Sports & Recreation >>

• Best Chief
  Larry Johnson
  Perpetually angry running back Larry Johnson made opposing defenses feel his pain in 2005. Taking over for a busted-up Priest Holmes, Johnson ran 1,750 yards, setting a Chiefs record. His performance quieted the doubters. Famously dissed as a diaper wearer by former head coach Dick Vermeil,... More >>
• Best Saintly Chief
  Will Shields
  The bad guys in sports get all the headlines, whether locally, with Larry Johnson allegedly tossing his ex-girlfriend around, or nationally, with rumors of San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds' juicing. But anyone searching for an athlete with a heart of gold need look no further than 320-pound... More >>
• Best Reason for a Chiefs Fan to Have Hope
  No More Tears
  We'll miss that old turd bird, Dick Vermeil. After last season, the supersensitive ex-Chiefs coach hung up his whistle -- and his hanky. But we won't miss his crying game. Vermeil had good reason for all of his weeping; he led the Chiefs to just one playoff campaign. Last year, then-rookie... More >>
• Best Reason for Royals Fans to Have Hope
  Alex Gordon
  The Royals selected Alex Gordon, a University of Nebraska third baseman, with the second pick in the 2005 draft. A hitting machine, Gordon led his college team in runs, hits, home runs, walks and slugging percentage. He continued the offensive fury as a Royals minor leaguer. Assigned to Double-A... More >>
• Best Royal
  Sluggerrr
  Anticipating another tough season, Royals management emphasized giveaways when it put together its 2006 marketing plan. Hence, Bat Day got a promotional billboard; manager Buddy Bell did not. In June, the team threw a 10th birthday party for its mascot, Sluggerrr, a leonine figure with a fabric... More >>
• Best T-Bone (1 Comment)
  Greg Jacobs
  Drafted as a pitcher out of the Cal State Fullerton baseball factory, Greg Jacobs never rose above Class-A ball. So in 2002, he joined an independent-league team and picked up an outfielder's glove and a bat. The results were impressive: Jacobs ended up leading the league in batting average and... More >>
• Best Wizard (1 Comment)
  José Luis Burciaga Jr.
  Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. And sometimes the best offense comes from a defender with a big left foot. José Luis Burciaga Jr. netted game-winning goals in back-to-back games for the Wizards and led the team in scoring for much of the season. At one point in the season, the... More >>
• Best Race Car Driver
  Gene Claxton
  At age 54, Gene Claxton remains a colossal figure on area racetracks. He has won more than 300 races and shows no signs of slowing down. In 2006, he was on pace to take Lakeside Speedway's NASCAR Grand National championship for an amazing third year in a row. The versatile Claxton is one of just... More >>
• Best Softball Field
  Clinton Lake Softball Complex
  A few years ago, Mother Nature decided to wreak havoc in southwest Lawrence by sending an F2 tornado toward a park that includes the Clinton Lake Softball Complex. We watched the live TV coverage as the twister headed straight for the park where we'd embarrassed ourselves so often at the plate,... More >>
• Best Climbing
  Swope Boulders
  East Coast folks may be surprised by our fair city's rolling hills, but there's no denying that we're short on mountains. But what we do have are boulders, and those are good enough for climbers to get their fix. The toughest fallen rocks lie half a mile east of U.S. Highway 71 on Blue River... More >>
• Best Sports Blog
  Royals Review
  The baseball season unfolds like a soap opera: The Royals bullpen blows its umpteenth save, slugger Mike Sweeney injures himself pulling up his socks, and Royals owner David Glass offers only a scowl as fans criticize his self-imposed salary cap. For the real dirt, you can't turn to the sports... More >>
• Best Hike
  Fox Hollow Nature Trail
  Volunteers put in countless hours building Fox Hollow Nature Trail, a new two-mile path near Swope Park's Lakeside Nature Center. The loop cuts through riparian forest and limestone cliffs along Fox Hollow Creek. The foliage is so dense that hikers on a hot day will feel the temperature drop 10... More >>
• Best Park
  Penguin Park
  Penguin Park looks like it was built from a child's imagination. The playground is filled with gigantic statues of exotic animals that can be climbed: a 20-foot-tall kangaroo with an internal staircase that lets kids look out of it's pouch, an oversized penguin with a small slide at its base,... More >>
• Best College Athlete (1 Comment)
  University of Kansas Guard Brandon Rush
  Brandon Rush may just be the best Rush brother yet. Brandon shares Kansas City's richest basketball bloodline with JaRon and Kareem Rush, high-profile college players who have had rocky pro careers. Brandon nearly joined Kareem in the NBA -- straight out of high school -- when he considered... More >>
• Best Coach (4 Comments)
  Bishop Ward Baseball Coach Dennis Hurla
  Bishop Ward Coach Dennis Hurla has himself a baseball dynasty, New York Yankees-style. In May, the Hurla-helmed Cyclones completed an unprecedented four-peat, winning a fourth consecutive 4A state championship. The victory was the sixth state title since Hurla's reign at Bishop Ward began in... More >>
• Best Highlight Reel
  The Kansas City Royals' Triple Play
  Tampa Bay Devil Ray Aubrey Huff may want an asterisk by the Royals' June 11 triple play at Kauffman Stadium, but it doesn't matter what he thinks. Huff's the reason that the Royals recorded their first triple play in a decade. (The last was on April 3, 1996.) In the top of the second inning, the... More >>
• Best High School Athlete (4 Comments)
  Bishop Miege Shooting Guard Travis Releford
  When Travis Releford was 15, he had the attention of the elite coaches of college basketball -- North Carolina's Roy Williams, Kansas' Bill Self and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. They all want the 6-foot-4-inch shooting guard in their 2008 recruiting class. And what a catch he'll be. The major... More >>
• Best Sports Talk Show
  Between the Lines With Kevin Kietzman
  Kevin Kietzman is ballsy. As a one-man army against the stadium tax last November, he never sounded like the crazy guy wearing a placard and predicting doomsday. He even pimped the guys from SaveOurOwners.com, a mock-news Web site put up by a trio of supposedly filthy-rich aristocrats to express... More >>
• Best Place to Get Wet
  Zona Rosa children's fountain
  With 24 jets shooting, spraying and misting water in ever-changing patterns, the children's fountain at Zona Rosa is pretty enough to be considered modern art, but most kids know better. During the summer, children frolic in what has become the city's most unexpected watery playground, the... More >>