Leftridge: Your Conference Championship Winners

coverEven though the Chiefs are in decompression mode—quickly losing focus with video games, weed, unhealthy eating habits and extended excursions to exotic locales—that doesn’t mean the world ends. It doesn’t mean that there still isn’t some fantastic playoff football to be played.

(The better teams prevailed, Leftridge, the better teams prevailed, Leftridge…)

And truly, they did. The four teams left are inarguably the four best teams in the league. That makes for some probably pretty awesome upcoming football. There were no weird, undeserving outliers sneaking in. The Chargers didn’t manage to finagle their way to the conference championship; The New York Giants—who’ve had a propensity for such things in the recent past—were torpedoed early this year, and never recovered.

Good.

This Sunday should be exciting, then, as football is meant to be. Evenly matched teams. Super-hero quarterbacks. Late-game dramatics. Etc., etc.

Here’s who will win. Continue reading

Posted in Brandon Leftridge, Sports | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Paul Wilson: Ruthless Killer Dennis McGuire Slowly Meets His Maker

Dennis Mcguire_1389889003724_5252049_ver1.0_640_480

Dennis McGuire

 On February 11, 1989, 22 year-old Joy Stewart met Dennis McGuire while he was working on her friend’s house….

Stewart mentioned that she would like to buy some weed, McGuire said he was just the guy to get it for her and the two left in his car.

The next day, her body was found by two hikers in the woods.

To set the stage, the following are excerpts are taken from court transcripts; “The front of her shirt was saturated with blood. One deputy sheriff at the scene noted that there appeared to be a “blood wipe mark” on her right arm. The autopsy revealed that Joy had been stabbed twice. The critical wound was a four-and-a-half-inch-deep cut in the throat, which completely severed the carotid artery and jugular vein.

“The doctor said Joy was alive when she received the wound. The autopsy also revealed abrasions around the neck, impressed with the cloth pattern of Joy’s shirt.”

The coroner’s office also took vaginal, oral, and anal swabs and found “an abundant amount of sperm on the anal swab, some sperm on the vaginal swab, and none on the oral swab.”

Stewart was eight months pregnant; McGuire was sentenced to death. Continue reading

Posted in Paul Wilson | 13 Comments

Hearne: The Unspoken Truth About ‘Weather Dude’ Joel Nichols

543362_10150864632571947_1827588697_n-1Think of it as the nice guys finish last syndrome…

By most accounts former KMBC TV “weatherman” Joel Nichols truly is a really nice guy.  Yet after a quarter century at Channel 9 doing the weather and oddball, odd hour celebrity interviews, the baby-faced newsie is o-u-t.

As for a rumor started New Year’s Day by former KC media blogger John Landsberg that Nichols may rejoin his old boss at Channel 41… mere speculation. Landsberg confessed as much in the comments section following his scoop that caught the rest of Kansas City media (me included) snoozing.

The concept of Nichols doing weather at KSHB seems a reach.

For starters, “He doesn’t really know weather,” says one television news source. “And he owned that – he said that he didn’t.”

Nichols comes from the era of smiling, chatty weathermen and women who were ubiquitous in the 1970s and 1980s. However those days have mostly faded to gray. Today’s ultra competitive TV weather-scape all but requires a degree in meteorology. Continue reading

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | 21 Comments

Sounds Good: String Cheese to Wakarusa, Schwervon @ Replay, Shy Boys @ Tap Room, Tennis @ RecordBar, Nick Hexum @ Granada

The Wakarusa Festival released the rest of its lineup for June’s throw-down, and I
was a little surprised by the top headliner, The String Cheese Incident.

For those unfamiliar with SCI, it’s a Colorado jamband that’s been doing its thing for a couple decades.  They got popular in the 90’s alongside bands like Phish, Widespread Panic, moe., Leftover Salmon, and Gov’t Mule (among others), and helped fuel the music festival resurgence.

I’ve probably seen SCI over a dozen times, including several multi-show weekends at sold-out Red Rocks.  But that was about 10 years ago.  Since then, they seem to have steadily declined, as most other jambands have, to be fair.  And festivals, including Wakarusa, have skewed toward electronic acts.

So this throwback could be kinda cool.  Dig out your patchwork cords, man… Continue reading

Posted in Matthew_Donnelly | 2 Comments

Jack Goes Confidential: Fifth ‘Jack Ryan’ Film Only Adequate

jack-ryan-shadow-recruit-poster-2CIA analyst Jack Ryan is back!

Well sort of. Actually one could call JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT a back story—or better yet, a Ryan prequel.

Paramount had first intended to release this action-spy thriller at Christmas but replaced it late in the game with THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.

In hindsight that was probably a wise decision.

In its new mid-January slot at the boxoffice the movie won’t get lost as it might have during the crowded holiday period. And who knows, reviewers may not be as critical of the picture as they would have been during  yule time. After all, Chris Pine in the starring role has some pretty big shoes to fill. Continue reading

Posted in Jack Poessiger | 1 Comment

Starbeams: KMBC Weather Wonk Exodus, Bieber Bust & Spitzer Divorce

Exiting KMBC weather wonk Lisa Teachman

Exiting KMBC weather wonk Lisa Teachman

Overland Park based Sprint just unveiled a flexible smart phone.  The LG G Flex goes for $299 and has LTE data.  This is great news for anyone who upsets Naomi Campbell.

*******

Meteorologist Lisa Teachman is leaving KMBC 9, less than a month after local favorite Joel Nichols departed the station. Apparantly, management thought “KMBC” were radio station call letters.

******* Continue reading

Posted in Starbeams | 6 Comments

Hearne: The R. Crosby Kemper Jr. Story That (Almost) Got Away

51LqwPLX1MLTime flies whether you’re having fun or not…

That said, I was definitely having fun in the summer of 1992 when Kansas City Star publisher Jim Hale and spanking new editor Art Brisbane sent me down to the minors for a chance to try out for a column in big leagues.

The back story: both the Pitch and rival alt weekly The New Times were struggling mightily – kinda like now except The New Times is long gone – and having run both, I had this genius stroke that the newspaper could buy one or both, let me run the show and turn all the red ink into black… just like that.

However after spending a couple months trying to put a deal together, Hale looked at me one afternoon and in his best Texas drawl said, “Do you want a job?”

The rest is history, but it wasn’t quite that simple. Continue reading

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | 1 Comment

Valentine: Goosed

goosed

Original art by Mark Valentine

 

The Kansas City metro area just has too many geese…

In a recent Valentine Research Poll, 85% of Kansas City residents think geese are kind of cool, but 98% think that goose poop is a real problem.

Walk around Loose Park; goose poop. Every area lake; goose poop. Most large fountains; goose poop.
Every golf course; goose poop. I saw a family of geese looking at a large pot hole and pooping in it.

Now let us examine the straight poop. Continue reading

Posted in Mark Valentine | 11 Comments

Glazer: Report Card Time for 2013 Chiefs & NFL Playoff Picks

chiefs-cheerleader(4)The best quote I’ve heard about this past season’s Kansas City Chiefs goes like this:  “Last year they were the best of the worst, this year, they were the worst of the best.”

That’s a fair statement.

Do I think new head coach Andy Reid should be NFL coach of the year? 

Sorry, Chiefs fans.

That award should go to Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera. Granted, both teams lost in the playoffs but the Panthers defeated some serious opponents like the Seattle Seahawks, whereas the Chiefs really had no impressive victories on their resume.

More importantly, you could make a strong argument that Andy only did a good job during the first half of the season when the Chiefs went 9 and 0. However, by season’s end the Panthers were one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL, while the Chiefs were one of the worst.  Continue reading

Posted in Craig_Glazer | 18 Comments

Paul Wilson: Sixties Bombshell Donna Mae Mims Belle of the Ball @ Classic Car Auction

Girl in MG #3

Donna Mae Mims

The reason I called my pal Tom Blackwood was my desire to share my excitement. Because at 9:00 a.m. yesterday your well-coifed Scribe began to receive pictures of his latest acquisition – a fully armored, vintage 500 SEL Mercedes Benz – as it was loaded onto a truck to start its journey here from Florida.

These are the kind of intimate moments only a car guy can understand.

In the conversation, Tom gave me an update on one of vintage racecar driver Jeff Moore’s discoveries; mild-mannered secretary turned race grrrl Donna Mae Mims and her previously lost “Think Pink” Bug Eye Sprite. And thus a fascinating story began to unfold. Continue reading

Posted in Paul Wilson | 23 Comments

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New Jack City: Come & Get It, Republicans. Or You Know, Skip It

750px-1976_campaign_button_eSome local special interest groups and media would have you believe Kansas City is still in the running to land the 2016 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION

They say that the demands being made on the eventual host city are being met here. Others add the word barely when describing KC’s offerings.

Hey but who am I judge?

Other major competitors still in the race for the convention include Denver, New Orleans, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus.

There are OTHER player-hopefuls like Chicago, Detroit, Dallas and Orlando.

Then there’s the self-perceived favorite – Las Vegas – which sees absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t win!

Nevada’s Lt. Governor Brian Krolicki—who also serves as chairman of the nonprofit host committee assembling Vegas’ bid—recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “We have enough hotel rooms, at least THREE venues that could host the event, outstanding entertainment options and vast experience hosting large events. Nobody else can match Las Vegas’ advantages.”

Krolicki didn’t get into the downsides of the competing cities. That thankless, unbiased task was left to Review-Journal reporter Steve Sebelius.

Here’s how he sees it from Sin City’s point of view.  Continue reading

Posted in Jack Poessiger | 11 Comments

Hearne: Anti Texting Crowd Takes Up Arms in Florida – KC Responds

photo 2

Lauren Euston

What a way to go, death by text…

That’s how a Florida father bit the dust – on “Senior Monday” at a Cobb  movie-plex in Tampa. Retired cop  Curtis Reeves shot and killed 43 year-old Chad Oulson after complaining to him about Oulson texting his 31/2 year-old daughter. The shooting went down during the previews prior to an afternoon screening of the movie “Lone Survivor.”

“Well, it had to happen,” says fierce anti-text movie critic Jack Poessiger. “Yes, I am down on texting but obviously it’s over-the-top to shoot somebody over it.”

In Poessiger’s world – and other dead serious movie critics and fanatics like Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League – there are no valid excuses for texting or looking at texts on your phone during movies.

Not even for people with young children, seriously ailing relatives or pending personal issues? Continue reading

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | 32 Comments

Starbeams: Branson Airport Faux Pas, French Plumbing, A-Rod to Chiefs

a-rodIn defense of the pilot who landed at the wrong airport in Branson…I don’t know how many times I’ve driven home and pulled into the wrong driveway.

******* 

Construction workers replaced a broken pipe that was placed under concrete downtown in 1874.  It’s so old, we’re asking for a money-back-guarantee from France.

*******  Continue reading

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Valentine: A Possible Solution to the Flu Shot Controversy

flu

Art by Mark Valentine

I just don’t believe in the Flu Shot

I’m not a science denier – I’m good with many other vaccines – but this one feels like a government run McDonald’s promotion. Yet despite the propaganda, it’s not that big and not that tasty.

Look at the latest local news.

Menorah Hospital is seeing a lot of flu cases and 14 nurses are out with the flu. The knee-jerk response is, “Everybody needs to get a Flu Shot immediately.” A more critical eye might have noted that the nurses are already required to get flu shots, so why are so many of them sick with the flu anyway? Continue reading

Posted in Mark Valentine | 12 Comments

Leftridge: Totally Solid 2014 Sports Predictions

Nostradamus12013 was a year of tragedy, triumphant and tribulation in the sports world. Blah, blah, blah. Okay, it was mostly like any other year, really, which always seems to include equal measures of sorrow and agony as well as jubilation and joy. Because, you know, sports.

The Royals were OK, which is to say that it was the best year they’d had in decades, and the Chiefs were really, really great through 9 games (against mediocre-to-awful competition) and then they were just shitty.

And so it goes.

So what can sports fans expect in 2014? Lots of sports, probably. You know, with some good moments and some bad. Kind of like any other year.

If you’re interested in hearing some more (crackpot/insane/ill-informed/ridiculous) SPECIFIC predictions, though, read on. Because I’ve done just that. Continue reading

Posted in Brandon Leftridge, Sports | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Valentine: 007 Shocked at Target

GoldfingerIt was all over the News…

Some seventy-million Target shoppers now have their credit card information at risk from hackers in a holiday cyber attack. I was shocked.

At first, I was shocked that 70 million people had bought something at Target for Christmas – that’s a lot of shoppers. Kinda makes you wonder where the people who say, “Another day, another dollar.” are getting their money from. Continue reading

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Glazer: Scribe Tips Hat to 610 Sports, Offers Up Playoff Tips

Fescoe-Bob“I gotta be honest with you, when the team loses I hate talking about this football team.  And then you lose in epic fashion like you did on Sunday; you’re a bunch of losers and there are a lot of people who need to be called out today.”

That is the opening to Bob Fescoe’s rant on 610 Sports regarding the Chiefs’ recent playoffs loss.  I like that Fescoe doesn’t sugar coating anything. He actually went to Indianapolis with a couple other on-air personalities from 610, including Danny Parkins. And I think maybe 610’s Carrington Harrison was also trapped in the car on the way to and from the nightmare.

Fescoe kind of showed his age by complaining about how his younger cohorts spent the entire trip texting or Facebooking during the drive.  He said that drove him crazy, while Parkins was upset about Fescoe’s long rants on what must have been an excruciating drive home in really bad weather.

In case you hit your head really hard or something, you probably know the Chiefs blew a 28 point lead and lost their playoff game with the Colts with a final score of 45-44.  It was the second biggest playoff collapse in NFL history.

I’ll get back to that.  Continue reading

Posted in Craig_Glazer | 23 Comments