KC Confidential

Think sour grapes…

No two ways about it, Star sports scribe Sam Mellinger‘s bagging on Kareem Hunt for signing with the Cleveland Browns rings more than a tad hollow.

Almost as much as his columns kissing up to the athletic departments at Mizzou and KU over the punishments meted out by the NCAA for infractions being too harsh.

As in, “Geez, why are they being so hard on our local schools – they only cheated a little – and everybody else does it, if not worse.”

But seriously, bagging on the Browns for signing the disgraced, Chiefs running back rings particularly hollow. Given that the Chiefs signing of Tyreek Hill was far worse. Go back and read the details of how Hill mopped up the floor with the then pregnant mother of his son and compare that to the video of Hunt’s action last year.

Look, two wrongs don’t make a right, but if the shoe was on the other foot and Hunt had been cut by the Browns, is there any doubt the Chiefs would have pounced on him? Based on their past actions, of course they would have.

And by the way, I may not be a career sports flunkie, but you may recall that I predicted Hunt would wind up in Cleveland when many were pointing towards teams like Dallas, Washington, Miami and Indy.

The reasoning:

That former Chiefs GM John Dorsey – who drafted Hunt while running the show here – lords over the Browns and was also the dude who pulled the trigger on drafting Tyreek.

As for Mellinger’s contention that Cleveland was “the worst place” Hunt could go, give me a break. Continue reading →

Anybody else out there following the three ring circus in Washington of late?

One of the odder aspects of it all was accentuated during the State of the Union was watching Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi‘s protracted, animated lip contortions.

KCC politico Dwight Suthland‘s take?

“Well, she’s already starting to display signs of senility,” he says. “She’s flubbed a number of press conferences – she loses her place – she stammers – or she used the wrong word. She’s almost 80.

“I’ve seen it with lawyers and it’s a terrible thing. You don’t have to have Alzheimers to have memory failure and show signs of senility.”

As for all that teeth sucking and like angst, “I try not to watch her mouth,” Sutherland says. “It could be a nervous habit – I don’t know.”

Back to the age issue…

“Reagan was 69 when he became president and people said that was too old. And she’s almost 10 years older than that. But you don’t have to have the classic Alzheimers where you’re trying to eat your dentures.”

BTW, I’m not the only one bothered by Pelosi’s teeth or denture sucking. Continue reading →

Don’t put anything in writing…

Because then you have plausible deniability.

One thing about Donald Trump, he’s proven to be surrounded by third-rate attorneys who are really henchmen –  lawyers that would be disbarred if their activities ever came to light.

And now we have Dylan Howard and Jon Fine of American Media extorting Jeff Bezos in print, as if they’ve got no idea how the world works, never mind the law.

This is what happens when you’re drunk with power, when you serve those with agendas in the world of gotcha, believing if they’re the biggest bully they will always win.

That’s not only Am rican Media’s David Pecker, but Donald Trump.

Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist.

Trump doesn’t believe in sunlight – no tax returns, no information on the most powerful man in America – just the way he likes it. And when he’s squeezed, he squeals. And isn’t it interesting the only person who can really get his goat is Nancy Pelosi, a woman.

Now if you’ve been paying attention for the past few years, you know that Nancy Pelosi is an over-the-hill, ineffective hack out of touch with America.

That’s how the Republicans and right wing press have depicted her. It’s a veritable war of words, with the Democrats historically playing defense. To the point where when Elizabeth Warren and AOC play offense traditional Democrats decry them, playing into the Republicans’ hands.

But then Pelosi maneuvers herself into the Speaker gig and it turns out that unlike the President, she knows how to play the game. She even runs circles around Chuck Schumer. Because she’s willing to dress up nice but still throw a punch, without looking like she’s even losing control. Sure, Republicans still hate her, but Democrats who bought into the right wing’s depiction of her no longer do.

It’s a veritable club, I tell you – the politicians and the news media. Same faces, owed favors. And we never know what’s really going on.

Which is why it’s so great that Jeff Bezos published his story on Medium.

He OWNS the Washington Post.

He could act like a dictator and insist they include his words. But he could see the negative effect of that, he doesn’t want to tarnish the Post, so he publishes on the web.

And goes from zero to hero overnight. Continue reading →

Hal Brody

Sometimes you gotta know when to pack it in…

And this may just be that time for longtime Johnson County scribe Steve Rose.

For years Rose lorded over a twice weekly, front page column in his family-founded, freebie The Sun. Which continued after he sold it in 1998.

Things got a little bumpy thereafter.

Maybe because the folks who bought it from Rose did so at the exact wrong time for print publications. Just like the company that bought the Pitch from Hal Brody and the company that bought the Star from Knight Ridder. It didn’t take long b before the red ink started to flow after Rose took off with the black ink.

The Sun was the first of the three pubs to go – as in out-of-business. That went down in 2011. The Pitch appeared poised for a financial collapse in late 2017 but was purchased by a couple with bright ambitions, but likely little idea of what they were getting into.

Everybody knows the Star’s story…from 2,000 staffers to maybe 200. They’ve been hocking everything but the crown jewels (i.e. Pulitzer’s) – and that’s mainly because it wouldn’t raise much in the way of cash anyway.

That Star editor Mike Fannin isn’t working nights as an Uber driver remains a mystery.

But back to Rose… Continue reading →

Is all publicity good publicity?

Yesterday’s Super Bowl was a strange game, since the NFL’s ratings were resuscitated by the Kansas City Chiefs and their passing attack, and this contest was fought on the ground, until the Rams realized that going to the air was their only chance of victory. And then Tom Brady aired it out and put the stake in the heart of the competition.

The only heartfelt moment in the contest is when Robert Kraft honored Bill Belichick and Brady after the trophy was awarded. Although I must say I liked it when they booed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, before Jim Nantz elbowed him aside.

That’s what Trump has wrought, decorum and respect are out the window.

You can say what you want to whenever you want to. Actually, that Republican congressman yelling out YOU LIE during Obama’s State of the Union address predated Trump, but that’s the America we live in – a divided one. Separated into elites and nincompoops.

Kind of like that laughable talent show after the game was over.

“The World’s Best” p- what a train-wreck that was. A dog and pony show of those ignored if it weren’t for this program, pitched to the brain dead. Talk about shooting low, it’s as if CBS just decided to throw in the towel, concede to Netflix.

But that’s the America we now live in, one of dumb and dumber.

Meanwhile, the evening was sans politics and all we care about is politics, which is another reason why Maroon 5′s performance seemed so lame. When given an opportunity to take a stand you punt?

It’s not that Maroon 5 were bad, it’s that they were EH.

A rock band that went pop and followed trends with featured artists that stands for nothing, just like the game of football itself. There was no way in hell Maroon 5 could have succeeded.

And they’re being trashed in every publication known to man, never mind the Twitterverse.

You see we’re at the end of the paradigm. Continue reading →

Who is taking the biggest hit due to the Chiefs missing out on the Super Bowl?

It’s got to be Kansas City’s local television stations.

You just know that every local outlet would have aired its own Chiefs specials prior to the big game.

And each one of those specials would have been supported by expensive advertising and/or sponsorship dollars.

Let’s look at our local CBS affiliate KCTV that is actually carrying the Super Bowl.

Had the Chiefs made it to the big game I would be willing to bet that practically the entire Sunday schedule on Channel 5 prior to actual starting time would have been made up of special Super Bowl and Chiefs programming—all featuring pricy local ad spots, of course.

And think about the kind of money those local ad buys adjacent to or airing during the game would have brought. Continue reading →

Can we talk?

Let’s start by clarifying a misconception that came up earlier this week re the Steve Rose / Kansas City Star brouhaha. And that’s that “free speech” has nothing to do with careless reporting and the defamation of a public figure like Kansas State Senator Jim Denning.

Form example, “free speech” does allow Rose or the Star to call out Denning for being a dummy or horses ass – whether arguably true or not. What it does not do is allow Rose and the newspaper to put words in Denning’s mouth and report them as fact.

That’s libel.

And by pretty much all accounts, that’s exactly what happened.

For which Rose basically acknowledged his mistake to Denning in writing (big mistake) and offered to resign from the newspaper if Denning would let the matter drop. Shortly after which, realizing what Rose had done, the Star permanently removed Rose’ column from its website.

As for blogger dude Tony claiming Rose and the Star were merely practicing free speech…

“He’s opining on something he doesn’t know anything about,” says Dwight Sutherland, a practicing Kansas attorney. “First of all, free speech means the government can’t restrict your speech. It has nothing to do with a private citizen who’s been damaged by a publication, seeking redress. So that dog won’t hunt.”

To wit, the 1st Amendment, “is an amendment to the US Constitution that prohibits any law limiting freedom with respect to religion, expression, peaceful assembly, or the right of citizens to petition the government.”

In his lawsuit against Rose and the Star, Denning is “a private citizen asserting his rights against another private citizen ,” Sutherland notes. “It has nothing to do with big government. This isn’t the first amendment because there’s no state action…It has nothing to do with censorship, prior restraint – all of that bad stuff that the founders were worried about.”

Which brings us to former Star reporter-turned-blogger Jim Fitzpatrick‘s column on the subject: “Not libel but almost certainly a major journalistic screw-up.”

Continue reading →

They say good news travels fast but bad news faster…

Such is the case with former Johnson County Sun main man-turned Kansas City Star scribe Steve Rose.

To wit, Rose’s largely forgettable column in last Saturday’s Star morphed into no less than six Google pages of followup stories in other media after a lawsuit was filed against them.

That after Rose laid the pipe – allegedly – to Kansas State Sen. Jim Denning by attributing false statements about Medicaid expansion to Denning in his column.

The deed went down Saturday and on Monday Denning sued the Star for defamation, alleging that Rose’s column made “false statements which have exposed Senator Denning to public hatred, contempt and ridicule.”

For which Denning’s lawsuit provided a colorful example in the form of an email from a dude who identified himself as “Ed Rogers.”:

“I will not address you with  a title,” it began, “you must earn that respect and believe me when I say that you never will. Who the fuck made you the judge, jury and executioner for those who need medical care? Who the fuck do you think you are, asshole?  What you are is a pathetic, insecure piece of dog shit and that is probably an insult to dog shit. Just keep your fucking mouth shut and for once try helping ALL the citizens of your state, not just the ones you deem fit to even exist. Better yet, resign and and go back to pushing shopping carts at Walmart. That is if you are capable of such a difficult task. Pathetic, fucking asshole. Ed” Continue reading →

Tom Keegan

Going, going?

It’s not gone, but let’s just say the ongoing cutbacks and exoduses by and from the Lawrence Journal World don’t bode well for the small town daily.

Case in point, longtime sports editor Tom Keegan slipped quietly out of town last fall with little more than a a few farewell sentences tacked innocuously onto the end of an innocuous sports story. No teary farewell column – not even a sheet cake sendoff for readers.

That after an earlier axing of investigative reporter Karen Dillon and a number of other behind-the-scenes types as the newspaper changed owners.

FCYI, Keegan and Dillon are the only two ink stain ed wretches I can remember the Newspaper ever running ing promotional ads for.

Another sign of belt tightening is the six to eight page USA Today insert that was added a few years back has shriveled down to a single page.

Making it far less likely that Journal World will continue to offer USA Today’s excellent mix of business, pop culture and national news coverage. Continue reading →

This guy used to matter…

But former KCTV reporter, turned Kansas City Star writer  Dave Helling has morphed into a something approaching a disappearing act since joining the newspaper’s editorial board.

As Channel 5’s “truthwatcher” Helling was a cutting edge, keep-the-pols honest kinda dude. Toss in a hint of hipness and you’re there. He even logged a stint writing a “Hell Raiser” column for the Pitch.

That was all then.

These days Helling’s all but disappeared, having mostly blended into a daily drumbeat of endless Star editorials on every topic under the sun…

For example:

“Missouri is shrouding medical Marijuana in secrecy.” “Here’s how Kansas lawmakers can improve schools, reform foster care and expand Medicaid.” “Records show Josh Hawley’s hypocrisy.” “For 33 minutes, KC police made 64,000black males into suspects” “Here are the questions  all 12 KC mayoral candidates need to answer.” “Congratulations, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly. Are you ready to work with Republicans?”

You get the picture – no matter the subject – this fun-loving mashup of know-it-alls have all the answers…all the time.

Leaving Helling to bob for stray topics like, “Rural lawmakers keep interfering in cities’ affairs.”

Hardly what one would call cutting edge. Continue reading →

extortion, newspaper article text

The price of tea in China?

Dunno, but I can tell you that I pay about $120 a  year for a seven days a week print subscription to the Kansas City Star.

Which as it turns out – I just learned – is less than KCC movie and travel scribe Jack Poessiger pays every six months for his subscription.

“I’m paying about $155 every six months,” Poessiger says. “But I just got a notification that on my auto renew plan that rate is about to go up to around $230.”

Which will make Poessiger’s newspaper bill more double what I pay.

“How did you get your rate down so low?” he asked.

Well, I  just set the bar to the level I was willing pay and let the Star come to me.

Former Star reporter-turned-blogger Jim Fitzpatrick got his panties in a bunch last spring and beseeched his followers to cancel their subscriptions to his former employer.

“I never thought I would say this, but as of today I’m going to recommend that people stop taking the print edition of The Kansas City Star,” Fitzpatrick began.

But do as Fitz says, not as he does. Continue reading →

Anybody out there got the recipe for stone soup?

The Star’s Mark Davis seemed to have found it with his front page story and the headline, “Google Fiber left customers in dark on why their service was out.”

Which might have been far more interesting – and possibly even mattered – had it not been for two things:

First, Google Fiber was far from alone among the utilities leaving a number of Kansas Citians in the dark utilities for well over a week after the big storm.

Anybody out there notice how many houses in high dollar hoods like off Ward Parkway and Wornall Road were still dark, long after the brunt of the first ice and snow storm struck two weeks back?

Secondly,. while local media went ape shit over how cool Google Fiber was in 2010 when KC got to be the guinea pig, the bloom has long since been off that rose.

Because Google awoke  long ago  from that pipe dream and realized it wasn’t the money maker it had hoped for (a la Google Glasses). Continue reading →