Sporting Kansas City battled its way to a second straight 0-0 draw over the weekend, this time at the New England Revolution, extending the team’s shutout streak to 249 minutes.
It wasn’t pretty. But it was especially ugly for the home squad who didn’t even register a shot until the second half, and ended the game without a single shot on target. That doesn’t happen very often. Continue reading
Friends, radio listeners, fellow party types…
I come here to bury Walt Bodine, not to praise him. The evil that men do – especially media types – lives on long after them, while the good is often obfuscated.
So I won’t bore you with yet another rehash of the deceased broadcaster’s life story or try and make it sound as if Bodine spent the last 30 years on public radio station KCUR FM kicking butt and taking names.
Clearly he did not. Continue reading
“I got a buddy who says, you can’t come to Arkansas without getting ‘hogified.'”
Overheard at the most disorganized Starbucks I’ve ever seen in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Yep, it’s Spring Break and I’m living large in the land of the broke.
I’ll lay down more specifics when the smoke clears, but for now I want to share some first impressions lest any of you stumble down here with gross misconceptions about the land of Mountain Valley Water.
You know, like I did. Continue reading
Boulevard Brewing has teamed with The Roasterie to present Coffee Ale, for a limited release...
To Wit: The Top 5 Ways to Know You’ve Had Too Much Coffee Ale:
#5. The best part of waking up is having no idea where you are.
#4. You’re ready to close down a Starbucks.
#3. You have a buzz, yet, you’re alert enough to avoid ugly chicks. Continue reading
Take a big, classic musical like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s CAROUSEL (now thru April 6 at KC Rep). Get rid of the pretty period clothes, the handsome scenery, and most of the musicians…
Add some grit, compliments of local theater trailblazers Rusty Sneary and Kyle Hatley, the artists behind Crossroads
area theater company The Living Room. Play the whole thing in the round, so the actors are literally in your face, and you’ve
got KC Rep’s hip “new” musical hit.
This ain’t your grandma’s CAROUSEL. Continue reading
“We fundamentally try to collect everything and hang onto it forever.”
Ira “Gus” Hunt
Chief Technology Officer- Central Intelligence Agency
In a stunning episode of candor, Mr. Hunt, while speaking at GigaOM’s
Structure Data Conference in New York City this week admitted that the CIA is collecting EVERYONE’S videos, text messages, tweets, voice males,
phone calls and more. And that they’re doing this data collection intentionally!
Here are a couple more chilling quotes from Mr. Hunt’s speech: Continue reading
It’s got to be somewhat nerve wrecking for the Obama‘s these days…
Their home-sweet-home is being invaded and kicked around at least three times during the first half of 2013. Like on June 28 in WHITE HOUSE DOWN with Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. And in next week’s Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson‘s latest offering G.I. JOE: RETALIATION.
And now, this weekend, when a band of North Korean commandos storm 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. Continue reading
I’m not gonna spell it out for you guys right here, right now, but…
Trust me on this, the alleged reason behind the Power & Light District’s bailing on the KC Strip trolly line, effectively hanging it out to dry and leading directly to its death, is one nasty, embarrassing, sordid tale. Continue reading
To be a sports fan in mid-March is a pretty great thing. Now one might argue that early September is the best—college football is finding its footing, the NFL season is finally, mercifully underway, and desperate MLB teams are vying for a playoff berth—but it’s hard to argue with the wonderment of March.
In March, your favorite NFL team is signing an offensive lineman you’ve never heard of and heading into the draft with “some really great ideas!” Baseball is so close that you can almost feel the soft, gelatinous belly of the man behind you pressing into your lower back as you wait in line for Buck Night hotdogs. And college basketball? Well, duh. It’s almost as if some sort of “madness” descends upon the whole sport, turning everyone around you—for a few weeks, anyway—into a rabid college hoops fan.
But here’s one thing I could do without in March: hearing about your fucking bracket. Continue reading
My last encounter with the wrong Reverend Fred Phelps of Topeka was a radio interview I did with him several years ago…
Amid all his anti-gay, “God Hates Fags” diatribe, I managed to offer a few choice comments and a pair of free tickets to the upcoming Melissa Etheridge concert at the Sprint Center. The interview then ended abruptly with Fred loudly calling me a sodomite, and slamming the phone down.
Fast forward to this week, when I’m co-hosting a nationally syndicated military and veteran’s show with the VFW headquarters. Continue reading
Don’t look now but the KC Strip may be poised for a comeback…
The three year-old entertainment trolly just blew taps a few days back, but point man Bill Nigro already has formulated a plan to dig it back up and breath new life into it.
“Here’s my prediction,” Nigro says. “The KC Strip will come back. The KC Strip was the best thing Kansas City has for (entertainment) tourism. We helped people experience Kansas City nightlife and that’s really important for tourism in our town.”
Nigro’s plan? Continue reading
One of Kansas City’s biggest entertainment days was a bust…
Ugly as it usually gets, this year’s St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City was a huge letdown for the bars and restaurants that normally cash in big time on the sea of wasted-beyond-belief revelers that causes cooler heads to stay home.
When I ran the Pitch in Westport for example, it was practically standard operational procedure for many Westport merchants to close that day and for employees to call in sick.
Face it, St. Patrick’s Day in Wesport for all but the most hedonistic is almost without fail the ugliest day of the year. Continue reading
I promised myself I wouldn’t do this…
12’s beating 5’s! Mid-majors! RPI! Dick Vitale pooping his pants out of sheer excitement! (As he does every March.)
But there’s also other stuff happening in the World. I know, weird, right?
Most of the KC and Lawrence bands are slowly trickling their way back home after what I am sure was a long week at SXSW in Austin.
But one Austin icon has already beaten them to the punch… Continue reading
He was a gentleman, a wildman, a journalist and a scholar, now he’s gone…
Former Kansas City Star books editor John Mark Eberhart has lost his battle to cancer and passed away. Continue reading
In a shocker, top Kansas City Star ad gun Tim Doty is leaving the newspaper…
Here’s Star publisher Mi-Ai Parrish‘s missive to the flock:
“It is a bittersweet day for Our Star as I announce that Tim Doty, Advertising VP and all around great guy, has decided to leave and spend more time with his family. Tim’s two children are in Columbus, Ohio, where he and his wife plan to relocate.
“That’s never a good sign,” says one local media observer. Continue reading
Pope Francis gave his inaugural mass early this morning. He spoke a lot about protecting creation and wrapped it up asking everyone to pray for him. In an attempt to bring the church up-to-date, he has changed the name of his new home to Cricket Wireless Vatican.
*******
The KC Strip trolley service is shutting down. Continue reading
Just how how flying were Kansas City’s High Flying Leiweke Brothers?
As high as it got back in the heady days of the early 1980s here in the Cowtown. Baby Boomers were mostly in their 20s and 30s back then and were beginning to flex their muscles. And nobody flexed them better or was better known than Tracey, Tim and Tod Leiweke.
“They were the Golden Boys, the Kennedy’s of Kansas City,” says former event coordinator Marti Dolinar. Continue reading
Concerning Tim Leiwike ‘s swift departure from AEG…
First a little history about the Pied Piper of Kansas City’s Sprint Center. In the early 1980s Leiweke parlayed a hoopla rich but cash strapped indoor soccer club – the Kansas City Comets – into a lofty perch atop billionaire Philip Anschutz‘s entertainment empire.
That is, until last week when Leiweke and Anschutz parted company unexpectedly “by mutual agreement.”
It would appear that Anschutz – like former Comets owner David Schoenstadt – may have tired of all the great press and red ink. Continue reading
Red light Cameras in Kansas City are about to get a high-tech companion: Speed Cameras are being considered by the Public Safety Committee. Just what we need…another reason for Prius owners to drive 20 m.p.h. in the passing lane.
****** Continue reading
After playing twice on the road already, Sporting Kansas City hosted its home opener on Saturday at Sporting Park.
It still feels weird to say it without “LIVESTRONG,” and players and coaches still frequently slip when referring to their home field. But make no mistake, the organization wants to put as much distance between themselves and Lance Armstrong as possible – and yes, they did take the yellow chair out of the Victory Suite.
Unfortunately, though, no victory was to be had on a chilly afternoon in KCK, as the Chicago Fire came in and were content to pack it in and hope for a draw. Which I suppose isn’t all that surprising given that Chicago has yet to score a goal this season. Continue reading
