By all means, Denver, please take Elvis!

Even though they despise the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs fans don’t hate quarterback Rich Gannon. The same can’t be said for Elvis Grbac, especially if he hooks up with the Denver Broncos, as Monday’s Kansas City Star reports he might wish to do.

Even as football has overshadowed baseball as the top professional sport in KC, the keep Elvis, dump Gannon blunder by the Chiefs after the 1998 season has easily topped the David Cone for Ed Hearn trade by the Royals as a act of lunacy.

Here’s hoping Denver does sign Elvis to replace Brian Griese. Not only will the Chiefs and their fans get to beat up on Grbac, he’ll surely drag the Bronco offensive down in the mud as he did in Kansas City.

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I’ve paid virtually no attention to high school basketball polls so far, but the girls’ state rankings out last week caught my eye, for one very good reason.

Compare this season’s schedule with the area schools who are or have been ranked in the polls and you’ll find more than a handful teams on Gallatin’s list of opponents. LeBlond (#1 Class 3), Lathrop (#10 Class 3), Worth County (#4 Class 1) and Stanberry (#9 Class 1) are definite Lady Bulldog opponents. Gallatin’s girls faced East Buchanan, which just dropped out of the poll, in their opener. The Lady Bulldogs could see Smithville (#8 Class 3) later this week in the Lawson Tournament. St. Joseph Christian (#1 Class 2) and Tarkio (#2 Class 2) are potential district opponents in February. But for a pre-Christmas loss to East Buchanan, Hamilton’s girls would likely have been ranked in the Class 3 poll before they took on Stanberry last Friday.

The Lawson Tournament has barely started but teams are already jockeying for seeding positions in the upcoming Hamilton Tournament. Two games this week will determine who gets the top girls seed at Hamilton. Gallatin and Hamilton, both 8-2, square off for the second time tomorrow night. Lathrop, also 8-2, faces East Buchanan on Friday in the final night of the Lathrop Shootout. Lathrop has already lost once to East Buchanan. Gallatin beat East Buchanan, but lost previously to Hamilton. The Hamilton Tournament seeds will be awarded this Saturday.

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I see that Atlanta has declined to renew the contract of second baseman Keith Lockhart. Don’t be surprised, then, if you see Lockhart in Kansas City’s starting lineup on Opening Day. The Royals have long been dissatisfied with under-achieving and injury- prone Carlos Feebles at second.

Lockhart, you may remember, stuck in the major leagues after serving as a replacement player for the Royals during the 1994 strike. He’s had several fairly productive seasons with the Braves and the Royals will likely be lured by his experience and a reasonable price tag.

If they acquire Lockhart, it will be just another case of the Royals taking what they can get from the free agent pool. Recent signings of Albie Lopez and Mike DiFelice don’t exactly inspire confidence in the direction the Royals are headed.

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The Chiefs remain badly in need of a defensive overhaul, and with that in mind, they should make every attempt to better their position in the draft, which is coming up in April. Kansas City has the #16 pick, right smack dab in middle of the pack. Here’s an early primer on how things could go.

Cincinnati’s poor season (2-14) has been rewarded with the top pick and the Bengals, despite the failed Akili Smith experiment, will clearly go after a quarterback. Chicago, owner of the #4 pick, and Carolina, at #9, also will take quarterbacks, so figure Eli Manning, Byron Leftwich and Carson Palmer go in the top nine.

Kansas City could use either a cornerback or pass-rusher lineman. At least five other teams ahead of the Chiefs Houston (#3), Minnesota (#7), Seattle (#10 or 11 depending on a coin toss), Arizona (#6) and Washington (#13), need impact players on the defensive side.

Figure those teams who need quarterbacks aren’t going to trade those picks. For the Chiefs to move up ahead of other defense- seeking clubs, they’ll need to talk to Dallas (#5) or Jacksonville (#8).

The NFL Combine, where candidates for the draft get to strut their stuff in front of NFL owners, general managers and coaches, is coming up next month. The Chiefs will have their eyes on Miami defensive tackle William Joseph, Penn State defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy and Oklahoma cornerback Andre Woolfolk.

KC will probably enter the bidding war for Philadelphia defensive end Hugh Douglas, whose contract expires this season, but don’t expect the Eagles to let him get away.