons: The coupons, movie times, car ads, real estate ads, the comics, your horoscope, a crossword puzzle, a Jumble, to find out where yard sales were, to look for a job, to check out the box scores, to check out stock prices, to buy a used sofa and, oh yeah, to read about the news and to learn about trends and to find out what the local sports team was doing. Think about the apps that do each and every one of these things now.

 

Newspapers began shriveling up. Magazines began feeling outdated. The news — well, we don’t have the bandwidth here to talk about what happened to the news. The point is that everything changed. The challenge is to change with it.

 

And I have changed. A lot. SI. Sports on Earth. NBC Sports. MLB. It has been a whirlwind. I’ve loved every place I’ve worked, I really have. Always though there was a shift that pushed me in another direction.

 

So, I’ve got a couple of things happening in my life — maybe you care, maybe you don’t, but this is my blog so I’ll tell you.

 

One, I will continue to write at MLB.com, a terrific place. I’ll be writing three times a week. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I’ll be writing columns — usually live off of something trendy and live in the news. And every Thursday, this should be fun, I’ll be doing a Throwback Thursday piece where I go back into baseball history and tell a story. There will be other surprises here and there, but that’s the bulk of it.

 

Two, I’m proud to say that beginning today, I will be writing columns for The Athletic. You are probably aware of The Athletic because they basically been hiring amazing people just about every other day; it’s really cool to be a part of it. I’m still working on the schedule, but I imagine I’ll be writing twice or so a week to start and it will be about every sport. We kick off today with a piece about the Cleveland Browns draft.

 

The Athletic, you might know (or you will figure out if you clicked that link) is a subscription service

[Calichief 3,017]

In the context of market size, I guess my point is we have very high level sports and sports coverage here. No we cannot compete with cities like Boston, NY or Philly in many ways but reality is as the newspaper business slowly dies it’s not those city newspapers we are losing quality journalists too. Instead it’s nationally syndicated operations that have a far different business model. We cannot compete with this butt neither can anyone else regardless of how many pro teams they have.

 

Below is a great blog from Joe Posnanski this week that gets into this. This has gotten way off topic but I appreciate the discussion and will leave it at this.

 

You probably know this but, whew, the business I’m in has changed. I’m sure this is true for every business, but I don’t know about any other business. I barely understand my own business. When I became a sportswriter some 30 years ago, there was a clear path for dummies like me. You started at a small newspaper and made your bones. If you were lucky, a slightly larger newspaper might call. If you did well there, an even larger newspaper might give you a shot, and then an even larger one.

 

Rock Hill, S.C. to Augusta, Ga. to the afternoon paper in Cincinnati to the Kansas City Star.

 

This was my path but, more, this was THE path. Newspapers were the life then. When I got to be the columnist in Kansas City I had arrived at the greatest job my mind could comprehend. And the job was even better than I imagined it would be. I was home.

 

Then Sports Illustrated called with a job BEYOND my comprehension, the job I only dared to dream about when no one was looking.

 

And … well, you know what happened next. The Internet happened. Progress happened. There was a time, not so long ago, when you got newspaper for a million reasons: The coupons, movie times, car ads, real estate ads, the comics, your horoscope, a crossword puzzle, a Jumble, to find out where yard sales were, to look for a job, to check out the box scores, to check out stock prices, to buy a used sofa and, oh yeah, to read about the news and to learn about trends and to find out what the local sports team was doing. Think about the apps that do each and every one of these things now.

 

Newspapers began shriveling up. Magazines began feeling outdated. The news — well, we don’t have the bandwidth here to talk about what happened to the news. The point is that everything changed. The challenge is to change with it.

 

And I have changed. A lot. SI. Sports on Earth. NBC Sports. MLB. It has been a whirlwind. I’ve loved every place I’ve worked, I really have. Always though there was a shift that pushed me in another direction.

 

So, I’ve got a couple of things happening in my life — maybe you care, maybe you don’t, but this is my blog so I’ll tell you.

 

One, I will continue to write at MLB.com, a terrific place. I’ll be writing three times a week. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I’ll be writing columns — usually live off of something trendy and live in the news. And every Thursday, this should be fun, I’ll be doing a Throwback Thursday piece where I go back into baseball history and tell a story. There will be other surprises here and there, but that’s the bulk of it.

 

Two, I’m proud to say that beginning today, I will be writing columns for The Athletic. You are probably aware of The Athletic because they basically been hiring amazing people just about every other day; it’s really cool to be a part of it. I’m still working on the schedule, but I imagine I’ll be writing twice or so a week to start and it will be about every sport. We kick off today with a piece about the Cleveland Browns draft.

 

The Athletic, you might know (or you will figure out if you clicked that link) is a subscription service

Thanks for posting this.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

In the context of market size, I guess my point is we have very high level sports and sports coverage here.

Based off what?  That's far from actuality. 

 

I worked in the business for close to ten years and the reality around here is that sports just isn't a reliable revenue generator in KC and the local market is very fickle.  As for Pos thing, people still pay for quality reporting regardless of the platform it's presented on. 

 

While Sporting KC might be able to keep a 15k seat stadium full off a large transplant fanbase, a lot of the sports scene lives and dies off the teams current record.

[moons314 2,463]

Yeah that does suck. I always liked the Corporate Champ.

 

KC has been really blessed with some outstanding writers at the Star over the years. Joe Posnanski is one of the all time great baseball columnists. Frankly i was a fan of Whitlock even though everybody seemed to hate him. I love Sam Mellingers work. To me he's been killing it. I don't need to agree with everything a writer puts out there, that's stupid. I just want them to have a strong point of view and be interesting. Not a big fan of Vahe Gregorian though. Too many puff pieces for my taste. Frankly should have been a red flag coming from the Post-Dispatch. Other than their baseball guys I'm not that big on their columnists.

I too liked Whitlock. He’s a strange cat. Follow him on Twitter, dude is the exact opposite of everything you’d expect him to be on everything from politics to just average every day stuff.

[Mloe68 1,521]

Based off what?  That's far from actuality. 

 

I worked in the business for close to ten years and the reality around here is that sports just isn't a reliable revenue generator in KC and the local market is very fickle.  As for Pos thing, people still pay for quality reporting regardless of the platform it's presented on. 

 

While Sporting KC might be able to keep a 15k seat stadium full off a large transplant fanbase, a lot of the sports scene lives and dies off the teams current record.

Read the story. I also spent three years working in the sports department of a mid size newspaper. The newspaper business and their budgets and shrinking by the day. It's the online pay for play (or read) that are now getting the best reporting and columns. I'll get Sam Mellinger to comment on it and post it after he does. 

As for Sporting, they have averaged almost 20,000 (105 percent of seating capacity) per season for the last six years since opening the new stadium. Not sure where you are getting transplanted fan base. Thats nonsense. 

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Read the story. I also spent three years working in the sports department of a mid size newspaper. The newspaper business and their budgets and shrinking by the day. It's the online pay for play (or read) that are now getting the best reporting and columns. I'll get Sam Mellinger to comment on it and post it after he does. 

As for Sporting, they have averaged almost 20,000 (105 percent of seating capacity) per season for the last six years since opening the new stadium. Not sure where you are getting transplanted fan base. Thats nonsense.

 

Kansas City has a good base of people that moved to the region from elsewhere, where the passion for soccer mostly resides with. A lot of transients from the coasts.

 

Native's really do not give a shit about soccer.

 

The rest is from the departments of duh and no shit. It has to do with the actual content and the content the Star provides doesn't resonate with the population.

 

Not all similar markets are struggling like the Star and it's for a reason.

[Mloe68 1,521]

Kansas City has a good base of people that moved to the region from elsewhere, where the passion for soccer mostly resides with. A lot of transients from the coasts.

 

Native's really do not give a shit about soccer.

 

The rest is from the departments of duh and no shit. It has to do with the actual content and the content the Star provides doesn't resonate with the population.

 

Not all similar markets are struggling like the Star and it's for a reason.

Again complete nonsense based on nothing. Do you even live here? Id like to know where all these tens of thousands of East and west coast transplants live. If you want I can IM you stats that show how wrong you are about newspapers, soccer and about any other point you’ve tried to make. But apparently after reading and ignoring Posnanski facts don’t seem to matter to you. So I’ll post this Sam Mellinger column and move on.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article26580235.html

 

On point. Chiefs had a solid draft plan, we will see if they picked the right players within that. Based on early returns I’d bet on Veach but we will see.

[Marleydawg 60]

Well don't have to worry about Terez Paylor and his draft grades anylonger.  He's leaving the Star for Yahoo Sports.

 

Good for him, but that's a bummer.  He's the best Chiefs beat writer the Star has had IMO.  Really liked his columns and I'll miss the A Team recaps.

[dhitter 1,424]

You know who is getting on my nerves? Adam Teicher. I want to punch him right in the face. How many times does he have to qualify our defense with the statement "But we lost a lot of talented veterans like Marcus Peters, Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali". So somehow I guess that neutralizes a lot of the influx of players we acquired. Hali and Johnson were spent Mr. Teicher. Hali gave us nothing last year and DJ was a prime example of somebody who should have retired after that last injury. If they were so talented last year why hasn't any team scooped them up? Peters didn't fit for a number of reasons not the least of which was we want to create a tougher, hard nosed defense that isn't afraid to hit someone. That isn't Marcus Peters. What little shred of credibility Teicher had going into the season is gone as far as I am concerned. 

[sith13 1,746]

It’s compelling to me we signed a veteran and came close to signing another. Plus we were all over the tight ends in the draft despite not actually taking one. I don’t think Veach is comfortable with Harris either.

 

There's always some veteran TE available in FA after June cuts. I'm guessing Veach is aiming for that at this point. 

[Mloe68 1,521]

You know who is getting on my nerves? Adam Teicher. I want to punch him right in the face. How many times does he have to qualify our defense with the statement "But we lost a lot of talented veterans like Marcus Peters, Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali". So somehow I guess that neutralizes a lot of the influx of players we acquired. Hali and Johnson were spent Mr. Teicher. Hali gave us nothing last year and DJ was a prime example of somebody who should have retired after that last injury. If they were so talented last year why hasn't any team scooped them up? Peters didn't fit for a number of reasons not the least of which was we want to create a tougher, hard nosed defense that isn't afraid to hit someone. That isn't Marcus Peters. What little shred of credibility Teicher had going into the season is gone as far as I am concerned.

its not that I don’t like him. He just offers littke insight and always says or writes the most obvious things without perspective. Terez did circles around him covering this team.

[dksww 484]

You know who is getting on my nerves? Adam Teicher. I want to punch him right in the face. How many times does he have to qualify our defense with the statement "But we lost a lot of talented veterans like Marcus Peters, Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali". So somehow I guess that neutralizes a lot of the influx of players we acquired. Hali and Johnson were spent Mr. Teicher. Hali gave us nothing last year and DJ was a prime example of somebody who should have retired after that last injury. If they were so talented last year why hasn't any team scooped them up? Peters didn't fit for a number of reasons not the least of which was we want to create a tougher, hard nosed defense that isn't afraid to hit someone. That isn't Marcus Peters. What little shred of credibility Teicher had going into the season is gone as far as I am concerned. 

 

yeah, it's hilarious to hear national guys report on our losses of Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson because they're just names.

 

Facts are those guys haven't been very good on the field for 2-3 years. 

 

Peters is also a name and no media will admit that Fuller is just as good and has just as much potential without the temper tantrums.

[xen 1,010,220]

yeah, it's hilarious to hear national guys report on our losses of Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson because they're just names.

 

Facts are those guys haven't been very good on the field for 2-3 years.

 

Peters is also a name and no media will admit that Fuller is just as good and has just as much potential without the temper tantrums.

I would not say Fuller is just as good. Fact is playing on the outside is a lot different. We'll see. He has potential but that and a bag of shit will leave you holding a bag of shit.

[Mloe68 1,521]

yeah, it's hilarious to hear national guys report on our losses of Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson because they're just names.

 

Facts are those guys haven't been very good on the field for 2-3 years.

 

Peters is also a name and no media will admit that Fuller is just as good and has just as much potential without the temper tantrums.

Tamba has been irrelevant as a player for 2 years. Speaks, Tanoh or even Dee Ford all combine to make us better and deeper there.

DJ was solid last year, but his diminished speed made him a limited player. Still he made what should have been play that won playoff game. But again a healthy Ragland and Hitchens combine for a clear upgrade here as well.

Despite his obvious flaws, Peters is a rare game changing ball hawk though. Fuller hasnt come close as of yet to showing he can impact a game that way.

[Mloe68 1,521]

I would not say Fuller is just as good. Fact is playing on the outside is a lot different. We'll see. He has potential but that and a bag of shit will leave you holding a bag of shit.

Agree. Peters was a very rare game changing player. Probably not even fair to compare Fuller in that regard. What I’m realisticallty hoping for is a more consistent, solid overall player though.

The issue of playing outside is a concern simply because he hasn’t really had to do it. But from the coaches comments I’ve read, I feel pretty good about his chances.

[Calichief 3,017]

Peters was a baller.

[sith13 1,746]

I think it's pretty clear that Fuller is the most important piece of the puzzle at this point. We were already very thin at CB and even with his flaws Peters is one of the better players with great ballhawking instincts that made some of his flaws irrelevant. Fuller played just as good inside but the sample size on the outside is so small that we cannot really consider them to be the same at this point. If Fuller turns out just as good I think we'll see a boost on defense as there's clear improvement pretty much everywhere else. 

[reesebobby 5,663]

All of our corners will look better if we can get some pass rush and improved safeties.  Our lack of pressure has been a huge problem. 

[Mloe68 1,521]

I think it's pretty clear that Fuller is the most important piece of the puzzle at this point. We were already very thin at CB and even with his flaws Peters is one of the better players with great ballhawking instincts that made some of his flaws irrelevant. Fuller played just as good inside but the sample size on the outside is so small that we cannot really consider them to be the same at this point. If Fuller turns out just as good I think we'll see a boost on defense as there's clear improvement pretty much everywhere else.

We are razor thin at corner right now and we are putting a lot of hope into the plan with Fuller moving outside and especially with Amerson on the other side. There’s just zero apparent depth too.

I have no doubt the plan is to attack the corner position in the next draft, but I’m not sure how anyone wouldnt be concerned about 2018. Gotta think Veach will being in another legit guy.

[dksww 484]

All of our corners will look better if we can get some pass rush and improved safeties.  Our lack of pressure has been a huge problem. 

 

yep, great point.

[Mloe68 1,521]

All of our corners will look better if we can get some pass rush and improved safeties. Our lack of pressure has been a huge problem.

Always helps for sure. And Eric Berry can help clean up messes in the back as well. But Amerson has to play better than last years disaster and if anyone goes down you can expect the quick return of the dreaded bend don’t break zone. I really do not believe that’s the defense Sutton wants or intends to run.

[Palangi 788]

I think we got some young kids that are very interesting. 

And a top 3 of Fuller,  Anderson, and Nelson isn't bad. 

Always helps for sure. And Eric Berry can help clean up messes in the back as well. But Amerson has to play better than last years disaster and if anyone goes down you can expect the quick return of the dreaded bend don’t break zone. I really do not believe that’s the defense Sutton wants or intends to run.