Mike Burke and Sly James will Face Off in Kansas City Mayor's Race

Kansas City's Mayoral primary is over - with historic, if not necessarily surprising, results. Mark Funkhauser will be the first Kansas City mayor in over 80 years not to enjoy a second term. The current mayor finished a fairly close 3rd overall in a field of 6. Jim Rowland finished 4th, with Deb Hermann finishing a disappointing 5th place. Henry Klein got a few more votes than did Charles Wheeler - of course Wheeler bowed out of the race more than a week ago, but it was too late to remove him from the ballot. Mr Klein should spend his time more wisely in the future, running for Mayor is not a very productive pastime for him.

Who are the 502 people that voted for Charles Wheeler anyway? Almost nobody bothers to vote (50,000 voters out of 230,000 registered in the city) in these municipal primaries, and usually they are the more informed among us and they still voted for a man that dropped out of the race? I guess you can't fix stupid.

Should be a good race between Burke and James. Both seem to be nice enough guys despite both being attorneys. Burke probably holds an edge with the endorsements he has received and hi "experience" in city government. Experience is overrated and Sly James will tout the fact that he is an outsider - this plays well to some, and of course being black will help in the inner city. Besides, it would be cool to have a mayor named Sly, wouldn't it?

KU Routs Oklahoma State Despite Missing Tyshawn Taylor

Kansas has suspended starting guard Tyshawn Taylor for an undisclosed reason, citing that the junior has violated team rules. Taylor has had an up and down season so far, averaging a shade under nine points and five assists per game.

This latest incident is yet another setback for the talented yet troubled Taylor. Last season, Taylor's Twitter resulted in Bill Self taking the internet away from the guard. Even worse, Taylor was injured in a campus fight which also resulted in a suspension. KU fans keep waiting for Taylor, who has flashed signs of greatness in his time in Lawrence, to grow up. Unfortunately, that seems like a lofty dream at this point.

Fortunately for Bill Self, his team is once again one of the deepest in the country. KU ran all over Oklahoma State 92-65 in a game that was never in doubt. Elijah Johnson had a monster game for the Jayhawks, and the Morris twins dominated an overmatched Oklahoma State team from the start. KU has survived key injuries and two suspensions this season due to a ridiculous stockpile of talent and depth, which will make it tough to beat in March. In its quest to catch Texas in the Big 12 standings, KU picked up a key victory and lived to fight another day.

Carmelo Anthony Traded to New York Knicks

Former Denver Nugget star Carmelo Anthony Traded to the New York Knicks Minutes Ago - Breaking Story
by Kansas City News

After a day's worth of back and forth between Carmelo Anthony, The Denver Nuggets, The New York Knicks and "set up" team The New Jersey Nets, Anthony signed on the dotted line with the Knicks.

The deal involves the Nuggets aquiring Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey (gotta love that name) Mozgov, New York's 2014 first round draft pick, and in return the Knicks will get Melo, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.  The Knicks will also give the Denver Nuggets $3 million dollars in cash.

Reason for Tyshawn Taylor Suspension KU

"I was a bad kid"

Why Was Tyshawn Taylor Suspended?  Most Likely for Skipping Classes...
by Kansas City News

Though Bill Self did not reveal the reason for suspending junior guard Tyshawn Taylor, speculation revolves around Taylor's skipping classes.  KU fans don't seem to be too concerned about the suspension, and many fan sites claim that they are happy to see Josh Selby get more minutes anyway, siting that Taylor doesn't shoot when he is open.  (If the link confuses you, wait until Dave Chappelle [as Prince] yells "Shoot the J!  Shoot it!" during the basketball scene.)

Bill Self's statement today read “Although we are disappointed in Tyshawn, he will remain a member of our team and practice with our team until he is reinstated for competition.”

It is obviously nothing serious and it is likely that Tyshawn will return to play very soon.  When interviewed before the game vs. Oklahoma State tonight Taylor simply said "I was a bad kid".  Tyshawn Taylor was dressed in plain clothes on the sidelines at tonight's game and seemed to be laughing and joking around and cheering his team on, so that would indicate even further that his suspension is not that serious.

If the reason for his suspension really is for skipping classes, I am guessing that they are keeping that a secret to protect the integrity of the University and the other players involved in KU athletics.  Although most people know that many of the athletes at the big universities are not exactly there to study, the University of Kansas certainly doesn't want to become known for these types of athletes.

As I'm finishing this up KU is running away with the game and the score is currently 45 to 26.

Kansas City Mayoral Primary on Tuesday

The Kansas City Mayoral Primary will be held on Tuesday. Mayor Funkhauser will face five others to narrow the race down to two. The top two vote getters will face off in the March 22nd General Election. The candidates, in no particular order are:

Henry Klein - Klein has lived in Kansas City for more than 25 years and has no direct experience in local Government (that's probably a good thing). He ran last time around and received just over 1% of the vote in the primary. His big issue is crime and the fact that Kansas City is more dangerous than 98 % of US Cities. Klein doesn't stand a chance, which means he is probably one of the better candidates.

Deb Hermann - Two term City Councilwoman from the North of the River's 1st District. Will probably show well in the Northland and has decent name recognition. She is big on "neighborhoods" - whatever that means. She also stresses the importance of basic services. Hermann is a possible top two finisher.

Mike Burke - Former City Council Member (1st District) - extensive experience in city government, on council and various councils - for example Convention and Visitors Association. Probably the front runner at this point. Burke has picked up key endorsements from Two senile former mayors and Kay Barnes (make that 3 senile former mayors).

Jim Rowland - Former City Councilman and current Executive Director of the Jackson County Sports Authority. Don't know the man, but seems that one should quit their job working for the county Sports Authority before they run for Mayor if they want to seem serious. Also I have heard he is an asshole. Besides their are too many white candidates for Rowland to be successful.

Sly James - Former Marine and Successful Personal Injury Attorney - I'm not really a big fan of personal injury lawyers, but he seems like an OK guy for a Democrat. Besides, he's the only black guy in the race - if he can get black people to the polls, he will do well - just ask Emanuel Cleaver.

Mayor Funky - Well we all know the very public tribulations of our current Mayor. Personally, I like the guy. Seems to me he told everyone he was not a politician, got elected, proved he wasn't a politician and then every one's pissed. I think the city has actually made progress. If it wasn't for his wife, we might be talking about a different race. I'd like to think he can make the top 2, but I'm kind of a cranky bastard pulling for another cranky bastard.

Polls are open Tuesday, February 22nd, 6AM - 7PM in Kansas City.