Cardinals Win 2011 World Series

Red Birds WIN! The St. Louis Cardinals have defeated the Texas Rangers in the 2011 World Series. The Texans had several chances to close the door on the red birds, but the Cardinals hung on by a thread at home to eventually win game 6 and force a game 7 in which the Texas Rangers didn't even show up. The Cardinals didn't need the Rally Squirrel for game 7. The Rally Squirrel, by the way, now has his own Facebook page.

Game 6
Baseball critics and analysts alike are already calling game 6 a game of legendary proportions. The Cardinals trailed the Rangers for almost the entire game, all the way up until the 9th inning. With the score 7-5 Rangers in the bottom of the 9th inning, 2011 World Series hero David Freese hit a 2 run RBI triple to tie the game at 7-7. In the 10th inning the Rangers put up two more runs on a two run homer by Josh Hamilton, only to have the Lance Berkman tie the game again with an RBI single to make the score 9-9 after 10 innings. Inning number 11; enter the hometown hero, born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, 3rd baseman David Freese steps up in the bottom of the 11th inning and gleeks the ball into the grassy knoll in straight away center field - WALK OFF HOME RUN!! Say goodnight Gracie, the Cardinals are heading to game 7 at home.

Game 7
In the World Series, a lot of the attention goes to the offense, the batters, the home run hitters, the base runners. But in the end, a great pitcher will eventually emerge, and silence the offense of the opposing team, and thus claiming the victory for his brothers. That pitcher was Chris Carpenter. Game seven was simply dominated by the Cardinals as the Texans couldn't produce any offense due to the extraordinary pitching by Chris Carpenter. Carpenter pitched seamlessly through 6 innings and one batter into the 7th, who hit a double. Although we questioned Cardinal manager Tony La Russa's decision to pull Carpenter, we cannot question the ways of the master. The Cardinals rallied behind their pitching staff sealed the win with a 6-2 World Series victory.

Chiefs Chargers Monday Night Arrowhead

Halloween night at Arrowhead Stadium will feature a rivalry bout between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers. The Chiefs have a chance to to share a piece of the lead in the AFC West if they can best the Chargers on Monday night football. The Chiefs defense has looked very strong of late and this game will be a battle to the finish. The Chargers offense, by contrast, has looked terrible lately with QB Philip Rivers barely able to complete a single pass. Brandon Flowers and the Chiefs secondary have been shredding opposing QBs with interceptions and pick six touchdown plays.

Arrowhead Stadium will be full of ghosts and ghouls as fans will dress up for Halloween, there will be live music by The Shanks and Almost Kiss, presented by Adam Blue Productions and lots of great tailgating. Tickets will probably be easy to find, however, as many parents will be taking their kids out trick or treating and missing the game. I doubt that many children are going to be talked out of going trick or treating to go to a Chiefs game. So here at Kansas City News we're predicting that it will be easy to purchase scalped tickets outside Arrowhead Stadium prior to the game.

The only monsters that Philip Rivers is going to see will be named Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson as they mercilessly rush the pocket. If the defensive line can get penetration in the pocket it gives the Chiefs secondary a better shot at making plays on errant passes. The main concern for the Chiefs will be their offense. They will need Thomas Jones and Jackie Battle to step up and control this game with the run. We do not want to get into a "shoot out" situation with the Chargers, but rather keep the ball on the ground, run the clock and control the time of possession.

Chiefs Defense 2011 Improving

Well hello Kansas City, I do believe that we have a defense! This Sunday's Chiefs Raiders game only solidified the proof that the Chiefs can hold their own in the trenches on the defensive side of the ball. Although the Chiefs have historically been regarded as a tough defensive team, especially at home, it has been over a decade since the defense has been anything over average. The last good Chiefs defense was during the Derrick Thomas + Neil Smith era back in the late 90's, when opposing quarterbacks ran for their lives from the Chiefs defensive line and the spider bite attack of Derrick Thomas from the right and Neil Smith from the left. After Sunday's slaughter over the Chiefs rival Oakland Raiders it is becoming clear that the Chiefs are turning once more into a defensive team.

The most important thing about the Chiefs defense right now is that they are playing like a unit. At the end of last year and at the beginning of this year it was like "hey, look how good Tamba Hali is, and look how great Eric Barry is" - but now it is clear that other members of the defense are stepping up. Brandon Flowers had an incredible game vs the Raiders on Sunday with two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown (talking smack to quarterback Carson Palmer the whole way into the endzone). Derrick Johnson continues to be a force at linebacker, seemingly involved in every play and tackle, and was personally responsible for the Chiefs goal line stop against the Raiders, who used all 4 downs trying to penetrate the end zone, and Derrick Johnson personally stopped 3 of those attempts. "Law Dog" Jon McGraw is playing out of his mind lately and had a great heads up interception on a tipped pass in the 2nd half, sealing the Raiders fate.

The Chiefs defense is going to be crucial next Monday night vs the Chargers at Arrowhead, when the Chiefs will be playing to land a 3-way tie for first place in the AFC West.

Chiefs Raiders 2011 Rivalry Game

It's as good as it's going to get for the Kansas City Chiefs right now vs. the Oakland Raiders this Sunday as the Raiders are limping around on a hobbled quarterback position. Recently, the Oakland Raiders lost their starting quarterback Jason Campbell to a painful collar bone snap, and this left them with their less-than-proven backup in Kyle Boller. As expected, the Raiders quickly snapped up Carson Palmer from the Bengals, which was an easy task considering that Palmer had told the Bengals at the beginning of the year that he would "not set foot inside Paul Brown Stadium again" and he also stated that he "has 80 million dollars in the bank" and that he does not have to play football for money any more.

It was speculated in the beginning looking at the Chiefs Raiders 2011 rival game that Carson Palmer would not be ready to participate in the game, but now sources are not ruling out the possibility. This leaves the Chiefs in an interesting position as the Raiders are forced to choose between a sub-par quarterback in Kyle Boller to start or a quarter back in Carson Palmer who has literally been on the Raiders for less than one week and with no time to prepare would be a risky start. Who will start at QB for the Raiders vs the Chiefs on Sunday? We will keep you posted...

The only thing we can focus on right now is what we do know:

Darren McFadden can REALLY run the ball. We have to stop him. Matt Cassel and the Chiefs passing game has been in a brief renaissance period and we need that to continue. We've got to get Steve Breaston involved across the middle and get some tasty passes up top for Dwayne Bowe. Finally, we're going to have to run the ball. Hopefully Jackie Battle can put up similar numbers to his performance last week and Thomas Jones can bash through the Oakland Raiders defensive line for some crucial 3rd down conversions. There are two X factors at play in this rivalry match up as well; Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson need to create an extremely uncomfortable environment for whoever the Oakland QB is, cause turnovers and stop the run. The other X factor is a hobbled Janikowski, the Raiders kicker, who is trying to recover from a hamstring injury. There is no need to mention that the kicking game usually comes into play when the Chiefs play the Raiders.

Charity Event 2011 Fundraisers in Kansas City

Kansas City is home to several excellent Kansas City charity events and fundraisers in 2011, and here at Kansas City News we like to keep you up to speed on upcoming charity events that are happening in Kansas City and the surrounding areas. So far this year we've had some great charity events including The Kansas City Zoo's Flights for Flippers featuring dueling pianos and also the Zoo's Sunset Safari featuring the KC All Stars. There are some great charity events coming up in 2011 including:

October 15th, 2011

Charity Fundraiser for Camp Quality NWMO

Although this particular event is for Camp Quality staff only, they will be holding a National meeting on Saturday October 15th, 2011 at the Holiday Inn in St. Joseph, Missouri and will feature entertainment from Kansas City's dueling pianos. Camp Quality NWMO provides year round support for children with cancer and their families. They sponsor a week long camp for the kids around the second week of June located at Camp Farwesta, just outside Stewartsville, Missouri. Camp Quality NWMO began in 1986 with 40 campers and 40 companions. The charity now averages 105 campers and 105 companions annually and this year marks the 26th camp. To get involved with Camp Quality NWMO just visit their website at www.campqualitynwmo.org

October 29th, 2011

First Hand Foundation's Masquerade Ball "Night of the Titans"

The 2011 Masquerade Ball marks the 6th year in a row that Cerner's First Hand Foundation has held this creative black tie charity fundraiser. Definitely geared toward the young Kansas City hipsters, this upscale event is held at The Midland Theater by AMC and will feature live music by Dr. Zhivegas produced by Adam Blue Productions. Catering will be provided by Hyatt Regency Catering, and there will be an open bar for the entire night from 7pm - 12am and an after party at Windows on Main on the top floor of the Midland Theater. Tickets for the Masquerade Ball 2011 are $110.00 for single tickets and sponsorship level tickets range from $1000 to $60,000. To purchase tickets please visit https://applications.cerner.com/firsthand. The First Hand Foundation is not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization that provides funding so individual children may have access to health care that would otherwise be impossible. Backed by Cerner, the First Hand Foundation's mission is to directly impact the health status of a young life. This Kansas City charity was founded in 1995 and has distributed more than $14 million to impact 134,000 young lives in 76 countries.