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Glazer: Nepotism, The NFl, Carl Peterson; Down & Out in Kansas City
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It’s called nepotism…
You move up the ladder because a family member or good pal says so. Simple as that. Sure, some people have genuine talent, like Clint Eastwood and they slowly move up. But most Hollywood executives move up because of Uncle Bill or Aunt Jane. Same thing in the NFL.
"My son will make a great offensive coordinator."
"Sure thing, Marty."
Hey, sometimes it works, but usually it doesn’t.
Today: Anthony Bourdain Descends on B.B.’s Lawnside & the Ghost of L.C.’s Past
What in the world was foodie Anthony Bourdain doing today chowing down at one of KC’s ‘s lessor BBQ joints?
Making the rounds of local dining establishments ahead of his performance Friday at the Midland by AMC, that’s what. KCC reader and comments dude Chuck Lowe stumbled onto Bourdain at lunchtime today at B.B.’s lawnside BBQ in South Kansas City.
"I think he was having burnt ends when I saw him," Lowe says. "The place was packed and everybody was standing around looking at him and he had a crew filming it. But I couldn’t get near him because (owner) Lindsay Shannon was guarding him."
Like Lowe, my experience with B.B.’s cuisine has been mediocre at best. That said, the place has a kickass roadhouse feel and features some of KC’s best blues bands like Trampled Under Foot, John Paul’s Flying Circus and Samantha Fish.
Now back to B.B.’s and the nail biting that may be going as to how Bourdain will rate B.B.’s on his Travel Channel show "No Reservations" come next April.
New Jack City: It’s Time To Celebrate the TIME in Overland Park
THIS JUST IN!
Fellow Overland Parkers. Your pain, suffering and seemingly eternal shame is finally at an end. Your voice has been heard. You asked for it, you demanded it. You wanted to stay on time and keep up with the rest of the metroplex. And guess what?
Santa has brought the greatest gift ever—albeit a little early —to downtown O.P.
The world famous Overland Park clock tower has been transformed and is actually keeping time again. Kansas City time, no less.
Hearne: Jardine’s Wants to Pay Off Former Staff Today & Move On
Olly Olly in come free…
In the interest of fairplay – in a local soap opera of historic, tabloid TV news proportion – I bring you the following message from the jazz club known as Jardine’s just off the Country Club Plaza:
Come and get it!
That’s right, as reported here last week, Jardine’s owner Beena Raja has her checkbook at the ready and wants to settle up with members of her now-former wait staff. Including the pair that were fired, the manager who resigned and the dozen or so others who vanished into thin air.
"I want to pay all of the employees," Raja says. "I went back through my records and I want to pay them today."
Just one problem…
Hearne: Blockbusted – State Line Blockbuster Bites the Dust & Romantics Flashback
Just like that, the Blockbuster near 77th and State line is no more…
The one Steve Rose and I go to. That is, whenever Rose’s family is in town for the holidays and my kids are hosting an overnight hang with friends. It was kind of like a Mission Hills / Prairie Village / Waldo neighborhood institution. Albeit an institution on the brink of extinction.
When other Blockbusters and area video stores were dropping like flies the last couple of years, the manager there assured me his would be one of the last to go because it was some sort of regional headquarters or something.
Yet suddenly, last Tuesday employees got word from upon high and they were out-of-there in a flash.
New Jack City: It’s Time to Lay Off the Bogus Hyatt Criticism
I hadn’t paid much attention to the many stories about Hyatt’s refusal to financially involve itself in the proposed SKYWALKS MEMORIAL…
That all changed Sunday when I came across an absurd letter to the STAR.
Under the heading of "Hyatt Moral Debt" an Olathe woman wrote, "I am disgusted to learn that Hyatt Hotels Corp. will not be contributing to the Skywalk Memorial. They took money from Kansas Citians for 30 years, but when it came time to remember the 114 people killed and countless others injured or affected, they skip town."
Hold it right there.
Glazer: The Rise & Fall of Todd Haley and The Long, Sad Road Ahead
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Well, by now you have all heard Chiefs coach Todd Haley is toast in KC…
Maybe that’s a good thing for Mr. Haley. Change was needed. There’s no need to dwell on the why, other than a couple points. Losing, hatred (which I told you back in September) between Todd and general manager Scott Pioli and no overall success.
One thing I have written about and talked about on radio is this: last year was not really much of a success. By year’s end the Chiefs were a bottom tier team – bottom 7 or 8 for sure. They had nothing other than a scat back named Jamaal Charles and a couple good-but-not great defenders in Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson. Oh yeah, and D-Bowe. Not enough to build a winner with.
No quarterback, no titles.
We all know Pioli deserves the same fate. He’s been pretty terrible. Just a few good picks and almost no good trades. You need talent to win and we have very little. I don’t think any coach could have done that much with this mess.
Starbeams: The Top 5 Accomplishments of Chiefs Coach Todd Haley
The TOP 5 ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY TODD HALEY:
#5. Almost grasped the ability to speak in complete sentences.
#4. Made several people laugh by reserving a table under the name C-Hunt.
#3. Taught us how to shake hands without getting germs.
Today: Game On, KC Confidential Christmas Bash 5:30 pm Today @ at Jardines
The incredible lightness of survival….
Against all odds – or so it might seem – the annual KC Confidential Christmas Wilding will indeed go down at 5:30 p.m. tonight at Jardine’s. The troops will be out in force. Me, Glazer, Jack, Katie, Matt Donnelly, Mark Edelman, Tony the Tiger, Fitz, Mermaid, Tracy, Roger the Plumber, Nigro, members the comments hit squad and many more.
Think of it as a party out-of-bounds.
Flak jackets option.
Donnelly: LIVESTRONG to Host 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tourney, Turf Won’t Be an Issue Ever Again
Sporting Kansas City’s St. Patty’s Day home opener is a mere 90-ish days away, folks...
Recently, SKC announced several other events that will be coming to LIVESTRONG in 2012. Most notably is the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will be in KC for the semifinals on March 31st, and the final on April 2nd.
Not a bad little grab for KC.
Glazer: Scribe Goes Undefeated in NFL Picks, Mourns This Year & Next Year’s Chiefs
First off, what a comeback by your humble scribe…
Perfect after Tim Tebow‘s comeback. Five for five so far in pros. What a year. Maybe more important with the Chiefs crushing loss to the Jets, your man is one game short of the Magic Number, 9 losses by KC to end the bet I made in September.
If you recall I flew to Las Vegas and put my money where my mouth is. I bet the Chiefs to have under 7 1/2 wins for the season. With 16 games, that means they have to lose at least 9. They are at 8 with three to go and Green Bay next week.
Bye, Bye, Stink Farm.
Starbeams: Albert Rocks St. Louis, Weiss Waddles into KU
The City of St. Louis is still in shock after slugger Albert Pujols has signed a $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Albert is from Kansas City, so eventually that money will wind up in southern Johnson County. The Royals tried to sign him…but they couldn’t work out a deal where Albert would agree to be paid by the hour.
Leftridge: TV Talk: RFD for You and Me
What you choose to watch on a daily basis says a lot about your character. If you’re watching MTV in this day and age, you’re probably into debacles of human embarrassment, and you probably like to masturbate watching young, pregnant teenage girls scream at their ill-gotten infants.. If you’re into ESPN, you’re probably pretty boring, but you’re at least the kinda guy that can handle his own around the coffee machine (nobody has a water-cooler anymore, whatever the fuck that is). And if you’re into VH1, you probably like watching older quasi-celebrities make asses of themselves AND the early morning top-40 countdown ensures that your teenage daughter might raise an eyebrow over a plate of bacon when you offer an admittedly lousy critique of Gaga’s newest offering.
Keep trying, dad!
If you’re like me, however, you just realized that Time Warner Cable, that heathen of all metropolitan public cable monopolies, is now offering RFD, without demand, and as often or as little as you’d like it. If you’re like me—and God help you if you are—you fall on the “as often as you’d like" side of the fence.
For those left outside of the barb-wired, hay-strewn circle, allow me to explain what RFD is.
Tales From the Tweet: KU Livin’ Large, Albert Getting Fatter & Milwaukee’s New Kick to the Nuts
So unless you’ve been living trapped beneath Charlie Weis’ fleshy, ample backside, surviving on small pockets of trapped air and renegade Cheetos that were feared lost forever, you already know the big news of the past week: there’s a new head footballl coach at Kansas University.
And if you’re like me, you spent yesterday glued to your Twitter feed, as 10 different local sports talk personalities Tweeted the same lines from his lengthy press conference. Alright, so that’s only a half-truth. I went back afterwards and read them all, however, and managed to learn the same things over and over again.
@nate_bukaty (810)
“Charlie Weis enters the room.”
I’m on the edge of my seat… my ever-so-slightly quaking seat.
@bobfescoe (610)
“Weis has entered. Using a cane. Bad hip and knee #kufball”
Apparently, the “Rascal-Mobility-Scooter ramp request” was not met. Strike one, Dr. Zenger. He’s going to hold this against you when he rolls out of town in another year and a half.
Glazer: Hats Off to KC Comic Mike Baldwin for Huge Comedy Competition Win
I was pleased to see my friend, Mike Baldwin‘s picture on the front page of the Kansas City Star today…
It was a preview to a front page FYI story about Baldwin winning the Seattle International Comedy Competition. One of the three biggest in America. Baldwin had also done well in the San Francisco contest. Besides winning five grand and some commercial dough, Baldwin is now an official big-time headliner. The story quotes Mike as having started with Stanford and Sons. Later it quotes me on a few issues as well.
Always cool to see your guys do well.
Hearne: And Now, The Rest Of The Jardine’s Story…
It’s hard to be fair and balanced when you’ve only heard one side of the story…
Impossible, in fact. That said, there’s been no shortage of piling on in the soap opera surrounding vaunted Plaza jazz club Jardine’s going dark this past week. Especially with employees flooding the blogosphere with tales of being fired, wronged and any number of other sensational crimes against humanity.
And to a certain extent, that’s only fair.
People have every right to air their grievances, and readers and television viewers have every right to draw whatever their conclusions may be having heard those complaints. Unfortunately, in the absence of Jardine’s side of the story, clearly there’s been a rush to judgement based on but a single side side having its story told.
"There’s always more to a story than there appears to be," says Westport businessman Bill Nigro. "And nobody’s heard Beena’s side of it yet – there’s always two sides to every story. I just wish everybody luck on getting back in control of their future – everybody – both sides."
And so now, the rest of the story…
Glazer: Scribe Licks His Wounds & Bounces Back With NFL Picks
Had my first losing week last week…
I was under .500 first time this year on a week so I need to bounce back. There is no college ball this week, then there are line nine million bowl games. Joy.
The NFL is winding down. Will the Chiefs win another game and drop their draft pick further down? Uh, maybe one more, against Oakland, but I doubt it. Let’s see just how good the Chiefs defense really is this week. I say the Jets are a lock to beat KC, but might not cover. This is a real team that is not wounded and on the road.
A loss gets your humble scribe’s magic number to ONE!!!!!
YES SIr….NOW HERE IS THE PRO WEEKEND!
Matt & Katie: Matt & Kim @ The Buzz Christmas Show at The Midland 12/7/11
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Having just two people in their band has served Matt & Kim pretty well thus far…
There are lots of benefits if you think about it.
First off, you only have to split the gig check with one other person. Second, less is more. So the band’s stripped down dance punk doesn’t have to try and be complex or anything.
Which kinda takes the pressure off.
In fact, this band seems to eschew any delusions of grandeur. They’re simply two people, one named Matt and one named Kim. I know what you’re thinking, maybe their real names aren’t actually Matt and Kim. So their choice of moniker is actually an ironic hipster trick, ala Ben Folds Five (they only had three members, hahahahaha).
Matt & Katie: The Night The Buzz Stole Christmas & 311 at Midland by AMC 12/6/11
Night two of 96.5 the Buzz’s XXX-Mas bash at the Midland featured headliner 311…
When confronted with 311, most people fall into one of two groups; the people who absolutely love the band, love their evolution from alternative to rap-rock, to funk, to pop rock and own at least two 311 T-shirts, one of which is dark blue with the band’s logo in silver on the chest.
Then there’s the other group…
The people who kind of like some of 311’s more melodic songs, like a lot of the stuff off of Transistor, but feel like they will have to kill again if subjected to 311’s biggest commercial hit, 1995’s “Down.”
Glazer: 610 Sports Nick Wright Call New KU Football Coach a “Big Prick”
He said he had to move to Florida for family reasons…
Last season Charlie Weiss quit the Kansas City Chiefs because his daughter had special needs and his son was going to play college ball at Florida (wanting to be a coach-like dad), so he moved to take over the offensive coordinators job at Florida. They stunk.
Now Weis is being rewarded by being named head coach at KU.
Once again, I love Nick Wright. He may not love me – that’s OK – his show has a national ring to it that 810 and tired-sounding Soren Petro doesn’t have. And Nick crushed it yesterday.
