Remembering Yordano Ventura

Today is a really weird day. There is literally no NEW news regarding K-State athletics, as everyone did their thing on Friday and Saturday this weekend. There will almost certainly be news later today, as the basketball polls are released, but for this morning we’re basically just offering you an open thread, along with some random weird news.

But the biggest news affecting the majority of our readers yesterday didn’t involve K-State. Royals starter Yordano Ventura was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic early yesterday.

Tributes poured in from around baseball; even players with whom Ventura had notable scrapes — Mike Trout and Jose Bautista — chimed in. (Brett Lawrie did not.) Fans gathered at Kaufman Stadium to set up an impromptu memorial, and they were joined by Royals Danny Duffy and Christian Colon, both of whom wandered through the crowd hugging people.

It was stunning news for the Royals, even aside from their personal love for the fiery Dominican. He was popular with the team and had a hardcore fanbase in Kansas City, even if some members of both constituencies felt his antics needed to be reined in. His talent was undeniable, even if the results were sometimes wanting.

We realize some of you are fans of other teams, or care nothing for baseball. But your benevolent despot, as well as most of the staff, are die-hard Royals fans, so please forgive us for taking a day to talk about something that isn’t K-State.

Especially a day where we’d otherwise just have a couple of quick paragraphs of fluff.

Speaking of which:

At the Capital-Journal, Ken Corbitt reports on K-State recruit Levi Stockard, who led his St. Louis Vashon Trojans to the Topeka Invitational title.

Ever seen purple fence posts in rural Kansas? They don’t mean what you might think, reports the Wichita Eagle’s Michael Pierce.

In a bizarre coincidence, on Sunday the Star posted an editorial questioning the State of Kansas policy allowing guns on campus, noting that K-State president General Richard B. Myers opposes the practice. And then Sunday night, a K-State student accidentally shot himself in a dorm. Talk about timing.

That’s it, citizens. Enjoy your Monday, and Go Cats.