It’s a good time to be a Kansas City sports fan. It’s a dream come true for fans in their early 30s to late 20s. When it comes to Taylor Swift puns, you have to admit that Kansas City sports are currently in a golden age. And you better embrace every moment of it. Who would have thought that on a night like what happened on October 7th, the Chiefs and Royals would be playing in prime time, at roughly the same time?
Kansas City is not one of those cities that is blessed with having representative teams from the big four professional leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA). There are two seasons: the Royals season and the Chiefs season. The two rarely coincide for more than about two weeks. For a long time, even as a kid, two teams were rarely, if ever, good at the same time. Indeed, Sporting KC was the biggest outlet for sports fans due to their strong run in the 2010s. Fans were waiting for their parade downtown.
I was a senior in high school when the Royals made it to the postseason in 2014. Until then, watching the Royals in the playoffs was almost a surreal experience in my life. I’ve seen many losing seasons in baseball, and it took four 100-loss seasons before there were any signs of improvement. I was about 5 years old when the Royals hit over .500 in 2003 and missed the playoffs that year. The playoffs were something I had just seen in the Royals Hall of Fame at Kauffman Stadium or through my father’s stories of experiencing the Royals’ success.
The Royals had an incredible run until Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, winning the championship one season later. The Royals relapsed into mediocrity for several years and had a 106-loss season in 2023, but even in a disastrous 56-106 year, there was a chance they could start to see their next major player. . We can now see the rise of Bobby Witt Jr., one of the most exciting all-around players on the baseball diamond.
Going into this year, I had a feeling the Royals were going to see a lot of growth. I wanted them to at least hit .500 this season, but did they exceed those expectations? Regardless of how the season ends, we are excited to have a renewed passion for the ‘Boys in Blue’ and hope it will raise standards within our organization.
There was a similar story with the Chiefs when I was a kid. The Chiefs occasionally made it to the postseason, but even with home-field advantage, it was a one-time deal…and then the Dark Ages arrived as the Chiefs completely stunk. Winning just four games is exciting, but things picked up when Andy Reid was hired, and things skyrocketed when Patrick Mahomes arrived. It’s still hard to imagine Kansas City having a shot at winning a third consecutive Super Bowl. I never thought I would see it.
It’s crazy to think that the Royals and Chiefs would play at the same time in prime time in October with world-famous superstars, or that chants of “Let’s go Royals” would erupt throughout Arrowhead Stadium in the middle of a Monday. It’s been a while. night football game.
It’s been a great time to be a Kansas City sports fan, and frankly, there may never be a better time again. I always tell myself to enjoy and embrace the stressful days of watching sports because some team wants me to be in that position.
