Clinical trials can benefit you, no matter what stage of cancer you have. Here, Tara Lin, M.D., professor of hematologic malignancies and cellular therapeutics at KU Medical Center and medical director of the Clinical Trials Office at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, explains five reasons to consider participating in the testing of a novel cancer treatment.

Advances in cancer medicine come through rigorous testing in clinical trials. A clinical trial is how we develop new treatments — by testing a new drug alone, by testing a new drug in combination with already approved medications or by testing a new combination of older medicines used together. There are also clinical trials to learn about new techniques in surgery or radiation therapy for people with cancer.&nbsp;

By the time the treatment reaches an individual, scientists have already spent years developing it. Nearly all tried-and-true cancer drugs available to you today exist because past patients participated in clinical trials.

Despite the advantages of joining a clinical trial, few people with cancer actually&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucancercenter.org/cancer-clinical-trials/why-participate" target="_blank">participate</a>. With all the advances in our understanding of cancer biology and new options for treatment, today is an ideal time to consider joining a clinical trial.

Below are five reasons you should consider participating in a clinical trial:

1. You gain access to innovative treatments before they become widely available.

As a participant in a clinical trial, you may receive the latest leading-edge cancer treatment.

2. You receive frequent, attentive medical care.&nbsp;

Some people are nervous that once in a clinical trial, their standard of care will stop. Placebos are rarely used for active cancer treatment. Most studies compare the standard treatment with a new investigational drug or treatment. As a clinical trial participant, in addition to the care you would receive as part of your standard treatment, you will also have visits to the clinic with the trial team. Team members will track your side effects as well as the effectiveness of the new therapy. In essence, you are receiving “Standard of Care Plus.”

3. You play an active role in important treatment decisions that can affect your care.&nbsp;

If you qualify for a clinical trial, you are the advocate in your care and can choose to take part. Participating in a clinical trial may make you feel as if you have more control over your health, which can lead to a more positive outlook on life.

4. Clinical trials aren’t just for people who have exhausted all treatment options.&nbsp;

There are more clinical trials testing new medications in combination with the current standard of care for people with newly diagnosed cancers, too. Clinical trials can be an important part of your cancer care when you are first diagnosed or if the cancer comes back.

5. You are contributing to improving the health of others.&nbsp;

Clinical trials are the only way researchers can continue to develop new cancer treatments. By participating in a clinical trial, you are helping to advance cancer research and offering hope and opportunity for future patients.

If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial, ask your doctor about your options.

To search KU Cancer Center clinical trials that may be a good fit for you, download the KUCC Clinical Trial Finder app. The app is currently available for iOS and Android users. To download, go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search for “KUCC Clinical Trial Finder.” From there, download the app to your personal device.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675778031892.jpeg" alt="Tara L. Lin, M.D., is a professor in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She also is the medical director of the Clinical Trials Office at The University of Kansas Cancer Center." />
 <figcaption>Tara L. Lin, M.D., is a professor in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She also is the medical director of the Clinical Trials Office at The University of Kansas Cancer Center.</figcaption>
 </figure>Clinical trials can benefit you, no matter what stage of cancer you have. Here, Tara Lin, M.D., professor of hematologic malignancies and cellular therapeutics at KU Medical Center and medical director of the Clinical Trials Office at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, explains five reasons to consider participating in the testing of a novel cancer treatment.Advances in cancer medicine come through rigorous testing in clinical trials. A clinical trial is how we develop new treatments — by testing a new drug alone, by testing a new drug in combination with already approved medications or by testing a new combination of older medicines used together. There are also clinical trials to learn about new techniques in surgery or radiation therapy for people with cancer.&nbsp;By the time the treatment reaches an individual, scientists have already spent years developing it. Nearly all tried-and-true cancer drugs available to you today exist because past patients participated in clinical trials.Despite the advantages of joining a clinical trial, few people with cancer actually&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kucancercenter.org/cancer-clinical-trials/why-participate" target="_blank">participate</a>. With all the advances in our understanding of cancer biology and new options for treatment, today is an ideal time to consider joining a clinical trial.Below are five reasons you should consider participating in a clinical trial:<h2>1. You gain access to innovative treatments before they become widely available.</h2>As a participant in a clinical trial, you may receive the latest leading-edge cancer treatment.<h2>2. You receive frequent, attentive medical care.&nbsp;</h2>Some people are nervous that once in a clinical trial, their standard of care will stop. Placebos are rarely used for active cancer treatment. Most studies compare the standard treatment with a new investigational drug or treatment. As a clinical trial participant, in addition to the care you would receive as part of your standard treatment, you will also have visits to the clinic with the trial team. Team members will track your side effects as well as the effectiveness of the new therapy. In essence, you are receiving “Standard of Care Plus.”<h2>3. You play an active role in important treatment decisions that can affect your care.&nbsp;</h2>If you qualify for a clinical trial, you are the advocate in your care and can choose to take part. Participating in a clinical trial may make you feel as if you have more control over your health, which can lead to a more positive outlook on life.<h2>4. Clinical trials aren’t just for people who have exhausted all treatment options.&nbsp;</h2>There are more clinical trials testing new medications in combination with the current standard of care for people with newly diagnosed cancers, too. Clinical trials can be an important part of your cancer care when you are first diagnosed or if the cancer comes back.<h2>5. You are contributing to improving the health of others.&nbsp;</h2>Clinical trials are the only way researchers can continue to develop new cancer treatments. By participating in a clinical trial, you are helping to advance cancer research and offering hope and opportunity for future patients.If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial, ask your doctor about your options.To search KU Cancer Center clinical trials that may be a good fit for you, download the KUCC Clinical Trial Finder app. The app is currently available for iOS and Android users. To download, go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search for “KUCC Clinical Trial Finder.” From there, download the app to your personal device.

LIN: Five reasons to consider participating in a clinical trial for cancer treatment

By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/06/january-ushers-in-covid-19-turning-points-year-after-year-in-kansas/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

The COVID-19 pandemic has crafted 
many of its dark landmarks during recent Januarys. The last three 
installments have brought perhaps the most significant events related to
 the virus: the month that introduced COVID-19 to Kansas, two months 
that contained the two most deadly and contagious surges, and also a 
month that introduced widespread vaccination.

Three years into the pandemic, it’s 
tempting to think that we know everything about this cataclysm that 
interrupted our lives — and then gave our lives back to us. Looking 
back, as my history teachers have instructed me, revealed what I 
couldn’t remember, and what I never knew.

In writing this column, some of what I
 learned (or relearned) came from scrolling back through the YouTube 
channel of the University of Kansas Health System, featuring chief 
medical officer Steven Stites. The updates that he, his colleagues and 
his staff posted so dutifully are like dispatches from the pandemic 
past, complete with the emotions of the moment and vital statistics from
 people who worked the front lines.

The last three years tested us as Kansans in dramatic ways. January provided the decisive moments.

Many of us think of March 2020 as the
 beginning of the pandemic in Kansas, because that is when we heard 
about the first cases of COVID-19 in the state, followed rapidly by the 
dramatic closures of almost all public institutions, notably schools.

However, two months earlier, in January 2020, the first Kansan died from COVID-19, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/08/24/first-covid-19-death-in-kansas-now-believed-to-be-from-early-january-2020/">a death certificate that was publicized more than a year later.</a>

As reported by the San Jose Mercury 
News, Lovell “Cookie” Brown, a grandmother from Leavenworth County, was 
the first Kansan whose death was attributed to the virus. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/02/exclusive-how-did-a-kansas-grandmother-just-become-the-first-u-s-covid-death-not-even-her-family-knew-until-this-week/">The Mercury News also reported</a>
 how Brown’s death appeared “to turn the clock back on the virus’ 
arrival in the U.S. but also suggest that it had surfaced much sooner in
 America’s heartland, far beyond the country’s early coastal hotspots.”

Anecdotally, many of us knew this to 
be true: The virus was present long before medical experts could prove 
it. For instance, one of my friends was devastated by fever, chills and 
coughing fits after traveling with me in January 2020. Months later, he 
tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, with no other sickness to 
explain them. He likely had COVID-19 during that first January.

COVID-19 was lurking, undetected, in Kansas well before we were aware.

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html">Also during January 2020</a>:
 The Chinese city of Wuhan was locked down by the Chinese government. 
The virus was confirmed — for the first time contemporaneously — in the 
United States.&nbsp;

The deadliest time for Kansans 
fighting the COVID-19 virus ran right through January two years ago. 
Buttressed by a surge in December on one side and a frantic peak in 
February on the other, four weeks in January witnessed the death of 949 
Kansans, according to the CDC. A deadly January fed an even more lethal 
February.

According to the CDC, about 100,000 
tests were being performed each week, one of the most active times of 
testing for the entire pandemic.

However, January 2021 was distinct 
because of the battle beginning between virus and vaccine. More than 
four times as many Kansans were vaccinated during that month (more than 
214,000) than had been vaccinated during the previous month. The 
recovery had already begun.

Those January days were a clear 
turning point. The virus would kill almost 6,000 additional Kansans (and
 counting) in the following years, but vaccination slowed the 
infections. It was dazzling how much happened in 12 months.

“A year ago, we were just hearing the
 rumblings about what was going on across the ocean, and now look where 
we are at,” Stites said on a January episode of his YouTube series. That
 month, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsPHedUF9g4">Stites happily rolled up his sleeve</a> for a vaccination.

Seeing that reminded me of the 
urgency of those vaccinations. At that point, we asked ourselves, “Can I
 continue social distancing, masking and quarantine for just a bit 
longer, until I get the vaccine? Can I stay safe for a few more weeks?”

I recall how eager I was to get the 
vaccine, both to safeguard myself and to feel like I was helping slow 
the infection rate that was so deadly and so steadily climbing.

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html">Also in January 2021</a>: The CDC required face masks on public transportation and inside transportation hubs.

After Omicron was <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-kansas-f539218dc9d3c0500691c74a09c00b25">confirmed in Kansas in December 2021</a>,
 the new year was a viral extravaganza. During the week that started 
Jan. 19, 2022, more than 79,000 people in Kansas tested positive. The 
state had not seen that many positive cases — in total — during the 
first six months of the pandemic.

If you search for the top four weeks 
of positive infections in Kansas, three of those weeks were in January 
2022. We struggled to locate enough tests, staking out pharmacies and 
trading tips with friends about where to get tested.

The number of resulting deaths was 
both infuriating and heartbreaking. Many Kansans died in hospital ICUs 
after refusing vaccination out of stubbornness or misinformation. Others
 died from underlying conditions that doomed them, once combined with 
the virus.

The conference call of regional medical experts that month was partially and ominously titled, “From Bad to Worse.”

Stites’ guests sighed and dispatched 
the latest news from their hospitals, where blood supplies were low, 
morgues were full and ventilators were tenuous.

“I would start by saying that the COVID blizzard continues.”

“I wish we could paint a different picture, but it’s not here.”

“Even when we try to prepare, it hits us pretty hard, and that’s where we are right now.”

Reacting to 17 recent deaths at the 
Kansas Medical Center and staring at a nationwide map of COVID-19 cases,
 Stites observed: “This is really a difficult map to see right now. I’ve
 never seen the country all be so purple at the same time. If you look 
at Kansas and Missouri, that’s really difficult.”

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html">Also in January 2022</a>: Nationwide, the news was similar; the U.S. had almost 1 million new infections, more than any other nation.

This January, however, we Kansans 
largely find ourselves less wondering what will happen next and more 
confident that the pandemic is simply over. That’s not to say that we 
are free from risk.

On his most recent COVID-19 update, 
Stites said: “I think that surge that we are going to see with everyone 
inside, with the Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties and get togethers,
 we will see how that plays out.”

Jennifer Schrimsher of Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Douglas County said: “COVID is still here. It still kills people.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

However, the conversations between 
the medical officers on Stites’ conference call sound more reflective 
than their previous urgency.

“I’m brought to a focus on how 
chronic this disease has become,” said Kevin Dishman, chief medical and 
quality officer at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka. “And we are all 
starting to use that word, which I think we are hearing both from 
doctors at academic centers and also across the state, and also now 
nationally, that the chronicity of this disease is going to be a 
challenge going forward.”

Dishman said on the conference call that the Topeka media center had consistently cared for 15 to 17 COVID-19 patients recently.

“If you think that, a few years ago 
we didn’t have anyone in the hospital like this,” Stites added. “And now
 10 to 15 percent of our hospital beds are taken up with one disease 
entity — one viral entity.”

Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673024619311.png" alt="Steven Stites, chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, said January 2022 was the most difficult moment in the COVID-19 pandemic for medical care providers. (Screen capture by Kansas Reflector from University of Kansas Health System video)" />
 <figcaption>Steven Stites, chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, said January 2022 was the most difficult moment in the COVID-19 pandemic for medical care providers. (Screen capture by Kansas Reflector from University of Kansas Health System video)</figcaption>
 </figure>By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/06/january-ushers-in-covid-19-turning-points-year-after-year-in-kansas/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>The COVID-19 pandemic has crafted 
many of its dark landmarks during recent Januarys. The last three 
installments have brought perhaps the most significant events related to
 the virus: the month that introduced COVID-19 to Kansas, two months 
that contained the two most deadly and contagious surges, and also a 
month that introduced widespread vaccination.So it is that we arrive in January 2023.Three years into the pandemic, it’s 
tempting to think that we know everything about this cataclysm that 
interrupted our lives — and then gave our lives back to us. Looking 
back, as my history teachers have instructed me, revealed what I 
couldn’t remember, and what I never knew.In writing this column, some of what I
 learned (or relearned) came from scrolling back through the YouTube 
channel of the University of Kansas Health System, featuring chief 
medical officer Steven Stites. The updates that he, his colleagues and 
his staff posted so dutifully are like dispatches from the pandemic 
past, complete with the emotions of the moment and vital statistics from
 people who worked the front lines.The last three years tested us as Kansans in dramatic ways. January provided the decisive moments.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673024693260.png" alt="A Jayhawk statue at the University of Kansas in Lawrence sports a face mask in the later months of 2020. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>A Jayhawk statue at the University of Kansas in Lawrence sports a face mask in the later months of 2020. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>January 2020: The start</h2>Many of us think of March 2020 as the
 beginning of the pandemic in Kansas, because that is when we heard 
about the first cases of COVID-19 in the state, followed rapidly by the 
dramatic closures of almost all public institutions, notably schools.However, two months earlier, in January 2020, the first Kansan died from COVID-19, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/08/24/first-covid-19-death-in-kansas-now-believed-to-be-from-early-january-2020/">a death certificate that was publicized more than a year later.</a>As reported by the San Jose Mercury 
News, Lovell “Cookie” Brown, a grandmother from Leavenworth County, was 
the first Kansan whose death was attributed to the virus. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/02/exclusive-how-did-a-kansas-grandmother-just-become-the-first-u-s-covid-death-not-even-her-family-knew-until-this-week/">The Mercury News also reported</a>
 how Brown’s death appeared “to turn the clock back on the virus’ 
arrival in the U.S. but also suggest that it had surfaced much sooner in
 America’s heartland, far beyond the country’s early coastal hotspots.”Anecdotally, many of us knew this to 
be true: The virus was present long before medical experts could prove 
it. For instance, one of my friends was devastated by fever, chills and 
coughing fits after traveling with me in January 2020. Months later, he 
tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, with no other sickness to 
explain them. He likely had COVID-19 during that first January.COVID-19 was lurking, undetected, in Kansas well before we were aware.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html">Also during January 2020</a>:
 The Chinese city of Wuhan was locked down by the Chinese government. 
The virus was confirmed — for the first time contemporaneously — in the 
United States.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673024735476.png" alt="A participant looks away at the moment a COVID-19 vaccine needle makes contact during a temporary clinic at Topeka High School in 2021. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>A participant looks away at the moment a COVID-19 vaccine needle makes contact during a temporary clinic at Topeka High School in 2021. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>January 2021: The battle</h2>The deadliest time for Kansans 
fighting the COVID-19 virus ran right through January two years ago. 
Buttressed by a surge in December on one side and a frantic peak in 
February on the other, four weeks in January witnessed the death of 949 
Kansans, according to the CDC. A deadly January fed an even more lethal 
February.According to the CDC, about 100,000 
tests were being performed each week, one of the most active times of 
testing for the entire pandemic.However, January 2021 was distinct 
because of the battle beginning between virus and vaccine. More than 
four times as many Kansans were vaccinated during that month (more than 
214,000) than had been vaccinated during the previous month. The 
recovery had already begun.Those January days were a clear 
turning point. The virus would kill almost 6,000 additional Kansans (and
 counting) in the following years, but vaccination slowed the 
infections. It was dazzling how much happened in 12 months.“A year ago, we were just hearing the
 rumblings about what was going on across the ocean, and now look where 
we are at,” Stites said on a January episode of his YouTube series. That
 month, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsPHedUF9g4">Stites happily rolled up his sleeve</a> for a vaccination.Seeing that reminded me of the 
urgency of those vaccinations. At that point, we asked ourselves, “Can I
 continue social distancing, masking and quarantine for just a bit 
longer, until I get the vaccine? Can I stay safe for a few more weeks?”I recall how eager I was to get the 
vaccine, both to safeguard myself and to feel like I was helping slow 
the infection rate that was so deadly and so steadily climbing.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html">Also in January 2021</a>: The CDC required face masks on public transportation and inside transportation hubs.<h2>January 2022: The peak</h2>After Omicron was <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-kansas-f539218dc9d3c0500691c74a09c00b25">confirmed in Kansas in December 2021</a>,
 the new year was a viral extravaganza. During the week that started 
Jan. 19, 2022, more than 79,000 people in Kansas tested positive. The 
state had not seen that many positive cases — in total — during the 
first six months of the pandemic.If you search for the top four weeks 
of positive infections in Kansas, three of those weeks were in January 
2022. We struggled to locate enough tests, staking out pharmacies and 
trading tips with friends about where to get tested.The number of resulting deaths was 
both infuriating and heartbreaking. Many Kansans died in hospital ICUs 
after refusing vaccination out of stubbornness or misinformation. Others
 died from underlying conditions that doomed them, once combined with 
the virus.The conference call of regional medical experts that month was partially and ominously titled, “From Bad to Worse.”Stites’ guests sighed and dispatched 
the latest news from their hospitals, where blood supplies were low, 
morgues were full and ventilators were tenuous.“I would start by saying that the COVID blizzard continues.”“This has been a difficult time.”“I wish we could paint a different picture, but it’s not here.”“Even when we try to prepare, it hits us pretty hard, and that’s where we are right now.”Reacting to 17 recent deaths at the 
Kansas Medical Center and staring at a nationwide map of COVID-19 cases,
 Stites observed: “This is really a difficult map to see right now. I’ve
 never seen the country all be so purple at the same time. If you look 
at Kansas and Missouri, that’s really difficult.”<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html">Also in January 2022</a>: Nationwide, the news was similar; the U.S. had almost 1 million new infections, more than any other nation.<h2>January 2023: The hope</h2>This January, however, we Kansans 
largely find ourselves less wondering what will happen next and more 
confident that the pandemic is simply over. That’s not to say that we 
are free from risk.On his most recent COVID-19 update, 
Stites said: “I think that surge that we are going to see with everyone 
inside, with the Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties and get togethers,
 we will see how that plays out.”Jennifer Schrimsher of Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Douglas County said: “COVID is still here. It still kills people.”&nbsp;&nbsp;However, the conversations between 
the medical officers on Stites’ conference call sound more reflective 
than their previous urgency.“I’m brought to a focus on how 
chronic this disease has become,” said Kevin Dishman, chief medical and 
quality officer at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka. “And we are all 
starting to use that word, which I think we are hearing both from 
doctors at academic centers and also across the state, and also now 
nationally, that the chronicity of this disease is going to be a 
challenge going forward.”Dishman said on the conference call that the Topeka media center had consistently cared for 15 to 17 COVID-19 patients recently.“If you think that, a few years ago 
we didn’t have anyone in the hospital like this,” Stites added. “And now
 10 to 15 percent of our hospital beds are taken up with one disease 
entity — one viral entity.”Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

OPINION: January ushers in COVID turning points year after year

By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/09/when-the-world-cup-comes-to-kansas-city-tough-questions-will-follow/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Last weekend, the team representing the United States at the World Cup in Qatar crashed out of the tournament following a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.foxsports.com/watch/play-6110921be00004b?cmpid=google-one-box">3-1 loss against the Netherlands</a>.

As a fan, I have tracked this team 
from qualifying in CONCACAF to pre-tournament friendlies, from the group
 stage into the knockout round, monitoring the pre-match lineups and 
coaching decisions. Even my soccer-crazed son might have rolled his eyes
 at the arcane statistics I recited to him, likely from one of the 
dozens of <a target="_blank" href="https://meninblazers.com/page/podcasts">podcasts</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://theathletic.com/">articles</a> or videos I gobbled up.

Besides the results for the U.S. 
men’s national team, the other dominant storyline from the World Cup has
 little to do with assists, corner kicks or <a target="_blank" href="https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/07/what-are-expected-goals-xg/">xG</a>.
 Counterintuitively, this second storyline might determine the success 
of the 2026 World Cup in the United States even more than the wins, 
losses and ties of our national team.

The referee’s final whistle at 
Khalifa International Stadium signaled the start of a new storyline. The
 next World Cup match that the U.S. will play will likely be at home — 
in the United States.

This storyline is the stew of 
political hijinks and squabbles that flooded the World Cup this year. 
That storyline includes how journalists have covered (or failed to 
cover) the politics of this multibillion dollar global sports event.

With Kansas City hosting games for 
the 2026 event, our region will be dipped into that World Cup stew. As 
local journalists, many of us will decide how to cover it.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

One thing is certain: This year’s 
World Cup has provided lessons on what not to do as both a host nation 
and as journalists. Let’s study the lessons now for 2026, so we don’t 
make the same blunders.

We start with the profit-driven 
cowardice of Fox Sports. In the years preceding the Qatar World Cup, 
FIFA and the host nation generated so many newsworthy controversies: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/20/fifa-qatar-world-cup-corruption/">accusations of bribes to FIFA</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/the-world-cup-is-officially-underway-in-qatar-heres-why-its-so-controversial">anti-gay laws in Qatar</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022">deaths of foreign workers</a>.
 The question for Fox Sports, the broadcast rights holder in the United 
States, was how it would cover these juicy narratives during the match 
telecasts.

How would they cover the diplomatic 
tensions between the competing countries? Perhaps, they would cover 
international flaps — like the social media staff of the U.S. team 
foolishly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/27/usmnt-twitter-iran-flag-change/">removing a portion of the Iran flag</a>
 on some social media posts — during pregame segments. Or perhaps we 
would hear the in-match commentators interject the news into their 
play-by-play.

Fox Sports made short work of that decision by simply opting not to cover any of it.

Their possible motive? <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/18/fox-qatar-world-cup-coverage/">The Washington Post reported</a>
 that Fox Sports agreed to a sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways. That 
funding (and perhaps some complementary airfare for Fox Sports staff) 
may have enabled the broadcaster to set up a swank studio in Qatar 
rather than anchoring coverage from Los Angeles.&nbsp;

Who owns the airline? Qatar itself, suggesting an unsightly quid pro quo. A Fox Sports spokesman <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/18/fox-qatar-world-cup-coverage/">told the Post</a> that the network did not agree to censor its political coverage in exchange for the Qatar Airways sponsorship deal.

However, contrast Fox Sports’ 
editorial spinelessness with the words of Telemundo Deportes president 
Ray Warren about how his network would cover World Cup politics: “I do 
think we have to talk about the legacy we leave. By the time the 
tournament’s over, we (won’t have been) ignoring the geopolitical issues
 that might arise.”

I doubt that an American sponsor in 
2026 will make such a brazen attempt to neuter a media outlet, at least 
partially because of how embarrassing this incident has been for Fox 
Sports.

However, millions of sponsorship 
dollars will flood the Kansas City region. Might a sponsor ask a local 
publication or broadcaster to weaken its scrutiny with a wink? How might
 an advertiser discourage honest coverage through a financial nudge?

“World Corrupt,” <a target="_blank" href="https://crooked.com/podcast-series/world-corrupt/">a podcast series</a>
 that has chronicled the hypocrisy and corruption of this World Cup, 
summarized what it looks like to watch the coverage of a World Cup that 
has been artificially sweetened.

“It is basically the Splenda of international tournaments,” <a target="_blank" href="https://crooked.com/podcast/world-corrupt-episode-7-stoppage-time/">co-host Tommy Vietor half-joked</a>.

Fewer controversies should ignite in 
the run-up to the World Cup in North America. However, smoke-free skies 
can’t be guaranteed with a flammable international syndicate like FIFA.

Because Kansas City will host 
matches, we should also expect that the visiting foreign press will zoom
 in on the blemishes of Missouri, Kansas and the Midwest. As the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/16/world-cup-2026-venues-los-angeles-new-york-list">only host city in the central United States</a>,
 our local site will stand in for all of middle America in news 
coverage. You could travel west from Pennsylvania to California, and the
 only host city you would pass would be KC.

Of course, we want our region to be a
 great place to live for the sake of, well, being a great place to live.
 However, if we need any extra motivation, maybe we will clean up our 
room before the house guests come to visit.

Consider, for example, the local headlines that the foreign press might have seized on during the last month. A<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/4-teens-man-charged-in-shooting-death-of-kansas-city-man-in-shawnee"> recent Shawnee shooting</a> resulted in charges for four teens. Alleged <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kcur.org/corruption-in-kansas-city-kansas">corruption in the Kansas City, Kansas, police department</a> allowed an officer to terrorize citizens. A small town <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/06/kansas-towns-library-lease-renewed-after-months-of-debate-about-lgbtq-content/">nearly shuttered its library</a> because it included books about LGBTQ lives.

If we need any proof that the 
visiting press will care about these stories, note how the American 
press is rightfully scrutinizing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/qatar-world-cup-migrant-deaths-28679897">the death of a foreign worker in Qatar</a> this week.

We should also prepare ourselves for absurd questions from hostile journalists with an agenda. Here’s how <a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/6237256/usmnt-press-conference-tyler-adams/">they grilled the U.S. team captain</a> Tyler Adams about racism in America, after chiding him for his pronunciation of Iran.

“Are you OK to be representing a 
country that has so much discrimination against Black people in its own 
borders?” a reporter for Iran’s state-controlled TV station asked during
 a pre-match press conference.

Or — even more bonkers — how the same press gaggle asked U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter for <a target="_blank" href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/us-coach-gregg-berhalter-grilled-at-world-cup-presser-before-iran-match/">his take on the position of U.S. warships</a>.

Everything will be inbounds. We, as Americans and Midwesterners, will need answers.

Adams’ response to the grilling by 
the Iranian press displayed the kind of eloquence and patience that our 
politicians and players will need in 2026.

“There’s discrimination everywhere 
you go,” he said. “In the U.S., we’re continuing to make progress every 
single day … through education. I think it’s super important. Like you 
just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. It’s a 
process. As long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing.”

Or, perhaps we need to all practice the kind of deflection that Berhalter used.

“I don’t know enough about politics; I’m a soccer coach,” Berhalter said, dodging a foreign affairs kerfuffle.

As hosts, we will need to do a bit of each: toughen our skin, clean up our affairs and provide thoughtful and patient answers.

Like the team itself, we will need 
some practice to prepare for the World Cup in Kansas City. The 2026 
summer of soccer and all its controversial storylines are coming, along 
with the goals and celebrations.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1670597372971.png" alt="The U.S. men’s national soccer team warms up before a friendly match against the national team of Uruguay on June 5, 2022, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. (Eric Thomas, courtesy Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The U.S. men’s national soccer team warms up before a friendly match against the national team of Uruguay on June 5, 2022, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. (Eric Thomas, courtesy Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/09/when-the-world-cup-comes-to-kansas-city-tough-questions-will-follow/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Last weekend, the team representing the United States at the World Cup in Qatar crashed out of the tournament following a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.foxsports.com/watch/play-6110921be00004b?cmpid=google-one-box">3-1 loss against the Netherlands</a>.As a fan, I have tracked this team 
from qualifying in CONCACAF to pre-tournament friendlies, from the group
 stage into the knockout round, monitoring the pre-match lineups and 
coaching decisions. Even my soccer-crazed son might have rolled his eyes
 at the arcane statistics I recited to him, likely from one of the 
dozens of <a target="_blank" href="https://meninblazers.com/page/podcasts">podcasts</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://theathletic.com/">articles</a> or videos I gobbled up.Besides the results for the U.S. 
men’s national team, the other dominant storyline from the World Cup has
 little to do with assists, corner kicks or <a target="_blank" href="https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/07/what-are-expected-goals-xg/">xG</a>.
 Counterintuitively, this second storyline might determine the success 
of the 2026 World Cup in the United States even more than the wins, 
losses and ties of our national team.The referee’s final whistle at 
Khalifa International Stadium signaled the start of a new storyline. The
 next World Cup match that the U.S. will play will likely be at home — 
in the United States.This storyline is the stew of 
political hijinks and squabbles that flooded the World Cup this year. 
That storyline includes how journalists have covered (or failed to 
cover) the politics of this multibillion dollar global sports event.With Kansas City hosting games for 
the 2026 event, our region will be dipped into that World Cup stew. As 
local journalists, many of us will decide how to cover it.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One thing is certain: This year’s 
World Cup has provided lessons on what not to do as both a host nation 
and as journalists. Let’s study the lessons now for 2026, so we don’t 
make the same blunders.We start with the profit-driven 
cowardice of Fox Sports. In the years preceding the Qatar World Cup, 
FIFA and the host nation generated so many newsworthy controversies: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/20/fifa-qatar-world-cup-corruption/">accusations of bribes to FIFA</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/the-world-cup-is-officially-underway-in-qatar-heres-why-its-so-controversial">anti-gay laws in Qatar</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022">deaths of foreign workers</a>.
 The question for Fox Sports, the broadcast rights holder in the United 
States, was how it would cover these juicy narratives during the match 
telecasts.How would they cover the diplomatic 
tensions between the competing countries? Perhaps, they would cover 
international flaps — like the social media staff of the U.S. team 
foolishly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/27/usmnt-twitter-iran-flag-change/">removing a portion of the Iran flag</a>
 on some social media posts — during pregame segments. Or perhaps we 
would hear the in-match commentators interject the news into their 
play-by-play.Fox Sports made short work of that decision by simply opting not to cover any of it.Their possible motive? <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/18/fox-qatar-world-cup-coverage/">The Washington Post reported</a>
 that Fox Sports agreed to a sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways. That 
funding (and perhaps some complementary airfare for Fox Sports staff) 
may have enabled the broadcaster to set up a swank studio in Qatar 
rather than anchoring coverage from Los Angeles.&nbsp;Who owns the airline? Qatar itself, suggesting an unsightly quid pro quo. A Fox Sports spokesman <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/18/fox-qatar-world-cup-coverage/">told the Post</a> that the network did not agree to censor its political coverage in exchange for the Qatar Airways sponsorship deal.However, contrast Fox Sports’ 
editorial spinelessness with the words of Telemundo Deportes president 
Ray Warren about how his network would cover World Cup politics: “I do 
think we have to talk about the legacy we leave. By the time the 
tournament’s over, we (won’t have been) ignoring the geopolitical issues
 that might arise.”I doubt that an American sponsor in 
2026 will make such a brazen attempt to neuter a media outlet, at least 
partially because of how embarrassing this incident has been for Fox 
Sports.However, millions of sponsorship 
dollars will flood the Kansas City region. Might a sponsor ask a local 
publication or broadcaster to weaken its scrutiny with a wink? How might
 an advertiser discourage honest coverage through a financial nudge?“World Corrupt,” <a target="_blank" href="https://crooked.com/podcast-series/world-corrupt/">a podcast series</a>
 that has chronicled the hypocrisy and corruption of this World Cup, 
summarized what it looks like to watch the coverage of a World Cup that 
has been artificially sweetened.“It is basically the Splenda of international tournaments,” <a target="_blank" href="https://crooked.com/podcast/world-corrupt-episode-7-stoppage-time/">co-host Tommy Vietor half-joked</a>.Fewer controversies should ignite in 
the run-up to the World Cup in North America. However, smoke-free skies 
can’t be guaranteed with a flammable international syndicate like FIFA.Because Kansas City will host 
matches, we should also expect that the visiting foreign press will zoom
 in on the blemishes of Missouri, Kansas and the Midwest. As the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/16/world-cup-2026-venues-los-angeles-new-york-list">only host city in the central United States</a>,
 our local site will stand in for all of middle America in news 
coverage. You could travel west from Pennsylvania to California, and the
 only host city you would pass would be KC.Of course, we want our region to be a
 great place to live for the sake of, well, being a great place to live.
 However, if we need any extra motivation, maybe we will clean up our 
room before the house guests come to visit.Consider, for example, the local headlines that the foreign press might have seized on during the last month. A<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/4-teens-man-charged-in-shooting-death-of-kansas-city-man-in-shawnee"> recent Shawnee shooting</a> resulted in charges for four teens. Alleged <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kcur.org/corruption-in-kansas-city-kansas">corruption in the Kansas City, Kansas, police department</a> allowed an officer to terrorize citizens. A small town <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/12/06/kansas-towns-library-lease-renewed-after-months-of-debate-about-lgbtq-content/">nearly shuttered its library</a> because it included books about LGBTQ lives.If we need any proof that the 
visiting press will care about these stories, note how the American 
press is rightfully scrutinizing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/qatar-world-cup-migrant-deaths-28679897">the death of a foreign worker in Qatar</a> this week.We should also prepare ourselves for absurd questions from hostile journalists with an agenda. Here’s how <a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/6237256/usmnt-press-conference-tyler-adams/">they grilled the U.S. team captain</a> Tyler Adams about racism in America, after chiding him for his pronunciation of Iran.“Are you OK to be representing a 
country that has so much discrimination against Black people in its own 
borders?” a reporter for Iran’s state-controlled TV station asked during
 a pre-match press conference.Or — even more bonkers — how the same press gaggle asked U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter for <a target="_blank" href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/us-coach-gregg-berhalter-grilled-at-world-cup-presser-before-iran-match/">his take on the position of U.S. warships</a>.Everything will be inbounds. We, as Americans and Midwesterners, will need answers.Adams’ response to the grilling by 
the Iranian press displayed the kind of eloquence and patience that our 
politicians and players will need in 2026.“There’s discrimination everywhere 
you go,” he said. “In the U.S., we’re continuing to make progress every 
single day … through education. I think it’s super important. Like you 
just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. It’s a 
process. As long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing.”Or, perhaps we need to all practice the kind of deflection that Berhalter used.“I don’t know enough about politics; I’m a soccer coach,” Berhalter said, dodging a foreign affairs kerfuffle.As hosts, we will need to do a bit of each: toughen our skin, clean up our affairs and provide thoughtful and patient answers.Like the team itself, we will need 
some practice to prepare for the World Cup in Kansas City. The 2026 
summer of soccer and all its controversial storylines are coming, along 
with the goals and celebrations.Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;

OPINION: World Cup kicks tough questions at Kansas City

By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;&nbsp;

The pilot has come in for a landing. In this case, the pilot is the famous aviator Amelia Earhart (or her replica in the form of a bronze statue), and her landing place isn’t an airport — it’s the nation’s capitol.&nbsp;

Amelia Earhart was recently honored by the State of Kansas by having her statue placed in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol building.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Statuary Hall is that area of the capitol that displays statues depicting people representing all 50 states. Each state is authorized to send two statues to this collection.&nbsp;&nbsp;Kansas recently replaced one of its statues with one of Amelia Earhart, who captured the world’s attention as a pioneer in aviation.&nbsp;

With support from the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation, her statue was unveiled in the National Statuary Collection in July, 2022.&nbsp;

Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison on July 24, 1897. She must have been quite the adventurous child.&nbsp;&nbsp;One time she and friends built a homemade roller coaster by greasing boards with lard and suspending them from the top of a toolshed. Amelia made the trial run on this roller coaster in a wooden crate and crashed part way down.&nbsp;

She came up with a torn dress and split lip but a big smile, proclaiming, "Oh! It's just like flying!"&nbsp;

During World War I, she worked as a nurse’s aid at a military hospital and heard the military pilots talk about their flights. Amelia’s interest grew when she attended an airshow in Canada.&nbsp;

In 1921, Amelia Earhart took her first flying lessons. Six months later, she bought her first plane.&nbsp;

Amelia went on to make history: She was the first president of the Ninety-Nines, a women's aviation organization; the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic; first woman to fly solo coast-to-coast; and the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the mainland.&nbsp;

Through her husband, a publisher, she published several books and articles. She designed fashion clothing and had her own luggage line. She received many honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress, before disappearing on an ill-fated attempt to fly around the globe.&nbsp;

So what is Statuary Hall and how did Amelia Earhart come to land there? Statuary Hall goes back to the 1860s when a south wing was added to the U.S. Capitol building. The House of Representatives moved into its new chamber where it still meets today.&nbsp;

The House was debating what should be done with the former chamber that it had vacated. A suggestion came from Rep. Justin Morrill of Vermont. (This was the same congressman who authored the Morrill Act that authorized land grants for public higher education and under which Kansas State University became the nation’s first operational land grant university.)&nbsp;

Morrill suggested that the former House chamber become a place to display statues from each state. His suggestion was adopted. Every state was allowed to have two statues.&nbsp;

One might ask, who were the two statues from Kansas? Would you guess, George Glick and John J. Ingalls? When I led capitol tours years ago, our visitors would ask,&nbsp;&nbsp;“Who are those guys?&nbsp;&nbsp;Never heard of them.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

I learned that George Glick was a one-term governor of Kansas and John J. Ingalls was a long-time Senator during the late 1800s.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 2003, Kansas became the first state to change its two representative statues. The Kansas Legislature voted to replace Glick and Ingalls with statues depicting Dwight D. Eisenhower and Amelia Earhart, provided the statues were funded with private money.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ike was placed there in 2003 and Amelia followed in 2022.&nbsp;

The Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation paid for the statue of Amelia. The foundation is also working toward opening an aviation museum in her honor. That would be a wonderful addition to the rural community of Atchison, population 10,885 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;

For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org/foundation">www.ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org/foundation</a>.&nbsp;

This pilot has come in for a landing – that is, landing a spot in the Statuary Hall collection in Washington DC.&nbsp;

We commend the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation for making a difference by honoring her legacy. I hope Amelia’s ideals keep flying high.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669815891320.png" alt="Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension" />
 <figcaption>Courtesy K-State Research &amp; Extension</figcaption>
 </figure>By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development&nbsp;&nbsp;The pilot has come in for a landing. In this case, the pilot is the famous aviator Amelia Earhart (or her replica in the form of a bronze statue), and her landing place isn’t an airport — it’s the nation’s capitol.&nbsp;Amelia Earhart was recently honored by the State of Kansas by having her statue placed in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol building.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Statuary Hall is that area of the capitol that displays statues depicting people representing all 50 states. Each state is authorized to send two statues to this collection.&nbsp;&nbsp;Kansas recently replaced one of its statues with one of Amelia Earhart, who captured the world’s attention as a pioneer in aviation.&nbsp;With support from the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation, her statue was unveiled in the National Statuary Collection in July, 2022.&nbsp;Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison on July 24, 1897. She must have been quite the adventurous child.&nbsp;&nbsp;One time she and friends built a homemade roller coaster by greasing boards with lard and suspending them from the top of a toolshed. Amelia made the trial run on this roller coaster in a wooden crate and crashed part way down.&nbsp;She came up with a torn dress and split lip but a big smile, proclaiming, "Oh! It's just like flying!"&nbsp;During World War I, she worked as a nurse’s aid at a military hospital and heard the military pilots talk about their flights. Amelia’s interest grew when she attended an airshow in Canada.&nbsp;In 1921, Amelia Earhart took her first flying lessons. Six months later, she bought her first plane.&nbsp;Amelia went on to make history: She was the first president of the Ninety-Nines, a women's aviation organization; the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic; first woman to fly solo coast-to-coast; and the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the mainland.&nbsp;Through her husband, a publisher, she published several books and articles. She designed fashion clothing and had her own luggage line. She received many honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress, before disappearing on an ill-fated attempt to fly around the globe.&nbsp;So what is Statuary Hall and how did Amelia Earhart come to land there? Statuary Hall goes back to the 1860s when a south wing was added to the U.S. Capitol building. The House of Representatives moved into its new chamber where it still meets today.&nbsp;The House was debating what should be done with the former chamber that it had vacated. A suggestion came from Rep. Justin Morrill of Vermont. (This was the same congressman who authored the Morrill Act that authorized land grants for public higher education and under which Kansas State University became the nation’s first operational land grant university.)&nbsp;Morrill suggested that the former House chamber become a place to display statues from each state. His suggestion was adopted. Every state was allowed to have two statues.&nbsp;One might ask, who were the two statues from Kansas? Would you guess, George Glick and John J. Ingalls? When I led capitol tours years ago, our visitors would ask,&nbsp;&nbsp;“Who are those guys?&nbsp;&nbsp;Never heard of them.”&nbsp;&nbsp;I learned that George Glick was a one-term governor of Kansas and John J. Ingalls was a long-time Senator during the late 1800s.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2003, Kansas became the first state to change its two representative statues. The Kansas Legislature voted to replace Glick and Ingalls with statues depicting Dwight D. Eisenhower and Amelia Earhart, provided the statues were funded with private money.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ike was placed there in 2003 and Amelia followed in 2022.&nbsp;The Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation paid for the statue of Amelia. The foundation is also working toward opening an aviation museum in her honor. That would be a wonderful addition to the rural community of Atchison, population 10,885 people. Now, that’s rural.&nbsp;For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org/foundation">www.ameliaearharthangarmuseum.org/foundation</a>.&nbsp;This pilot has come in for a landing – that is, landing a spot in the Statuary Hall collection in Washington DC.&nbsp;We commend the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation for making a difference by honoring her legacy. I hope Amelia’s ideals keep flying high.&nbsp;

Now That’s Rural: Amelia Earhart 

By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/25/for-kansas-city-area-fans-sports-wins-feel-inevitable-lets-appreciate-them/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Last Sunday night, I sat on the couch, a cocktail in hand, watching Chiefs
 quarterback Patrick Mahomes trot onto the field. Trailing the Los 
Angeles Chargers by four, Kansas City needed to drive 75 yards in the 
final 1:46 to score a touchdown. A field goal would not be enough.

I didn’t pace the room. I didn’t check the Chiefs’ win probability. 
Like so many other fans of Kansas City-area teams through the past 
decade, I waited for my team’s preordained win.

Supporting the region’s teams the past 10 years has been like that 
old video game, Frogger — only without the splat. We have scooted across
 the road, from the joy of one team to the championships of another.

As the Royals tanked, Sporting Kansas City topped their league. As 
Sporting faded, the Chiefs surged. When the Chiefs lost in the playoffs,
 the Jayhawks won in March Madness. If you are willing to abandon your 
ardent fandom of one descending team for the rise of another, the Kansas
 City area has been the place to be a fan.

My 13-year-old boy has really never known the darkness of living in a
 sports quagmire. Liberated by a day off school in 2015, he boarded a 
bus for downtown Kansas City to get a glimpse of the Royals’ World 
Series parade.

Four years later, we watched the Chiefs board double-decker buses for
 their own celebration. Sporting KC offered us a chance to see two 
players who represented the United States in the World Cup. Kansas City 
pro sports has offered him a glimmering local team at all times.

This year, he also traced the Jayhawks men’s basketball team on his 
bracket to the championship. The University of Kansas’ streak of 
dominance in Big 12 basketball bordered on absurdity during our last 
decade, and even before. Big 12 basketball teams can earn the regular 
season title, the conference tournament title or both. The Jayhawks have
 won or shared the regular season title 20 times. The other 11 teams? 
Only 11 titles combined. In the conference tournament, a format that 
much more easily bounces out superior teams through one bad result, the 
Jayhawks have still won nearly half.

(And who would have thought the 2022 football Jayhawks would execute this screeching U-turn of a season?)

It hasn’t always been this way. The Royals and Chiefs have tested 
fans with long stretches of misery. To call the futility that flanks the
 Royals’ 2014 and 2015 seasons simply “losing seasons” understates the 
dismal nature of those teams. Since 2002, Royals fans endured six 
seasons with 100 or more losses.

Likewise, the Chiefs claim an era of sour football — especially when 
compared with the current golden age. The recent teams are 
unprecedentedly hot, winning a record six consecutive AFC West division 
titles. They are poised to win another. Over the past seven seasons (not
 including this current one), the Chiefs have won 83 games.

Here is your trivia question: How many seasons would it have taken to
 earn 83 wins if you started counting in 1972? The answer: 14 — double 
the number during the Andy Reid era.

Consider the psychic drain of living in a city that lost so often. 
And consider how invincible it makes us feel to have a winner in the 
region at all times.

It certainly can lead us to arrogance. Or, as I experienced Sunday 
while watching Mahomes rally the Chiefs, it breeds a chill confidence, a
 relaxed assurance that we fans don’t need to fret. It’s going to be OK.
 We believe that we will win.

With less than two minutes to manage, Mahomes flung one pass and then
 another to dissolve the Chargers’ defense. The touchdown to tight end 
Travis Kelce felt less like surprising fan euphoria and more like deja 
vu. Like Lorenzo Cain making a circus catch in the outfield in 2015. 
Like opening a sports app on our phones to find Sporting KC advancing in
 its tournament. Like Bill Self smirking as he climbed the ladder to cut
 down the nets.

The danger of a run like this is forgetting to savor it. Just ask the
 fans in Detroit, with four major sports teams, most of them failing to 
post winning records much less advance meaningfully in the playoffs.

Cincinnati, despite three Super Bowl appearances, doesn’t have a 
single trophy. Add this to Cincinnati’s suffering: the hapless Reds who 
haven’t won their division in the past 10 years.

I ask this of you as fellow fans. Deploy all of your superstitions to
 keep this streak going. Don’t wash the lucky socks. Drive the same way 
to the stadium every week. Eat the same pregame meal of sauerkraut and 
bratwursts.

But whatever you do, don’t close your eyes. This is too rare — and fun — to miss.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669408667473.png" alt="A red-clad crowd packs Arrowhead Stadium to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play (Eric Thomas/Kansas Reflector)." />
 <figcaption>A red-clad crowd packs Arrowhead Stadium to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play (Eric Thomas/Kansas Reflector).</figcaption>
 </figure>By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/25/for-kansas-city-area-fans-sports-wins-feel-inevitable-lets-appreciate-them/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Last Sunday night, I sat on the couch, a cocktail in hand, watching Chiefs
 quarterback Patrick Mahomes trot onto the field. Trailing the Los 
Angeles Chargers by four, Kansas City needed to drive 75 yards in the 
final 1:46 to score a touchdown. A field goal would not be enough.And yet, there I reclined on the sofa.I didn’t pace the room. I didn’t check the Chiefs’ win probability. 
Like so many other fans of Kansas City-area teams through the past 
decade, I waited for my team’s preordained win.Supporting the region’s teams the past 10 years has been like that 
old video game, Frogger — only without the splat. We have scooted across
 the road, from the joy of one team to the championships of another.As the Royals tanked, Sporting Kansas City topped their league. As 
Sporting faded, the Chiefs surged. When the Chiefs lost in the playoffs,
 the Jayhawks won in March Madness. If you are willing to abandon your 
ardent fandom of one descending team for the rise of another, the Kansas
 City area has been the place to be a fan.My 13-year-old boy has really never known the darkness of living in a
 sports quagmire. Liberated by a day off school in 2015, he boarded a 
bus for downtown Kansas City to get a glimpse of the Royals’ World 
Series parade.Four years later, we watched the Chiefs board double-decker buses for
 their own celebration. Sporting KC offered us a chance to see two 
players who represented the United States in the World Cup. Kansas City 
pro sports has offered him a glimmering local team at all times.This year, he also traced the Jayhawks men’s basketball team on his 
bracket to the championship. The University of Kansas’ streak of 
dominance in Big 12 basketball bordered on absurdity during our last 
decade, and even before. Big 12 basketball teams can earn the regular 
season title, the conference tournament title or both. The Jayhawks have
 won or shared the regular season title 20 times. The other 11 teams? 
Only 11 titles combined. In the conference tournament, a format that 
much more easily bounces out superior teams through one bad result, the 
Jayhawks have still won nearly half.(And who would have thought the 2022 football Jayhawks would execute this screeching U-turn of a season?)It hasn’t always been this way. The Royals and Chiefs have tested 
fans with long stretches of misery. To call the futility that flanks the
 Royals’ 2014 and 2015 seasons simply “losing seasons” understates the 
dismal nature of those teams. Since 2002, Royals fans endured six 
seasons with 100 or more losses.Likewise, the Chiefs claim an era of sour football — especially when 
compared with the current golden age. The recent teams are 
unprecedentedly hot, winning a record six consecutive AFC West division 
titles. They are poised to win another. Over the past seven seasons (not
 including this current one), the Chiefs have won 83 games.Here is your trivia question: How many seasons would it have taken to
 earn 83 wins if you started counting in 1972? The answer: 14 — double 
the number during the Andy Reid era.Consider the psychic drain of living in a city that lost so often. 
And consider how invincible it makes us feel to have a winner in the 
region at all times.It certainly can lead us to arrogance. Or, as I experienced Sunday 
while watching Mahomes rally the Chiefs, it breeds a chill confidence, a
 relaxed assurance that we fans don’t need to fret. It’s going to be OK.
 We believe that we will win.With less than two minutes to manage, Mahomes flung one pass and then
 another to dissolve the Chargers’ defense. The touchdown to tight end 
Travis Kelce felt less like surprising fan euphoria and more like deja 
vu. Like Lorenzo Cain making a circus catch in the outfield in 2015. 
Like opening a sports app on our phones to find Sporting KC advancing in
 its tournament. Like Bill Self smirking as he climbed the ladder to cut
 down the nets.The danger of a run like this is forgetting to savor it. Just ask the
 fans in Detroit, with four major sports teams, most of them failing to 
post winning records much less advance meaningfully in the playoffs.Cincinnati, despite three Super Bowl appearances, doesn’t have a 
single trophy. Add this to Cincinnati’s suffering: the hapless Reds who 
haven’t won their division in the past 10 years.I ask this of you as fellow fans. Deploy all of your superstitions to
 keep this streak going. Don’t wash the lucky socks. Drive the same way 
to the stadium every week. Eat the same pregame meal of sauerkraut and 
bratwursts.But whatever you do, don’t close your eyes. This is too rare — and fun — to miss.Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;

OPINION: For KC fans, sports wins feel inevitable. Let’s appreciate them

By DARVIN BENTLAGE <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/07/just-four-meatpackers-control-85-of-the-market-missouri-cattlemen-like-me-need-a-voice/">Courtesy Missouri Independent</a>

In the last two decades, hundreds
 of thousands of U.S. cattle producers have gone out of business, and we
 are currently losing 40 operations per day by some estimates. Just in 
the last two years, around 1,700 small feedlots run by independent 
family farmers were put out of business because of corporate 
consolidation.

This has led to an even more centralized production system as the 
dominant meatpackers favor a single-source system — getting cattle from 
large operations, run by them for their benefit only.

In 1980, the major meatpackers controlled 36% of the beef supply. 
Starting in that decade, we saw deregulation and a disappearance of 
antitrust enforcement that were designed to curb consolidation in 
industries, including meat production.

By the time the ‘80s came to an end, the top four meatpackers 
controlled 70% of the beef supply, and their power has only grown. 
Today, the top four meatpackers control around 85% of the beef supply.

What are the results? In 1980, beef producers made 62 cents of every 
dollar consumers spent on beef. Compare that to today, where only 37 
cents of the beef dollar goes to the producer. The price of beef in the 
last decade has risen from $4.67 a pound to $7.36 per pound — a 60% 
increase for consumers. But cattle producers’ profit dropped from $518 
per calf in 2014 to last year’s $125 per calf.

Profit for producers in 2014 was helped by mandatory COOL — 
country-of-origin labeling, which was required by the 2008 farm bill. 
However, corporate agriculture groups such as the North American Meat 
Institute and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association successfully lobbied
 Congress to repeal COOL in 2015, which led to the largest one-year 
price drop in cattle prices. Today, producers receive $300 less per calf
 than we did in 2014.

Meatpackers have also increased their use of so-called alternative 
marketing arrangements or AMAs, which are complicated strategies to 
avoid having to buy cattle on the open market. Meatpackers procure 80% 
of their supply through AMAs for a price to be named later based on the 
future cash market. And meatpackers manipulate the cash market through 
their control of the cattle supplies to drive down the price of cattle, 
resulting in less for the farmer and more profit for corporate 
meatpackers. The result is that consumers get gouged while producers are
 ripped off.

The use of AMAs increased from around 40% in 2005 to 80% in 2019. 
According to a study done by Georgetown and Ohio State University, for 
every 1% increase in AMAs, there is a 5% decrease in cash market prices.
 These kinds of pricing schemes have roughly doubled the meatpackers’ 
profitability, while cattlemen and small independent feedlots have 
suffered from higher input cost and lack of access to the marketplace.

There have been attempts to fix this corporate-controlled system by 
increasing competition for beef by supporting the building of packing 
plants not associated with the Big Four. However, in order to ensure 
independent processing plants succeed, we need to strengthen and enforce
 antitrust laws and fix the marketplace so these new plants can compete 
on a more level playing field.

For example, Congress needs to pass the American Beef Labeling Act to
 restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture needs to close a loophole in voluntary 
labeling rules so that only beef born, raised and harvested in the 
United States can bear the label “Product of the USA.”

Another bipartisan bill, proposed by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Jon 
Tester, is the 50/14 Bill, which would require that meatpackers purchase
 50% of their supply on the cash market and cannot own the cattle for 
more than 14 days before harvest.

The 50/14 Bill is such a threat to the meatpackers’ profits that they
 went immediately to work lobbying Congress, and convinced legislators 
to introduce a weaker compromise bill, the Cattle Price Discovery and 
Transparency Act, which would leave the meatpackers in charge for years 
while the USDA studies the issue.

That leaves a few questions: First, how many producers and small 
feedlots are going to go out of business before our elected 
representatives do something? Second, why did Congress rescind COOL when
 90% of Americans want truth in labeling? Why did Congress bow to the 
World Trade Organization and the big meatpackers?

We should call our representatives and senators to demand they 
support and pass the American Beef Labeling Act and the 50/14 Bill. 
Furthermore, they should break up the enormous meatpackers for the 
betterment of both the consumer and the producer.

Darvin Bentlage is a fourth-generation cattle and grain farmer from Barton County, Mo., and a member of Missouri Rural Crisis Center.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665766499156.png" alt="An Iowa meatpacking plant had plastic dividers installed separating workers on the production line (Photo provided by Tyson Fresh Meats)." />
 <figcaption>An Iowa meatpacking plant had plastic dividers installed separating workers on the production line (Photo provided by Tyson Fresh Meats).</figcaption>
 </figure>By DARVIN BENTLAGE <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/07/just-four-meatpackers-control-85-of-the-market-missouri-cattlemen-like-me-need-a-voice/">Courtesy Missouri Independent</a>In the last two decades, hundreds
 of thousands of U.S. cattle producers have gone out of business, and we
 are currently losing 40 operations per day by some estimates. Just in 
the last two years, around 1,700 small feedlots run by independent 
family farmers were put out of business because of corporate 
consolidation.This has led to an even more centralized production system as the 
dominant meatpackers favor a single-source system — getting cattle from 
large operations, run by them for their benefit only.In 1980, the major meatpackers controlled 36% of the beef supply. 
Starting in that decade, we saw deregulation and a disappearance of 
antitrust enforcement that were designed to curb consolidation in 
industries, including meat production.By the time the ‘80s came to an end, the top four meatpackers 
controlled 70% of the beef supply, and their power has only grown. 
Today, the top four meatpackers control around 85% of the beef supply.What are the results? In 1980, beef producers made 62 cents of every 
dollar consumers spent on beef. Compare that to today, where only 37 
cents of the beef dollar goes to the producer. The price of beef in the 
last decade has risen from $4.67 a pound to $7.36 per pound — a 60% 
increase for consumers. But cattle producers’ profit dropped from $518 
per calf in 2014 to last year’s $125 per calf.Profit for producers in 2014 was helped by mandatory COOL — 
country-of-origin labeling, which was required by the 2008 farm bill. 
However, corporate agriculture groups such as the North American Meat 
Institute and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association successfully lobbied
 Congress to repeal COOL in 2015, which led to the largest one-year 
price drop in cattle prices. Today, producers receive $300 less per calf
 than we did in 2014.Meatpackers have also increased their use of so-called alternative 
marketing arrangements or AMAs, which are complicated strategies to 
avoid having to buy cattle on the open market. Meatpackers procure 80% 
of their supply through AMAs for a price to be named later based on the 
future cash market. And meatpackers manipulate the cash market through 
their control of the cattle supplies to drive down the price of cattle, 
resulting in less for the farmer and more profit for corporate 
meatpackers. The result is that consumers get gouged while producers are
 ripped off.The use of AMAs increased from around 40% in 2005 to 80% in 2019. 
According to a study done by Georgetown and Ohio State University, for 
every 1% increase in AMAs, there is a 5% decrease in cash market prices.
 These kinds of pricing schemes have roughly doubled the meatpackers’ 
profitability, while cattlemen and small independent feedlots have 
suffered from higher input cost and lack of access to the marketplace.There have been attempts to fix this corporate-controlled system by 
increasing competition for beef by supporting the building of packing 
plants not associated with the Big Four. However, in order to ensure 
independent processing plants succeed, we need to strengthen and enforce
 antitrust laws and fix the marketplace so these new plants can compete 
on a more level playing field.For example, Congress needs to pass the American Beef Labeling Act to
 restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture needs to close a loophole in voluntary 
labeling rules so that only beef born, raised and harvested in the 
United States can bear the label “Product of the USA.”Another bipartisan bill, proposed by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Jon 
Tester, is the 50/14 Bill, which would require that meatpackers purchase
 50% of their supply on the cash market and cannot own the cattle for 
more than 14 days before harvest.The 50/14 Bill is such a threat to the meatpackers’ profits that they
 went immediately to work lobbying Congress, and convinced legislators 
to introduce a weaker compromise bill, the Cattle Price Discovery and 
Transparency Act, which would leave the meatpackers in charge for years 
while the USDA studies the issue.That leaves a few questions: First, how many producers and small 
feedlots are going to go out of business before our elected 
representatives do something? Second, why did Congress rescind COOL when
 90% of Americans want truth in labeling? Why did Congress bow to the 
World Trade Organization and the big meatpackers?We should call our representatives and senators to demand they 
support and pass the American Beef Labeling Act and the 50/14 Bill. 
Furthermore, they should break up the enormous meatpackers for the 
betterment of both the consumer and the producer.Darvin Bentlage is a fourth-generation cattle and grain farmer from Barton County, Mo., and a member of Missouri Rural Crisis Center.

OPINION: Four meatpackers control 85% of market. Cattlemen need a voice

By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/08/19/early-signs-and-concerns-of-how-sports-gambling-apps-will-market-to-kansans/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

Thursday’s announcement that sports betting <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/08/18/kansas-plans-sept-1-soft-launch-of-sports-wagering-for-start-of-football-season/">will begin Sept. 1</a>
 in Kansas edges the state closer to a brave new world for sports fans, 
whether supporting the Jayhawks, Chiefs, Wildcats, Shockers, Royals or 
Sporting KC.

When the Kansas Legislature <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/12/kansas-governor-signs-law-legalizes-sports-betting/">approved sports gaming</a>
 earlier this year, it triggered a complex multibillion dollar marketing
 and technology machine that is already whirring to life, even in 
advance of the start date. And that machine will certainly change our 
state’s relationship with sports.

Some of these changes will be minor 
and cosmetic. However, other changes will alter how we watch games and, 
most radically, who we root for.

Here are my notes about how sports has already changed with gambling on the scene — along with a forecast of coming changes.

The visual landscape of watching 
sports — or even reading about them — will never be the same. Since the 
U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">nationwide sports gambling in 2018</a>, betting odds have invaded every mainstream sports app.

On my phone, ESPN’s app offers a 
PickCenter, providing the run line, money line and over/under for the 
Royals game Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. You can also get 
“exclusive PickCenter analysis” with a subscription payment. CBS Sports 
and most other apps offer the same wagering details — sometimes on a 
homepage scoreboard that doesn’t require you even to click through to 
read about the game.

Like me, maybe you spent decades 
scanning the daily newspaper and the sports page, with its hundreds of 
lines of agate, displaying scores and betting lines. In most papers, 
betting information was relegated to a box on the outskirts of the page,
 signaling an uneasy yet conjoined relationship between sports 
journalism and gambling.

The paper sought to inform both your 
pure love affair with your favorite team and your begrudging habit of 
making a bet against that same team with a local bookie.

We should expect the same creeping 
presence of sports betting information when watching sports broadcasts 
too. In past NFL seasons, commentators coyly hinted at how a fourth 
quarter field goal might impact a teetering betting line. Those same 
play-by-play personalities, like Al Michaels of NBC, have acknowledged 
their increased liberation to be more direct.

“So what I would do through the years
 is I would come in the back door, sometimes I would come in the side 
door, and now I guess they’re allowing me to come in the front door, 
which is not as much fun as doing it subtly,” Michaels <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-entertainment-nfl-courts-sports-betting-ab511551c44d6bed4c929bfd02eda32a">told the Associated Press last year</a>.

In addition to this shift to verbal 
posture, the networks broadcasting the games will provide more gambling 
information in pregame shows, “<a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-entertainment-nfl-courts-sports-betting-ab511551c44d6bed4c929bfd02eda32a">but only to help contextualize game analysis or a broader storyline</a>.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Looking to countries where sports 
betting has had decades to infiltrate the culture suggests how visually 
omnipresent sports gambling brand might become, and how much we might 
regret it eventually.

The English Premier League is arguably the top soccer league in the world in a country that has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/betting-gambling-shirt-sponsorship-soccer-football-cricket-rugby-ban-caytoo/">long allowed sports gambling</a>. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/14/gambling-review-delay-lets-premier-league-football-clubs-strike-sponsorship-deals">Forty percent of teams in the league</a>
 have agreements with sports gambling companies to provide an 
advertising image on the front of the team’s uniform. This summer, the 
league looked <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/voluntary-ban-on-betting-shirt-sponsors-to-be-agreed-by-premier-league-clubs-58nqb9mqz">poised to ban</a> such ads on the front of shirts, but energy for the <a target="_blank" href="https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league-accused-tokenism-ban-gambling-shirt-sponsors-1793534">prohibition</a> has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/14/gambling-review-delay-lets-premier-league-football-clubs-strike-sponsorship-deals">stalled</a>.

More North American sports teams are including advertising on their jerseys, in big or small ways. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usbets.com/sportsbook-advertising-jerseys-america/">Washington Capitals signed a deal</a>
 with Caesars Sportsbook last year to include a 3-by-3.5 inch patch on 
their jerseys. So, don’t be surprised to see a FanDuel logo on the chest
 of your favorite player during an upcoming season.

The tension is clear. How can a 
player try his hardest to win while he wears an ad for a site where 
hundreds of people financially invest in his losing?

The line between journalism and betting advertising

Publications constantly allow 
advertisers to blur the line between advertising from a paid sponsor and
 the journalism from their staff members. That line is particularly hazy
 these days on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/sports/">sports web page of the Kansas City Star</a>. The most prominent real estate on the page in the top left quadrant is dedicated to a module labeled “Betting.”&nbsp;

The packaging of that content uses the same fonts, story structures and provides <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/profile/257676073">bylines</a> for the writers. However, the content is sponsored.

“We may earn a fee if you make a purchase through one of our links,” <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/betting/article261739482.html">the page explains</a>. “The newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.”

What follows that warning is a 
promotional blitz for each of the companies that will offer sports 
gambling in Kansas: DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, WynnBET, 
FanDuel, BetRivers and PointsBet. While headlines for each post promise a
 “review,” the writer from Gambling.com gushes about the features 
without ever considering a critique.

In the final words of these reviews 
(some of them stretching more than 3,000 words), there is the same 
cut-and-paste warning about “responsible gambling.”

The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansas.com/sports/">Wichita Eagle’s sports home page</a>
 does not display the betting content in the same prominent way, 
although the same “reviews” are there for readers. Both publications are
 owned by the same parent company and use the same website template.

Aside from sports media, Kansans 
should prepare for their fellow fans to act differently during games. 
The never-ending buffet of betting options for any particular game might
 create perverse rooting incentives for the fan sitting next to you at 
the bar.

Imagine that you are sitting next to 
your buddy, a rabid Kansas City Chiefs fan decked out in his Patrick 
Mahomes replica jersey as he crushes some chicken wings. By betting on 
the “under” for a game, he will be hoping for a low-scoring game. So, 
don’t be surprised if he is rooting for the Chiefs to take a knee, 
rather than for Mahomes to throw another touchdown pass, if the game is 
already secured for the Chiefs.

Of course, many fans are familiar 
with this from years of fantasy sports and illegal gambling. But 
legalized gambling promises to send many more fans to check their phones
 at the end of the game and consider which is more precious: their $500 
wager or their coveted team.

In the mail this week, I received a 
glitzy brochure from DraftKings VIP, promising “enhanced promotional 
offers,” “invitations to private events” and “a dedicated host.” The 
cover of the advertisement featured a map of Kansas with a clutch of 
sunflowers blooming awkwardly in the northwest corner of the state 
(Hello, St. Francis!).&nbsp;

The message of the black-and-bronze 
advertisement is clear: While gambling will be as easy as downloading an
 app, I can have an exclusive, swanky experience (through the phone?). 
This appeal might be useful for separating DraftKings VIP from the other
 gambling providers. However, the implicit message is that spending more
 (“Qualified Dynasty members”) will bring benefits.

Such marketing creates a slippery 
slope toward irresponsible gambling, even before the start of online 
wagering has been announced.

Of course, all of these dominoes of 
sports, culture, advertising and journalism were long ago set in motion.
 What’s coming into sharper focus now is how it will affect Kansans as 
we cheer from our couches — perhaps with a sports gambling app on the 
phone in our hand.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660921289041.png" alt="This mailing from DraftKings, which is arriving at Kansas mailboxes this week, is one sign of the marketing blitzes on the way with the Sept. 1 start of sports gambling in Kansas. (Eric Thomas)" />
 <figcaption>This mailing from DraftKings, which is arriving at Kansas mailboxes this week, is one sign of the marketing blitzes on the way with the Sept. 1 start of sports gambling in Kansas. (Eric Thomas)</figcaption>
 </figure>By ERIC THOMAS <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/08/19/early-signs-and-concerns-of-how-sports-gambling-apps-will-market-to-kansans/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>Thursday’s announcement that sports betting <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/08/18/kansas-plans-sept-1-soft-launch-of-sports-wagering-for-start-of-football-season/">will begin Sept. 1</a>
 in Kansas edges the state closer to a brave new world for sports fans, 
whether supporting the Jayhawks, Chiefs, Wildcats, Shockers, Royals or 
Sporting KC.When the Kansas Legislature <a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/12/kansas-governor-signs-law-legalizes-sports-betting/">approved sports gaming</a>
 earlier this year, it triggered a complex multibillion dollar marketing
 and technology machine that is already whirring to life, even in 
advance of the start date. And that machine will certainly change our 
state’s relationship with sports.Some of these changes will be minor 
and cosmetic. However, other changes will alter how we watch games and, 
most radically, who we root for.Here are my notes about how sports has already changed with gambling on the scene — along with a forecast of coming changes.<h2>Signs of betting in new places</h2>The visual landscape of watching 
sports — or even reading about them — will never be the same. Since the 
U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">nationwide sports gambling in 2018</a>, betting odds have invaded every mainstream sports app.On my phone, ESPN’s app offers a 
PickCenter, providing the run line, money line and over/under for the 
Royals game Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. You can also get 
“exclusive PickCenter analysis” with a subscription payment. CBS Sports 
and most other apps offer the same wagering details — sometimes on a 
homepage scoreboard that doesn’t require you even to click through to 
read about the game.Like me, maybe you spent decades 
scanning the daily newspaper and the sports page, with its hundreds of 
lines of agate, displaying scores and betting lines. In most papers, 
betting information was relegated to a box on the outskirts of the page,
 signaling an uneasy yet conjoined relationship between sports 
journalism and gambling.The paper sought to inform both your 
pure love affair with your favorite team and your begrudging habit of 
making a bet against that same team with a local bookie.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>We should expect the same creeping 
presence of sports betting information when watching sports broadcasts 
too. In past NFL seasons, commentators coyly hinted at how a fourth 
quarter field goal might impact a teetering betting line. Those same 
play-by-play personalities, like Al Michaels of NBC, have acknowledged 
their increased liberation to be more direct.“So what I would do through the years
 is I would come in the back door, sometimes I would come in the side 
door, and now I guess they’re allowing me to come in the front door, 
which is not as much fun as doing it subtly,” Michaels <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-entertainment-nfl-courts-sports-betting-ab511551c44d6bed4c929bfd02eda32a">told the Associated Press last year</a>.In addition to this shift to verbal 
posture, the networks broadcasting the games will provide more gambling 
information in pregame shows, “<a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-entertainment-nfl-courts-sports-betting-ab511551c44d6bed4c929bfd02eda32a">but only to help contextualize game analysis or a broader storyline</a>.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Looking to countries where sports 
betting has had decades to infiltrate the culture suggests how visually 
omnipresent sports gambling brand might become, and how much we might 
regret it eventually.The English Premier League is arguably the top soccer league in the world in a country that has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/betting-gambling-shirt-sponsorship-soccer-football-cricket-rugby-ban-caytoo/">long allowed sports gambling</a>. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/14/gambling-review-delay-lets-premier-league-football-clubs-strike-sponsorship-deals">Forty percent of teams in the league</a>
 have agreements with sports gambling companies to provide an 
advertising image on the front of the team’s uniform. This summer, the 
league looked <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/voluntary-ban-on-betting-shirt-sponsors-to-be-agreed-by-premier-league-clubs-58nqb9mqz">poised to ban</a> such ads on the front of shirts, but energy for the <a target="_blank" href="https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league-accused-tokenism-ban-gambling-shirt-sponsors-1793534">prohibition</a> has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/14/gambling-review-delay-lets-premier-league-football-clubs-strike-sponsorship-deals">stalled</a>.More North American sports teams are including advertising on their jerseys, in big or small ways. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usbets.com/sportsbook-advertising-jerseys-america/">Washington Capitals signed a deal</a>
 with Caesars Sportsbook last year to include a 3-by-3.5 inch patch on 
their jerseys. So, don’t be surprised to see a FanDuel logo on the chest
 of your favorite player during an upcoming season.The tension is clear. How can a 
player try his hardest to win while he wears an ad for a site where 
hundreds of people financially invest in his losing?<h2>The line between journalism and betting advertising</h2>Publications constantly allow 
advertisers to blur the line between advertising from a paid sponsor and
 the journalism from their staff members. That line is particularly hazy
 these days on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/sports/">sports web page of the Kansas City Star</a>. The most prominent real estate on the page in the top left quadrant is dedicated to a module labeled “Betting.”&nbsp;The packaging of that content uses the same fonts, story structures and provides <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/profile/257676073">bylines</a> for the writers. However, the content is sponsored.“We may earn a fee if you make a purchase through one of our links,” <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/betting/article261739482.html">the page explains</a>. “The newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.”What follows that warning is a 
promotional blitz for each of the companies that will offer sports 
gambling in Kansas: DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, WynnBET, 
FanDuel, BetRivers and PointsBet. While headlines for each post promise a
 “review,” the writer from Gambling.com gushes about the features 
without ever considering a critique.In the final words of these reviews 
(some of them stretching more than 3,000 words), there is the same 
cut-and-paste warning about “responsible gambling.”The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansas.com/sports/">Wichita Eagle’s sports home page</a>
 does not display the betting content in the same prominent way, 
although the same “reviews” are there for readers. Both publications are
 owned by the same parent company and use the same website template.<h2>Chatter during games</h2>Aside from sports media, Kansans 
should prepare for their fellow fans to act differently during games. 
The never-ending buffet of betting options for any particular game might
 create perverse rooting incentives for the fan sitting next to you at 
the bar.Imagine that you are sitting next to 
your buddy, a rabid Kansas City Chiefs fan decked out in his Patrick 
Mahomes replica jersey as he crushes some chicken wings. By betting on 
the “under” for a game, he will be hoping for a low-scoring game. So, 
don’t be surprised if he is rooting for the Chiefs to take a knee, 
rather than for Mahomes to throw another touchdown pass, if the game is 
already secured for the Chiefs.Sports gambling muddies our fandom.Of course, many fans are familiar 
with this from years of fantasy sports and illegal gambling. But 
legalized gambling promises to send many more fans to check their phones
 at the end of the game and consider which is more precious: their $500 
wager or their coveted team.<h2>Enticing VIP packaging&nbsp;</h2>In the mail this week, I received a 
glitzy brochure from DraftKings VIP, promising “enhanced promotional 
offers,” “invitations to private events” and “a dedicated host.” The 
cover of the advertisement featured a map of Kansas with a clutch of 
sunflowers blooming awkwardly in the northwest corner of the state 
(Hello, St. Francis!).&nbsp;The message of the black-and-bronze 
advertisement is clear: While gambling will be as easy as downloading an
 app, I can have an exclusive, swanky experience (through the phone?). 
This appeal might be useful for separating DraftKings VIP from the other
 gambling providers. However, the implicit message is that spending more
 (“Qualified Dynasty members”) will bring benefits.Such marketing creates a slippery 
slope toward irresponsible gambling, even before the start of online 
wagering has been announced.Of course, all of these dominoes of 
sports, culture, advertising and journalism were long ago set in motion.
 What’s coming into sharper focus now is how it will affect Kansans as 
we cheer from our couches — perhaps with a sports gambling app on the 
phone in our hand.Eric Thomas directs the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit that supports student journalism throughout the state. He also teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.&nbsp;

OPINION: Early signs, and concerns, of how sports gambling apps will market to Kansans

By HUASCAR MEDINA <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/07/23/kansas-exhibit-unites-worlds-of-artistry-and-family-into-a-big-hearted-whole/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>

“Making It Work” is currently on display at the <a target="_blank" href="https://lawrenceartscenter.org/">Lawrence Arts Center</a>.
 The exhibit takes a deeper look into the generative processes of 
artists as parents and how familial bonds inform their work.&nbsp; The featured artists include <a target="_blank" href="https://pilaraguero.com/">Pilar Agüero-Esparza</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://albertoaguilar.org/">Alberto Aguilar</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.christadonner.com/">Christa Donner</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lisehallerbaggesen.org/">Lise Haller Baggesen</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cararomerophotography.com/home">Cara Romero</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="http://blacklunchtable.com/about/founders/">Jina Valentine</a>.

The show “brings together six 
contemporary U.S. artists who are artists and parents who make that 
relationship visible in their work,” said Maria Velasco, a professor at the University of Kansas’ <a target="_blank" href="https://art.ku.edu/">Department of Visual Art</a>, along with being a mother and artist herself.
 “It is part of their dynamic, their conception and their making. So 
from that point of view, it is really unique. Because we’re used to 
having to choose between one or the other. The culture tells us that you
 must be one or the other. That if you are a good parent you can’t be a 
good artist and if you are a good artist you can’t be a parent. So you 
really have to challenge that belief. And still deal with the 
difficulties in existing in that kind of juncture.”&nbsp;

The show was co-curated by Velasco and Rachel Epp Buller, professor of visual arts and design at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bethelks.edu/">Bethel College</a>.&nbsp;

When asked about the artists chosen, 
Velasco said that, “For us, from the beginning, the choice was based on 
what we call generative practices, which are ways in which we look at 
processes, collaboration, conversations, activities that may take place 
normally internally, in terms of the making of the work, but also with 
the existing community.&nbsp;

“We were looking at how those 
processes materialize into some kind of work. It’s not so much the 
old-fashioned way of making work, where you are thinking about an object
 on the wall that is self contained. This is looking at how we make work
 from a different platform to begin with.”

Featured artist Agüero-Esparza presents a
 wall installation with three-dimensional elements in acrylic and wood 
titled: “Multicultural Crayon: White, Apricot, Peach, Tan, Mahogany, 
Burnt Sienna, Sepia, Black — What Color Are You?” This piece converses 
with another piece, “Dance &amp; Conversations: Castings” Both include 
casts of her daughter’s feet at different ages. At age 10, the 
conversation is about skin tone. The artist uses a crayon skin tone 
color palette to have discussions about race.&nbsp;

This conversation began with her 
daughter coming home after school, asking why people don’t identify with
 the peach color that most white people consider skin color. Agüero-Esparza also connects this work with her upbringing in Mexico. Her family had a shoe shop that made huaraches. The tint of the leather strands are represented in the base of the casted feet, dancing at age 17.&nbsp;

“Since an early age, she (Agüero-Esparza) has
 been involved in seeing and being a part of that process,” Velasco 
said. “That process is stripes of leather that are tinted in different 
forms and has carried that stylistic choice in her work. The story 
behind this work is intergenerational. A story she is having with her 
parents and her daughter. When you become a parent that lineage becomes 
so apparent.”&nbsp;

Donner’s interactive piece, “A Portal
 Is Opening,” is also an intergenerational work in which the viewer is 
projected into the future. It has a QR code and map that will send you 
to a spot in South Park by a bench, where you can listen to a letter 
that a child from 2226 telling us about extinction and species that have
 disappeared.

&nbsp;“This is a conversation on 
sustainability and how unaware we are of the damage that we are 
creating. The fact that our children will inherit that world and life 
doesn’t stop when we stop. Having kids makes that more obvious than 
ever.” Velasco said. “We are connecting with a child from the future. It
 makes obvious these political issues in a poetic way. The piece is 
narrated by the daughter of the artist. It is a way of collaborating 
with your kids.”&nbsp;

Velasco continued: “It is not just a 
sentimental or cute thing. You are having a conversation with a 
legitimate human being that is a small person, because of course, it’s 
cute because kids are cute, but that is not what the point is. But when 
you are engaged as a parent who is also an artist, and you are having 
conversations with your kids that are very serious like this one about 
race, sustainability or others.”

Another conversation presented in the show addresses racial violence against Black men. It’s titled “Testimony.”

Valentine was inspired by her 
inability to process the news about the shooting deaths of young Black 
men. The piece is difficult to absorb. It includes excerpts of news 
reports about the deaths of Black sons. You can only read a little bit 
at a time. In this work, Valentine used an ink that eats the paper away.
 Possibly she’s commenting about erasure, whitewashing, or an attempt to
 remove a reality that should not have taken place. Perhaps she is 
facilitating time being pressed forward, to a point where these stories 
may not exist.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658602054729.png" alt="“Dance &amp; Conversations: Castings” by Pilar Agüero-Esparza (front) and “Testimony” by Jina Valentine are both part of the “Making It Work” exhibit currently on display at the Lawrence Arts Center. (Huascar Medina/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>“Dance &amp; Conversations: Castings” by Pilar Agüero-Esparza (front) and “Testimony” by Jina Valentine are both part of the “Making It Work” exhibit currently on display at the Lawrence Arts Center. (Huascar Medina/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By HUASCAR MEDINA <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/07/23/kansas-exhibit-unites-worlds-of-artistry-and-family-into-a-big-hearted-whole/">Courtesy Kansas Reflector</a>“Making It Work” is currently on display at the <a target="_blank" href="https://lawrenceartscenter.org/">Lawrence Arts Center</a>.
 The exhibit takes a deeper look into the generative processes of 
artists as parents and how familial bonds inform their work.&nbsp; The featured artists include <a target="_blank" href="https://pilaraguero.com/">Pilar Agüero-Esparza</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://albertoaguilar.org/">Alberto Aguilar</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.christadonner.com/">Christa Donner</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lisehallerbaggesen.org/">Lise Haller Baggesen</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cararomerophotography.com/home">Cara Romero</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="http://blacklunchtable.com/about/founders/">Jina Valentine</a>.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1575913663048.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The show “brings together six 
contemporary U.S. artists who are artists and parents who make that 
relationship visible in their work,” said Maria Velasco, a professor at the University of Kansas’ <a target="_blank" href="https://art.ku.edu/">Department of Visual Art</a>, along with being a mother and artist herself.
 “It is part of their dynamic, their conception and their making. So 
from that point of view, it is really unique. Because we’re used to 
having to choose between one or the other. The culture tells us that you
 must be one or the other. That if you are a good parent you can’t be a 
good artist and if you are a good artist you can’t be a parent. So you 
really have to challenge that belief. And still deal with the 
difficulties in existing in that kind of juncture.”&nbsp;The show was co-curated by Velasco and Rachel Epp Buller, professor of visual arts and design at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bethelks.edu/">Bethel College</a>.&nbsp;When asked about the artists chosen, 
Velasco said that, “For us, from the beginning, the choice was based on 
what we call generative practices, which are ways in which we look at 
processes, collaboration, conversations, activities that may take place 
normally internally, in terms of the making of the work, but also with 
the existing community.&nbsp;“We were looking at how those 
processes materialize into some kind of work. It’s not so much the 
old-fashioned way of making work, where you are thinking about an object
 on the wall that is self contained. This is looking at how we make work
 from a different platform to begin with.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658602124523.jpeg" alt="In this closeup from “Testimony,” by Jina Valentine, you can see how excerpts from newspapers are written in an iron gall ink that eats away at the paper. (Huascar Medina/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>In this closeup from “Testimony,” by Jina Valentine, you can see how excerpts from newspapers are written in an iron gall ink that eats away at the paper. (Huascar Medina/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Featured artist Agüero-Esparza presents a
 wall installation with three-dimensional elements in acrylic and wood 
titled: “Multicultural Crayon: White, Apricot, Peach, Tan, Mahogany, 
Burnt Sienna, Sepia, Black — What Color Are You?” This piece converses 
with another piece, “Dance &amp; Conversations: Castings” Both include 
casts of her daughter’s feet at different ages. At age 10, the 
conversation is about skin tone. The artist uses a crayon skin tone 
color palette to have discussions about race.&nbsp;This conversation began with her 
daughter coming home after school, asking why people don’t identify with
 the peach color that most white people consider skin color. Agüero-Esparza also connects this work with her upbringing in Mexico. Her family had a shoe shop that made huaraches. The tint of the leather strands are represented in the base of the casted feet, dancing at age 17.&nbsp;“Since an early age, she (Agüero-Esparza) has
 been involved in seeing and being a part of that process,” Velasco 
said. “That process is stripes of leather that are tinted in different 
forms and has carried that stylistic choice in her work. The story 
behind this work is intergenerational. A story she is having with her 
parents and her daughter. When you become a parent that lineage becomes 
so apparent.”&nbsp;Donner’s interactive piece, “A Portal
 Is Opening,” is also an intergenerational work in which the viewer is 
projected into the future. It has a QR code and map that will send you 
to a spot in South Park by a bench, where you can listen to a letter 
that a child from 2226 telling us about extinction and species that have
 disappeared.&nbsp;“This is a conversation on 
sustainability and how unaware we are of the damage that we are 
creating. The fact that our children will inherit that world and life 
doesn’t stop when we stop. Having kids makes that more obvious than 
ever.” Velasco said. “We are connecting with a child from the future. It
 makes obvious these political issues in a poetic way. The piece is 
narrated by the daughter of the artist. It is a way of collaborating 
with your kids.”&nbsp;Velasco continued: “It is not just a 
sentimental or cute thing. You are having a conversation with a 
legitimate human being that is a small person, because of course, it’s 
cute because kids are cute, but that is not what the point is. But when 
you are engaged as a parent who is also an artist, and you are having 
conversations with your kids that are very serious like this one about 
race, sustainability or others.”Another conversation presented in the show addresses racial violence against Black men. It’s titled “Testimony.”Valentine was inspired by her 
inability to process the news about the shooting deaths of young Black 
men. The piece is difficult to absorb. It includes excerpts of news 
reports about the deaths of Black sons. You can only read a little bit 
at a time. In this work, Valentine used an ink that eats the paper away.
 Possibly she’s commenting about erasure, whitewashing, or an attempt to
 remove a reality that should not have taken place. Perhaps she is 
facilitating time being pressed forward, to a point where these stories 
may not exist.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1658602157042.png" alt=" “Mothernism,” by Lise Haller Baggesen, includes a nomadic tent camp, audio installation and a book. (Huascar Medina/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> “Mothernism,” by Lise Haller Baggesen, includes a nomadic tent camp, audio installation and a book. (Huascar Medina/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Baggesens describes her work 
“Mothernism” as “a nomadic tent camp, audio installation and a book 
dedicated to staking out and making speakable the “mother-shaped hole in
 contemporary art discourse.”&nbsp;In this created space, you can listen
 to music and read books that Baggesens has selected. The place projects
 a sense of sanctuary, contemplation and isolation all at once.&nbsp;The familial bonds displayed 
throughout this show magnify the works of all these artists. Each one 
creates simultaneously as an artist and parent. There is no delineation 
in the work that has to be done and the conversations that need to be 
had. Creating art that addresses issues affecting both parents and 
children is not only good parenting, but important artistry. “Making it 
work” exemplifies the power of artists as parents with real profundity.&nbsp;“Making It Work” will run until July 
30. A curator’s INSIGHT Art Talk will occur July 28, at 7 p.m.. This 
will include a presentation of Epp Buller’s book “<a target="_blank" href="https://demeterpress.org/books/inappropriate-bodies-art-design-and-maternity/">Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, Maternity”</a> and the first local screening of Velasco’s award-winning documentary “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.mariavelascostudio.com/all-of-me-artistsmothers">All of Me: Artists+Mothers</a>.”A closing reception will be held July 29 at the Lawrence Arts Center from 5 to 9 p.m.Huascar Media — the Kansas poet laureate — is a poet, writer, and performer who lives in Topeka. He works as a freelance copywriter and as the literary editor for seveneightfive magazine, publishing stories that spotlight literary and artistic events in northeast Kansas. His poems can be found in his collection "How to Hang the Moon" and "Un Mango Grows in Kansas." He is the winner of ARTSConnect’s 2018 Arty Award for Literary Art.

Opinion