Tag Archives: Craig Glazer
Glazer: Will Sly Be KC’s Guy? The Jury Is Out
I picked the winner of the mayor’s race, the Superbowl, and both NFL playoff championship games – not bad.
Now the question becomes, what kind of leader will Sly James turn out to be?
Mayor-turned-congressman Emanuel Cleaver, was probably the popular Kansas City politician in the past 30 years. He had the support of both the white and black communities. In this election Sly James was helped by the fact midtown voters were behind him, while the heavier white vote of North KC and the Ward Parkway corridor went to loser Mike Burke.
Sly was not an apple to the eye to most black voters.
Glazer: Nick Wright Taking KC Sports Talk Radio By Storm!
Afternoon drive 610 Sports host Nick Wright has taken KC sports radio by storm.
A year ago everybody went round and round about Nick Wright’s survival and could he compete or beat Kevin Kietzman and Soren Petro on 810 WHB. I voiced my opinion as YES, he would survive and eventually win out. Now it seems he’s just about there!
Nick has that cool, hip-hop style – the good part. He’s young and full of energy. And I like that he’s surrounded himself with his own on-air mafia. In year one, with less "name" guests, no less. He used to have me on quite a bit, but now I have to stand in line. Unlike WHB, Nick did my book interview a couple times, and 610 had me on with my new Ali film last year, WHB didn’t but was kind enough to ask me to get them Frank Caliendo on the station.
Mean me, I set it up.
Glazer: Elizabeth Taylor, The Queen is dead, Long Live the Queen!
Another big – in fact monster – movie star has passed away…
Elizabeth Taylor joins the long recent list with celebrities like Paul Newman and Dennis Hopper as, "Man, I can’t believe they’re gone" people.
The way Hollywood is today, it’s not likely there’ll be another Liz Taylor. Someone who literally owns the screen for decades as both a sex symbol and a great actress. I remember being in Miami, Florida as a little kid and my grandmother taking me to see CLEOPATRA with Liz and her husband Richard Burton. I hated seeing her die in the movie, but not so much him. Hah!
As I’ve said before, there are few movie stars that I didn’t meet, know or see in Hollywood during my 16 years there. And without doubt, Liz Taylor was at the top of my list, even though I only saw her once.
Glazer: Fight Narcolepsy, Vote For Sly James!
The election’s tomorrow – Sly James vs. Mike Burke…
Sly’s the wild card; an experienced lawyer who thus far has crushed Burke in their on-air clashes. That being said, Sly’s black with a white wife while Mike Burke is old guard – which means means status quo. Everything now is ALRIGHT. Which it’s not. And not just because of the Funk but all the tax giveaways doled out by former KC mayor Kay Barnes to people like…Mike Burke.
Burke has 30 years of experience downtown with City Hall. He helped dole out the corporate big buck deals, few of which have worked out thus far. Mike seems to be a decent sort, but just more of the same. Again, like Barnes.
So Mike will go to the meetings, hand out plaques, shake a lot of hands and likely be kinda forgotten.
Face it, he’s no fireball.
Glazer: Two Hot Ladies for City Council, Tracy Ward & Daina Kennedy
In the sixth district at large we have The Pink Lady Tracy Ward.
Believe it or not, this former waitress makes lots of sense. She believes the city council should amend many rules and laws that stand in the way of small businesses. She’s open minded to making positive changes downtown. And her youth and drive will go along way towards getting the council fired up again.
What’s not to like about any of that?
Plus her husband still plays in a rock band at age 35, ao they stay up on what’s going on with young adults in the area and Tracy believes in giving everyone a fair shake.
And with that pink hair, everyone will know who she is at a glance.
Glazer: All Aboard; Humble Scribe Predicts KU National Championship
Get ready for the Final Four finale, KC…
Yep, it’s gonna be Kansas versus Ohio State. Even though the Prez picked KU, the rest of the predictions now favor Ohio State. Some like Duke, but not too many people are picking KU.
Why?
Because KU doesn’t seem to have that one KILLER player to go to when it matters. But the truth is they have TWO, the Morris Twins. They’re kinda like one player rolled into two. Most experts feel with the Twins and Thomas Robinson Kansas has the best three big man combo in the game.
I agree.
Glazer: Time to Rename Big 12, The KU Tournament & Westport King for a Day!
The somewhat phony Big 12 tournament cast a spotlight on the Power & Light District, it’s Westport that still owns St. Patrick’s Day.
I say phony about the Big 12 tourney because it brings NOBODY from out of town – zip, nothing, bull crap. It used to bring several thousand people from Iowa alone. And many, if not most of them hung in Westport, mostly at Kelly‘s. But their team is awful and has been, so they bring only a couple thousand fans, they get beat on Wednesday and leave Thursday.
No other teams really come to KC in significant numbers.
Sure they have a few hundred from each school, Texas maybe brings a couple thousand total.
But the only team that matters really is KU – they should call it the KU Tournament.
Glazer: The Next Big Thing, America, Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide!
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The information highway proudly presents: THE INFORMATION UNIT...
In the next couple years it’s coming to a hand on your body. The one thing everyone will have, carry, love and hate – all at the same time – in one simple package.
What looks like an iPhone will in fact become, well, central to everything in your life. The UNIT, will still work as a cell phone and micro computer for calling and texting. However the UNIT will have everything about YOU in it or on it. Your I.D., as in your drivers license, Passport, social security card, insurance information, your credit cards, criminal history (well, mine anyway), birth certificate, car registration.
I think you get the picture – your entire life, finally, in one spot on one device.
Glazer: Who Really Deserves a Memorial in Westport?
Much has been said lately about "honoring the dead" in mid-town…
Most recently about the makeshift memorial that went up, and then finally, five months later, down, for Brian Euston.
But the fact is, Westport has had too many untimely deaths over the past 30 years. Perhaps the most significant being that of Kansas City police officer Jim Leach in 1992. Jim was running the evening security in Westport at that time, and had been putting up a road block late one weekend night. Out of nowhere a ‘white,’ drunk driver slammed into Jim, killing him on the spot.
Jim was loved by everyone in Westport and that became his beat every day.
The merchants put a plaque up on the wall of one of the buildings in Westport to honor Jim. Westport even held a golf tournament in his name for 10 years to raise money for charity.
There were no photos or flowers of Jim Leach partying to mark the spot or area where he was killed.
Glazer: Jimmy Walker Headed to KC in May to Work on Tell-All Book
Jimmy Walker has worked Stanford’s since 1995.
He’s become a close friend of mine, more than any other comic. We hang out together in LA and Vegas where Jimmy lives.
A year ago he decided it was time to write his life story. So I put him in touch with my co writing partner, Sal Manna. Sal, helped me write THE KING OF STING. My life story, or part one, anyway.
Sal’s a fantastic writer. He’s has been a top notch journalist for three-plus decades with the LA Times, People Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, Rolling Stone and many others. This will be his fourth book. The working title is, EVERYTHING IS NOT DYNAMITE.
And Walker will do most of the work with Manna here in KC the first week of May while he’s at Stanford’s.
Glazer: Hell Rejects Gallagher After Heart Attack On Stage in Minnesota
Even hell doesn’t want Gallagher…
That’s what Jimmie Walker said when he emailed to tell me that Gallagher had suffered a heart attack. Gallagher – his first name is Leo – fell to the stage Thursday in Minnesota. He was working a comedy club called the Whiskey Bones Roadhouse when he suffered the attack.
Gallagher, 64, was doing his fruit and vegetable smashing routine when he simply lost it and splattered onto the stage. The event was captured on video and was released on TMZ.
As many of you may recall, Leo and I went round and round several months ago when he appeared at Stanford & Sons for two nights.
He even turned and punched me in the car after we left NBC studios where he’d just done an interview.
Glazer: Party For Free at Beaumont in Westport Sunday With Sly, Tracy Ward, Darla & Me
Bill Nigro is tired of the poor Kansas City Missouri leadership. Who isn’t?
To that end he’s backing Sly James for Mayor of Kansas City.
This in the hope that Sly will be more active in getting the city moving forward, cutting crime and becoming someone with a strong national presence. That’s something we’ve lacked for about 50 years.
The Beaumont Club in Westport will host this Sunday’s Party of The Decade. Nigro expects 1,000 people to come. Free beer, food and entertainment. The event starts at 6 PM. Many City Council hopefuls will be on hand, starting with Tracy Ward, the pink-haired maiden up for 6th district city council (at large). Ward plans to help the entertainment industry by doing away with many of the roadblocks to work and bring new business into KCMO.
One that she’ll eliminate is the stupid liquor and health department cards that cost bar and restaurant employees $61.
Kansas does not even have them – they’re meaningless, a rip off.
Glazer: The Awful Truth Behind The Charlie Sheen Saga
Now that the dust has settled – a little anyway – here are my thoughts on Charlie Sheen.
In many ways I feel badly for Charlie. Here’s a dude born into the wealth and stardom created by his father Martin Sheen‘s success, Charlie lead a privileged life from childhood. By the time the guy was an adult/teenager he was making some pretty big bucks. In his 20s he was already a movie star with Platoon and Wall Street. He was nominated for an Academy Award. He followed those huge hits with 50 film roles, mostly in the starring role. He even co-starred with Clint Eastwood in THE ROOKIE. Big time stuff. All before he was 35 years-old.
Even at that early age, his life got pretty redundant.. Any pretty girl he wanted was his. Any car or cars. Mansions, no problem. Travel, he saw the world many times. Lived on airplanes, in airports. Stayed in the best hotels.
It gets to you. Clearly it got to Charlie Sheen. Too much, too soon, too often.
Glazer: KC Radio King Johnny Dare Salutes Mike Murphy
Today’s radio giant in Kansas City without question is 98.9 The Rock’s Johnny Dare…
Nobody else comes close.
Johnny has high praise for his former on-air pal Mike Murphy.
"One thing they will never take away from Mike Murphy is that he was the all-time King of Kansas City Radio," Dare says. "His ratings were through the roof, more than a 20 share at times. Nobody will ever do that again, NOBODY."
Glazer: Burke Slights Party Zones, Overhypes Sprint, KU Should Skip Big 12 Dance
This is the one big week in our one and only "entertainment district," according to Mayoral candidate Mike Burke.
He said as much on Nick Wright’s show on 610 Sports.
Hmmm, guess that means Westport, the Plaza, Martini Corner and Waldo are closing down.
I’ll tell you this, if I’m KU, I’d like to, well, not play.
There’s nothing in this tournament for KU. Nothing good. They can only get someone hurt or lose an early game to jeopardize their No 1 spot in the NCAA Tournament. Maybe in cases like KU’s they should be allowed to forfeit because it can only hurt them. They have nothing to prove and whatever they may eventually prove will come in the Big One, the Dance, March Madness.
Glazer: Call Now for Free Tickets to Superstar Comic Jim Jefferies Wednesday at Stanford’s
This week it’s Australian Super Star Jim Jefferies at Stanfords…
Jim started his career in his hometown and became a big name in Australia a few years back. Then he took his show to England and got even bigger. Creative Artists Agency discovered him in Los Angeles about three years ago.And slowly they’ve showed him off at bigger venues on the West Coast. His common man style with a slight touch of genius quickly made Jim an overnight sensation.
Last year HBO gambled and gave Jim one of its five stand up comedy specials. Jim show – "I SWEAR TO GOD" – dealt with the likelihood God might not exist. A bit risky, but the result was HBO’s highest rated special of the year.
Glazer: Why People Hate Me & The Secret of My Success
So some people out there don’t care for me…
That’s right? And some of you will say to that, who gives a flying f..k. That’s fair. But it may be of interest to others, so here’s the real dope:
When you climb out of the fishbowl, some of the other fish are going to get pissed off.
People tend to like others who mirror themselves and the way they see things or live their lives. Those kind of folks think they’re right and others are wrong. They have their point.
But when you fight the aging process and are winning to a certain extent, you can make fast enemies.
Add to that a high profile public presence and, ‘Oh brother’ now you’re an asshole.
Glazer: They Used To Be Giants, The 2011 Academy Awards
I walked the Red Carpet twice…
For the first time in 1989 and again in 1990. I was a guest of actor Sonny Landham in ’89 – I’d just gotten out of prison. Landham co-starred in 48 Hours and Predator as well as appearing in 50 other films. My writing partner at the time, Robert Roy Pool, walked it with us. He had written the script for my my film "Outlaws" (which became The King of Sting) as well as OUTBREAK with Dustin Hoffman.
At the time I thought it would be the first of many times for me at the Academy Awards. I’d just completed the film CHAMPIONS FOREVER with Muhammad Ali, we just missed being nominated for best feature documentary (it should have been). Little did I know that I would sit next to the Italians that would win the same award for Cinema Paradisio.
Painful.
Glazer: An Era Nears Its End With Death Of Bill Grigsby
He was a Kansas City star…
Broadcaster Bill Grigsby will be missed by, well everyone. Starting with me. I knew Bill when I was a kid, even before he hosted the Otis Taylor HALL OF FAME push at Stanfords in Westport with Len Dawson in 2003. Yes, I saw Billy boy at radio stations doing commercials until about a year ago when he just couldn’t do it anymore. What a guy’s guy, what a fun, funny man.
Who didn’t love Bill Grigsby?
We all have stories about this colorful man, many of which probably shouldn’t be told at this point.
But just to get right to the point, Grigs was a LADIES MAN to no end.
Glazer: Last Call For Ralphie May on Small Stage Monday, Tuesday at Stanford’s
Ralphi May is easily the most famous funny guy from NBC’s Last Comic Standing...
Oddly enough Ralphie, weighing in at 700 pounds at the time, didn’t win. He came in third. But after the run with Last Comic Standing, Ralphie was everywhere, The Tonight Show, several TV specials, including three on Comedy Central and on and on.
By 2009 Ralphie was the top act in clubs, selling out everywhere.
He was scheduled at Stanford that next March, but as it always seems to happen, the big offer finally came his way.
