Crypto Pool Closings in Johnson County

Once again this year there has been an outbreak of the disgusting protozoan organism cryptosporidium, otherwise known as "Crypto", and Johnson County has ordered the closing of several public swimming pools until they can be super chlorinated. Most swimming pools in Johnson County have already closed and reopened but a few are still closing as a precaution.

Crypto, or Cryptosporidiosis is typically an acute short-term infection but can become severe and non-resolving in children and immunocompromised individuals. In humans, it remains in the lower intestine and may remain for up to five weeks.^{[citation needed]} The parasite is transmitted by environmentally hardy cysts (oocysts) that, once ingested, excyst in the small intestine and result in an infection of intestinal epithelial tissue.

Life Time Fitness closed their pool today to super chlorinate but reopened at 12pm. The swimming pool at Indian Trails in Lenexa is closing as a precaution but will reopen soon.

Crypto is a nasty beast of an illness if you contract it, so our advice would be to stay out of the public Johnson County pools, or any public pools for that matter, until the warnings pass.

Chiefs Home Opener 2011 Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs preseason is a little different than other NFL team's preseason - if you haven't been able to tell that already. But that will all be over soon and September 11th, 2011 will be upon us and the Chiefs home opener against the Buffalo Bills will be happening at Arrowhead Stadium.

The anticipation level for the Kansas City Chiefs hasn't been this high since the 90's, and Jamaal Charles is being gobbled up by fantasy football owners in the first round. Even Madden NFL 12 has given the Chiefs an admirable boost in player ratings this season.

Although not as exciting as last year's Chiefs home opener on Monday night vs. the Chargers, the 2011 Chiefs home opener will be Kansas City's first look at the real 2011 Kansas City Chiefs and what game plan they have in store for their more difficult 2011 schedule. There is no doubt that the Chiefs plan to implement more of a dependable and productive passing game, drafting Jonathan Baldwin in the first round and picking up Steve Breaston in the off season. We're all hoping that Matt Cassel is up to the task and can keep the heat off the running game that should carry us deep into the playoffs this year.

The home opener at Arrowhead on Sunday September 11th will get us back in full football mode with an air force fly-by, The KC All Stars performing on the main stage, a great new stadium to enjoy, and most of all, a good day to be a Kansas City Chiefs fan. See you there!

Bat Hits Boy at Kauffman Stadium

Kansas City Royals fans are talking about safety nets at the K as 4 people have been hit by flying baseball bats at Kauffman Stadium already this year. Last night was a bad one as a 5 year old boy was hit by a bat that flew over the 3rd base dugout. Although the TV cameras didn't close in very close (probably by strict instruction), we could tell that the injury was bad because the TV announcers didn't even talk for a full 30 seconds of dead air while waiting to try and see some sign of "all clear" from the stands.

We were at the stadium in the lower level seats behind the Royals dugout and witnessed another of the 4 flying bats when a woman was struck in the head. She was only a few rows over from us in the Gold premier section and at first I don't even think that the woman knew that she had been struck. A brave fan in the row in front of her had tried very hard to catch the bat before it flew out of control behind him, but as anyone can imagine, it is nearly impossible to catch a spinning, flying baseball bat out of thin air without it striking you or someone around you. It's just not possible. The woman's injury was hard to surmise as head injuries can be very bloody, even if the injury is only a minor surface wound. But a'bleedin' she was, and they took her off up the ramp somewhere - not sure if they take them to their own medical facility or call an ambulance...and also not sure who would pay for the ambulance. I know that the stadium is not responsible for injuries, says so right on the back of your ticket.

Imagine if you and I stood about 100 feet apart and I with my 6'1 / 190lb frame flung a 37 inch baseball bat at you at high velocity, there is no way that you are going to catch that bat cleanly and without some sort of minor or major injury - it just can't be done. Both the coaches and the players at Kauffman have voiced their concerns over putting up some extra netting near the 1st and 3rd base lines. The Royals front office, as they are well trained to say, will simply tell you that the fans should be "paying attention" during gameplay and thus avoiding such injuries. That's all well and good for baseballs, they are round, hand sized, and even though someone occasionally gets bonked on the head, the baseballs are pretty harmless, and 9 times out of 10 some skilled fan gets a hand on the baseballs before they do any harm to any fans. Bats, however, are a completely different animal; absolutely unpredictable in flight, spinning awkwardly and randomly into the stands - again, I was about 15 feet away from one that came flying at us and I would have had almost no chance of knocking that thing out of the air before it struck someone - and I used to be a professional athlete! If you come from an athletic background, and you are in shape and all, you would like to think that you could wrangle a flying bat out of the air, but you would be wrong - it's harder than it looks.

Ok, so if you're the Royals front office, what do you do about the flying bats and resulting fan injury? Well, at this point there is no plan to install more netting to catch the errant bats. There is a reason for this. If the Royals give in and install netting now, the fans who have been hit will likely sue the Royals because the fact that they installed new nets would indicate an admission of guilt or negligence on the Royals part. So basically it is a catch 22 for the Royals front office. Sure, a few ticket holders would complain about having to watch the game through the new netting, but I'm sure that if they or any of their friends or family suffered a serious injury from a flying baseball bat while watching a game on a Sunday afternoon that suddenly turned into a bloody panic, they would change their tune.

As it stands right now, the MLB is the only professional sports institution that has not completely solved it's fan safety issues.

Jonathan Baldwin Fight with Thomas Jones

An unusual situation for the newly polished Kansas City Chiefs broke out last week when rookie wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin had a few words with stand out running back Jamaal Charles. Baldwin and Charles did not escalate the argument into a physical confrontation, but the next day, Thomas Jones did. Coaches and players alike have been riding Jonathan Baldwin for weeks about getting better blocking done for Charles and Jones. On the Chiefs, if you're a receiver, your first job is to block for the run, your second job is to block for the run, and then MAYBE they will call a pass play.

Details are not completely in on the fight between Baldwin and Jones, but we would have to assume that it was initiated by Baldwin. Thomas Jones has a reputation of being quite a tough character on and off the field, proving himself in locker rooms from New York to Kansas City, and Baldwin has a reputation of talking smack, and selling out his coaches and teammates to the media. Let's put the two of those facts together and see what we come up with...well...we came up with a broken thumb for Jonathan Baldwin.

Baldwin was back on the practice field today as he was seen playing catch with his left hand, right hand / thumb heavily bandaged up, but participating none the less. So far the Chiefs injuries are:

Jared Gaither, Ryan O'Callaghan, Darryl Harris, Anthony Toribio, Eric Bakhtiari and Gabe Miller.

Fantasy Football 2011 Top Ten Players Drafted

It's that time of year again, where we get involved in fantasy football, which therefore makes us pay attention to teams from other cities that we normally could care less about. Today, we're going to break down the top ten fantasy draft picks for 2011 as they have occurred so far in fantasy drafts around the nation. Personally, I think that if you hold your fantasy draft any time before September 1st your fantasy league manager is an idiot, as you have no way of knowing who is going to get injured, suspended, arrested or cut. But hey, the world needs idiots too. Here is our take on the consensus top ten fantasy draft selections:

1. Adrian Peterson
Coming in at number 1 is Adrian Peterson. Arguably the best running back in the NFL, we do not doubt that. What we definitely doubt is the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikes are certainly a team on the decline. They are actually moving in the opposite direction that logic would lend itself to. Instead of drafting and hiring younger players to build for the future, they are buying old, washed up players like Donovan McNabb and watching their offensive line become old and weak. It's not that I wouldn't take Adrian Peterson, I'm just not sure that I would take him first.

2. Arian Foster
Once again, we don't doubt the player, we doubt the team. Yes, the Houston Texans are an exciting team, but they just don't win. Houston has had only ONE winning season in the history of the team and they are a complete joke. Last year's running stats on Foster were pretty much a one time thing. Defenses will key on him heavily and his stats won't even come close to last year's. Now, with that being said, I would still draft him, just not first.

3. Chris Johnson
Now here is a real running back. True, he shares the same fate as Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders in that he plays for one of the worst teams in the NFL, but Chris Johnson is still an easy first round safe pick.

4. Jamaal Charles
This is the most ridiculous positioning for a fantasy pick that I've ever seen. The NFL has put so much hype around Jamaal Charles that it is plain laughable. Obviously they don't live in Kansas City, and they don't understand the basics of Chiefs football. Number 1, Charles will never get 20 carries a game, number 2, the entire NFL is now acutely aware of his presence and opposing defenses will be ULTRA KEYING on Charles all season. His stats weren't that great in 2010, and they are certainly not going to improve in 2011 with everyone watching his every move. Sorry fantasy "experts", but you've got this one WAY wrong. The Chiefs aren't going to make a star out of ANYONE, especially not on offense. Take it from a 25 year Chiefs fan.

5. Maurice Jones-Drew
Take it from a fantasy owner who has owned this guy for at least 2 seasons. He's a complete bust in every way. Stay away from this idiot at all costs.

6. Ray Rice
Sheesh, have we got this desperate this early in the 1st round? Ray Rice? You've got to be kidding me. I would take a receiver in the first round before I would pick up this fool.

7. Aaron Rodgers
Now the list is starting to make a little bit of sense anyway, Rodgers is a stud who plays for a stud team. The only thing wrong with the Packers is that if they get out to a lead early (which they often do), they will abandon the passing game and run out the clock. Regardless, you still DO NOT take Rodgers before Michael Vick.

8. LeSean McCoy
LeSean McCoy fall under our curriculum of a good player, playing for a good team. The Eagles are going to kick some serious butt in 2011 with the signing of Nnamdi Asomugha on defense. The Eagles will be fierce this year and you would be safe to pick up any of their offensive players. Especially LeSean McCoy and heck, even Ronnie Brown because you know that the Eagles will end a lot of games running out the clock after putting up 35 points in the first half.

9. Andre Johnson
Too early to take a receiver, throw this one back. Andre is a great receiver and should be considered in the top 3 receivers to choose, but don't choose him in the first round. C'mon man!

10. Michael Vick
This may be the first year that a quarterback is selected first by fantasy captains who have numbers 1-5. I'm a man who believes firmly in selecting a stud running back with your first round pick, but if you draw pick 5-10 and Vick is still on the board, grab his ass up.