The Tour is Here!

For most of you who care, this isn't news to you. For the rest of you, here you go: the Tour of Missouri begins in Kansas City tomorrow (Tuesday)! What's the Tour of Missouri? It's a professional bike race that will be similar (albeit 3x shorter) than the Tour de France. This year marks the first annual race in Missouri, which is only one of three of its kind in the United States.

Here's the really cool thing about this year's race. It's the final race for the potent Discovery Channel team, the one that featured Lance Armstrong, the one that had this year's Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and third-place finisher, American Levi Leipheimer. Armstrong's long-time teammate George Hincapie also will be racing.

Having a chance to see the start and finish of a cycling race, even if you're not a cyclist or pay much attention to the sport, is going to be a unique and thrilling experience. Besides the pageantry and excitement surrounding the event at the start, inevitably in a race such as this, there will be an exciting finish. Not to mention, it's starting and finishing at the Plaza.

Some more information can be found on the Tour of Missouri's Web site...here is the page on Kansas City. (There also was a two-page spread in the sports section of Sunday's Kansas City Star.)

This is a chance for the state of Missouri, beginning with us in Kansas City (although I don't claim to be from Missouri), to show off our area to the world.

I hope to see you there.

Matt Fulks

Mangino rant is right on

I will start off by saying that, although I grew up in the Kansas City area, I attended college at a small school in Tennessee. So, I don't have any financial allegiance to any schools in this area. Also, I happened to be in Tennessee over the Labor Day weekend and am just now hearing about Kansas football coach Mark Mangino's berating of wide receiver/kick returner Raimond Pendleton. Although it looked as if he was about to have a heart attack -- literally -- and he dropped many more F-bombs than I'd prefer hearing, his actions were fantastic.

In case you didn't witness it in person, have you seen the YouTube video? Just type in "Mark Mangino" and you'll see a video that's getting some tremendous play and responses.

I wrote extensively about this in my "Behind the Stats" column for Metro Sports' Web site this week (www.kcondemand.com), but I just have to say, regardless of your argument, I believe Mark Mangino had every right to do what he did to Pendleton. Yes, Pendleton was excited and did what many other athletes do -- enjoyed the moment. Celebrated in his own way. Yada, yada, yada.

But what Mangino did is also part of sports. Coaches sometimes berate or call out their athletes. I was in a locker room one time when a coach, while yelling at one of his main players, "accidentally" smacked him upside the head. It stunned everyone in the room. And I was the only person not directly a part of the team. So, if it stunned the players and other coaches, you know it shocked me a little. Did the coach mean to do it? Only he knows for sure. The coach and the player are friends of mine, and both have said it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. It happens in sports, particularly when a coach is trying to foster a team attitude.

In order to build a team concept, as Mangino is trying to do with Kansas football, a coach has to make sure each individual on that team is on the same page. Dick Howser did that. Bill Snyder did that. Vince Lombardi did that. John Wooden did that. Even Bobby Knight does that. That's not to compare Mangino to those legends, but I'm hoping you get the point.

Coaches are not perfect people. Even someone like Wooden, who's widely considered one of the top coaches in the history of sports, has said he wasn't perfect. But he was demanding of his players. And he got their respect because of that.

Mark Mangino is trying to do the same thing. He demands a lot from his players and the other people around him. In the long run, though, that's what will help build a better football program at Kansas.

By the way, in case you haven't done so yet, be sure to check out Dave O'Hara's latest post from Tuesday, right below this one.

That's it for now. We look forward to seeing everyone at Chappell's Restaurant in North Kansas City Thursday night as we welcome KC music icon Tony DiPardo on "Behind the Stats" from 6-7 p.m. If you can't make it to see the show live, be sure to tune in to 1140-AM or 1160-AM.

Matt Fulks

Frank White is a Hall of Famer in Every Way

We appreciate those of you loyal listeners that joined us at Chappell's for a great time with Royals Hall of Fame 2nd Baseman, Frank White. Frank was very engaging and candid, as always. Whether he was discussing the possibility of managing or what it was like playing for his hometown Royals, Frank handled our interview with his usual dignity and class. His usual "frankness," if you will. He also discussed the finer points of his book, "Good as Gold: Techniques for Fundamental Baseball," which you can purchase, signed, at mattfulks.com. Thanks again to Frank White. We look forward to future shows with him.

Please join Matt and me at 6pm this Thursday from Chappell's. We will be helping all of KC get ready to kick off the Chiefs' regular season. Our guest will be Chiefs' bandleader and KC legend, Tony DiPardo. Tony will be signing and selling his bobblehead and also his book, "Life, Love, Music, and Football." (Proceeds from the sale of the bobblehead will go to the TD Music Foundation.)

Go Chiefs,

Dave

Frank White's Coming To Chappell's

In case you haven't heard yet, I just wanted to give you a heads up that we have a special "Behind the Stats" planned for you this week, Aug. 30. Royals Hall of Fame second baseman (and someone who should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame) Frank White will be joining Dave and I for a fun and candid night.

Although each guest each week is "special" in some way, we're adding a little something extra this week. Frank will be at Chappell's a little longer as he signs copies of his book, "Good As Gold: Techniques for Fundamental Baseball." We'll be selling books at Chappell's for $20. Most of the time with "Behind the Stats" you're more than welcome to bring whatever you want to bring to have signed. In a way, you can do that this week, but there's a catch. As with a "traditional" book signing, Frank will sign one piece of memorabilia for each book that you buy to have signed. I apologize for any inconvenience. The shindig will begin at 5 p.m. and last until the end of the show, 7 p.m.

Since Frank's book is an instructional book on how to play better fundamental baseball, we'll ask Frank a few questions during the show about some different baseball plays and techniques. If there's a question you want us to ask Frank about playing the game of baseball, please feel free to send an email to mattfulks@hotmail.com before Thursday morning and we'll do our best to ask Frank about it during the show.

As a bonus, if we ask your question on the air, you'll receive a pass for two to the upcoming 23rd Annual "Pork Out" at the Airline History Museum. The charity event, which is scheduled for Saturday night, Sept. 8, will feature a Celebrity Texas Hold'em Tournament hosted by former Chiefs player Danan Hughes.

You know, it just hit me that this blog is nothing more than a big advertisement. For everything. I guess that's a good thing about blogs.

Maybe next time I'll have something better to write.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you Thursday night at Chappell's in North Kansas City.

Matt