KC Confidential

In yet another nod to the Pitch, it was called to my attention that editor Scott Wilson was taking major heat for eviscerating my pal, Star features columnist Jeneé Osterheldt.

The expectation being, I guess, that I’d hop on the Spank Scott train and ride to Jeneé’s rescue.

Well, I won’t.

Not because Wilson didn’t just about totally lose it in burning Osterheldt at the journalistic stake. He did. And that’s something you’re better off not doing as a writer. It’s almost always better to count to 10.

That said, while the subject matter of many (if not most) of Jeneé’s columns tends to be on the light side, she’s hardly Kansas City’s “worst writer.”

Clearly Wilson has yet to edit a Craig Glazer column. Continue reading →

The Evil Empire strikes back!

Anybody notice the full page Walmart newspaper ads in the Star and Lawrence Journal World that have been running?

The ones in which Walmart  of Kansas City attacks hometown grocer Price Chopper.

Wow, I totally don’t remember Walmart going all out and doing a hit job on a local biz before, but that’s exactly what is happening here.

“See For Yourself Kansas City,” the headline boldy pronounces. “Same items , 17 percent less.”

Continue reading →

Tons of travel and molten hot heat have resulted in lots of loose ends…

Let’s tie a few of ’em up, shall we? Starting with an item that caught my attention recently in the Pitch.  Basically, the Pitch noticed in an outtake scene from Sarah Palin‘s daughter Bristol‘s reality show that she was wearing a Missouri sweatshirt.

Did somebody at the Pitch yell, Stop the presses when they saw that pic?

“Why is Bristol Palin wearing a Mizzou sweatshirt?” shouted the Pitch headline. However, not only did the question go unanswered, there’s no evidence any attempt was made to get to answer the question.

The Pitch just ran with an obscure, fuzzy pic and five sentences of light Bristol banter.

Why was Palin wearing a Mizzou sweatshirt? I wondered. Continue reading →

Let’s start with the premise that human beings, animals and sex are not s good mix…

Can we agree on that? Now let’s take a look at one of Hollywood’s most un-hunky actor / heartthrob types, KCK refugee Eric Stonestreet of the hit sitcom Modern Family.

Whoever would have looked at Stonestreet and figured he’d be engaged in a high profile, romantic balancing act with not one, but two hotties? And a pooch.

I mean, look at the dude. Continue reading →

LeRoy Neiman and Thomas Kinkade wannabes be gone with thee…

The Kansas City Chiefs football team and the Hunt Family have issued a call for artists to inaugurate a new Kansas City Chiefs Art Program. It’s part of Chiefs honcho Clark Hunt‘s plans for the team to celebrate its 50th year in Kansas City.

But make no mistake, this is no glorified phone book cover, sports art kinda proposition. Continue reading →

Subject for today; institutions that are going away…

I’d already been giving this some thought lately while driving cross-country to Tucson and back from Kansas City. In many ways the trip served as a refresher course on how much things have changed around the country. For better in some cases and for worse in others. Obviously, right?

Take The Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo. It’s run by former Savoy Grill main man Danny Lee and his family and is the home of the 72-ounce steak. A slab of beef that if you polish it (and all the trimmings) off in an hour, is free. And it’s got an affordable, kick ass vibe that includes a geriatric, roaming cowpoke band that will kick out a chorus of ‘Goin to Kansas City’ at your table for a couple buck tip. Nice.

And so, that’s all good. Continue reading →

About last month’s All Star Game hype…

While there’s little doubt Kansas City benefited by hosting the event, the extent to which some media and boosters over dramatized and hyped the event was a bit much. The underlying reality being baseball pretty much sucks in this town – has for decades – and the All Star Game is a mostly meaningless event for all but the most fervent, die hard baseball fans.

By the way, another huge sporting event hit KC last month causing millions of eyeballs to zero in upon the downtown skyline.

And like the All Star Game, chances are you probably missed it. Continue reading →