It’s finally happened…
Kansas City has an elite pro sports team that matters.
Many will argue the Kansas City Royals are baseball’s best team as of today. Why? Not only do they have the best record in baseball, they’ve beaten the best – St. Louis, New York, Detroit. Yes, it’s early still, but the handwriting is on the wall.
Hey, I admit I’ve down on these guys for years.
Why? Because they weren’t any good. The young players were all below where we’d hoped. Eric Hosmer, Moose, Gordon and crew just were not becoming stars.
Until NOW.
And all of a sudden, we’ve added Cain and Sal Perez. Wow.
KC’s pitching overall may be baseball’s best. Our starters are still up and down, but the bullpen, damn. And finally the team is hitting for good power and getting clutch hits when needed.
I look for the Royals to have the best winning record maybe ever for a KC baseball franchise.
But where’s the hoopla?
Look having say 104 wins or more doesn’t guarantee a World Series win, but that would be nice because not since the ’75-’85 Royals has our city had an elite ball club. The Chiefs did it from 66-72 and with Marty Schottenheimer from 1992-1998.
Yet other than the team’s wins and losses we don’t hear much about ’em.
And this is an exciting time for younger fans who haven’t experienced a franchise that’s had a long run at the top.
So what’s wrong with this picture?
Other than Hosmer buying drinks for fans at the Power & Light during the playoffs we know practically nothing about the players day in and day out.
What’s up with this team’s young stars? Where do they hang? Who are they dating? Whats going on in their social worlds?
There’s been virtually zero media coverage outside of their stats and game day numbers.
Why?
Because the Kansas City Star has no real entertainment section that covers our local celebrities anymore. I think the Kansas City fans want to know more about these stars outside the game.
And not just the usual boring fluff pieces about wives, kids and girlfriends.
Hearne, Jeff Flanagan, and other reporters used to give us the scoop on Joe Montana, Andre Rison, George Brett and other controversial name players each week. Now NOTHING.
Eric Hosmer & Kiimberly Figueroa
I hear Eric Hosmer has a beautiful lady, where do they hang? What does she look like? Same with the Moose…what’s he up to?
Maybe we aren’t TMZ here in Kansas City but for lord’s sake if we’re going to host an elite baseball team we need some coverage on these new stars.
Every game is nearly a sellout, even in the rain.
Fans stay home at night to watch the Royals on TV. 610 radio is off the chart on listeners much because of Royals coverage.
And right now that’s about the only place you can hear any of them talk or know anything about them outside the game itself.
We can do better. KC Star.
It’s time to add a reporter to cover this cities social world on these guys and other locals. Other cities do, why not us.
Let me be the first to say I don’t give a damn where or who with the Royals hang out.
My interest starts and ends inside the chalk lines.
GO ROYALS!
Don’t actors, sports figures, et al., usually generate their own publicity? Maybe that tells you something.
I think you jinxed them. Way to go. 14-1.
Are we all still in middle school?
Glazer is perpetually in middle school.
no sooner does craig write this, and Jeremy Guthrie delivers the second worst pitching performance in 100 years.
on the plus side, it’s nice that the Royals are in the record books with a stat that reaches back to baseball’s early years.
and to the point, who cares about their life outside of baseball – aside from community service – like KCMonarch noted above. (I would expand it tho’ beyond just the chalk lines…dugout, clubhouse…)
You guys are right. I guess I should predict doom and gloom for the Royals so they will win. Hah. It’s over, It’s over….nah, they are fine just a road bump.
Who gives a rat’s ass about the players’ social lives? What are you, a high school girl looking for gossip? Are the guys playing hard and winning? Cause that’s all anyone REALLY cares about, and is the WHOLE point.
Oh and that 14-1 ass kicking is alarming. The Royals starting pitching is a problem, and is becoming more glaring everyday. Ventura isn’t performing like an ace. Guthrie is all done. Vargas is dinged up and wasn’t that spectacular so far this year. The Royals have MAJOR problems in the starting rotation, and they had better hope that Young doesn’t suddenly show signs of mortality. Cause he’s carrying them as far as starters go. Your going to blow out your bullpen at the rate they are piling up innings.
OH and don’t forget Danny Duffy just hit the DL. Not to mention he’s been all over the map this year too.
Fame is a powerful cultural magnet. Look at today’s celebrities who are famous for nothing more than being famous. And “we” can’t seem to get enough of them. They’ve done nothing, contributed nothing to the cultural wellbeing. As a hyper-ego driven species, we think we are acquiring value, a low level of associated fame and self-worth by osmosis when we saddle up next to one of these people. I can only assume it’s an attempt to fill our own voids in seeking even the most remote connection to celebrity. We pay far more attention to the habits and behaviors of famous people than ordinary members of society who have contributed tenfold more to our world.
What has the guy swinging the bat, passing the ball or doing the 360 dunk contributed to us that matters? What did Justin Bieber contribute to the cultural narrative when he wrote “Baby?” Absolutely nothing. I think it’s pretty simple; celebrity worship, wanting to know what these people do in their spare time, who they are shagging, only serves to fill a gaping hole of void in the worshiper.
Who are they dating? Where do they party? What’s it serve to change in our own lives if we knew all the TMZ answers and were there with them every single night to witness it personally?
Some of it is benign jock sniffing. It escalates to wanting to be at the club where the jock wearers hang out, just for the chance to rub shouders, so you can brag Monday morning that you were at “My Huge EGO”, the hottest new club, and you talked to (insert celeb of choice here.)
Then, there’s make-up artist Jordan James Parke who’s spent $150,000 in various surgeries to look like his idol Kim Kardashian.
But you never notice us giving a simple nod to someone who has changed the world. It simply doesn’t matter unless its associated with the cultural buzzzzz.
Dexter McCluster hung out at Baccala (formerly Gerry’s Golden Slipper) when he was with the Chiefs. I’m sure the Chiefs would have liked that published as there is no such thing as bad publicity, right?
You might think the Star would cover this low-hanging fruit to conceal their lack of real reporting.
Maybe the media is ignoring these sportzballers because their favorite haunts don’t advertise there?
He used to be Kyle James’ neighbor in Westport as well.
And you get much better “service” at Baccala. Personally, I prefer the Shady Lady though. A Chief’s new draft pick was there on draft day 2 drafts ago.
Wow, alot of comments on here I wouldn’t have expected. I would rather read gossip about the Royals player (the only real “celebrities” in KC) than read another Osterholdt column about nothingness. I am not much for the Kardashians or Kate Plus 8, but at least this stuff is local. And the paper can’t be all doom and gloom, War, Recession, Race Riots, Police Killings, Presidential Campaigns. Don’t get me wrong, I want those covered, and they should be the first priority. But if we are going to get fluff crap, wouldn’t you rather have fluff crap about our Royals?
maybe you have a point.
on the other hand, if we treat them like celebrities – oohing and ahhing and fawning over them – will we take away their ‘small ball, small town, aw shucks just doin’ it for the team’ attitude and turn them into replicas of george brett?
104 wins? I want some of whatever Glaze is smoking.
OK 103 wins.
Pffft. Not with that starting rotation. 3 out of the 5 starting pitchers on the Royals are hot garbage. And Chris Young isn’t going to have a sub 1.00 ERA forever. And if you haven’t noticed, the Minnesota Twins are red hot and are one game behind the Royals. Oh and that whole “best record in the majors” lasted about two days. Houston and St Louis both hit the 30 win mark last night, and are tops in the majors. And the ridiculous pace that the Royal’s hitters were on is now cooling off and getting back to a reasonable level. You’re just not going to have a team batting average over .300. It’s just not going to happen.
There might be some ballplayers who prefer NOT to have their lives be constant fodder in the news. While the nightlife is undoubtedly bigger in bigger cities, not everyone wants that. Nor do all of their girlfriends and wives.
And, as was mentioned earlier, I only care about what they do on the field as long as they don’t get arrested or have hobbies that might lead to an arrest.
Quick update: Cris Young looked mortal today, and the Royals lose their 4th in row and get swept by the Yankees. The Twins beat Boston, so they are now tied with the Royals for 1st place in the AL Central.
Looks like censorship is alive and well.