Yearly Archives: 2011
Murphy: Rick’s Rambling Sports Ramblings, Glass Bash, Thigpen et al.
After all these years the Chiefs have yet to figure out how to hold a press conference…
Here’s how it typically goes. Reporter: "Coach, waa waaa (static) waa (more undiscernable words)." It sounds like the adults in a Charlie Brown special.
Then you hear Coach Haley say: "You’re correct–that is what we’re doing, and we plan to continue doing that."
Can someone please give the media a mic so we can hear what they’re asking?
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I was going to say that the Philadelphia Eagles are going to be the Miami Heat of the NFL. But about 5,000 other sports writers are saying the same thing. So let’s just say they won’t be Super Bowl winners.
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Former Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen has reunited with former Chiefs coach Chan Gailey in Buffalo. Tyler signed a three year deal and will be given the chance to earn the starting position. He had six teams interested in him. Biggest shocker being the Vikings, who were actually planning on making him starting quarterback. When they couldn’t land Thigy they went with second choice Donovan McNabb.
Do these teams know something the Chiefs didn’t?
Mancow: Changing Times Alert, Lame Comics Today Groupie Magnets
Watching a fascinating documentary on the legends of stand-up comedy…
George Carlin says "Comedians (of the 60’s and 70’s) never had groupies. If you were a woman that went home with a stand-up comic, it was the equivalent of going home with the monkey instead of the organ grinder."
HA!
Glazer: Hasta La Vista, Bubba. You Will Be Missed!
He was a mountain of a man…
All-Pro star of the Baltimore Colts, Bubba Smith is dead at age 66. They found him in his LA home. Officials say he died of natural causes. At one time he was a close friend of mine when I lived in LA. Bubba and I, along with Aaron Binder (who also passed) worked out together at 24-Hour Fitness near Barrington just inside Santa Monica. I used to live about two miles from the club. Next to the gym is the Santa Monica Airport.
I met Bubba through Sonny Landham shortly after my release from prison. Both were big guys. It was stranger still when I later met and worked with Bubba’s co-star in the Police Academy movies, Michael Winslow (the voice guy).
Jack Goes Confidential: “THE CHANGE-UP’ Out-Raunches Other Summer Comedies!
This has been the summer of raunchy movie comedies!
I’ve counted five so far: BRIDESMAIDS , HANGOVER II, BAD TEACHER, HORRIBLE BOSSES and FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS.
Number 6 takes it over the top!
It’s THE CHANGE-UP, which takes the traditional body switching formula, adds its own heavy dose of vulgarity and debauchery, then ties it up tightly and throws it off the cliff.
Today: Hendricks Out as Star Does Away With ‘Local’ Section Columnists
It’s not easy dying a thousand deaths, sleeping off the killer summer cold Jack Poessiger just gave me…
Over a lunch date with zero spit swapped, no less. But, as I inch back to life, and read today’s Kansas City Star like thousands of you, I learn that columnist Mike Hendricks is o-u-t and a new wave of "local’ section columnists are on their way. Oh joy.
But wait, are they really? Let’s take a look.
The moves signal the end of a very long, unstoried era. Shortly before I came to the Star, the newspaper fielded a lineup of Art Brisbane, Jim Fisher and Charles Gusewelle. Brisbane transversed the town laying down pithy columns about the people, places and things that were Kansas City at the time. Describing publisher Tom Leathers as "a Johnson County pundit who weekly squires his readers into a snake pit of stunning personalities and typographical errors"
And blowing the lid off of a controversial decision by Overland Park "that citadel of good taste and expert city planning" to not just welcome the area’s first Hooters at 106th and Metcalf, but to change the center’s name from the Overland Station Shops to the Hooters Plaza.
New Jack City: ‘MAMMA MIA’ Here We Go Again—How Can I Resist You?
"You already know you’re gonna love it!"
That’s what MAMMA MIA‘s print ads proclaim. And it must be true since after just 2 years the North American Tour of what’s been described as ‘the world’s most popular show’ is making a return trip to Starlight this week.
"When we conducted our annual audience survey at the end of the 2009 season, we asked our patrons what musical they’d like to see at Starlight in the future," says Denton Yockey, the theatre’s president and executive producer.
Glazer: Historic Bridger Building, Birthplace of Stanford’s Goes on the Blocks
The year was 1974 and Stanford Glazer looked around the old print shop, owned by Walter Langdon …
The Langsdon’s wanted $125,000 for the old building – the former Jim Bridger building – the oldest standing building in Kansas City. Instead Stan decided to lease the place for around $4,000 a month. He beat out Victor Fontana and it opened as Stanford and Sons in April 1975.
To say it was a smash hit, would be an understatement.
Stan had a few partners; me, Jerry Mays (former Chiefs great), his cousin Lenard Glazer, as well as the law firm that housed the Craig brothers and Steamer brothers. Nice group. Within two years Stan bought out his partners, except me.
Stanford and Sons with its "flower pot bread" and fun menu would rival Houlihan’s on the Plaza for the ONE fun spot in KC to see and be seen.
Glazer: Star’s Mellinger Hops on Glazer Train, Calls Out Chiefs
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It’s clear from Sam Mellinger‘s column Sunday about the Chiefs that he’s been reading me…
Sam jumped on the Chiefs and called them out, agreeing pretty much with all of my positions. Because they’re correct.
Mellinger made it clear that last year’s team was average at best. And by seasons end. below average.
The Chiefs went 2-5 to end the year. At times they had a decent defense, but they had no passing game and a spotty running game with Jamaal Charles making some big runs. But since our offense is not on the field very long it wears down our defense.
Caitlin: Armani makes hot Olympic athletes even hotter
When I first heard that Giorgio Armani would be designing Italy’s uniforms for the 2012 Summer Olympics, I was giddy. Hot sweaty men in chic, trendy short shorts? Yes, please.
But beyond my personal enthusiasm, his collaboration with the Italian National Olympic Committee really is brilliant—why not combine the talent of the most successful Italian designer with that of the country’s most successful performance athletes?
Sounds Good: My Morning Jacket & Delta Spirit@Uptown; Eminem, Muse, Ween @Kanrocksas
This week is looking like one of the best of the summer if you’re a live music fan in KC.
There is literally something for everyone, as long as you don’t mind getting a little hot and sweaty.
You don’t mind, do you KC?
I mean, at this point hasn’t your right elbow developed a callus from being burned so often on your center console?
Hearne: Is KCTV’s Gary Amble Worried About Gay Backlash Over Sister’s Comments?
The riding keeps getting rougher for KCTV weather wonk Gary Amble’s sister…
Channel 5’s done its part to milk that Amble’s sister – nut job Michele Bachmann – has blundered into the squared circle of presidential politics. Including a recent, "exclusive" interview with Amble, in which he dodged anything resembling a meaningful question about his controversial sister.
Not a big surprise.
Bachmann’s suffered more embarrassing revelations than all the other presidential hopefuls combined. At the end of KCTV’s puff piece, anchor Brad Stephens cautions that Amble would not be accepting any more media interview requests re his sister’s candidacy.
Which might sound a little funny until you consider a story in the August 8 National Enquirer.
Hearne: Plaza & P&L District Late Night Kiddie Gang Bang Update
The aftermath of this morning’s KC Police confirmation several weeks of kid problems on the Plaza…
KC Strip trolly point man Bill Nigro said earlier today that he didn’t see or hear anything, but after poking around, he now says that "several hundred kids were gathered in front of the Cinemark movie theaters again Saturday night."
Other sources indicated that pepper spray was used to break up part of the action, but Nigro’s guy "didn’t see the kids running around all over the place like they have in the past," he says.
As for the Power & Light District‘s urban youth gatherings that seem to have provoked a credit card only cover charge to get into the entertainment zone, "It really didn’t seem too bad this past weekend," Nigro says. "Maybe because it was so hot out."
How about the "boycott" of the P&L over what some call a racist cover charge policy?
Starbeams: Another Top 5 How Hot Wuzzits, Warrior Dash Overheats & Debt Ceiling
One last round of….HOW HOT WAS IT???
- It was so hot, Plaza Security couldn’t get comfy enough to take naps.
- It was so hot, the sequins on my underwear have been melting!?
- It was so hot, I stopped my car, popped the hood and drank the battery water.
- It was so hot, Farm Aid is changing its name to Gatorade.
Today: Saturday Night Youth Dustup on Plaza Incites Mayor, Tear Gas?
The long hot summer in Kansas City appears to have gotten hotter…
"I just got back in town and I heard from friends that there was a mini riot on the Plaza Saturday night," says Shawnee sparkplug Tracy Thomas. "But it involved college kids and white kids, not just black high school youths."
How bad was it?
"I heard that tear gas was used," Thomas says.
Mancow: Paul McCartney Cranks to Life @ Wrigley Field in Chicago
Paul McCartney on a HOT summer nite in Chicago took a couple of cranks to get started like my old Chevy Impala in winter…
And everyone there seemed more content just being in the same vicinity of the legend, than they did being swept up in the energy of the concert.
After his facelift he looks like an old English Python Woman now to me…
But Sir Paul was exuberant and very much game @ Wrigley Field.
Murphy: Recognizing the Joy in Sports Sadness
There’s no crying in baseball, allegedly…
When’s the last time something in sports touched you? I’m not talking about making you scream or unleash an end zone dance after a touchdown. Nor am I talking about a boneheaded throw by the quarterback that made you want to kick in your TV screen you we so pissed.
I’m talking about where you were so moved it was impossible to contain your emotions.
Murphy: My Top 10 Questions for This Year’s Chiefs & Bagging on Kevin Harlan
I’m a list guy – I like lists…
In high school I remember reading The Book Of Lists. Lists are great because they put things in perspective. Everyone has their own list. Here’s my list of 10 questions that I want the Chiefs training camp to answer.
1-Do the Chiefs have a back up quarterback? I heard I believe Kevin Harlan say that statistics show at least 50% of starting quarterbacks will miss at least one game. I hope one of these young guys step up. Tyler Palko is saying all the right things and seems very mature for his age. But I’d feel far more comfortable if we had a veteran behind Matt Cassell.
Speaking of Harlan. I really enjoy listening to his insight but I lost respect for him during the lockout because he was so over the top in his support of owners. I get that they provide income for him but he was just a mouthpiece.
Starbeams: Whitlock Stuck in Mayonnaise Jar & Garmin Zeroes in on Jumpin’ Catfish
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A poor coyote in Washington State spent most of the week running around with a mayonnaise jar stuck on his head. I saw this once while camping with Jason Whitlock.
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I’m not saying our national debt crisis is precarious, but today I saw my congressman at Check into Cash.
Donnelly: Late Game Heroics (Again) Salvages Tie For SKC Despite MLS Refs
Peter Vermes threw his hands up in disgust.
This would end up being a theme of the night.
The New England Revolution had just broken through on a longball that found a questionably offside Rajko Lekic who proceeded to bury an outside-of-the-foot shot past a hung out to dry Jimmy Nielsen.
Vermes was irate. And he had a right to be, Lekic certainly looked to be a good 4 yards off.
These officials were struggling to find any balance…
Today: Does The Pitch Still Ask Tough Questions? Not Where Farm Aid’s Concerned
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One has to wonder after reading a story in the current Pitch under the headline, "Does Farm Aid Still Matter?"
After breezing through the David Martin puff piece I still can’t find the answer to the local alt rag’s question.It must be yes though, since nowhere does Martin come close to dropping the hammer on the "charity" concert schmooze.
Not a single tough question was asked. Not how much money is raised, how much goes to actual charity, etc.
Nope, just a brief history of the event which can largely be found on Wikipedia. And that "a representitive from the Farm Aid…recently went to the White House" and "The Missouri Rural Crisis Center continues to receive grants."
Pretty thin. So allow me to do Martin’s work for him.
