Yearly Archives: 2011
Glazer: Scribe Salutes Fallen Fellow ‘Bad Boy,’ The Raiders Al Davis
Nobody can argue that Raiders‘ boss Al Davis, along with men like Lamar Hunt, created the modern NFL..
Both men had teams in the first two Super Bowls. Both lost those games. Yet the Chiefs and Raiders would soon follow up those losses with Super Bowl victories. In fact it was the Vikings who fell to both teams just a few years apart.
And it’s no secret that Chiefs fans hated Al Davis who died this past weekend.
Davis wore black and was the head Raider. The Raiders dominated the Chiefs for the most part through the years under both Davis and Hunt. True, in the Marty Schottenheimer era the Chiefs came back and handled a lesser Raider group for nearly a decade.
TheChiefs were also as the FIRST wild card team and defeated Oakland in 1969, sending KC to its first and only Super Bowl win in 1970. However that’s where our good fortunes mostly ended.
The Raiders have been far better than KC over the long haul.
Starbeams: KC ‘Occupy’ Rally, Jimmie Johnson Hits 435, NASCAR Bucks & Chiefs Channel Kardashian
About 300 people gathered Sunday in Penn Valley Park across from the Federal Reserve Bank to mark the 10th day of the “Occupy” movement spawned by Wall Street protesters. It was led by UMKC professors, liberals, libertarians and Ron Paul supporters. They sported signs with messages like, ““We are the other 99 percent."
Some Kansas City Public School students were also there trying to determine what 99 percent means.
New Jack City: ‘Jack Goes To The Movies’ – My Way Or The Highway
When one reviews movies, as I have for more years than I’d like to admit, you get lots of questions—and often pointed comments…
It almost never fails when I get introduced, I get the usual, "Aren’t you that guy that does movies on radio?"
Yes I am, and the German accident is a dead giveaway.
Just to clear the air, the accent is not fake. I AM a former refugee from the East Germany who immigrated to the United States LEGALLY. My home town is Leipzig.
So what is the most frequently asked question?
Leftridge: Breaking Down the ALCS/NLCS: One Man’s Quest to be Wrong Once Again
Look, I’m no Craig Glazer. All of my hair is real, I’ve never had to be treated for the clap, and when it comes to picking winners, I’m shakier than Michael J Fox in a vibrating massage chair from Sharper Image.
My record speaks for itself. In the divisional series, I had Tampa Bay, New York and Philadelphia advancing. Wow.
1 out of 4 ain’t bad, right? No, it is. And that’s fine. I’m not THAT kind of sports writer. I’m more of the kind that tries to pretend that he knows what he’s talking about and hopes that a majority of the readers won’t notice. And that’s fine. Just wanted to throw that out there—that I shouldn’t be trusted.
That being said, here’s who you should pick in the Championship Series and why… And yeah, I get it. We’re already a game in on each side. Hey, that’s what happens when you’re a normal dude with a normal job. You have to make some concessions when it comes to living out your lifelong fantasy of covering sports for a third tier news, entertainment and leisure website.
Hearne: How Long Can Star Czar Keep Job With News Company in 6 Year Freefall?
Long time no Star stories; let’s play catch up on a big one…
And while it’s been pretty quiet in the local media rumor mill, chances are the Kansas City Star is in store for yet another round of layoffs and/or cutbacks now that the third quarter has shuddered to an end.
Insiders say it was a rough, tough summer and having played the furlough card following the newspaper’s second quarter results, chances are it may not be pretty.
Yet despite all his missteps and dismal financial results, the guy up top, McClatchy head Gary Pruitt is still large and in charge.
Glazer: Scribe Cops to Biggest Blunder in Journalistic History!
This just in…I was wrong!
The Chiefs are the real deal. Matt Cassel rung up a 90% completion rate against the red hot Colts. Running back Jackie Battle cannot be stopped. D-Bowe made circus catch after circus catch.
These are the Kansas City Chiefs we’ve always wanted and finally we’ve got them.
Great Defense. Hard charging quarterback. Top notch receivers. Well-coached. Guts. Pride. Winners!
My Las Vegas bet is in big trouble.
I know nothing about the NFL or for that matter anything. What a fool I was to think the Chiefs stunk. They are outstanding – I mean the best. Matt had what? Four touchdowns. Biggest Chiefs comeback, EVER! Wow. Now we can hang onto Matt for years and maybe Haley too. Thank God.
BUT WAIT, ARE YOU GUYS OUT OF YOUR MINDS?
Donnelly: St. Vincent @ Liberty Hall, October 7, 2011
Have you ever come out of a concert scratching your head filled with odd questions that you keep asking yourself?
"I really liked that, didn’t I?"
Or, "Was that awesome or just kind of weird?"
Or, "St. Vincent is really sexy for a robot."
OK, that last one isn’t a question.
Rewind three hours…
Hearne: Pitch Parent Unveils Real Deal, New Women’s Zine
There’s a journalistic catfight brewing…
When Nashville-based SouthComm bailed Village Voice out of the local red ink machine known as the Pitch earlier this year, it was every alt journalist for his or herself. The handwriting, long on the wall, had sent longtime Pitch editor C.J. Janovy and top writing gun Nadia Pflaum scurrying for greener paycheck pastures along with carpetbagger Joe Tone.
And there’s since been strong journalistic evidence that – unlike the village idiots – SouthComm gets it.
If you want to be a successful alternative newsweekly, don’t weigh readers down with overly-long opuses and shopworn hipster subject matter and points of view.
Just come clean and give ’em some news they can use.
Glazer: Scribe Rocks His 40th @ Shawnee Mission East
Many of you have been having those five and ten year reunions…
I just had mine again. I wasn’t worried about it at all. After all, I was a cool kid in high school. Yeah, I had my share of haters there too, but screw them.
I’m not someone to jack with in person and they never do.
Going in I felt like, "Yeah, I’ve done better than you guys thought I would." Not a good attitude to have. I work out with Bruce Ecton, the chairman of our reunions. Bruce had told me we’d be doing the Blue Moose in Prairie Village on Friday and Indian Hills Country Club on Saturday for the biggie.
So I asked out one of my girls. Jessie, a 28 year-old hottie. She’s built and a decent gal but looks way too wild. Hey, I wanted to make a statement as usual – that I’m still playing ball. I’d taken my ex, actress Sandhal Bergman to her 40th two years ago. She was the star of that one, but I knew a lot of her friends since I as a sophomore when she was a senior at Shawnee Mission East.
Many of my classmates remembered that I didn’t attend the 30th. I was too busy being indicted by the Feds. Front page news along with a little thing called 9/11 on the exact same day.
So I was surely the talk of that one but not in a good way.
Hearne: So You Think Craig Glazer Doesn’t Have a Clue About Major League Baseball, Eh?
I don’t want to pimp you guys or anything but…
Check out what The Atlantic had to say about Major League Baseball earlier this year.
Even Apple’s kicking MLB’s butt!
And while you’re at it, add this to my growing Steve Jobs slagheap. Here’s the headline:
"Is Apple More Popular Than Major League Baseball?"
Nice, huh?
Atlantic associate editor Nicholas Jackson does the honors.
"Of course Apple is more profitable than MLB, but it’s also managing to get more money out of every visitor that walks in the door," Jackson begins. "With millions of iPads sold and millions of iPhones sold and millions of laptops and desktops sold — and, yes, even millions of iPods are still sold — Apple is moving its products faster than its factories in China can even produce them. Certainly all of these gadgets bring in more money than peanuts — literally. Apple stores alone are more profitable than America’s favorite pastime, accounting for $9.8 billion of Apple’s reported $65.2 billion revenue in fiscal year 2010. For comparison, MLB reported $7 billion in revenue."
How do you like them Apples, "real sports fans"?
Hearne: My Personal Take on Steve Jobs, Part One
My first encounter with iconic Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs went down at Pennylane Records in Westport…
It was in the mid-1980s and I was a promoter of mostly alternative rock musicians in an era when local radio had zero interest in those artists. Outside, that is, hit makers like Duran Duran and Simple Minds. I needed a vehicle to reach the target audience for those acts. And while there wasn’t a whole lot to Pennylane’s in-house KC Pitch monthly at the time – contentwise- there really were no other viable options.
So off to the Land of Joe Bob Briggs, Matt Groening & LeRoi I headed…
However, I couldn’t get so much as a return call to buy an ad for my first show. So afterwards I tracked down record store owner Hal Brody and pitched him on my concept for expanding the Pitch. To transform it from a record rag running mostly "house" ads for Pennylane and bar ads for a handful of Westport clubs like the Hurricane and Lone Star, into something ressembling what it is today.
In other markets, small, homegrown hippie zines had evolved and were continuing to evolve into broadbased alternative newsweeklies, I told Brody. They covered fine arts, dining, a far wider swath of entertainment and edgy, often controversial news. And the Pitch could do the same in Kansas City where there was money to be made, fun to be had and dragons to be slain.
Brody took me up and I began working with his merry band of record store employees to grow the mag.
Glazer: This Week’s Pics; Humble Scribe Handles Crystal Ball With Extreme Caution
"Alright, let’s not get a big head about being at nearly 90% on your picks, Craig."
For four weeks straight. More than likely the best overall picks from – well, hmmmm – anyone, anywhere. Just sayin. Thats why I remain your humble scribe. or THE GLAZE, as some comments lovers and haters call me.
So as we march forward it’s just gonna get tougher. The better teams will be playing better and there’ll be more "equal" teams. In college ball the good vs. the bad have huge spreads now. So let’s try and be smart and use our friend the "teaser" to add or subtract 6 points or even more often.
Don’t get greedy and go for the one big hit.
Glazer: Why Baseball Really Doesn’t Matter Much Anymore & Not Just in Kansas City
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio…?
Joltin’ Joe’s long gone and what was once America’s pastime is now mostly an afterthought.
"Man, I don’t even know who’s playin in the Series," is 95% of the feedback you get today at work or if you speak to ordinary people at bars or in passing. Nobody knows What’s more – and sadly – almost nobody seems to care.
Baseball, like real movies, is fading away.
Leftridge: MLB Worst of the Worst; Who Will Take Home This Year’s Coveted ‘Cy Dung’ Award?
It’s that time of year. Everywhere around us, the leaves are changing, Major League Baseball’s postseason is in full effect and throughout the land, thousands of pasty-faced sportswriters are sitting around their Smith Coronas, brows drenched in sweat, trying to determine who—WHO, DAMNIT?—deserves this year’s individual achievement awards.
And unless they have a vote, they’re simply trying to fill up column space by debating the merits of two guys who would have given them wedgies in middle school.
“Oh my! Is it Justin Verlander? He WAS 24-5 on the season, but take a close look at his VORP after night-games, adjusted for a divisional opponent’s park ratios, two days after shaving but three days removed from the last time he ate tropical fruit. In that case, you’ve gotta give it to Jacoby Ellsbury. He’s half Native American, after all.”
Hearne: Trader Joe’s Encounters Trouble in Paradise, But Don’t Blame Leawood!
Ahoy there, maties…
Loosen those barnacles and gather round while I tell a see-faring tale about Trader Joe’s ongoing aventures along the shores of Leawood. That upscale local burb famous for its proud stewardship of the color beige, wood shingle roofs and other eye-pleasing aesthetics.
Both Trader Joe’s in Leawood and Ward Parkway Center opened this past July.
But unlike its shipmates on the MU side of State Line, TJ’s Leawood landlubbers were trapped off base on two counts.
For starters, there’s no parking for TJ’s 70 shipmates at the trendy new One Nineteen center, and the sea dogs must park at other nearby centers, then be ferried over by by RED Development land schooners that run every 10 minutes on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
That’s because parking is tight at One Nineteen, and with new businesses about to open it’s not gonna get any better.
"When this property fills up, it’s going to be a nightmare," says Trader Joe’s first mate Jerry Arns.
Car: Humble Scribe Poised to Purchase Sex Machine aka 2011 Lotus Evora
Don’t look now but everybone’s favorite "humble scribe" is about to go James Bond…
Stanford’s comedy club main man Craig Glazer almost pulled the trigger on trading his Porsche for a red hot new, red Lotus Evora sports car earlier this year, but the deal fell through. However the game is back afoot and Glazer’s a phone call away from flat-bedding in a sleek black Evora from St. Louis Motorsports.
"I like it a lot, it drives great and handles a step up from my Porsche because it’s smaller and lower to the ground," Glazer says. "I think speed-wise it’s about the same. The top speed is like 170."
Glazer test drove the Evora yesterday in St. Louis and has an offer on the table.
Jack Goes Confidential: Clooney, Gosling, Hoffman Shine in ‘IDES OF MARCH’
George Clooney‘s THE IDES OF MARCH isn’t so much a political thriller as a morality tale…
What we’ve got is some terrific insight into the backroom politics of Pennsylvania Governor George Clooney’s race to win the Ohio primary for his party’s presidential nomination.
And tensions are building.
Press secretary Ryan Gosling is being lured by rival campaign manager Paul Giamatti, while New York Times reporter Marisa Tomei is ready to blow-up anything that leaks out of the campaign. And she’s close to blowing the lid off a boat load of indiscretions.
All while senior campaign manager Philip Seymour Hoffman tries desperately to keep it all from falling apart.
Loyalty being the only currency you can count on—or so they say.
Written, produced, directed and co-starring George Clooney, THE IDES OF MARCH is chock-full of performances that the Academy is sure to take note of!
So does the movie favor Democrats? Or does it stay fair and balanced?
New Jack City: IMAX & AMC Get Jump On ‘M:I-4’
.jpg)
IMAX and Paramount have proclaimed that the 4th installment of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE franchise will get a 5 day jump on IMAX screens over the rest of the nation’s movie theatres!
‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-GHOST PROTOCOL‘ starring Tom Cruise and slated for worldwide release Wednesday, Dec. 21st will now actually begin Pre-Opening Previews on Friday, December 16th—but only on IMAX screens.
Every other theatre has to wait.
Sounds Good: St. Vincent@Liberty Hall, Minus the Bear@Granada, Portugal. The Man@Bottleneck
All Lawrence all the time this weekend.
Sure, you could pay 800 bucks and go out and see Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs tear up some gilfs and silver foxes.
You could.
Or you could take a little jaunt on down the road to that little hamlet known as Larry and see up-and-coming bands.
Then you could say, "Dude, I saw St. Vincent at this little theater in this little college town back before she got huge."
Instead of, "Dude, I saw Michael McDonald right before his fifth bypass surgery – he was actually dead for three minutes on the operating table before they brought his mellow groovin’ ass back to life!"
Choose wisely.
Hearne: While Star Sleeps, KU’s Bill Self Speaks; Eff Off MU – See Ya, Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya
Good thing I’m up late working on my Platte County Landmark column…
Because in what may go down as the local scoop of the century (I know, it’s early), KU Basketball coach Bill Self laid some major league pipe to the arch rival Missouri Tigers.
If MU bolts to the SEC, forget about playing KU in the regular season, Self told the Lawrence Journal World.
"If the Tigers do decide to bolt for the SEC, however, they will do so aware there’s the chance they’ll never play KU in hoops in the regular season again," the Journal World report begins.
“ ‘To me it’s a great rivalry, one of the best in college basketball without question, but I don’t think I would be interested in having a once a year game like I did when I was at Illinois, playing Missouri,’ ” Self told the Journal-World Tuesday night.
