A pair of stories making the rounds today has to make you wonder about the sanctity of youth…
That august Kansas City radio talk show host Walt Bodine of public radio station KCUR FM is retiring is one thing. Bodine’s 91 and the awful truth is management’s been counting the days, waiting for him to bail for probably 20 years. And as significant as Bodine’s contributions have been, his retirement is long overdue.
And that’s just the tip of today’s Really Old Dudes iceberg.
The story that gets me – really gets me – is about the slimy dude who helped his wife scam KU for all those basketball tickets ($2 million worth that they know of) appealing his 46-month sentence from a year back.
That’s right, former KU athletic department consultant Thomas Blubaugh wants his sentence reduced to 33 months. He’s in the slammer in Oklahoma and thinks the sentencing judge relied too heavily on heresay.
Now the kicker…
Blubaugh’s sentencing judge was a 104 year-old Kansas man by the name of Wesley E. Brown.
Turns out Brown was the longest serving federal judge, oldest federal judge still hearing cases and the oldest dude to serve as a federal judge in the history of this country when he checked out on January 23rd.
This guy was probably rolling his own cigarettes when Bodine was still in diapers.
Check out this six year-old photo of Brown on Wikipedia. Below it, it says: "No higher resolution available."
No higher resolution indeed – this guys high school picture was probably in pen and ink.
But enough about Brown and the KU ticket scandal – back to Bodine.
I’ll never forget – nor will a certain KCUR general manager by the name of Patricia Cahill – the day in 1996 when she told the world Bodine was history.
It was 16 years ago then that the Star trotted out a largely pro-Bodine, front-page story about his axing.
"KCUR-FM calls a quick ending for the dean of KC broadcasting’s radio show," read the partial headline.
"He was told after completing his one-hour show Monday and 
before undergoing outpatient eye surgery that his contract would not be renewed and that `The Walt Bodine Show’ had been canceled," it reads.
Bodine’s take at the time: “It came as a total shock to me.”
The story noted that Bodine had been legally blind since the mid-1970s and that "several sources close to Bodine and the station, who declined to be identified, said the quality of his show had declined in recent years (and) he was often ill-prepared to interview high-profile guests."
Despite which the local media beatdown of Cahill was so intense she nearly had a nervous breakdown and Bodine was rehired.
“The venom that I hear on the answering machine from the messages that we’
ve got at the station – it scares me, it’s so mean,” Cahill told me at the time. “And people are so quick to judge without knowing all of the details. And that scares me in a way, too. ”
Cahill reluctantly accepted being the scapegoat for Walt’s axing but told me then it was not a one-woman decision.
Like the anonymous dudes in the front page story, Cahill would have liked to have laid down the story-behind-the-story on Bodine’s firing but…
"I can’t,” she told me. “It is not possible for everyone to know everything that happened … because it’s a personnel matter, it’s a confidential matter. ”
As for Bodine not bein
g given an on-air, Goodbye Mr. Chips farewell, "People don’t say ‘Goodbye’ on the radio," Cahill told me. "They say ‘Hello’ on the radio."
Times have changed…
This time around Bodine will indeed be allowed to say goodbye on KCUR at 10 a.m. April 27th.
And as for Cahill, she’s slated to retire in June after 25 years at the station.
Her parting shot this time around: "We hope Walt will still come by the station," she told the Star. "We don’t want to lose track of Walt or to let our listeners lose track of him."
Speaking of losing track, in a perfect world, this story would have been written by Star television and media beat writer Aaron Barnhart. However, as I wrote here two months back Barnhart has been out of sight since late last year. That after previously being diagnosed with cancer that was thought to be in remission. Sources say Barnhart’s unexplained departure is thought to be health related.
All of which adds up to the one thing; it’s sucks getting old sometimes.
Ice Ice Baby Too Old Too Old
No doubt Walt is much beloved by many in KC but I’m not sure he was really entertaining anyone but himself since 1996. Age alone should not be a reason to retire if you can perform your job with the requisite mental and physical skills. But whether you’re 61 or 91, when you no longer have the tools to perform your job at a high level it’s time to go.
It would be interesting to hear the “rest of the story”, particularly why Walt was allowed to stay on the air after it was abundantly clear that his faculties were quite diminished and why he or his handlers would allow him, in his twilight, to tarnish an otherwise brilliant career.
Yeah,
not entertaining at all to hear him do his uh-huhs and ahs over the air. Somone should have had the decency to pull the plug on that show a long time ago. Just because someone wants to do something does not mean they should. See Favre, Jordan, Ali, et. al. for learning examples.
The Dude….. you left out….
Harley, JoJo, CEA, “his attorney”, Asshat, et al.
Just because he WANTS to post on here, doesnt mean he should.
Gracias Wilson,
my mind is starting to slip in my golden years much like Bodine’s was in the 90’s. Can’t forget the Harlinator.
Well, I think it’s clear that…
Cahill and KCUR learned their lessons after the public spankings they got in 1996.
I remember talking to the general manager of a radio station that had Bill Grigsby on and he told me at the time he’d spoken with the GM of a local TV station that had Bodine and/or Grigs and they’d agreed; it’d be a cold day in hell before either of them let Grigs or Bodine go after seeing what happened to Cahill and KCUR
But I agree, at some point it becomes beyond obvious and you have to cut the cord. And that day had long since passed.
Noting that Bodine’s son and not Bodine was interviewed for this story seems telling as well. Let’s see how that last show shakes out.
“the slimy dude who helped his wife scam KU”
Really, Hearne? I rarely have anything negative to say about anything you write on here, but if we are going to access this situation on balance, I think your journalistic underwear is showing on this one as a result of your, metaphorically, baggin and saggin story!
You have two men here, Tom and Craig. Both, now, convicted felons. One, Tom, is described as
Wilson channels Mike Wallace
Hearne just went on a hunger strike…kinda like Alonzo did.
Game, set, match to Mr. Wilson
Smartman, go to the Nick Wright 610 Sports story….
… and read the outting of Harley, by me, hiding as 610 Fan!! Thats far funnier, I just had an honest question on this one.
610 Fan/JoJo/Harely/His own Attorney/ et al; they’re just like herpes, they go into remission, but never totally gone!!
Hey paul
Remember the movie Stick that starred and was directed by Burt Reynolds. George Segal played rich dude Barry Braham who loved to have crooks and bad people hang around him. So maybe that explains Hearnes love for Craig. Then again maybe it’s more than that.
Food for thought, if you
@wilson
You have far more energy than I do when it comes to the bastard stepchild of KCC. As bad as you’ve beaten him down lately, with no clear sign of his even being able to mount a solid battle in his defense I’m beginning to feel a little empathy for the old boy. But after a couple of seconds that passes and I look to the Star for a report of a suicide linked to bullying on KCC. I’ll gladly sit in the Murderer’s Row of commenters that have tormented what’s his name.
Hey smartman
Do you mean the man of many names or the man who utters many names?
relply to smartman
What makes it hard to feel sorry for this guy is his attitude that he is better than the rest of us on here and the fact that he keeps starting crap. Read the “Pokeman” entry on the fat story. His Forrest Gump on LSD writing style doesn’t help him either!
smartman, i did invest too much energy!!
But now, in the words of that commercial, “Ive got PEOPLE!”, so its muuuch easier to trace him now. It’s worth the investment. And my repayment? Seeing all of you take an honest stand against what he’s said, done, his attitude, then reading all the names and adjectives of what people REALLY think of him!
This is someone who threatened me with his attorney, then when that email got traced he responded “he” really isn’t an attorney, just a friend trying to help. His lies never stop, but he wants to hide under a bogus name and take pot shots at good and decent people. Together we can stop him.
Mike, see how easy it is to find him? You’re doing it all on your own!
I have a client to see at KCI. Later my pals.
Forrest Gump
on LSD, awesome.
I’m hungry Paul but…
Allow me to address your connecting Craig to the KU ticket scamming dude doing hard time.
First of all, any defenses I’ve mounted on Craig’s behalf were to address specific details, such as that he was not a snitch. None were endorsements of his lifestyle. I’ve not defended him in the broadest sense as being a fine, upstanding human being.
Pretty obviously Craig is flawed and that’s there for all to see.
Craig does provide some interesting and certainly entertaining points of view though. And I wouldn’t be so sure that he’d go back and do things over either. I think Craig’s fine to a large extent with his, um, body of work.
As for the slimy ticket dude, he didn’t just somehow get caught up in something while he was young and reckless and in college like Craig did. This dude was a full scale adult in a responsible position and he willfully engaged in a ridiculously stupid, greedy, practice of deception, deceit, dishonesty and theft. And for what? Pure and simple greed.
That he threw his family under the bus in the process makes him even slimier. He wanted to drive a nicer car, eat at fancier restaurants and live in a bigger house, so he lied and stole from a public institution.
Craig’s crime didn’t leave a family fatherless. He rolled his dice as a misguided, single young man and paid the price.
Plus the KU guy and his wife weren’t even halfway smart, entertaining or clever about it. Who’s going to get away with embezzling $2 million from an audited institution like a state university? So they were dummies, too.
Now he’s playing jailhouse lawyer and trying to overturn the decision of a 103 year-old judge!
Apples and oranges
hearne, its apples and granny smith apples!
But I do conceed a few of your points….but a felony is a felony in the end, young or old, family or not. Both were achieved by adults with full knowledge and foresight. But I’ll give you some credit here.
The Bromantics?
Enough with the defense of Glazer act! Christ Almighty! He’s a big boy. He can give as good as he gets or he can threaten to beat the shit out of all of us. It’s demeaning to Craig, and to those of us who break balls of various shapes and sizes when you come to his aid and comfort. There’s three sides to every story, your side, my side, the truth and nobody’s lying.
Brokeback Fountain starts filming on the Plaza tonight at sunset. I’m taking the galleys to Cinemacon next week to get the final round of funding. I think I can get it to the BIG SCREEN way before King of Sting Joe Esterhaus script rewrite gets rejected. I’ve also heard from my literary agent , Benny Boo Boo Zabortnik ESQ that Mel Gibson may option the movie and make it a huge Jewish cultural biopic called the King of Stingy.
bastard stepchild of kcc… how humiliating
How did I let ……………..this happen to
myself?
Why couldn’t
I have just been ………………a regular …..
guy
?
Why did I have
to do all the puff-n-stuff?
…………….Why didnt I realize hiding behind a fake name and playing Mr Big would come back on me.
Smartman’s a moron and hes
100 times smarter than me!!
Oh god, did I ……………………….just say that?
I need some helium….
Smartman, Im not trying to suck up to you
but if you want I can
hook
u up with my attorney, Stan Greenberg. Email him at law4life1000@yahoo.com. He’s a mega rich dude that lives in Scottsdale who
did
the biggest class action suit in history representing
old people who hert there hands trying to take the safety caps off.
now
he just takse care of my international affares and all my compnies. He kicked Wilson?s ass, he doesnt have a pot to piss in now and lives in a dump thats a
poster child for we
by ugly houses.
I always liked you so I[ll help butt the rest of kcc and kiss my 1% rich ass. let me no I got da hook up
Harley for the last time, STFU!!!
I
I will be waiting at the fountain smartman,
waiting and watching for brokeback fountain to start filming. With lube in hand.
Yum.
REAL Harely, one last time, knock it off
or I’ll sue each and every one of us. You have now threatened a man sexually and he’s a smart man at that. I’ll drop my retainer and represent him against you. I mean, us. Just STFU, ok?
crackinup
The last 4 comments are the best!!!!!!!! Very humorus!!!!!!!! You should be getting paid for them!!!!