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Jolly: In the Pink at Prairie Village’s BRGR Burger Boutique
Burgers and beers have been a staple in KC since the dawn of time…
Or something like that. And in recent years as burger-meisters have become emboldened the competition has errupted into citywide, full scale Burger Wars. One serious contender in this ongoing struggle is BRGR.
Area diners have been chowing down at fast, casual restaurants like Smash Burger or Five Guys, dining at Nick and Jake’s for a great burger, or merely buying the ground chuck and making their own.
Enter BRGR at Corinth Square in Prairie Village.
This new badass boasts 41 different beers…in CANS. That’s right cans, as well as many on tap.
Jolly: It’s Not Delivery…it’s Spin; Michael Smith Concept Rocks
Face it, none of the really excellent food in Kansas City is delivered…
So if you want great pizza you’ll need to put down the phone, get off your ass, grab some friends and head to Spin Neapolitan Pizza. Tucked away in the ominous corporate shadow of Overland Park’s Cheesecake Factory lies the small in size but huge in flavor pizza cafe.
Spin’s the partial creation of James Beard Award-Winning Chef Michael Smith. Yes, that Michael Smith of American Restaurant and 40 Sardines fame.
Little known fact: Smith is a minority owner is the fast casual concept here in Kansas City.
Starbeams: KCTV Big 12 Blackout, Big 12 Women @ Municipal & New Delay @ West Edge
A giant burst of solar energy from the sun is headed this way and could interrupt radio transmissions as early as this weekend. If you’re trying to watch the Big 12 Tournament, KCTV 5 says, "Don’t look at us!"
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The Big 12’s men’s tournament is sold out. It will be similar to watching an NBA game at Sprint Center, only with people in the seats.
Leftridge: COUNTERPOINT: Why Signing Manning Would be a Silly Move for KC
We have become a soft nation built on easy solutions. We demand convenience, rapidity and satisfaction, yesterday. Our sense of patience—threadbare to begin with– has been raped by social media, where, in a matter of moments, I can learn that my aunt just ate some really delicious chicken, Bea Arthur has gone on an inexplicable shooting rampage at a bustling cafeteria and Terry “likes” Amanda’s video of the dog smoking a cigarette.
Sports are no different.
In fact, watching a team fail year after year to field a competitive product tends to exacerbate the need for this immediacy. We live and die with each heartbreak, our tired corpses glistening with team-colored body-paint, our novelty foam fingers pointed tragically at the ground. We want our team to win NOW and OFTEN and AT ANY COST.
So in our quest to microwave the proverbial burrito of success to jarring temperatures, faster than anyone ever imagined was humanly possible, people across the city are now crying, “Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks EVER, a true winner in every since of the word, is available! Let us throw BAJILLIONS OF DOLLARS AT HIM SO HE CAN MAKE SWEET LOVE TO THE FANS OF KANSAS CITY WITH HIS TALENTED ARM AND SOUR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS.”
Sounds Good: Ashes to Immortality@Barnyard, Ava Luna@Jackpot, Radiohead@Sprint
A little something for everyone this week…
I’ll break it down for you:
If you’re a beer fan, you’ve ever skinny dipped in only cowboy boots, and you would certainly try a homemade possum recipe, then The Barnyard‘s the place for you Thursday night.
If you’re the adventurous type looking for something new, something that might put you a bit out of your element, and you enjoy thick rimmed glasses and semi-choreographed stage dancing by three girls from NYC, check out the Jackpot Friday.
And if you’re a lucky SOB and you already have tickets for Sprint Center Sunday – Yep, it’s Radiohead week.
On to the picks…
Glazer: Sign Peyton Manning Now & Bring Back the Joe Montana Era
It happened once before…
In 1993 head Chiefs thug Carl Peterson brought Joe Montana to Kansas City. The first game against the Denver Broncos that one night was simply ELECTRIC. I was there. Even though it was 1993, scalped tickets went for 500 bucks.
It was the Chiefs best PR move both nationally and locally of all time – at least since the Dawson Era
For the first time the Kansas City Chiefs were on the national map and elite.
Joe helped bring us great talent like Marcus Allen. Everyone wants to play with a hall of famer still able to get it done. In fact Montana was so important that a team that has won no playoff games since he left in 1994, was still considered elite for many more years, until 2003. Since that time our team has been a doormat and off the radar – not even an afterthought.
Today’s Chiefs are a total no show.
So I say, YES TO PEYTON MANNING.
Donnelly: Can Sporting Repeat Last Season’s Success with Essentially the Same Roster?
If you’re not gaining ground, you’re losing it, right?
Though expectations are sky-high for Sporting KC heading into the 2012 season, they’re basically the exact same squad as last year, maybe even a tad weaker.
Most MLS pundits rank Sporting as one of the favorites in the league heading into their first game March 10th at DC United. And it kinda makes sense on paper considering they won the East last year and return every starter from the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Houston Dynamo.
Plus the club has added a few veteran players – like Bobby Convey to replace Omar Bravo – and Paulo Nagamura to fill the middle where Davy Arnaud once roamed.
But is that enough?
Hearne: KC Sports & Fitness Stagggers Across Finish Line for 15th Birthday
It doesn’t get much tougher than the print publishing biz these days…
For years Tom Leathers boasted about the dozens of publications that came and went while his Squire lived on. These days, who even remembers all of the entertainment, womens, seniors, parents, sports and gosh-know-what mags that have bought the farm in recent years?
Which brings us to Kansas City Sports & Fitness 15th anniversay issue this month.
Who better to weigh in on the momentous occasion than founding publisher Big Jim MacDonald?
Glazer: The Chiefs Had to Tag Dwayne Bowe as Franchise Player
Dwayne Bowe is the offense for the Kansas City Chiefs…
It’s that simple. Bowe’s on again and off again on the field, but by far this team’s MVP. Forget Derrick Johnson, without Bowe we can’t score anything. Our offense is that bad.
With Jamaal Charles back this season – if his ACL’s better – he could help. But the Chiefs had to sign Bowe and let cornerback Brandon Carr go. They replaced Carr with Oakland’s Stanford Routt. Not bad.
Don’t worry about Bowe, he’ll get nearly $10 million this year as the franchise player. The guy probably wanted a five year $60-$70 million dollar deal and he may still get it.
Starbeams: Sleep Awareness Month Descends on Plaza & March Madness Paralyzes KC
This month is National Sleep Awareness Month. Or as Plaza Security calls it – March.
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A new survey shows half of women under 25 would rather have bigger boobs than a high IQ. Which is exactly why I prefer women under 25.
New Jack City: The Michigan Goober Wars
When it comes to ridiculous lawsuits I thought I’d seen everything…
That is until this week when a Michigan man filed a class action lawsuit against his local AMC theater, alleging the cinema grossly overcharges for concession items.
He’s seeking a refund for AMC customers.
Joshua Thompson filed the suit because, "He got tired of being taken advantage of," his lawyer Kerry Morgan told the Detroit Free Press. "It’s hard to justify prices that are three or four times higher than anywhere else."
Mr. Thompson used to sneak his own goodies into the theater until AMC apparently banned the practice.
Whinery: RUSH TO JUDGMENT, Sex, Lies & Cable TV
The political and media world erupted in a war of words the last few days over Rush Limbaugh’s comments about a Georgetown Law Student- a “Miss” Sandra Fluke…
Starting with her testimony before Congress on the high price of contraception, a premise in and of itself debatable.
Rush’s now infamous comments aside, who is Miss Fluke and what did she say?
Here’s the part of her testimony Rush focused on:
Glazer: Big 12 Looks Petty for Stiffing MU Basketball Coach Frank Haith
The Big 12 Coaches named KU’s Bill Self and Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg co-coaches of the year…
Yet here Missouri’s Frank Haith has his Tigers No. 5 in the nation with a team picked to finish fourth in the league. Not only that, they have a legit shot at a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, as does Kansas. And he loses to Hoiberg?
How cool would that be if both KU and MU had one seeds?
That’s never happened because MU rarely has strong basketball unit. This is BY FAR their best team ever. I know they had a one seed in 1907 and got jacked, but this is still their best effort ever.
And the Big 12 gives their coach the bum’s rush. Why?
Donnelly: Kansas Craft Beer Expo@Abe & Jake’s, March 3, 2012
The Kansas Craft Bee
r Expo was a smashing success weeks before the doors opened this past Saturday at 1:00 in Lawrence…
The $30 tickets sold out in about a week, leaving many who had initially balked at the price tag scrounging to find extras. The event was held at Abe & Jake’s Landing, which boasts a large and unique room with balconies, terraces, a stage, a side pub, weird art sprawled all over the place, and a porch overlooking the Kansas River.
On Saturday, the place packed in about 700 thirsty revelers.
Good thing there was plenty beer…
Hearne: Bluestem Concept to Rise from Ashes of Trezo Vino
Think of it as Area 51 meets Area Code 913…
It won’t be easy, but on the heels of running Leawood eatery Trezo Vino the past eight months, Colby and Megan Garrelts have reportedly lined up backers for a second run at turning around the Park Place eatery at 115th and Nall.
That after the Italian and Mediterranean restaurant bought the farm Saturday.
The game plan: to reopen a new dining concept with the working title Native 34 in the same space.
Glazer: Read His Lips; Scribe Says No More Oil Wars
Have you heard what I have?
That this latest oil crisis may cause a war between the United States and the Middle East. With Iran.
Not this again.
Yep, now that the wars with the other countries over there are winding down, here comes the next one.
Why not? Gas is gonna go to five bucks – maybe even six – let’s declare war! Remember when the gas wars in this country were between stations trying to see who could sell for the lowest price?
Look, we have no real serious enemies here.
And nobody – and I mean nobody – wants to tangle with the United States military.
Hearne: Crotch Rockert Alert; Befuddling Biker Blight Besets Plaza
Bikers happen…
You’ve seen them maybe, holding down the curb and "no parking" area in front of Latteland along 47th Street on the Plaza. By the dozens on weekends during warmer weather and in larger numbers during the summer.
Yet while much has been said of the influx of urban youth – and how uncomfortable they make Plaza patrons – little to nothing has been reported about the equally unlikely biker influx and their stark contrast with the usual mix of patricians and upscale Plaza shoppers.
"They are a bunch of rednecks on crotch rockets who think they look cool," observes one 30-something shopper. "But they just stand out like a crowd of irrelevants mismatched for this environment."
Hearne: Leawood’s Trezo Vino Down for the Count Under Bluestem Management
So much for the streets of Leawood being paved with gold…
The ghost town known as the Trezo Vino closed quietly Saturday after business, sources say.
It’s no secret that the upscale Italian and Mediterranean eatery in Leawood’s swishy Park Place near struggled from the get go.
Vaunted bluestem owners Colby and Megan Garrelts rode to the rescue last summer, but that wasn’t enough to save the troubled eatery.
Glazer: Biggest Comedy Show of the Year to Hit KC Next Week; Jim Jefferies
Geoffery James Nugent was born in Sydney, New Wales, Australia 35 years ago…
He later moved to Manchester, England. Shortly after he and his girlfriend were violently burglarized at their apartment. She was tied up and beaten (attempted rape); he was hit over the head with a machete. The two men were later arrested and got 12 years in prison.
And Jim became a comic…
He changed his name to Jim Jefferies.
And he went on to beome the hottest comic in England. He starred on the BBC, was the smash hit of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and was discovered there by an agent at Creative Artists, the number one talent agency in the world out of LA.
Today Jeffries is on the verge of becoming the No. 1 hottest and best comic in the world.
Leftridge: Payton Pays for Pain, Football Fans Say, “Okay… and?”
So apparently, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was paying his guys to inflict injury upon opposing players throughout his tenure with New Orleans, and quite possibly, before.
Oh, that’s right, our sick and sadistic tale begins long ago, when Williams was head evil-defensive-guy with the Washington Redskins… that’s right. THOSE Washington Redskins. And obviously, his pay for pain program worked out in DC, right? Right?!
No. Because football is what it is. It’s a bunch of overgrown, testosterone dripping assholes who WANT to knock the ever-loving shit out of one another. They do it without provocation, without incentive; they do it because it’s PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL.
Williams joined the Saints in 2009 and immediately began inflicting ass-bashings to opposing offenses. According to court documents, things came to a head in that year’s NFC playoffs.
In the divisional round, the Saints walloped the Arizona Cardinals, 45-14. A week later, they beat the holding-out-for-a-hero Minnesota Vikings, 31-28 (you remember, the game that changed the way playoff football would be played forever). While this was going on, the Saints defensive players were being paid to injure the opposition, as specifically restricted by the NFLPA’s forbidden “bounty program.”
