The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 37

i) SPORTS DAILY wwwkcstarcom THE Wednesday December 20 2000 Astros keep star first baseman Jeff Bagwell (left) agrees to an $85 million five-year extension that ties third highest salary in baseball 2 K-State gets top juco QB Football recruiting updates from Jeremy Crabtree will appear every Wednesday in The Star 4 A difficult challenge awaits United States: After opener against Mexico and road trip in game two could be facing a must-win I i'i situation April 25 Guatemala or Costa Rica will be opponent April 25 By DAVID BOYCE The Kansas City Star will play home-and-away games against the other five through 2001 Although not confirming that a World Cup qualifying game has been awarded to Kansas City Clark Hunt said he and his father having been working on it for several weeks look at it as another step in validating Kansas City as a solid soccer market" Hunt said pears Lamar Hunt the team's investor-operator will put Kansas City on the world soccer stage for a day Thanks to the enthusiasm the city showed for two appearances by the US national team in the last 14 months the increased attendance by the Wizards and the undying love Hunt has for soccer Kansas City will play host to a World Cup qualifying game April 25 The official announcement will come today The US men's team will play either Costa Rica or Guatemala at 6:30 pm April 25 at Arrowhead Stadium Guatemala and Costa Rica will play Jan 6 and the winner will be included in a group of six teams from which three will earn a spot in the 2002 World Cup The four other teams in the group are Mexico Honduras Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago Each team I Guatemala: Has never qualified for the World Cup but gained tie against United States in semifinal qualifying round Costa Rica: Has new coach but still will rely on talented forwards Paulo Cesar Wanchope and Hernan Medford The Wizards put Kansas City on the United States soccer map on Oct 15 winning the MLS Cup Now it ap See SOCCER D-3 Damon by the numbers how Royals outfielder Johnny Damon fared in 2000: 327 Batting average 16 Home runs 88 Runs batted in $32 million Rejected Royals' five-year offer Sweeney by the numbers how Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney fared in 2000: 333 Batting average 29 Home runs 144 Runs batted in $15 nriWon Rejected Royals' three-year offer JOHN SlFiyl-RThe Kansas City Star Mike Sweeney and Johnny Damon celebrated a home run last season Now they are hoping to celebrate with new contracts but neither is guaranteed to finish his career in KC DUELING DEALS Damon Sweeney negotiations very different By STEVE ROCK The Kansas City Star Put yourself in the shoes of Royals general manager Allard Baird You walk into one room with hopes of talking contract with Johnny Damon opinionated confident He wants money And effec- ANALYSIS he says and sign it Sweeney too wants to win But he believes he can do that in Kansas City He wants to finish his career here the same place it started So you try like the dickens to keep him TVvo players two personalities two very different approaches With Damon the sense of urgency is greater With Sweeney JOE POSNANSKI Boras deserves an award Well Sports Illustrated selected Tiger Woods as Sportsman of the Year again and really what did the Tiger-man do this year? Won the US Open by 15 Set the scoring record at the British Open Won the PGA in the most thrilling final round in years Won more than 10 million bucks Yeah yeah Not bad But not Sportsman of the Year No way Not this year No a guy out there right now having the best year in sports history having a Wayne Gretzky year a Steffi Graf year a Michael Jordan year All rolled into one He got $55 million for a pitcher who has won 39 games in his career He got a quarter of a billion for a player who has never won an MVP Award a Gold Glove never played in aWorld Series game and has not led the league in a single meaningful category since 1996 Now almost single-handedly paralyzing the Royals who sign Johnny Damon but trade him either TigerWoods is a nice golfer and all that But superagent Scott Boras is almost single-handedly ripping apart the game of baseball You should get some kind of award for that First off quite trendy to despise Boras But we all love him on our side? a fight foryou death defend you sharks yank away every penny out there For you you just think of hundreds of scenarios where you would want Scott Boras there for you? Scenario A car dealership Dealer: Hey hi ho let me tell you Mr Smithers can I call you John? that I'm a straight shooter John and I want to earn your business and I can tell a serious shopper John and John risk the perception that tively ignoring asking that man who will to the you you against the the Royals prove they can be winners moving to the back burner a player before he agrees to stay Damon likes Kansas City But said in the past a Florida So you try to trade him Now walk across the hall Over there a different ballgame at least on the surface Over there sits Mike Sweeney professing his love for this town and insisting his decisions will not be driven by money Give him a deal who says he genuinely wants to stick around What do you do? somebody that wants to stay and has expressed that desire over a period of time you obviously try to get it done" Baird says "Compare that to another player to someone who want to do anything until the team does something first There's See ROYALS D-5 See POSNANSKI D-5 Kansas track will put fans in seat Peterson has provided a steady foot for Chiefs Hi -Cjjj iLjMflU ence for four sessions next year For a fee people will be able to ride along with a professional instructor in a stock car taking highspeed laps at the 15-mile Kansas track For a bit more money fans will actually be able to drive the cars which are very similar to NASCAR Winston Cup cars The Petty family has been conducting the program at high-profile NASCAR tracks such as Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina and Atlanta Motor Speedway since 1994 In the years since the program See SPEEDWAY D-3 By JIM PEDLEY The Kansas City Star Auto racers will tell you that the first thing they are asked by fans is usually something along the lines of: it it like to go that fast around those tracks? Fans in Kansas City have to ask Beginning next April they will be able to experience Winston Cup-type speeds on a Winston Cup track Officials at Kansas Speedway and NASCAR driver Kyle Petty announced Tuesday that the Wyandotte County facility will be host for the Richard Petty Driving Experi Peterson a sev-H en-year veteran has made 15 of 19 field goals and has connected on nine consecutive attempts since Peterson missing a 34-yarder against San Francisco on Nov 12 been game again By IVAN CARTER The Kamai City Stir ntering the season the Chiefs 1 a handful of questions that have struggled to answer all A young inexperienced de-se An inconsistent offense would see incredible highs i lows An unreliable kicking ae fter a slow start including a cru-miss in his Chiefs debut against dand on Oct 15 Todd Peterson helped make the kicking game fewer worry for coach Gunther WENDY YANGThe Kansas City Star NASCAR racer Kyle Petty (above) announced Tuesday that the Richard Petty Driving Experience is coming to Kansas Speedway See CHIEFS D-4.