Subject: Sports

• This week's Pitch and 30 things we learned this week

  ​This week's Pitch is on the street and so is Darlene White, the subject of Casey Lyons' feature, "The Oldest Professional." White sells $5 blow jobs so she can buy $20 rocks of crack. She claims she was once lit on fire by a John. It's a hard life out there. Also, Martin looks at the dog park mess. Harper and Gintowt preview the Crossroads Music Fest (so does the Buckle Bunny). Ferruzza reviews Zest, and Scherstuhl tells you whether you should see L'Histoire d"Amour.In other news:1. KCK Commu

  September 11, 2009

• Beer prices and a ballclubs' records

  ​Beer tastes better when the home team is winning. It's colder and the Beer Man is always around when you want him. The steps don't seem as steep and hot dogs go down like shrimp cocktail. But when the Royals are losing, the beer can be as stale as a bar floor the next morning. There may be one saving grace to the Royals' recent run of poor seasons -- the beer is likely cheaper. The Wall Street Journal decided to see whether there was a correlation between winners and higher beer prices: A tea

  September 14, 2009

• Waterboy Watch, week 1: Funk's Footballers win

  ​Not a lot to complain about after Mayor Mark Funkhouser's first week of fantasy football. Funk's Footballers defeated the Tampa Con Leches 95-85, putting Funk's team in a tie for third place. Funk is going head-to-head with big-city mayors from across the country in the Yahoo! Sports Mayoral Face-Off Fantasy Football League. His charity of choice, should he win the $15,000 prize, is the Police Athletic League. Funk's Footballers were spurred by big games from Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony R

  September 15, 2009

• The tragic story of how Kansas City leaders, blinded by the Wizards’ pro-sports glamour project, turned their backs on an idea that might actually have saved Bannister Mall

  September 17, 2009

• East Coast Unbias

  September 17, 2009

• Kansas City Cup Challenge and Festival

  September 17, 2009

• Ice Off

  September 17, 2009

• STAR, TIF... WTF?

  Courtesy of Populous​Owners of the Kansas City Wizards now want to build a stadium at Village West in Kansas City, Kansas. In this week's feature, I describe how the decision jolted public officials in Kansas City, Missouri, who thought the Wizards were going to kick soccer balls at the site of the old Bannister Mall.KCK's capture of the Wizards is being credited to Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds. A state program, STAR bonds essentially created Kansas Speedway and the Village West shopping

  September 16, 2009

• Fútbol

  September 24, 2009

• Whip It

  October 1, 2009

• New York Islanders sign 99-year lease, then threaten to move

  ​AEG president TIm Leiweke was right to downplay the rumors that the New York Islanders might get landlocked in Kansas City's Sprint Center. Not just because the Islanders weren't likely to skate into the Sprint Center. But maybe because Islanders owner Charles Wang is a little too unpredictable for Leiweke's taste (not to mention Wang's franchise sucks). Reuters reported today that the Islanders had inked a new deal with Nassau County to renovate the existing arena and signed a 99-year lease.

  October 2, 2009

• Waterboy Watch, week 4: Funk's Footballers lose

  ​Mayor Mark Funkhouser's fantasy team is almost as hapless as the Kansas City Chiefs. Almost. Funk's Footballers have now lost three straight games, losing 75-60 to Buffalo's Best. Funk's Footballers are now in last place with a 1-3 record and 297 points. The only bright spot for Funk's team was the Denver Broncos' defense. Lots of bad, bad news for Funk with almost everyone underperforming, especially Dallas quarterback Tony Romo (255 yards passing and an interception). Buffalo's Best rode Gr

  October 6, 2009

• Rightbloggers see Chicago's Olympics snub as Obama's foreign policy crisis -- which they cheer

  ​ Roy Edroso's Rightbloggers: Exploring the right Wing Blogosphere appears courtesy of our sister paper in New York City, Village Voice.Last week rightbloggers were outraged when President Obama struck a conciliatory tone in his address to the U.N. General Assembly. They didn't like that, nor did they like Obama's warm reception there, and predicted this love-fest would only encourage our adversaries, with dire consequences for the United States.Time will tell. But this week a different intern

  October 5, 2009

• When will the Kansas City Chiefs win a game?

  ​This Kansas City Chiefs' season is just one kick in the ding ding after another. The New York Giants laid the smack down on Sunday, and the Cowboys are coming to town this week. So we're wondering when the Chiefs will snap this four-game losing streak. (I'm looking at you, Cleveland; nothing like waiting until week 15 to break the skid.)Our friends over at the Riverfront Times gave us this idea. (Hey, did you hear who might buy the Rams? God save the NFL.) So we're asking you: When's the blee

  October 6, 2009

• A hunter's perspective on the S.M. Park deer controversy

  When members of Bite Club of KC made their case to stop the deer harvest planned for Shawnee Mission Park, they often conjured gruesome imagery. Ken Payne, president of Heartland Suburban Whitetail Management​Addressing the Johnson County Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners in recent months, animal rights activists predicted terrified, half-dead deer, with arrows stuck in their anatomy, bolting into traffic or dragging their bloodied bodies onto family doorsteps. They suggested that

  October 8, 2009

• Cleaver doesn't poo-poo Limbaugh buying STL Rams

  Rush Limbaugh​Congressman Emanuel Cleaver didn't totally bag on the idea of Oxy-numbed mouth breather Rush Limbaugh buying the St. Louis Rams. Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri, even plugged Limbaugh and St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts' bid to buy the Rams as a good thing, The Hill reports. "With both the [Kansas City] Chiefs and Rams yet to win a game this season," he said in a statement to The Hill, "maybe Rush's fire and brimstone can inspire the Rams to victory. It certainly can't hur

  October 8, 2009

• And we're back ...

  ​Stealing ambulances is popular in Kansas City. The trend popped up again in Lawrence over the weekend. A 21-year-old jacked an ambulance from 10th and Mass. Street early Sunday morning, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. Why take the ambulance? The guy needed a ride home: The man, whom [Lawrence Police Sgt. Susan] Hadl said believed he had no other means of transportation home, led police on a brief low-speed chase. Police charged the guy with driving under the influence. No kidding? T

  October 12, 2009

• Hey, Chiefs, where is our Miles Austin?

  Football power Monmouth College helped lift the Cowboys over the Chiefs​Following the Chiefs is an education in the consequences of bad management.Yesterday an undrafted receiver from Monmouth College torched the Chiefs' secondary for 250 yards and two scores. Miles Austin's performance begs a question: When was the last time the Chiefs' front office found such a diamond in the rough? Has there been anyone since Brian Waters? Golly, that was nine years ago.Fans not done with the pain from yest

  October 12, 2009

• Waterboy watch, week 5: Funk's Footballers dominate

  ​The losing streak is over. Fantasy football geek Mayor Mark Funkhouser's fantasy football team dominated a week four match-up with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. Funk's Footballers rolled to a 105-59 win over Dellums Dynamites. Funk's Footballers were led by Dallas quarterback Tony Romo (351 yards and two touchdowns) and Atlanta wide receiver Roddy White (eight catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns), who killed the week, scoring 33 points by himself. Funk's Footballers escaped last place, jump

  October 13, 2009

• Reminder: Miami Heat vs. New Orleans Hornets at Sprint Center tonight

  ​If you read this morning's Kansas City Star, you wouldn't know that the Miami Heat and the New Orleans Hornets are playing tonight at the Sprint Center -- unless you saw the tiny ad on page three of the sports section. Two of the NBA's biggest stars -- Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul -- are in Kansas City and not even a tiny story on B9? Even with all of the local ties -- former KU stars Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers and Kansas State's Michael Beasley. Maybe I missed the story (I didn't). The S

  October 15, 2009

• Retired KC Chief Turley donating brain to research

  Kyle Turley​A month ago, three NFL players became the first active players to donate their brains and spinal cord tissue to Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, a collaboration of the Sports Legacy Institute and BU's medical school to study the effects of repeated concussions. Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu and Arizona Cardinals receiver Sean Morey all promised their brains and spinal cord tissue to the center after t

  October 15, 2009

• Sprint Center's night of NBA action impresses

  Photos by Scott SpychalskiClick on Dwayne Wade throwing it down for a slideshow of last night's Heat-Hornets game.​Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm covered Thursday night's Heat-Hornets game at the Sprint Center. Here's his dispatch.The NBA in Kansas City. Man, that's weird. It's like barbecue in St. Louis. It's just absurd. And coming into Thursday night's game between the Heat and the Hornets, I expected the city of KC to mostly respond in kind. Sure, there would be a fair amount of folks who

  October 16, 2009

• KC falls below Quebec on list of NHL suitors?

  ​The latest report on Kansas City's standing among cities clamoring for an NHL franchise isn't good. The Toronto Star cites an October 11 comment from deputy commissioner Bill Daly that gives good vibes to Canadian cities where the NHL once called home: "Both Winnipeg and Quebec have already done that (supported an NHL team). We'll see how things evolve. That doesn`t mean that Hamilton won`t be considered. It will be." The Star cites sources close to the hockey league that say "the six Canadia

  October 19, 2009

• Rightbloggers defend Rush with an NFL boycott; are beer, buffalo wings next?

  ​ The National Football League has a large millionaire population which predictably contributes overwhelmingly to Republicans over Democrats. Yet this week we learned from rightbloggers that the NFL is in fact a wing of the liberal conspiracy.Early this month Rush Limbaugh and Dave Checketts collaborated on a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams NFL franchise. But after some people in the League -- including Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith --

  October 19, 2009

• Halioli kicks another 2008 Chief to the curb

  KCChiefs.comTank Tyler​The Chiefs have traded defensive lineman and sleep apnea sufferer Tank Tyler for a fifth-round pick.Tyler's departure brings to 25 the number of players who suited up for final game of the 2008 season but would get turned away by security if they showed up Arrowhead today.The dizzying number of trades and releases reflect a lack of regard for the talent evaluation skills of the former regime, headed by Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards. Seemingly every week, the new guys, G

  October 20, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Wednesday, October 21

  Thumbs up for Shatto cheese, which is now available at the Whole Foods at 91st Street and Metcalf in Overland Park. [Hot Blog on a Stick]A visit to the regional offices of the Seattle Fish Company and a look at fresh fish in Kansas City. [Making of a Foodie]Whatever you think of the Royals, at least you're not paying $10 a cup for hot cocoa at Kauffman Stadium. [Consumerist]The Burger King Double Cheeseburger is officially available, and it's $1. [So Good]

  October 21, 2009

• Weekend Distractions

  1. Experience a battle of wits. Bonner Springs' Roving Imp Theater is the site of an improv festival that runs through Sunday.2. Bid farewell to the Abracadabras. The once promising local band plays its final show tonight at Czar Bar.Flickr: foxypar4See cows and stuff at the American Royal.​3. Look closely at baby pigs. Also: Watch kids learn how to rodeo and buy yourself some cowboy boots during Family Fun Day at the American Royal on Saturday.4. Get some green thumb inspiration. Author and u

  October 23, 2009

• Comment of the Week

  ​In this week's chapter of Exploring the Right Wing Blogosphere, the Village Voice's Roy Edroso surveyed conservative thinking on the NFL's shunning of team-hungry Rush Limbaugh. Plog reader Realist weighed in this way, starting with a quote (in italics) from Edroso's entry:Doug Powers was incensed that the NFL had approved Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie for NFL ownership, as she had sung sexually explicit lyrics.Unlike right-wing hero Ted Nugent, performer of "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" along w

  October 23, 2009

• When it comes to KC's black history, Professor Pellom McDaniels says it's time to get beyond Negro Leagues and jazz

  October 29, 2009

• Chiefs to release Larry Johnson?

  Photo by Scott SpychalskiLarry Johnson​The Kansas City Chiefs are primed to release troubled running back Larry Johnson, according to a report on RealGM Football.RealGM cites "a team source that spoke to RealGM's Jeff Risdon on Tuesday afternoon." That same day, the Chiefs and the NFL sent LJ home, telling him to stay away from practice and team activities. This came in response to a pair of homophobic slurs uttered by Johnson to fans and reporters.RealGM says of the ban on "King Pink": This i

  October 28, 2009

• Congressman wants records on pro football head injuries

  Kyle Turley​The United States government may finally be on the verge of looking into brain injuries suffered by pro football players. At a congressional hearing today, U.S. Rep. John Conyers requested records on head injuries suffered by professional football players. The Associated Press reports that Conyers, a Democrat and House committee chairman, is seeking an "independent review of all the data" due to the "life and death" nature of the issue. Not everyone is for federal government steppi

  October 28, 2009

• Chiefs send Larry Alphonso Johnson Jr to his room for two weeks

  Larry Alphonso Johnson Jr​The Kansas City Chiefs were so mad at Larry Johnson for calling you guys "fags" and "Christopher Street boys" and us "faggots" that they sent him home -- and suspended him for one game. Ooh, that'll show him. With such a harsh punishment, I'm surprised the Chiefs didn't use King Pink's full name, "Larry Alphonso Johnson Jr," in the news release. Kansas City Chiefs have suspended RB Larry Johnson for Conduct Detrimental to the Club effective immediately. Johnson w

  October 29, 2009

• Kansas named No. 1 in preseason basketball poll

  Kansas QB Todd Reesing upon hearing that the Jayhawks basketball team is No. 1.​Damn ESPN and USA Today's coaches' poll. Just when the Kansas Jayhawk family feud between the football and basketball teams had quieted down, they go and kick the football team while they're down.On a two-game losing skid (and facing an unpredictable Texas Tech team in Lubbock this weekend), the Jayhawk footballers got more bad news today: The Kansas men's basketball team is No. 1 in ESPN and USA Today's preseason

  October 29, 2009

• This week's Pitch and 9 things we learned this week

  ​Yeah, yeah. We know Pellom McDaniels is a former Kansas City Chief. But there's more to the man than his time on the gridiron, as Casey Lyons shows us in this week's feature story, where the ghosts of Kansas City's past come to life.Also in this week's issue, Martin looks at the latest tiff involving the TIF Commission -- and a $2.2 million surplus. Harper remembers former Recycled Sounds owner Anne Winter, who committed suicide last week. Ferruzza pulls double duty with reviews of Frank's It

  October 30, 2009

• And we're back ...

  The chiefs didn't lose Sunday. They also didn't play. Mercifully for us and them. But the Larry Johnson news didn't stop over the weekend. The Chiefs and LJ agreed on a settlement figure the troubled running back will give up during his suspension: $300,000. So LJ can keep bragging about having money -- but not for long if the Chiefs dump him. Arrowhead Pride compiled a couple of news reports (here and here) surveying NFL general managers, and none seem interested in a back that's nearly 30 and

  November 2, 2009

• Someone please let Mark Teahen know if he's been traded

  ​No one has told Kansas City Royals outfielder Mark Teahen that he's been traded to the Chicago White Sox, but several reports say he's gone. The New York Daily News gets credit for announcing the deal: Teahen to the White Sox for second baseman Chris Getz and third baseman Josh Fields. Getz told ESPN's Chicago branch that so far it's just a "rumor."Could someone let these guys know if they've been traded? Thanks.Photo via the Kansas City Royals' Web Site.

  November 5, 2009

• Comment of the Week

  Photo by Scott SpychalskiLarry Johnson​Larry Johnson reports back to work on Monday. His suspension will be over, and the news about his homophobic slurs and criticism of his coach will be forgotten and everyone will kiss and make up. Uh, probably not. Fans are banding together to keep LJ on the sidelines and away from the Chiefs' all-time leading rusher record. They're circulating a petition/letter to general manager Scott Pioli, asking him to keep LJ off the field and 80 yards shy of the rec

  November 6, 2009

• WWE pay-per-view coming to Sprint Center

  John Cena​The Sprint Center hosted a live broadcast of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw and a taped-for-television SmackDown event in 2009. 2010 may be even better for Kansas City wrestling fans. WWE has tentatively scheduled a pay-per-view event for July 18 at the Sprint Center. If memory serves, the last WWE pay-per-view event in Kansas City was 2007's New Year's Revolution at Kemper Arena.Nothing is set in stone, and tickets are not on sale yet. But Wikipedia lists the name

  November 9, 2009

• Chiefs release Larry Johnson

  Larry Johnson is gone.​Guess the days of Larry Johnson cashing fat checks are close to over. The Chiefs just released him. Here's the official statement: The Kansas City Chiefs released RB Larry Johnson on Monday. In 75 games (55 starts) with Kansas City, Johnson rushed 1,375 times for 5,996 yards (4.4 avg.) with 55 touchdowns. He also registered 151 receptions for 1,369 yards (9.1 avg.) with six TDs. He concluded his Chiefs career with 30 100-yard rushing games and also added two 100-yard re

  November 9, 2009

• Fun Fact

  November 12, 2009

• Puck Off

  November 12, 2009

• Larry Johnson is still homeless

  Larry Johnson​No one claimed Larry Johnson from waivers yesterday, which means the Chiefs are on the hook for the remaining $2.1 million of this year's salary. Plus, LJ can now sign wherever he wants  -- if they'll take him. And in the biggest bit of bullshit you'll read today, Johnson told Sports Illustrated's Dan Patrick that he'd like to finish his career with the Chiefs and become the team's all-time leading rusher. "Hopefully, maybe someday, when I'm 33, 34, and I've still got a lit

  November 11, 2009

• This week's Pitch and 13 things we learned this week

  ​There's a new push for glass-recycling in Kansas City thanks to Ripple Glass. Carolyn Szczepanski writes all about the new venture in this week's feature story, "The Ripple Effect." The goal is pretty lofty: Triple Kansas City's glass-recycling efforts in the next two years. Let's hope they do it. Also in this week's Pitch, Martin tries to make sense of Blue Summit's dysfunctional Inter City Fire Protection District.Ferruzza pulls double diner duty with reviews of Rob's Cafe and Roxanne's Caf

  November 13, 2009

• The Onion clowns on the Royals ... again

  ​Kansas City is shaking free of our suffering Royals -- at least, in the world of fake news.Does it get any better than The Onion making up quotes for Mayor Funkhouser? Observe:"It was time to move in another direction," Kansas City mayor Mark Funkhouser said at a press conference. "There were some vested incentives that would have automatically kicked in if the Royals had finished higher than last place, or won more than one championship in their existence. But we just couldn't afford to make

  November 17, 2009

• Chiefs' Dwayne Bowe suspended four games

  ​The Kansas City Chiefs' fortunes have not changed, even after beating the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. The Chiefs announced today that wide receiver Dwayne Bowe has been suspended four games for "violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances."Being a Chiefs fan must be like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown and then kicking him in the nuts over and over and over.

  November 17, 2009

• Royals' Zack Greinke wins AL Cy Young Award

  ​ The headline says it all. Photo courtesy of Chris Vleisides/Kansas City Royals

  November 17, 2009

• Kick Kick

  November 19, 2009

• Friday Book Review: Jeffrey Koterba's Inklings

  ​Picture the young artist, dreaming of becoming an editorial cartoonist. He's working hard: drawing for a weekly newspaper in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, placing his pieces in a few small-town papers around Nebraska, constantly submitting his work to the Omaha World-Herald, only to be rejected. With encouragement from Kansas City Star cartoonist Lee Judge, at the time practically just a kid himself, our artist has started doing an occasional sports cartoon for the Star. Until now he's had a

  November 20, 2009

• This week's Pitch and 14 things we learned this week

  ​Former Honeywell workers are experiencing major health problems. This week's Pitch feature, "Kansas City's Nuclear Fallout," talks to the people suffering from the after effects of exposure to beryllium at the soon-to-be-shuttered plant. Also this week, Martin looks at Go Invest Wisely's "piss-poor attempts at property management" in Kansas City.Ferruzza reviews the new hot restaurant Julian. Harper has a conversation with DJ Bill Pile.Scherstuhl reviews the Unicorn's pleasantly suspenseful F

  November 21, 2009

• And we're back ...

  Burrel Mohler Sr.​Let's pick up where we left off last week. Incest porn isn't enough to ding the Mohler family's reputation in the eyes of their friends and family. The Kansas City Star asked allies of the Mohler men what they thought of the charges of sexual abuse against the six family members and found a chorus of people questioning the credibility of the alleged victims and defending men accused of sexually abusing their own blood. Speaking of allegations of sexual misconduct. If your kid

  November 23, 2009