The Dodge City High School Red Demon volleyball teams ran through a quadrangular match in Goodland Thursday and won eight of their nine matches. The varsity team went 3-0, the junior varsity went 2-1 and the freshman team swept its matches as well.

    Kansas heads to Tampa next week to face No. 17 South Florida in what figures to be the 14th-ranked Jayhawks’ first big test of the season.
    There is one little bit of business to take care of between now and then: Louisiana Tech.
    Normally, a game like this, against a smaller school from the Western Athletic Conference, would be nothing more than a tuneup for Kansas, a way to smooth things out before it really gets tough.
    This one’s got the Jayhawks’ attention.

Victor Martinez reached base four times in his return to catching, helping the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 Friday night for their 10th straight road win.
    The Indians had been bringing Martinez along slowly after the two-time All-Star catcher had elbow surgery on June 13. He was activated from the disabled list on Aug. 31 and had struggled at the plate, going 3-for-15 in five games.

Kansas’ historic season didn’t go unappreciated.
    A crowd of 52,112, a record for 88-year-old Memorial Stadium, showed up for the season opener and watched the No. 14 Jayhawks race past Florida International, 40-10 on Saturday night.

    The Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday claimed two players off waivers, lineman Brian De La Puente from San Francisco and linebacker Erik Walden from Dallas.
    De La Puente, who played on the offensive line for California, entered the NFL this year as a rookie free agent with the 49ers. The 6-foot-3, 306-pounder earned honorable mention Pac 10 honors his senior year.

Kansas State coach Ron Prince stomped along the sideline, scowling, pointing, screaming at his players.
    Didn’t matter that his team was up by six touchdowns, against a small-conference team with one of the nation’s worst defenses a year ago. Thirteen months since his team’s last victory, Prince wanted a win. Really bad.
    Josh Freeman made sure he got it, throwing two of his three touchdown passes to Brandon Banks and running for two more scores to help Kansas State win another easy home opener Saturday night, 45-6 over North Texas.

    Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs and Justin Verlander pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Friday night.
    The Royals have lost six straight, nine of 10 and 12 of 14. They have been outscored 105-41 in the 14 games.

    Kevin Slowey limited Kansas City to one run on seven hits in six innings, Joe Mauer drove in two runs and the Minnesota Twins took advantage of eight walks to beat the Royals 4-1 on Friday night.

The Kansas City Chiefs are adding a little international flavor to their practice squad this season.
    General manager Carl Peterson announced Tuesday that linebacker Aden Durde will join the Chiefs roster as an international developmental practice squad player for 2008.
    Durde is a 6-foot-1, 240-pound linebacker. He’s a five-year veteran of NFL Europa. He played with the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils, including the 2007 Hamburg team that won World Bowl XV.