Johnny Giavotella, Bruce Chen Lead Royals To Win Over Tigers

It appears that the Kansas City Royals may have found their second baseman of the future. Johnny Giavotella, who was recently called up from triple A ball, had a monster game today against Detroit, leading the Royals to a 4-3 victory.

Giavotella's start to his big league career has been stunning; since being called up, he has gone 5 for 11 from the plate with a .909 slugging percentage. He has also played very solid defense and has not been intimidated by some of the best pitchers in the American League. Giavotella put up very impressive numbers at Omaha, boasting a .338 batting average, suggesting that his fast start in the big leagues isn't a fluke.

While Giavotella got the Royals' offense going with a homer and a double, Bruce Chen made sure his efforts were not in vain. Chen finally displayed a glimpse of the stuff that made him so effective earlier this season, striking out five over five plus innings while allowing only three runs. Not the most dominating performance, but a significant improvement over his last several outings.

Alex Gordon picked up his 18th outfield assist for the season, breaking the club record shared by Jermaine Dye and Mark Teahen. Kansas City now has 40 outfield assists this season, which leads the major leagues. Jeff Francoeur also picked up an outfield assist in the seventh inning, and has the most assists in MLB since he debuted in 2005.

Kansas City Mayor's Son Handcuffed in P&L Incident

Kyle James, the 22 year-old son of Kansas City, Mo Mayor Sly James was handcuffed during an incident in Power and Light District on Saturday morning. According to the Police report, the young Mr James was causing a disturbance, using profanity, and annoying other customers at Fran's Restaurant around 4AM. The officer noted a strong odor of alcohol on Mr James and behavior that was consistent with being intoxicated. Kyle also refused to pay for his meal.

Apparently, this is not the first incident for Kyle James at this establishment. In the incident report, the officer, who works security at Fran's, stated that he had run ins with the subject on previous occasions. On Saturday however, he really got wound up. He pulled the ol' "do you know who I am" and told the officer he would have him fired the next day. Of course, he also pulled the race card.

While being escorted out of the restaurant, he was involved in a verbal altercation with three men waiting for a cab telling them he would "fuck them like that sweet sixth grade pussy on the playground" - WTF? He also stated that if they met him at 39th & Troost he would "fuck them up". I doubt Kyle hangs out much at 39th and Troost. Sounds like an idiot and a spoiled brat. He was not arrested, but probably should have been.

Kanrocksas Music Festival Lineup Tickets

Let the carnage begin, the Kanrocksas Music Festival starts today! Hide the women and lock up your daughters. The festival is set to kick off at the Kansas Speedway today. The turnout is not as high as once expected, looking now to be around 25,000, but that is still an impressive number. The two day camping concert has been highly anticipated by Kansas City and surrounding rural small towns, boasting one of the biggest concert lineups of the year. Hopefully everyone packs accordingly, stays hydrated, and proves that Kansas City is capable of having an incident-free festival of this size.

Kanrocksas Tickets

Tickets are still on sale; G.A. 2 day passes are $179.00 and include free parking and free camping. No service charges or facility fees on tickets, but subject to all credit card fees and charges.

V.I.P. Tickets - 2 day pass
This is a VIP ticket valid for two-day admission. VIP tickets include G.A. admission, plus upgraded VIP parking, exclusive access to the Kanrocksas VIP area, and premium food and beverage purchase options. Two-day G.A. tickets are $359 and include free parking and free camping. No service charges or facility fees on tickets, but subject to all credit card fees and charges.

Single Day Tickets are also still available.

Friday Kanrocksas Lineup:

Eminem, The Flaming Lips, Bassnectar, Ween, Kid Cudi, Ellie Goulding, Primus, Arctic Monkeys, Jack's Mannequin, Major Lazer, D12, Fitz & The Tantrums, The Joy Formidable, Kaskade, 12th Planet, Paper Diamond, R/D, UME

Saturday Kanrocksas Lineup:

Muse, The Black Keys, A Perfect Circle, Girl Talk, STS9, Flogging Molly, Cage the Elephant, Tinie Tempah, OK GO, Best Coast, John Digweed, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, The Black Angels, Kerli, Rival Sons, Krafty Kuts, Gardens and Villa, Bag Raiders

Chiefs Signed Brandon Carr And Justin Houstin

After signing OLB Tamba Hali to a five year deal, Kansas City only had two key free agents left to sign and get into camp. The Chiefs have now reached terms with cornerback Brandon Carr and rookie LB Justin Houston, putting Kansas City at full strength on the defensive side of the ball.

Carr has started every game at corner for the Chiefs over the past three seasons, pairing with Brandon Flowers to form one of the best cornerback tandums in the league. Yesterday, Carr signed his restricted free agent tender, and will join the team in camp shortly. After agreeing to terms with Carr, Kansas City added more depth to its defensive backfield, signing safety Sabby Piscitelli.

Kansas City finally came to terms with rookie Justin Houston, making the former Georgia star the last rookie to sign with the team. Houston's four year deal is worth around 2.8 million dollars, a bargain for a player many thought was talented enough to be drafted in the first round. Kansas City is counting on Houston to provide a much-needed pass rush opposite of Hali, who has been the team's only consistent threat to opposing quarterbacks.

Kansas City MO School District Bombs MAP Test

It's just another year in the steaming cesspool that we call the KCMO School District. Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores were released this week, and once again KCMSD ranked last in the area. No small feat when you consider that Hickman Mills, Center, and Grandview are all in the area.

The tests rated 29.4% of KC School District students proficient in Communication Arts. I guess Ebonics wasn't tested, and no bonus points for felonies committed or sagging pants. 29.4% - are you kidding me? That is down from last year's 31.3%. Math scores were even worse. Only 27.9% of Kansas City students were at least proficient on Math. That is also down from 30.8% last year.

The Kansas City School District remains a laughing stock, and is virtually forgotten about by the white liberals and black race baiters who caused many of the district's problems going back to the desegregation mess that started in the mid 1980s. After 14 years and $2 billion the district did nothing to improve students learning, or integrate the district (from 1984 to 1997, roughly the time frame of the desegregation case, the percentage of black student population in the district rose from 73% to 80%). Almost 15 years later, we are still trying to figure out how to educate the children of this district. KCMSD now is working with a small percentage of the funds they had 15 years ago, and frantically trying to slash the budget just to get the district in the black. Who has time to figure out how to teach anyone?

But let's not forget the real problem, PC or not. The students come from homes that are, in many cases, a shambles. Education is not seen as important. If you speak proper English, you are "acting white" and homes without fathers are more prevalent than ones with fathers. Until black leaders stop placing blame elsewhere, things are unlikely to change.