Glazer: Sorry Sam, Zack Greinke Ain’t Coming Back and He Shouldn’t

I usually agree with Star sports columnist Sam Mellinger

He’s done a top notch job replacing Jason Whitlock and Joe Posnanski. Today he wrote an article suggesting former Royals star Zack Greinke may one day return here. Sorry Sam, I don’t buy it.

I know you asked him recently and he mentioned he liked the city, the people, the coaches, and still had a place here. All true. However the team has the worst record in the American League and along with the Twins, and is going nowhere fast.

Zack on the other hand is fast becoming one of baseball’s best pitchers.

He’s 23-8 with the division champion Milwaukee Brewers with an ERA of 3.62 during his two year’s there. Sam also mentioned something a tad bit important about the Zack Attack when he was leaving.

THAT HE HATED OUR TEAM, THEY SUCKED, HE KNEW IT AND HE FELT THEY WOULD ALWAYS BE TERRIBLE.

So far Zack is right. So no Sam, he’s not coming back anytime soon. Maybe when his career is shot in three to six years for more money than anyone else would pay him.

If and only if his career is in the toilet or by some miracle the Royals are a first place team, which is not likely.

Oddly enough, it’s not just the pitching that keeps the Royals from competing or even mattering to anyone outside KC.

The pitching is decent, at just unde ar 4.00 ERA with the leagues overall best bullpen. But we have no hitting. A team that was suppose to hit has not one hitter that matters. AND YES, THAT INCLUDES BILLY BUTLER.

Butler has decent numbers, but come on, nobody really fears Billy’s 285 hitting and 12 homeruns.

He’s merely the best on a poor hitting, no power ball club. And yes, Eric Hosmer can blame himself for the team being in last place, again. Had he been anywhere near the hitter we expected the Royals would have won at least 6-8 more games and be competing for the division. A very weak and open division. His pals are no better.

I don’t need to do the roll call, nobody is hitting at all, nobody.

I mentioned a few weeks back that we had no All-Star.

And I got some hate comments and some give them a chance comments. Really? They still STINK and are on yet another losing streak. Likely one that will continue tonight with Zack on the mound.

No he is not coming back and nobody wants to come here.

Well, maybe a few guys in South America who just want to get into the league.

The Royals continue to be the most unimportant major sports franchise in America.

They are truly a sad joke.

NOBODY that really matters that has played here since George Brett, save Kevin Appier maybe.. I know, I know, Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon. I mean who really even remembers they ever played in KC? I was in Puerto Rico and mentioned to the locals their guy Carlos was once a Royal.

"Oh yeah, he played there a minute," they said. And Johnny Damon never mentions KC and nobody talks about him playing here.

And when they were here they got little to almost no national attention. Not one Royals player is known outside of KC. We are never mentioned on ESPN unless we are getting beat by a team that matters or do something stupid like hitting into a triple play or maybe Alex Gordon makes a great catch.

We  DO NOT MATTER. We haven’t for decades.

When will the Royals ever be on the map again? Nobody knows. It was suppose to be this year.

THIS WAS OUR TIME…ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN FROM THE FIFTY (The Chiefs stupid ad the year they went 2-14).

With no position players above a B, Hosmer on his way to being the next Alex Gordon – decent not great – and no starters, it could be years and years from now.

But hey, it’s a nice stadium. Enjoy.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged | 13 Comments

Whinery: Ever Had a Gay Family Member Who Won’t Tell You They’re Gay?

I’ve got a very close blood relative who won’t tell me he’s gay…

Not that there is anything wrong or anything. It’s just that after seeing him quoted in newspapers as being gay – like MAJOR publications where this fact has been established- it just kind of bothers me.

I know, my views on many things are pretty conservative. But this relative has been President of his local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans-which is the premier organization of Gay Republicans. For all intents and purposes, this person is even MORE conservative than I am.

He even opposes Gay Marriage, something I even support…

We both agree that gays should be given the same rights as heterosexuals and be able to form Civil Unions.

We’ve even had long discussions on how the Republican Party should be more inclusive towards the homosexual community.

And we both agree that there are probably more gay Republicans than there are Democrats. He’s even worked as a political consultant for candidates and office holders who have hostile views towards his sexual orientation.

At this point, I’m probably more hung up on his "secrecy" than he is.

Is it just not that big of a deal?

I don’t walk around introducing myself as heterosexual- so should I expect him to proclaim his sexual preferences to me? Why should he? It’s just so weird that we are as close as we are and have never talked about who we are dating with one another.

I’ve know this for about eight years now. So should I be the one that broaches the subject?  I’m just afraid that he hasn’t told me because he thinks I’m gonna disown him or something which I would never do. Or that I would not want to be included should he ever decide to get “married” or something like that.

So consider this an “Open Letter” to KC Confidential readers…

What should I do?

Posted in News_and_Views | Tagged | 17 Comments

Starbeams: Kardashian’s Lambo, Missie B’s ‘Flame Challenge’ & Death by ‘Silent Meditation’

More than half of Americans 65 and older now use the Internet. And most of them also believe me when I tell them I need $ to get out of a Mexican prison.

*******

Kim Kardashian just bought Kanye West a $750,000 Lamborghini. I just saved 15% on my car insurance. You tell me who’s winning?

*******

A quantum physicist from Truman High won the World Flame Challenge. I won the same honor at Missie B’s in the ’90s. Is this a public forum?

*******

Nadal beat Djokovic to win the French Open. It’s the hardest someone has worked in France since…the last French Open.

*******

In Arizona, a man on a three-year silent mediation retreat was found dead in a cave. Looks like it worked.

Posted in Starbeams | Tagged | 2 Comments

New Jack City: Annoying Questions, Greetings, Buzzwords That Piss Jack Off

Let’s start by not even including the obviously annoying, pretend question; How Are You?

Does the inquirer really freaking care? Course not. Next time you get hit with that one, tell ’em ‘Terrible’ and watch ’em squirm.

Then start unloading further with, "WHY? Do I look sickly or something?"

Maybe he’ll think twice next time before ever asking the most overused, insincere question known to man.

Here’s an annoying greeting I got recently at a local Office Depot:  "What brings you here today?"

Hey, I could’ve been a smartass and said something like, "My lawnmower blades need sharpening." Because frankly, having to tell some dude I need paper clips seems so lame.

 
And how about the server at the restaurant who says, "No Problem" when you ask for more iced tea?

Of course it’s not a problem—especially if he or she expects a tip.
 
A couple movie questions I’m often asked as a critic include, "What’s It About?" To which I (sometimes) answer, "About 95 Minutes."
 
Or to "What’s Good At The Movies?" My answer; "The Popcorn."

To be fair, it should be noted I usually apologize after delivering either line.
 
Finally, here’s my dirty dozen of overused phrases and buzzwords
 
1.- You know?
 
2.- Whatever
 
3.- Awesome!
 
4.- It’s not rocket science
 
5.- At the end of the day
 
6.- Synergy
 
7.- Think outside the box
 
8.- Get on the same page
 
9.- No way!
 
10.- Seriously?
 
11.- Value-added
 
12.- Win-win situation
 
So next time you’re about unleash any of the above in my presence…do us both a favor and don’t.

You’re very welcome.

Posted in Jack_Poessiger | Tagged | 14 Comments

Today: Delivery Boy’s Error is Star Subscriber’s Treasure & Art Brisbane

Let’s see, Mexican wedding and honeymoon, solid week of hard labor exiting Prairie Village house and a ton of time unpacking and planning for a Lawrence getaway…

That shit takes time, ladies and gentlemen. Time away from writing, but let’s ramp things back up a bit after a lazy Sunday afternoon reading.

The New York Times was delivered yesterday in error in place of Sunday’s Star. Was I bummed? A little at first, maybe, but not for long. I’d almost forgotten how good a job those guys do. You know, the guys that former Star editor and publisher Art Brisbane has been taking to task these past two years. And doing a fine job of it, I might add. Readers of past Brisbane columns may recall how prosaic he can be, but I doubt they recollect he had such sharp teeth.

They do now in New York.

A couple of things that were very cool in Sunday’s New York Times…

An excellent front page story about the turmoil in Syria dividing the sect that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is a member of. Another about what the headline describes as "the Good-Grade Pill" – a stimulant taken not for a high but for a higher SAT score. And how aging-but-not-yet 65 Baby Boomers are being forced by the economy and joblessness into signing up for Social Security at age 62, locking them into lower payouts than if they’d waited

Good stuff all.

The Times sports section is another matter. It’s so feature heavy as to be nearly devoid of the type of content Star readers are accustomed to. That being mostly a compliation of game stories, a couple columns, features, sports shorts and a ton a stats.

The "Sunday Money" page had a great column by David Segal "The Haggler" about Facebook. Don’t miss it.

I had such a good time with the Times that I’m starting up a Sunday subscription. I even went online and did some catching up on some of Brisbane’s good work which I now will share.

Starting with his column last month about being in the "Middle of a Food Fight."

Nevermind that it was a critique of a food columnist’s essay writing contest that was judged by a panel of meat-hating vegetarians. In Brisbane’s taking the contest to task he reached out to a pair of midwestern types from our corner of the globe.

"Closer to home, Lisa Henderson, a sophomore at Kansas State University writing on the Pork Network Web site, objected that the judges’ predisposition made the contest a sham," Brisbane writes.

“ ‘Does anyone really think this collection of judges could pick a winning essay that says anything positive about the eating of meat?’ ” Ms. Henderson wrote. “ ‘Not likely.’

"On a roll, I called up another meat-eater. Calvin Trillin, a product of Kansas City’s barbecue-centric culture and the author of books on the pleasures of food, wondered if the arguments on behalf of in vitro meat might indicate that ‘our species has advanced too far,’ " Brisbane continued.

"Mr. Trillin, a New Yorker magazine reporter and what he calls a ‘deadline poet’ for The Nation, agreed to try his own hand at an essay on why it’s O.K. to eat animals. I gave him 600 words, but he used only nine: ‘If they had a chance, they would eat us.’

"To which I would add: if only to silence us."

Hey, it would have been nice maybe to have gotten the Star and checked out more closely how the Royals got smoked, but hey, I’ll live.

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged | 11 Comments

Glazer: The Fix is in on Manny Pacquiao / Tim Bradley Title Fight

Was the Manny Pacquiao / Tim Bradley title fight fixed?

You bet. Which is not anything new in boxing, right? Remember Liston/Clay and the Phantom Punch? And the Ali/Spinks (Leon) fixed fight the first time. Ali maybe was not in on it, who knows.

WHY, YOU ASK?

Simple. As the sport gets weaker, they need to fire up the fans and force a new "bad guy" onto the scene and add a couple big money fights. You know, get people talking. All three of these fights did just that – it worked.

With Ali leaving the game in the late 70’s and nobody else truly mattering, they had to prompt him to fight one more time, to buy time to find a new savior. Until they found Larry Holmes and soon after Mike Tyson. So the fix worked.

However, this one is pure genius.

Manny may not have been in on it, nor was Bradley, or so it seems from their comments and looks after the decision. But let’s look at this closer. The AP had it 117-111 for Manny – not even close – and they were pretty much on it. The ringside fixers had it 115-113 for Bradley (one had it 115-113 for Manny).

However, according to all credible reports, Manny won in a breeze.

He hurt Bradley twice in the 4th and 5th rounds. Bradley fought close in the middle and at the end, but never had Manny in trouble or was a clear winner. You always have to take it from the champ – close goes to champ – and this wasn’t close.

"I’ve never been as ashamed of the sport of boxing as I am tonight" said promotor and manager of both fighters Bob Arum. And he may have in fact been the fixer. Arum benefits the most. Now we have a huge payday for BOTH his guys in November. Ten times the money. Bradley got $5 million and he likely never saw 50 grand before last night for one fight.

Here’s the best news: After Manny "wins back his title" – and he will – then..get this, you’ll love it…He fights Floyd Mayweather as he always planned. I figure Floyd wins, and now, this is great…MAYWEATHER FIGHTS BRADLEY FOR BIG BUCKS AGAIN and wins. Nice.

SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS COMING FOLKS.

And trust me, people will watch, more now than before. WHY? THE CONTROVERSY.

It’s almost as if professional boxing is going the way of professional wrestling.

Oh, for the good old days with Joe Lewis, Rocky Marciano, Ali….

You know what’s hysterical? Today these top guys make 50 times more than those guys even dreamed of. It’s not fair.

Yep, the fix is in, always has been. Kinda makes you wonder about other pro sports, huh?

Oh, yeah…

"I tried but I couldn’t beat the guy," Bradley said before the decision was read that he’d won.

End of story. Even Bradley knew he got whipped.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged | 15 Comments

Glazer: Happy Sunday, but Remember, Jews Rule!

In the movie "Inglorious Bastards" a Nazi SS Officer explains to a French farmer why people hate Jews…

"When you see a squirrel running across your yard do you feel you must kill it? No. But if a rat comes close to you or runs across your room. Then what? Hate. You want to destroy it. Right? No real reason, we don’t feel that way about the squirrel. In fact they are basically the same animal less the nice tail. We just hate the rat. This explains the Jew. We don’t know why we hate them, we just do."

He then proceeds to have his goons kill an entire Jewish family save one little girl who escapes.

So it has gone for the Jewish people over hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Yes, Jews are by far the most accomplished group. They make up only 0.2 percent of the world’s population but have 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates.

Jews make up only 2 percent of the U.S. population but 21 percent of Ivy League students, according to journalist David Brooks. It gets better: Jews make up 38 percent of all leading philanthropists (according to Business Week) and 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction.

People used to think Jews were good cooks, good economic managers and bad soldiers.

Israel proved them wrong.

I love it when I ask fellow Americans, "Who is our best ally, if we have to go to war say against China or North Korea? Who is our most powerful partner on the planet?"

They always look at me and don’t want to say the truth. Then out comes, "Uh, England."  No. "Uh, Canada?"

Nope. 

Then I tell them what they already knew but didn’t want to say.

It’s Israel.

In fact, the only nation Israel couldn’t defeat is the United States.

And yes, that includes Russia and China. And of course, the entire Middle East. They did that a few times already, including in the 1967 Six Day War. And we sent no troops to help.

YEAH, BUT WE GAVE THEM PLANES AND WEAPONS.

Well, we did that for many Arab nations and none of them really have much of an army or navy, thank God.

Between 1980 and 2000, Egyptians registered 77 patents in the U.S. Saudis registered 171, Israelis registered 7,652.

Jews are small, have kinky hair, are poor athletes and are cheap.

Really? Adam Sandler even did the Hanukkah Song about how that is now NOT true. Mentioning scores of handsome, funny movie stars from Paul Newman to Goldie Hawn, all Jews.

Hollywood was pretty much invented by Jews.

Are Jews cheap? Yes, in the early to mid 1900’s there was some truth to that. See, the Germans and others were killing ALL THE JEWS in Europe, so the moms and dads saved everything they had to escape to the United States.

Once here they realized their children had to be educated and go to college to survive. Jewish mothers also feared that one day Americans might kick them out or kill them like Germany did, so they were tight with a buck.

It makes sense. Fleeing was always a possibility because it always had been that way before.

Jewish people are very family oriented. Maybe more than any other group that matters. The Jewish God is not defined like Jesus or Muhammad. Jews believe God is living inside you, that he is your right arm. He is YOU.

You make your own decisions, not some spirit. There is no heaven and there is no hell.

That’s another major reason Jews are disliked by Christians.

Oh yeah, and in that pretend story about Jesus, the Jews gave him up to the Romans.

Maybe.

I always found it odd that it was the Romans who tortured Jesus, nailed him to the cross and killed him, not the Jews. Yet the Romans were the ones put in charge of the Christian Religion. THE POPE. Odd.

Today anti-semitism is much lower in America. We have other problems.

Finally, many Christians are moving away from the belief in God they once were taught.

They question more than ever the existence of a God per se. Just as the Jews always have. The two groups have moved closer together.

Jews today are often blonde, even blue eyed. They’re good, even great athletes, and yes, they even tip.

Time has killed off the European Jewish mothers and fathers. Even the old accents are gone. Maybe that’s too bad.

What a great people. What a great success story. I do not believe in God, but I do believe in the Jewish People. They are the bravest people of all.

Anyway, in the movie Inglorious Bastards, the little Jewish girl who escapes from the family being murdered grows up to run a movie house in occupied France. And she later engineers the destruction of the Nazi leaders, killing almost all of them.

Of course it’s not a true story, but in some ways maybe it is kinda true.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged | 19 Comments

Donnelly: Help KC Confidential Photographer Katie Grogan Climb Roger Water’s ‘Wall”

If you’re Katie "McPansy" Grogan, when it rains it pours…
 
She’s on the verge of winning a nationwide photography contest to go and be Roger Waters’ photographer for a performance of The Wall in NYC.
 
The photo that caught the eye of the contest organizers was one of the first that she shot for KCC, Rob Zombie at Sandstone last summer.  I must say, it’s a badass pic.
 
So whaddya say KCC faithful?  Can you help a brutha out?  Katie needs your votes.  Follow this link to the contest website:
 
http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/a43aa1fc9931ca447add890ea783d904/573
 

 

Everyone can vote twice, once via Twitter and once via Facebook.  I know, I know—What’s all this about the Twitter? 

Why would I care what Chad Ochocinco had for lunch?
 
Look, just do it for Katie.  She’s a great photographer.  And if she wins I’ll force her to write something about the whole deal…

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged | 18 Comments

Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Prometheus’ Asks Questions, Holds Answers For (Possible) Sequel?

ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER director Ridley Scott has returned to the genre he helped define.
 
Welcome to 2093 on board the spaceship PROMETHEUS and its team of explorers in search of the origins of mankind on earth. Where are we from? How did we get here?
 
After all, big things have small beginnings. And to create, you must first destroy.
And so we take an extraordinary journey to the darkest corners of the universe.
 
PROMETHEUS is speculative science-fiction.

 
Some would suggest it to be the ‘prequel’ to ALIEN. But is it?

It does have doses of ALIEN-like gross-out scenes. There’s the snake like creature flying into one poor souls mouth to possess his body. And how about the grisly, self-inflicted cesarean-section of an alien beast that’s grown inside one of Prometheus’ female explorers?

Definitely R-rated stuff.

I did like the way the automated machinery stapled her stomach shut though following the procedure.
 
All in all a fascinating futuristic exploration co-starring Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce—and David, the humanoid/android butler with a fascination for everything Peter O’Toole as Lawrence of Arabia.
He’s portrayed by Michael Fassbender.
 
Does this movie answer those critical questions?

Only up to a point. We’ll have to wait for a possible sequel for the full story, I guess.

And yes it’s in 3-D which is decent but certainly not critical to the enjoyment of the film. I’d suggest saving the 3-D upcharge.
 
Ridley Scott’s cinematic futuristic exploration PROMETHEUS: Another small step for mankind.

I’m materializing 3-1/2 out of 5 imaginative fingers with a nod to HAL in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
 
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings at 6:40 a.m. on KMBZ Am & Fm / Also anytime on Time Warner Cable’s K.C. ON DEMAND, Channel 411 / And on NEBRASKA ON DEMAND, Channel 411.

Posted in Jack_Poessiger | Tagged | 13 Comments

Sounds Good: Sara Jaffe@Replay, Tea Leaf Green@Bottleneck, Ozark Mountain Daredevils@Crossroads KC

Not only are there some cool shows, there’s some other events that look interesting, too.
 
One of them combines two of my favorite things: soccer and beer.  Yep, Sporting KC is sponsoring the Summer Beer Festival, which features more than 20 breweries.  The event will take place from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday at Pennsylvania Avenue, between McCoy’s and Kelly’s in Westport. The event benefits AIDS Walk Kansas City.
 
And ladies, I have a feeling that Chance Myers will be there based on his tweet the other day:
 
“Looking forward to #beerfest this weekend. #raaaaa #SKC”
 
Follow him @CR_Myers, show up to the beerfest, and he’ll let you touch his hair.  On to the picks….

 
Friday, June 8th
 
Sara Jaffe @ the Replay patio in Lawrence
 
This is a 6 pm show on the famous Replay patio.  If you haven’t caught a matinee show there you’re missing out because it’s a mellow way to kick off your Friday evening.  And Denton, Texas singer-songwriter Sara Jaffe should provide the mood ala Norah Jones kinda.  She’s been getting major props from outlets large and hipster, like USA Today and Paste.  I know, weird right?
 
Plus it’s only like two or three bucks.  Do it!   
 
Tea Leaf Green @ the Bottleneck in Lawrence
 
Want to get your face melted off?  I thought so.  Tea Leaf Green can help you with that.  I first discovered this San Francisco jam band at Wakarusa about 5 years ago (remember, when it was in Lawrence before Kansas got real dumb?).  I was stumbling back to my tent and came upon the campground stage, which was getting torched by some guy named Matisyahu.  After his awesome set, I stuck around and, you guessed it, got my face melted off by the unique twist on jam-funk that Tea Leaf spews.  Their guitar player is a real badass and this band is nothing if not totally pro.
 
Saturday, June 9th
 
Big Smith and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils @ Crossroads KC
 
Big Smith, out of Springfield, MO, is calling it quits after this final show at the Crossroads.  So you know they’re going to pull out all the country and bluegrass stops, which I imagine will include a whiskey drinking contest and a squirrel race.  Their hillbilly style gives listeners a peek inside life in the holler, though their talent eclipses anything you would find on a front porch anywhere.
 
Also on the bill and going on around 9:00 is the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, a band that’s been around, well, forever basically.  Though they haven’t released a studio album since 1997, they do put out quite a few live recordings to keep their fans satisfied.  And really, that’s probably the best way to experience the Daredevils.
 
I mean, they keep it simple, creating country-rock classics with an ethos that puts the music first, even though they have had some major hits along the way.
 
 “To hell with a bunch of gold records on the wall,” says Supe Du jour, founding member and bass player.  “The greatest thrill of my life was when I delivered my own children. I realize it was a pretty primitive thing to do, but at the time, that’s where my heart and soul resided. Then, after they were born, I built all their furniture.”

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged | 3 Comments

Katie & Matt: Buzz Beach Ball @ Livestrong Sporting Park

After all the crap the nasty old KCC commentariat flung at sweet and innocent Katie the last time she tried to piece together a sentence or two, I’m surprised she even agreed to keep going with this gig.  She was inconsolable.   

Hey, obviously she’s a great photographer but words aren’t her strong suit, you know?  So for now she’s going to stick to pointing at things and pressing the button, and I’ll try to fill in the letters and stuff.   
 

Last weekend she made her way out to LIVESTRONG for the Buzz Beach Ball featuring Sublime with Rome, Foster the People, the Shins, Flogging Molly, Metric, and a couple others.  I didn’t attend as my Waka duties pulled me out of state.  Katie did, however, relate some info to me about the whole deal.

Like the fact that the sound was somewhat improved when compared to last year, but still not great.  Which is a little perplexing at this point.  I mean, when the stadium was being built the owners emphasized the multi-use capabilities, specifically emphasizing concerts. 

 

So what gives?  Will the sound ever be great there?

Maybe not.  Remember, the overhang that covers all the seating was built specifically to make the place loud for soccer games and projecting the singing and chanting of the Cauldron to the farthest corners.  But with all their attention to detail, how could they have overlooked live concert sound?

 

 

But perhaps it’s not the physical setup at all.  Perhaps it’s something else, something can can eventually be corrected.  Hopefully.

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged | 6 Comments

Hearne: Looks Like the Jardine’s Party is O-V-E-R

 

Never say never, right?

Well, almost never. But what’s left of the ship of state that was once Kansas City’s finest jazz club – Jardine’s – appears poised to tumble off a cliff from which there will likely be no return.

Sources say the club’s last and most-prized assets – it’s 3 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. liquor licenses – are poised to expire between now and July. And should they expire, liquor industry insiders say, it will be nare but impossible to replace Jardine’s all-important, 3 a.m. liquor license.

"I think one (license) expires at the end of June and one in July," says former Jardine’s co-owner and manager Pat Hanrahan. "I don’t remember which is which."

As for the prospect of someone buying the club and maybe – just maybe – reopening it as a jazz joint, "I talked to Beena a couple times earlier this week and there’s a couple of people who

have looked at the space recently," Hanrahan says. "And I know one guy is still interested, (he’s) from out of town. I think they still have a few weeks to go on the liquor license. And I know American Century has shown it to five or six different people."

Including, Hanrahan says, a chef/restaurateur and some nightclub/bar wannabes who had been trying until recently to open in or near the Power & Light District.

Speaking of which…

Whatever became of the gay dudes who convinced the Pitch they had bought Jardine’s and were poised to reopen the club this past January?

"I don’t know what the hell happened to them, I have no idea," Hanrahan says. "Every time I talked to them they said they were moving forward."

Attempts to contact one of said gents – Robert McCain – by text in mid-late April garnered no response. Another text in late May was answered by McCain with a, "Who is this?" but no further comment after I identified myself.

McCain’s last words to KCC were in late March when he texted that he had a call in to American Century.

"Funny how things all changed today after we did all the due dilligence," he texted then.

Which brings us to embattled Jardine’s owner Beena Raja who has been uncharacteristically silent in recent weeks as the grains of sand continue run out of Jardine’s hourglass.

Raja did not return calls, email or text requests for comment for this column.

Then there was the notice landlord American Century Realty affixed to Jardine’s front door last month.

"Notice To Tenant To Remove Personal Property," it reads."Subject to court order you have been evicted from the premises at 4536 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri."

Meanwhile, back at former Jardine’s owner and founder Greg Halstead‘s  retirement ranch…

"That’s all come and gone," Halstead says of the eviction notice. "American Century just took all the proper steps. I’ve pretty much written everything off. It’s out of my hands."

For well over a decade Halstead had a good run, including for many years after he sold the club to Raja.

"You know, she paid me for 10, 9 years – something like that – plus she gave me a pretty healthy downpayment," Halstead muses. "But I always say, what goes around comes around and she’ll get hers. I’m just waiting to hear from American Century’s lawyer to see what I can and can’t have. But they have a claim against (the club) too because they’re owed rent."

The bottom line; as tiresome as this months-long mess continues to be; there still appears to be a slim chance Jardine’s could be saved. A very slim chance.

But isn’t that what Hail Mary passes are all about?

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged | 27 Comments

Glazer: Scribe Picks Up Bus Fare to Pearly Gates

If you listen to Johnny Dare you probably know my girlfriend Chocolate Becky...

Make that, former girlfriend.

Anyway, her "White Devil Weekend," on The Rock is a funny, popular piece. Becky does the five minute rant each week and it’s played several times on Thursdays and Fridays. Of course, she always ends it with taking jabs at yours truly. She got the job because she called me a million times and left mean but very funny messages like, "That’s why I always hate you, you cheap ass little dick bastard. You never leave me any money. You make me drive all the way over there to pick up $10. Burn in hell, you bastard. I’m gonna get a sniper to shoot your ass."

I mean, you can’t write that kinda stuff.

By the way, I know some of you want the "little dick" part to be true, but it’s not.

Black girls are used to having well, some pretty big ones, so all white guys take that hit, even if its false. And they know it pisses us off.

In real life I went out with Becky’s beautiful sister back in the 90’s before she moved to New York. And little, cute sister Becky was just jumping for joy to step in for big sis after she left.

It was Westport 2000 so Becky became a once in awhile come-over girl.

She always meant well, but let’s just say, she’s limited – the girl can’t keep a job. Truth is, for all of the radio jokes the only black girls I dated over the past decade were Becky and Black Barbie. The rest of the women who came by were not.

Barbie’s a major beauty, Becky’s cute, but a headache.

So somehow I kind of became her guardian as well. Ten bucks here, 20 there.

"I can’t pay for my phone (tears). Help!"

So yeah, Becky became almost more of a ward than a girlfriend. And she calls me all-the-time.

It’s funny but very annoying. Of course Dare loves it and has had her on to attack me. But in her wacked out way she loves me and is just a lost soul. She’s not a bad or wicked girl, she’s just always broke and has no real family help.

GET A JOB GIRL…Damn.

Last week was one of the best. She bought a little used car from one of those fly by night dealers who sell to the needy and the poor with no credit. They charge 12 grand for a car worth 4 grand and people pay like $200 every two weeks. Then if they miss a payment the dealer picks it up and sells it again. They sell these puppies three times over and make like ten grand a car.

It’s sad, but legal.

So sometimes I lend / give Becky a few bucks to keep it up. Oh, man. I told her it had to stop, that we all have bills. That she’s not my girlfriend, not my responsibility.

So last week at 6 AM comes this call…

"Mister Glazer, this is Pastor Johnson…Can you find it in your heart to give poor little Rebecca one hundred dollars to save the girl’s car? She needs money to feed her poor puppy. The girl is starting a new job and she needs her car. The girl needs to eat. How will she feed herself? Mister Glazer, even $95 will help, sir." 

I started to say something but…

"Mister Glazer, the girl is one day gonna ride that big bus to heaven. And you could be next to her on the front seat, Mister Glazer. If only you can find it inside you to give little Rebecca $85. Can you find the $85? I can stop by today to get it. The church is covering the rest, Mister Glazer."

Then I asked, ‘Well, that’s only about 85 more dollars – how many members do you have?’

"Mister Glazer, we have just over two thousand."

And I thought, WTF did each person put in a couple pennies?

"Mister Glazer, you want to be on that bus with little Becky. Can you find it in your heart sir to leave this poor Pastor $80 today? Can you?" 

I said, STOP, I’ll leave you the one hundred, but don’t ever call me again. And I DON’T WANT TO BE ON HER BUS TO HEAVEN. I’LL TAKE THE OTHER BUS.

"But Mister Glazer, we don’t know what direction that bus will be headed sir." 

I said, THAT’S FINE – JUST ANY BUS SHE ISN’T ON. Come get the money and leave me alone….

CHOCOLATE BECKY on 98,9 THE ROCK WEEKLY.

My pain can be your laughter. Just don’t judge.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged | 10 Comments

Starbeams: Mayan Calendar & Dow, NYC Legal Pot, Money vs. Happiness, Royals & Mila

The Dow jumped 286 points Wednesday. Then again, my Mayan calendar predicted this would happen.

*******

New York City may decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. But don’t even think about a 16 oz Coca Cola!?

*******

Pippa Middleton will release her first book in October. Every magazine article I read about her turns into a pop-up!

*******

A survey finds it takes an income of at least $50-to-60,000 a year to be happy. Looks like I need to make more meth.

*******

Charges have been filed in a fight between airport security and an armored truck driver at KCI. I’m pretty sure they weren’t fighting over a decent parking spot.

*******

The Royals just had their third shutout in five games.  Their strategy of showing topless photos of Mila Kunis on the scoreboard when the opposing team is at bat appears to be working.

Kelly Urich hosts the morning show on The Point 99.7 FM

Posted in Starbeams | Tagged | Leave a comment

Glazer: NBA’s Oklahoma Thunder Pave Path for KC’s Pro Sports Teams

Well we haven’t done enough with the N.B.A. on this site, so here we go…

The Oklahoma Thunder have just run through quite a group of powerhouse teams. They took down last year’s NBA Champs, the Dallas Mavericks; they followed that with dropping the LA Lakers. And tonight they knocked out the San Antonio Spurs who had the NBA’s best record this season.

Maybe more impressive those three NBA giants have won 11 of the last 13 Championships. Now Oklahoma will face either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics. A win there would make it 12 of the last 13 teams to win it all!

The way it looks, OKC will be the world champ in just a few more days.

Former Big 12 star, Kevin Durant and his co pilot Russell Westbrook are Oklahoma’s main men. They have young legs, great shooting and crazy great talent and in just two short years taken this team from nowhere to everywhere.

After trailing the Spurs 0-2, they came back and won FOUR in a row.

Remember, the Spurs had been undefeated in the playoffs up until that first loss at the hands of  the Thunder. The experts all picked San Antonio and the Miami Heat to square off in the finals. Wrong. Looks like it will be the young lions, the Thunder, fighting the old guard Boston Celtics.

In some ways this gives hope to us Kansas City fans. If the small market Oklahoma Thunder can take down all these giants, maybe, just maybe our young pro teams can follow.

Low key with a couple big stars and a great fan base can make the difference.

It can happen. Great work OKC! On their way to their first world title and I think one of many to come.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged | 11 Comments

Hearne: Are ‘Geeks’ and ‘Snobs’ Taking Over the World?

Nothing like a little hyperbole in the headline to get things rolling, right?

That said, let’s move on to the issue raised by Jack Poessiger and the head of Alamo Drafthouse about texting in movie theaters. Because while I agree with the Gentle German that in the most extreme cases he likes to cite texting can be rude. However two wrongs don’t make a right, right?

And kicking people out of movies without refunding their money because they looked at their cellphone is wrong.

First let’s have some fun.

Having gone to many advance screenings I can tell you that critics (mostly movie geeks, let’s be honest) are often the worst when it comes to exhibiting good movie etiquette. I hate attending screenings specifically for the "media" because those guys – less so Jack but certainly Bob Butler and others – have little to no compunction about wisecracking and making comments during a movie.

Ever see an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000?

Even Jumping Jack Flash himself recently bemoaned having to sit next to another "critic" recently – a gentleman who has been known to bring lighted writing pens into screenings, noisily stuff his face with popcorn and every other imaginable foodstuff while cackling like a hen (loudly) at the most mundane, inside baseball movie jokes.

It literally ruined Jack’s moviegoing experience at one of the year’s biggest blockbusters.

Where I ask is the Alamo Drafthouse covenant governing that bit of bad behavior?

Now let me cite the examples of texting I’m familiar with and compare them to the one Jack cited yesterday.

Most people who know me know that technically I’m always working. Wherever I am, whatever I see, learn, hear or am told is a potential story. Nothing is off-the-record unless pre-agreed to.

I also have children, many irons in the fire, real estate and business deals cooking from time to time and responsibilities to others to receive return phone calls or get calls from people that are difficult to reach for stories I am writing on deadline. In other words, I don’t have the luxury I once did to disappear for two or three hours at a time and not keep abreast of anything and everything else going on in my life.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this regard.

Parents with young children absolutely have to check their phones for incoming calls or texts lest there be an emergency of some sort. People with sick family members. Business people who might await a critical call. A tragic, unexpected event. You name it.

The world that Jack – and indeed I – grew up in seldom allowed for such notices or interruptions. You found out when you got home after the movie that your house had burned down, your brother had died, etc. That’s the way things once were.

But times have changed, for better and for worse.

A Lawrence builder with whom I was negotiating on a house was on the island of St. Martin on a nude beach with his wife when I texted him an offer three weeks back.

"I have learned no one, and I mean no one, can escape gravity," he texted back sarcastically before hitting me with a counter offer.

We live in a different world today.

Here’s how my kids and I handle texting at movies. We dim our phone screens to begin with. My kids dim theirs so low I can’t even make them out. Then we tuck them into our laps, facing away from anyone halfway nearby, cup our hands over them and steal a glimpse.

If the incoming message is important, we’ll leave the auditorium and go deal with it. If there’s nobody nearby, I may tap out a short reply. Trust me, the process is seemless.

Now here’s Jack’s take on why texting bothers him.

He’s sitting in a darkened theater concentrating on a movie when lo and behold, someone nearby or even four or five rows in front of him (but well within his vision) raises a smartphone to eye level on full bright – where he and everybody else can see – it and reads and / or answers a text.

Now Jack goes to a lot more movies than me, so I believe him. But I’ve never seen anything that overt. The people I’ve seen text hold them low where they can look down on them and type something back if need be.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen anybody hold their phone up in front of their face at eye level and type anywhere. Ever try it? Sounds like something Mr. Magoo maybe would do.

The bottom line is people in this country are pretty much universally armed with cellphones and are responsible in many ways to keep in touch with the people and circumstances in their lives. There certainly are polite ways to do things and there are impolite ways.

My point being there’s a middle ground.

So if Alamo roars into town using a machete rather than a scalpel – especially in a theater like the AMC Mainstreet which is struggling for business in less densely populated part of town – the company may find its teet in the same financial wringer AMC now does. In other words, choking down red ink while attempting to cater to local critic Bob Buter‘s so-called "snobs."

There’s a lot more real people in this town than movie snobs, I suspect, although I could be wrong.

I’ll leave you with this recent story on the subject from the Los Angeles Times.

"Americans have been drifting away from the multiplex for about a decade, a trend that Hollywood executives blame in part on the quality of the experience inside the theater. Sure, cinemas with giant screens offer an unsurpassed level of immersion. But when you’re watching a movie at home, you don’t have to worry about pivotal scenes being ruined by chattering and clattering by rude strangers. Just rude family members.

"Evidently, some industry insiders think the solution to the problem of dwindling ticket sales is to let moviegoers be more distracted — and distracting. Specifically, they have mulled allowing some cellphone use — presumably texting, not talking — to provide a more appealing environment for teens and young adults."

Back to you, Jack.

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged | 47 Comments

New Jack City: Alamo Drafthouse, ‘I Paid $10 to See a Movie, Not to Watch Your Cell Phone Light’

Allow me to throw in my two cents worth in on ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMAS’ entry into the Kansas City movie market via its upcoming takeover of downtown’s AMC MAINSTREET…
 
One of my biggest beefs with inconsiderate moviegoers is their use of cell phones—yes actually talking on them during a show. That and texting while I’m trying to watch a movie – which is just as bad.
 
That glowing screen in a dark auditorium is annoying as hell.

So hats off to Tim League, the CEO of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain for implementing the strictest No Talking-No Texting at the movies policy in the country.
 
Putting himself in a theater guests position League said it best when he recently told an interviewer, "At the Alamo Drafthouse, we have a simple rule. If you talk or text during a movie, we kick you out."
 
So when League recently received an irate voice mail from a young woman, he did what few other heads of companies would dare. He made the bold move of posting the woman’s profane phone message as part of Alamo’s image-marketing campaign.

It’s since then been discussed on national network and cable shows and written up in the New York Times.
 
Since then the video has gone viral.

 
For your reading enjoyment I present the text of  of the R-rated message as it was phoned in to Alamo’s home office and in turn, was set up on line by Alamo with specific emphasis on certain words. Enjoy.
 
"AT THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE, WE HAVE A SIMPLE RULE:
IF YOU TALK OR TEXT DURING THE MOVIE, WE KICK YOU OUT.
SOMETIMES THAT PISSES THE MOVIE TALKER OFF.
WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN ACTUAL VOICE MAIL A CUSTOMER LEFT US AFTER BEING KICKED OUT."
 
"Yeah, I was wondering if you guys actually enjoy treating your CUSTOMERS like a pieces of shit? Because that’s how I felt when I went to the Alamo Drafthouse.
Okay?
"You know what, I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to text in your crappy ass theater. It was too fucking dark in that place for me to find my seat.
All right?
I was using my PHOOONE as a FLASHLIGHT to get to my fucking seat.
"So EXCUSE ME for using MY phone in the USA-Magnited States of America where yet–you are FREE to TEXT in a THE-A-TER!
I was not AWARE that I couldn’t text in your theater.
All right?
"I’ve texted in ALL the other theatres in Austin, and no one ever gave a fuck about what me-I was doing on my fuckin’ phone.
All right?
And it was on SILENT. It wasn’t on LOUD–it wasn’t BOTHERING anybody.
"You guys, obviously, were being assholes to ME…AND I’m SURE that’s what you do, you know, to rip people off.
You take my money and then you throw me out.
You know? I will NEVER BE comin’ back to your Alamo Drafthouse or whatever.
I’d rather go to the reglear theater, where people are actually polite.
"Ainit-you know? I’m gonna tell EVERYONE about how SHITTY you are. And I’m pretty sure you guys are being assholes on purpose.
"So thanks for making me FEEL like a customer. Thanks for taking my money-ASSHOLE!"

The caller’s voicemail was followed by this written response from Alamo:
 
"YOU’RE WELCOME!
THANKS FOR NOT COMING BACK TO ALAMO, TEXTER!
(signed) ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA."
 
Great Stuff. And for maximum enjoyment of the rant, go to YouTube! It’s priceless.  

Posted in Jack_Poessiger | Tagged | 10 Comments

Glazer: Is New Chiefs Quarterback Alex Tanney The One? YouTube it!

Last night during the Carlos Mencia show, a bartender came up to me… 

He showed me a YouTube video of a quarterback hitting goal posts, trash cans, basketball goals, off homes into nets – insane trick throws at 50-plus yards. I thought it was a joke. NO JOKE. They were maybe the most amazing throws EVER.

The quarterback is Alex Tanney, from Division III’s Monmouth College and the Chiefs just signed him.

Yep, he threw 157 touchdowns in college as well.

IS HE THE MAN TO TAKE US TO THE PROMISED LAND?

I’ll tell you this, watch it and you tell me! It’s truly astounding. He even hits a moving truck with a guy in the back on the nose at like 70 yards…MOVING! I’ve never seen anything like it and it’s real. This guy is off the charts.

OK, so it’s trick throws, I know, but still!

When you have one of the NFL’S biggest busts at quarterback on a team that could be a Super Bowl threat except for its B quarterback…HEY, let’s find out.

Matt Cassel is not average, he’s below average.

And that is to this point. He’s also often hurt. Like I said, at this point Cassel is a true bust. That could change, but after all these years as a starter, it’s not likely.

I know you think I’m nuts, but I swear if this Tanney guy is 75% of this YouTube I’d do this; start Matt for a minute in game one, go to Quinn for a few plays and then – with the first team in – go to Alex Tanney baby!

Lets Do It! For once in our boring, KC conservative lives, let’s have THAT guy.

Everyone will talk about. Let him bounce one off John Baldwin‘s butt to D-Bowe in the end zone. Why not?

The Chiefs say Brady Quinn is slightly ahead of Ricky Stanzi. Are you kidding me? It’s time to try something crazy. and Alex Tanney is the TRY!

"LETS DO IT!!!

Maybe this is our time. Watch those YouTube videos before you comment. They are insane. I mean insane.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged | 14 Comments

Leftridge: A Zimmer of Hope: Royals Draft College Pitcher

Let’s get the obvious, no-brainer statement out of the way right at the start: Drafting amateur players for professional athletics is an inexact science. Then, we’ll follow it up with another pretty evident one: Nowhere is this truer than in Major League Baseball.

Part of this stems from the fact that teams are drafting high-school kids, young men barely removed from the throes of puberty who would just as soon be playing Xbox with all of their derelict friends or trying to talk the wheelchair bound vet outside of the Gulp-N-Blow to buy them a six-pack of Mickey’s. High school kids are stupid, unpredictable antelopes living on hormones and energy drinks. And this is before you pay them several million dollars to do something that almost anyone else would kill to do: play a game for a living.

The other thing is, you just never know. High school baseball studs dominate. They bat .600 and average a homerun per game, or they strike out 20 while walking nobody. They are boys amongst men, post-apocalyptic warrior-children with aluminum swords, a sense of entitlement and just enough sagacity to not ruin their brains taking concussive hits in football.

College kids are a bit less risky. The competition is better, and their numbers (usually) less inflated by natural selection. Often, they’re a bit more mature and polished.

The draft used to work like this:
in the early years, most picks were snot-nosed high school kids and the college selectees were few and far between. The curious thing, though, was that the college kids outperformed the high-schoolers by leaps and bounds. Slowly, the worm turned and teams began drafting the more proven commodity. By the early 2000’s, college players made up over 60% of draftees.

Armed with this knowledge, and the fact that the Kansas City Royals were looking for someone who could theoretically make it to the Show in short order, with the 5th overall selection of the 2012 Draft, they chose right-handed pitcher Kyle Zimmer from the University of San Francisco.

Zimmer, a converted third baseman, is apparently everything the Royals want: 6’4”, 225 lbs. A fastball that licks the underbelly of 100 mph, a wicked curve and a changeup in progress. He’s 20, and seasoned—you know, in a Ramen noodle/Natty Light kind of way—and could be in the rotation within year or so. Well, could. You know, if he had pitched before college, maybe.

I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about Zimmer, other than what I’ve read, or the small sample of highlight videos I went out and watched shortly after hearing the pick. What I’ve seen LOOKS good, but come on—I could make a flashy highlight video of me… I don’t know… browsing the internet with unparalleled aptitude, and come across as pretty cool.

That’s where the trust in your scouting and development departments come into play. And so far? With the Dayton Moore regime? It’s still a work in progress.

5th overall is a hard swath to mow. For every Vernon Wells (Toronto, 1997), J.D. Drew (St. Louis, 1998), Mark Texeira (Texas, 2001), Ryan Braun (Milwaukee, 2005) or Buster Posey (San Francisco, 2008), you’ve got what the Royals have done when picking in the 5 spot.

Last year, the Royals picked Gardner, Kansas native Bubba Starling (above right). “Derek,” as his momma probably calls him, is 19, enjoys underage drinking and is currently serving time in extended spring training, an anonymous, stat-free land of never-ending fundamental skill work. Obviously, it’s far too early to see what kind of player Starling will turn out to be; for now, he’s just a multimillionaire teenager perfecting his swing and living off of Chipotle burritos.

In 2003, they picked outfielder Chris Lubanski. Lubanksi—a career .259 hitter with 11 different minor league teams—blasted 28 HR and 116 RBI in 2005 for High Desert, but petered out after that. Last year, he was part of the Blue Jays’ organization and now, he’s in Reading with the Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. He is 27 years old and has never gotten closer to the Major Leagues than the time he spent in Omaha.

With the 5th pick in 1993, the organization selected LHP Jeff Granger. Another “polished” college arm, Granger quite impressively made his debut in the year that he was drafted. The following Spring, he started in AA, made it back to KC, was just okay, got sent back down to “work on stuff”, shined, came back up, got rocked, and was eventually returned from whence he came.

This cycle continued for a few years before he was sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates (with Joe Randa!) for grouchy Jeff King and the sneakily decent Jay Bell.

 By ’97, Granger was in the perpetual purgatory of minor-league shuttling, where old arms go to die. After a last heroic attempt with the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s Long Island Ducks, Granger saw the writing on the wall and hung up his cleats.

Finally, the Royals first 5th round selection—all the way back in 1971—was RHP Roy Branch. Though he never saw the field with the Royals, Branch DID get a sip (a cup is much too generous) of coffee with the Seattle Mariners in 1979, before ending his two-game, major league career with an ERA of 7.94.

Roy Branch, we hardly knew ye.

Hopefully, the same fate will not hold true for Mr. Zimmer. And it seems unlikely. As time progresses in this modern era of advanced crazyrobotscience technology, less antiquated scouting techniques and thorough research– when coupled with the ability to measure the previously immeasurable intangibles– make things a lot more foolproof.

I’m not promising a winner here, good Lord no, but I bet the people who drafted Zimmer know a whole hell of a lot more about him than anyone ever knew about Jeff Granger.

And that’s a really good thing.
 

Posted in Sports | Tagged | 1 Comment

Hearne: Alamo Logistical Nightmare or More Millions @ AMC Mainstreet?

Remember the Alamo?

You will soon. However, any number of prickly questions remain unanswered regarding the changing of the guard at AMC’s Mainstreet downtown. A switch from hometown exhibitor AMC to Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse.

Chief among the questions: what will become of the Mainstreet’s three large downstairs auditoriums once Alamo unveils its elaborate food and drink menu? A menu that puts AMC’s meager Cinema Suites and Fork & Screen offerings to shame.

With more than a dozen appetizers, more than a half dozen pizzas and a wide array of salads, wraps, burgers, sandwiches and entrees, the $64 million question is, how will Alamo deliver its goods to moviegoers jammed into the larger, downstairs auditoriums with traditional stadium seating?

It’s one thing to pass a hotdog or beer down the aisle at Arrowhead, quite another to try and balance a serving of Spaghetti Squash and Pomodoro Sauce and a pitcher of Skinny Girl Sangria while trying not to step on anybody’s toes.

"AMC serves food upstairs in the Cinema Suites but not downstairs," says KCC movie man Jack Poessiger. "So if they want to serve food downstairs they’ll almost certainly have to remodel the auditoriums."

AMC’s limited-menu food service experiment in its local theaters has largely been a failure.

Moviegoers were originally required to pay a 10 buck a ticket premium that included a food and drink voucher. A policy that was abandoned last year, presumably because the higher prices were hurting ticket sales.

Make no mistake, the odds AMC would suffer the hometown embarrassment of bailing out of its signature $60 million investment with Power & Light developer Cordish were it not a money-loser are likely slim and none.

Not that AMC’s out-of-town, vulture capiltal owners probably care much about what anybody in KC thinks.

As for how well the Mainstreet’s been doing, former Kansas City Star movie critic Robert Butler may have pegged the money question three years ago on the theater’s opening:

"Many are curious about whether the Mainstreet will continue to flourish after the initial excitement wears off."

With a reported outlay of $25 million for the Mainstreet theater alone, a planned staffing of 140 (90 for the restaurant and bar) and only 500 seats to sell, the Mainstreet was a difficult proposition from the get go, some theater insiders said.

Certainly AMC bailing after barely three years of operation hardly signals that the project was a success.

"I can’t imagine that when AMC went into this deal that it didn’t sign up for longer than five years," says one insider. "The other question I have is how much of the $60 million investment in the Mainstreet and the Midland is the city’s share and how much the state’s? And how much of it was TIF and how much Cordish?"

When Butler raved about the Mainstreet’s opening he triumphantly proclaimed it a theater "aimed at movie snobs." However as most in the movie biz know, "snobs" don’t pay the freight. Not when it comes to mainstream movies and $25 million investments.

And leave us not forget that Dallas’ Studio Movie Grill twice failed in its effort to establish a local dine-in movies scene at Zona Rosa up north. SMG had problems booking first run blockbuster movies against AMC’s Barry Woods, but its food service and sightlines were horrible. Even after a complete redesign of the theater.

So let’s review.

AMC founder Stan Durwood is doubtless still ping-ponging about in his grave on the news that AMC’s moneylenders cashed in by selling the company to the censor-happy Chinese. Add to that indignity, Durwood’s dream of successfully relaunching the the Midland and Empire theaters (complete with a Planet Hollywood, remember?) will no longer bear his company’s proud Kansas City name.

And yet another new player will enter the crowded Kansas City movie market, albeit with an ultra hip concept that almost certainly will require millions of dollars more (and the removal of more movie seats) to convert the Mainstreet into an Alamo.

So while Alamo may finally fulfill Butler’s dream of a pleasure palace dedicated exclusively to "movie snobs" – non-snobs may find themselves but a glimpse at their cellphones away from being set out on the curb in mid movie.

"My son has gone to the Alamo theaters in Austin and he’s given them nothing but great reviews," Poessiger says. "It’s just a totally different atmosphere – no talking, no texting, no screwing around. They want to provide the complete movie experience and they enforce it more than any other exhibitor. If they catch you doing any of that they’ll kick you right out, no questions asked. And a lot of people like that."

Film snobs for instance.

Alamo Drafthouse declined to be interviewed for this column.

Read more here: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=1282FAEEC0098580&p_docnum=11&s_dlid=DL0112060518364628166&s_ecproduct=SUB-FREE&s_ecprodtype=INSTANT&s_trackval=&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=1000029836&s_subterm=Subscription%20until%3A%2012%2F31%2F2015%2011%3A59%20PM&s_docsbal=%20&s_subexpires=12%2F31%2F2015%2011%3A59%20PM&s_docstart=&s_docsleft=&s_docsread=&s_username=kcstarsub&s_accountid=AC0109072214141209745&s_upgradeable=no#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=1282FAEEC0098580&p_docnum=11&s_dlid=DL0112060518364628166&s_ecproduct=SUB-FREE&s_ecprodtype=INSTANT&s_trackval=&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=1000029836&s_subterm=Subscription%20until%3A%2012%2F31%2F2015%2011%3A59%20PM&s_docsbal=%20&s_subexpires=12%2F31%2F2015%2011%3A59%20PM&s_docstart=&s_docsleft=&s_docsread=&s_username=kcstarsub&s_accountid=AC0109072214141209745&s_upgradeable=no#storylin
Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged | 9 Comments