Second prize: Two Tony Pena dolls

Here we are on the eve of September, the time of year when the Kansas City Royals' fight to remain relevant becomes as helpless as Mike Tyson's opponents two decades ago.

Football survives another Olympics

Congratulations, NFL fans, you've made it. The awful specter of the Olympics, which threatened to hold people's interests from the truly important things like preseason football, is finally over.

He'll always be Kila around here

Remember the Wranglers' glorious run to the Texas League championship series back in 2006?

Coach, what are you doing in my computer?

Hutchinson Community College football coach Rion Rhoades seemed pretty proud of his team's new Web site at the Jayhawk Conference media day last month. "Just go," he told me with a smile. "It's really something."

Where would the Sox be without KC?

Remember how cute it used to be to turn on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" and see the Washington Generals "give it their all" but fall short time and again against the Harlem Globetrotters?

Fame is the name of the game

I'm on Hall of Fame overload. The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame released its 2008 induction class on Thursday. I scoured the 10-person list and was sure that half had already been inducted.

Is there anybody named 'Lute' in Italy?

Brandon Jennings, a top prospect in the 2008 basketball recruiting class, thinks college athletes should get paid. He knows that won't happen -- legally -- if he's a member of the Arizona Wildcats next season. But he does realize that he can fatten his pockets if he goes overseas instead.

Celtics know how to build for future

There are worse things than not winning the lottery. Well, not the actual lottery -- come on, Powerball! --but the one held each May in scenic Secaucus, N.J.

Around here, Lutz gets every call

It's a shame, isn't it? Why must talk of officiating overshadow one of the year's biggest sporting events?

Curse referee Howard Webb for awarding a penalty kick during injury time of the Austria-Poland match Thursday at the European Championship.

The Answer is still the answer to me

Kobe or A.I.? As in, Kobe Bryant, the MVP who has propelled the Los Angeles Lakers into the NBA Finals, or Allen Iverson, the sub-6-foot point guard running and chucking for the defensively challenged Denver Nuggets.