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Leftridge: World Series Slugfest: The Pitchers Won’t Win, ‘Cause the Hitters Won’t Quit
There was a moment in the NLCS Game 6—probably after Albert Pujols’ 3rd inning homerun and before Yuniesky Betancourt’s 4th inning RBI double—when I began to wonder when the bloodletting would stop.
Game 6—along with the entire series, along with the ALCS, along with the entire postseason in both leagues—was a squealing pig having its throat sliced by steely-eyed butcher. You know, supposing that the pig had hemophilia.
But finally, after 18 combined runs and a never-ending parade of seemingly ill-prepared bullpen sacrifices, it was mercifully over. The St. Louis Cardinals were heading to their 1st World Series since 2006, their 18th overall appearance, and the Milwaukee Brewers—once champions of some nonsensical motivational slogan deemed “Beast Mode”—were left shaking their heads, wondering why big name offseason acquisitions like Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum were so decidedly terrible when it mattered most.
Glazer: Scribe Drops $300 on Lobster, Steak @ Capital Grille, Narrowly Misses Threesome
So here’s how it went down…
A few weeks back an ex-girlfriend was celebrating a birthday. She came over to my condo with three very hot looking young ladies. They’d been drinking before they came by, so all of them were a bit loose. One of the girls, half American Indian and half African (mother from there) had a crazy, great body. Big ones, ripped abs and smooth – she was 26.
For the sake of my dating life, let’s call her Amy (not her real name). We got along great and had a date a few nights later. Everything went well but there was no happy ending. Yet.
Onour second date last week, she came by my condo at about 8 PM. She seemed pretty clean cut, well-educated and lived in a nice part of OP. She drove a Range Rover, so she seemed normal.
Then she says, "I’m hungry let’s go to a restaurant in the area." Cool, I said and told her I’d already eaten, but that she could eat. So we drove down to the Plaza, went by a couple places, and she said she’d never been to The Capitol Grille. I was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes – not exactly the ideal dress code for the Grille – but I told her we could get something in the bar.
Edelman: BROADWAY’S SPIDER-MAN TAKES OFF, LANDS ON ITS FEET
For all of the hype and hemorrhaging, SPIDER-MAN, TURN OFF THE DARK turns out to be alot of fun.
Don’t expect to see Bono and the Edge rubbing elbows with Stephen Sondheim any time soon, though. The crew’s score is probably the weakest link in this opus (Foxwood Theatre on 42nd between 7th and 8th Ave in NYC). It’s Julie Taymor‘s brilliant vision for Spidey’s theatrical debut, as realized by an amazingly athletic cast, that make this new production a guilty pleasure that just might make back its $75 million capitalization.
Fans of THE LION KING and the movie Across the Universe will recognize Ms Taymor’s touch as soon as the house lights dim. We meet Peter Parker in school, where he’s delivering a book report on the Greek goddess Arachne. Turned into a spider by the jealous Athena, Arachne serves as a leitmotif, literally hanging over the entire evening. T.V. Carpio, the actress who played Prudence in Across the Universe, does a terrific job in the part– especially when you consider she spends the entire show eighteen feet off the ground.
Hearne: Not So Fast, Hyatt Regency’s Skies Restaurant May Not be Dead Yet
To borrow an expression, the Skies the limit…
Or is it? The Star‘s Joyce Smith reported recently that Skies – the Hyatt Regency Crown Center’s decades-old, revolving, rooftop restaurant – would close and be converted into a “Sheraton Preferred Guest” lounge after Sheraton takes over in December.
I visited the 20-plus year old restaurant Saturday to check it out one last time. I wasn’t alone. Reservations were tight and the best I could do was a 9 p.m. seating. The point being, if you want to dine in prime time, make your reservations early.
There was even an hour-plus wait to get into Skies scenic lounge – a cheaper thrill – although the hotel did allow small groups to ride the special elevator to the 42nd floor for a farewell look.
Hearne: New Comedy City Improv Maestro ‘Out for Blood’
Things haven’t been the same since Clancy left…
Once upon a time, there was Comedy Sportz. No mas. Oh, it’s still around, just not in Kansas City. Local improv dude Clancy Hathaway was the man with the plan in those dark ages of 1987. An out of work actor, Hathaway rented space in the back of Torres Pizza in Westport then richoceted around town to location after location for a dozen or so years before having a falling out with the Mother Ship and changing the name to Comedy City.
That was then…
And while Hathaway’s Linkedin page still describes him as "da’Mayor at Comedy City," he’s now retired says new owner Clay Morgan.
Morgan – a comic since 1997 – now runs the show in the Westport Flea Market – and is leading a bolder, edgier new charge.
Starbeams: THE TOP 5 STADIUM NAMES THAT WOULD MAKE CHIEFS FANS PROUD
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The Chiefs are reportedly looking again to sell the naming rights to Arrowhead Stadium in an attempt to raise more money for the team.
As if $27 parking isn’t enough.
To that end…
THE TOP 5 STADIUM NAMES THAT WOULD MAKE CHIEFS FANS PROUD:
#5. Amos Family Funeral Home Stadium.
#4. Midwest Hemorrhoid Treatment Center Stadium.
NEW JACK CITY: Smoke And Mirror Airfare Pricing – Don’t Get Bagged by Majors
Used to be a given that when searching for an airfare out of MCI you’d get the best ticket pricing…
Rates on discounters like Southwest Airlines and AirTran. But legacy carriers like American, Delta, United-Continental and USAirways have become much more competitive of late.
I keep finding very competitive, even lower fares to popular destinations on airlines other than say Southwest. That’s especially true to a popular destinations served by Southwest with multiple daily non-stop flights. Whereras other carriers serving that particular city pair only with connecting flights.
But not so fast, there are other considerations.
Hearne: Vaunted Hyatt New Year’s Eve Bash Collapses Amid Uncertainty
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Scratch one kickass KC New Year’s Eve bash…
Kansas City’s largest New Year’s Eve Party is no more. That on the heels of an announcement by Crown Center that the Hyatt Regency Crown Center hotel and three of KC’s most esteemed upscale eateries – Peppercorn Duck Club, Skies and Benton’s – will take dirt naps at the end of November.
The word on the street being the hotel was canceling its popular New Year’s bash.
For years the gargantuan event drew thousands of upscale Kansas Citians to the Hyatt to dine, drink, dance and dart into hotel rooms before embarking on the new year. Last year’s bash was headlined by The Elders and featured live comedy and every brand of band and music imaginable, swallowing the hotel’s lobby, event spaces and 732 rooms at an entry price of $75 per person.
No mas…
Donnelly: Roger Daltrey at the Midland, October 14, 2011
Let’s cut to the chase here people…
Can Roger Daltrey, legendary front man for The Who, still get the job done? Or is his latest tour a glorified Vegas lounge act looking to cash in on aging boomers desperate to re-live their glory days?
Friday night’s show at the Midland answered both questions.
Yes, Daltrey can still hit (practically) all the notes, can still command the stage with his energy and presence, and can still twirl the hell out of a microphone. And no, the show didn’t feel like a re-tread, perhaps due in part to the number of younger folks that ventured out to see the next best thing to The Who for the very first time.
As advertised, the first act of the show consisted of Daltrey’s band playing note for note the classic rock opera, Tommy. Included in the mix was Pete Townshend’s younger brother, Simon, who played well on guitar and even better on vocals for several songs.
Donnelly: Sporting KC Clinch Playoff Berth, Regain 1st in East With Win Over NY
The atmosphere at LIVESTRONG was electric…
Hours before the start of the mid-afternoon fixture against the visiting New York Red Bulls the weather was perfect, grills sizzled, and beer flowed. The anticipation for Sporting’s final regular season home game was palpable – from the parking lots to the locker rooms to the Cauldron – the stadium was filled with legions of singing fans.
Noit surprisingly, everyone seemed on edge prior to kick off for a game that might make or break KC’s season.
Win and they’re in. Lose and, well, Sporting could still make the playoffs, but they’d need some help.
Leftridge: An Arrowhead by any Other Name and This Weekend’s Winners and Losers
In light of Nick Wright’s report about Todd Haley’s impending termination, and Bob Gretz’s report about naming rights for Arrowhead Stadium, I think that there’s really only one indisputable truth: Pioli and Haley aren’t going to be taking in any corporate trust retreats together anytime soon. It’s been reported by many sources—the local sports talk radio media, the national media, even that barista at the Starbucks on Main with the chain that loops between her septum piercing and her lip-ring—that they’re on the outs.
There aren’t enough little Dutch boys in all of Holland to stop the holes forming in the Chiefs’ dike. Unless the organization finds their own “Little Hero of Haarlem,” all credibility and sanity held loosely behind that wall threatens to drown everyone in the village below.
On this morning’s Chiefs’ preview show on KCTV, Rich Baldinger got into the act, stating that he thinks that there’s only one way Haley keeps his job past this season: by winning a playoff game.
Glazer: Scribe Worries Chiefs May Play Themselves Out of Badly Needed Draft Pick
The Chiefs have had the worst good luck!
First they lose two of their best players to injury, then get smashed in the entire preseason and first three regular season games. They were ranked as the worst team in the NFL. Two games later, they beat a pair of 0-3 teams, now everyone thinks all is well.
"Boy, if we can beat Oakland and maybe upset San Diego on Monday Night, beat Miami and Denver – win one more – yeah we are 6-10.
Oh, JOY!
Unfortunately, with all the injuries in the league, the Chiefs have now become almost average compared to many teams. They’ve gone from an F team to maybe a D plus or C-. And suddenly fans are saying stuff like, ‘We need to see more from Jackie Battle, D-Bowe, and THE FRANCHISE, Matt Cassel.’ And with no really strong defenses in the league- save maybe Baltimore – the Chiefs could be O.K.
Today: The Rat Race That is Shopping at Trader Joe’s
What’s the matter with Trader Joe’s?
Obviously, not everything. It’s doubtful the company that owns and operates equally cult-like, cut rate grocer Aldi would expand into the Kansas City market if things weren’t going pretty well. Yet while much has been said about Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck wine ( still selling for $1.99 in Tucson but a buck more in KC) and its generous return policy, little has been written or reported about the actual Trader Joe’s shopping experience.
"It’s hell," says 30-something Topeka mom Kimberly Gerlach, recruited to check out KC’s twin TJ’s. "It’s just hard to shop there."
Put another way, the shopping experience at both Trader Joe’s here is a cluster fuck.
Gerlach’s bottom line after back-to-back visits:
"I’d go there again for wine and produce, but that’s about it. I hate it, I hate the shopping experience. And I hate that bell they’re constantly ringing at the checkouts up front because they add to the chaos."
The primary problem: the constant bustle and kinetic shopping pace that pervades both stores.
Glazer: Scribe Deals with Death and Moves On…
It’s hard to measure the value of simply being a good person in life…
Too often we give way too much weight in life for people who have a ton of money, fame or good fortune. This site is proof of that. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m person who wants to leave a mark in history. And that I also want to enjoy an exciting life.
However, I’ve never said this was the only way to go.
Two of the greatest men I know want none of that. They just want to be good husbands and fathers. And that’s not easy. My grandfather by marriage was the kind of man who truly would "give you the shirt off his back" if he cared about you. Ben Studna loved me and my brothers and gave us all he had to give. All that he could.
I was pleased but heartbroken to hold his hand and look into his eyes as the lights went out in his life.
Glazer: Scribe Braces for Week Six Picks & Midget Invasion of Westport
The football season’s more than a third over…
The top teams are now pretty apparent. No matter, upsets happen all the time. And the point spread makes the road ahead tougher and tougher. If you’ve followed the scribe’s advice, Christmas should be paid for by now. So you you can quit now, while you’re ahead or throw caution to the wind and boldly ride into Week Six.
College Picks:
Missouri is a pretty good team with pretty bad luck and a pretty bad record at 2-3. But MU’s at home with a decent Iowa State team. In the meantime, Oklahoma State has turned into a bully but is still being overlooked as a finalist for the top spot. Let’s insure our wins as best we can. Texas looks like its fading. Let’s tease these two plus 6 to win. Remember we must win them both to win.
Leftridge: Who Needs the Chiefs When You’ve Got a Game 6 if Necessary?
After improbably victories in two straight weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs’ bye-week could not have arrived at a more inopportune time. Instead of building off of an avalanche of momentum, players and coaches alike are left trying to fill the void that a Sunday conquest typically provides.
So, seeing as how idle hands are the devil’s playthings, how are young, rich, testosterone-laden men supposed to stay out of trouble?
I asked around (made stuff up), and was surprised by some of the answers I received.
Check it out.
Coach Todd Haley:
“I plan on doing some diving. You know, dumpster diving. Man, these Leawood cats throw away some pretty nice sh*t,” he said, wiping a dirt-caked hand across his sweaty brow. “Look!” he exclaimed, holding up a broken lava lamp, “this would be kickass in the basement.”
Glazer: Forget What You Read on Arrowhead Pride, Wright is Right & Pioli is Wrong
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So I’m driving home this afternoon, listening to my friend Nick Wright on 610 Sports….
And he’s explaining how a website called Arrowhead Pride interviewed Chiefs GM Scott Pioli about coach Todd Haley. The site had quoted Pioli as saying, "We never discussed firing Todd Haley after a loss to the Colts – never happened."
Pioli clearly was talking about Nick’s comments earlier this week when he’d said if the Chiefs had lost to the lowly Colts, Haley would have been gone. Inside information.
Well, the Chiefs won two games against horrible teams. Both games were close and the Chiefs trailed in each. It was a bit odd that they won them, but clearly you don’t fire Haley after he finally wins two in a row. Most players on the team like him and they’re playing their tails off for Todd to save his job and their’s. The team’s still a bottom feeder, but it’s playing with a purpose.
However, the truth is they have very little talent outside D-Bowe and Tamba Hali.
Do I believe Nick? YES!
Starbeams: Adios Skies, Peppercorn Duck & Hello Hasselhoff
In one of the biggest KC restaurant scene shake-ups ever, three longtime restaurants near Crown Center will close by year’s end. Benton’s Steakhouse, The Peppercorn Duck Club, and Skies will close when the Hyatt Regency Crown Center becomes a Sheraton. Skies will become a preferred customer lounge. It’s the city’s only revolving restaurant. Maybe it would have fared better if as the restaurant revolved, it went faster and faster and the floor dropped.
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A small plane with one person aboard made a belly landing Wednesday at Wheeler Downtown Airport. The pilot was unable to lower the landing gear, and rescue personnel were waiting and he walked away unharmed.
Even so, it was still more dramatic than the season finale of LOST.
Hearne: Massive Midget Convention to Descend on Westport This Weekend
Blame it on Darby O’Gill...
You know, from the movie Darby O’Gill and the Little People. Or was it Martin Luther King, Jr.? I forget but somewhere along the line, society decided that each and every splinter group should be granted however many exemptions from the English language – you know – as it is politely spoken.
In the name of political correctness.
In cases like the "N" word it was a capital idea. Less so in others. I mean, what’s wrong with referring to the characters in the new "Footloose" movie as crackers? They’re from Bomont, Georgia for goddsakes.
And so what if their great grandfathers ate hardtack during the Civil War? Let ’em burn a Confederate flag if they don’t like it.
Jack Goes Confidential: Get Ready to Cut ‘FOOTLOOSE,’ Y’all
Back in 1984 an unknown big city kid named Kevin Bacon moved to a small southern town where he confronted a dancing ban and a hellfire preacher…
It was in a pre-GLEE era that included dance flicks like FAME, DIRTY DANCING, FLASHDANCE and, of course, FOOTLOOSE.
Now 27 years later there’s a new FOOTLOOSE, and yes another dance restriction.
But this time not so much based on morals and religion but strictly in response to a deadly car crash that killed 4 high schoolers after a party.
Welcome to readin’, ridin’ and red-neckin’ in Bomont, Georgia!
