Tag: Kansas City (Page 2 of 2)

Go West Old Man

March 23, 2012 / DB

Tomorrow morning, we’re packing up the family truckster and heading west. By mid-afternoon, we will be in the land of burnt ends, fountains, and boulevards.

It’s the first time we’ve taken the girls back to Kansas City in over two years, so it’s a special trip. Well, other than the eight hours in the van. But we have lots of movies and books, snacks, and a couple surprises to try to keep the girls occupied. They’re very excited to make the trip and see some old friends. But most of all, they’re excited about making a stop at the American Girl Doll store. Is it bad for me to hope KU is playing Sunday and they drop me off somewhere to watch the game while they head to the store without me?

Anyway, we’re looking forward to seeing many of our Kansas City friends.

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The Coolest

January 24, 2011 / DB

There was a thread on Twitter Sunday soliciting suggestions as to who the coolest Kansas City athletes of all time were. While I was never a true Chiefs fan, I did spend 23 years in the city and have some thoughts on the subject.

First, let’s go ahead and admit this covers the 30-35 years that I’ve been aware of Kansas City athletes. So there won’t be any members of the Scouts or A’s included. And Tom Watson dominated golf for a few years, but I wouldn’t ever say he was cool.

I think I was seven, and not yet a KC resident, when an uncle mentioned the name Amos Otis to me. I didn’t know anything about AO, but his name sure sounded cool. And the way Willie Wilson ran was cool. Phil Ford and Otis Birdsong were cool when the Kings were still in town. Gino Schiraldi, Enzo Di Pede, and Yilmaz Orhan all seemed cool for about five minutes when the MISL was hot. But none of those guys were transcendently cool. Well, maybe Willie was, but he had some competition on his own team for coolest guy status.

Anyway, this are the guys who stood out for me. I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two people who are obvious to others.

Bo Jackson. One of the coolest athletes ever, in any sport, in any city. It wasn’t just that he could, seemingly, do anything. It was that he didn’t act like any of his freakish accomplishments were that big of a deal. To him, throwing a ball 400 feet on a rope¹ was like you or me tossing a wadded up piece of paper three feet into a trashcan. Bo was so cool that when I was debating what Royals jersey to have Santa bring me for Christmas this year, I spent a lot of time with a Jackson 16 jersey at the top of my list.
Joe Montana. He wasn’t really Kansas City’s, the city just rented him for the final two years of his career. But it was a big freaking deal when he arrived. The city tried desperately to claim him, and he politely kept his mouth shut. He knew it was silly. No matter how the 49ers treated him in his final year there, he was always going to be associated with San Francisco. But there’s no doubting that when the Chiefs acquired him, they went from just being a good team to being one of the NFL’s marquee teams.
Frank White. He wasn’t cool in an awe-inspiring way. He was cool in a smooth way that made you admire the way he went about his business. I love the shot of him right before George Brett exploded in the Pine Tar game: casually sitting next to Brett with one foot up on the bench. Brett was already stewing, telling teammates that if they called him out he was going to go kick someone’s ass. Frank just chilled, not seeing any reason to get worked up about something that hadn’t happened yet. He exuded cool.
Derrick Thomas. DT had all kinds of issues off the field. But he was so good on the field that most Chiefs fans looked the other way. Even non-Chiefs fans could not help buy admire the havoc he brought to the football field. Once George Brett began to fade, DT was the most nationally recognized athlete from KC. Unlike Montana, he always seemed to embrace the city as it embraced him, giving him some bonus coolness.
George Brett. The coolest ever. There was a 10-15 year period where every little boy in Kansas City wanted to be him. He was one of the five best players in baseball and played every game all-out. Fathers would point to Brett and say to their sons, “That’s how you play the game.” That style cost him numerous games to injuries each season, but you knew when he was on the field he was going to try to stretch every single into a double, break up every double-play ball, and not take any shit from anyone in the other dugout. Throw in his well known hard partying ways off-the-field, and to a little boy he seemed like everything you wanted to be when you grew up. In many ways, Thomas mimicked his career as his popularity made people overlook a lot of sins in Westport.
Buck O’Neil. OK, this is a stretch. He became famous and cool well after his playing and managing career ended. So I suppose he was more of a cool sports figure than an actual athlete. The dignity with which he lived his life, and the causes that he embraced, were a way of life we can all aspire to.

Still my favorite Bo moment that I witnessed first hand. Anyone who follows baseball knows about his famous throw in Seattle that nailed Harold Reynolds at the plate. I was at a game when he grabbed a ball at the wall, turned, and fired home. The ball didn’t just reach home in the air. It went 20 feet over Mike Macfarlane’s head and hit the screen another 25 feet behind him. And it was still at least 10 feet off the ground. So Bo threw a ball at least 400 feet and it still had another 15-20 feet of range if the net hadn’t interrupted its flight. ↩

Top Five Weekend

September 13, 2010 / DB

I expected my weekend in Kansas City to be good. A surprising performance by the KU football team made it even better.

First off, thanks to the R’s and B’s for hosting me last week. And thanks to Mary Y for insisting I attend her 30th birthday blowout. That alone would have made for a fine weekend.

I was not looking forward to the KU – Georgia Tech game all that much, to be honest. After KU’s horrendous loss a week earlier, what already looked like a difficult game seemed to be a hopeless cause. While it was going to be fun to return to Lawrence for the first time in five years, and to Memorial Stadium for the first time in nine years, the small detail of getting blown out by a very good team tempered that excitement. I’ve seen plenty of blowouts in that stadium over the years. I didn’t want to spoil the trip by seeing another.

It was a glorious day on Mt. Oread, though. The weather was near-ideal for a late summer weekend. While I think true football schools would still dismiss the KU football experience as small-time, it’s much better than it used to be. Get within a mile of the stadium and the tailgaters in every open space make it obvious there’s a football game. That didn’t used to be the case.

The team helped the cause by hanging in there early. They quickly matched down the field and tied the game after a quick Tech TD. They bottled up Tech’s tricky offense. Then they took the lead. This was fun! We were going to make it to halftime and still be in the game!

When Tech kicked a late field goal to take a three-point lead into the half, there was a feeling of satisfaction in the stadium. Sure, Tech was getting the ball first after the break, and would likely take over the game, but we didn’t look inept. Jordan Webb looked solid at QB. James Sims was a revelation in the backfield. Other first year players were making big plays. The constant refrain in the stands was “How did we lose last week?” While there was still a lot of football to be played, this clearly wasn’t going to be the disaster most KU fans expected.

The second half was even better.

Tech couldn’t move the ball early. Another strong drive put KU back in the lead. Seconds into the fourth quarter, Webb hit Daymond Patterson with a quick screen. After bouncing off a couple tacklers, Patterson broke into the clear and scampered 32 yards for a touchdown. It was a <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jC0vc5HirU”>Monte Cozzens-esque</a> run. Suddenly KU was up 11 on the #15 team in the country with less than a quarter to play. The stadium was beginning to believe.
Could we hold on?

After exchanging punts, Tech took over on their own four. If we could hold them here, the game was over. Busted coverage on a quick screen put the Yellow Jackets at midfield. Then a beautiful pass and a two-point conversion cut the lead to three with 7:48 to play. The mood in the stadium shifted 180 degrees: it was a nice effort, but we were all sure KU was going to lose.

A friend tried to pump us up. “If I told you we were going to give up over 300 yards rushing and still be up by three with seven minutes to play, you would take that, wouldn’t you?” Still, we weren’t optimistic.

It was a tense few minutes, but when a Josh Nesbitt pass fell incomplete on fourth down, we could finally celebrate. KU 28, Georgia Tech 25.

All day I felt jealous of the fans that got to experience the renaissance of KU football after I moved away. The first win over K-State in 12 years in 2004. Breaking the Nebraska streak in 2005. The entire 2007 season, capped by the 72 points hung on the Huskers. There were a handful of good wins when I was in school, notably the 1992 win over Oklahoma. But that came in a different era. To have experienced the more recent big wins, as the stadium and crowd have changed, was something I was bummed to have not seen first hand. Saturday was my chance to experience one of those moments.

It was also a terrific day for the program after the previous week. There were serious questions whether Lew Perkins had made the correct choice when choosing a new coach. There was a fear that a horrific season that ended with just one or two wins would destroy the recruiting momentum Turner Gill had been building. The team may still only win a couple games this year; it’s too soon to declare all the errors of week one permanently corrected. But this win goes a long way towards getting KU football back on track.

Other random bits:

A bit odd being back in Lawrence after so long. We didn’t spend a lot of time in town, but the areas I did see had changed a lot. The biggest shock was the Big Yellow House I lived in for two years is now brown. How dare they!

The beer is still cold and tasty at Louise’s West.

Love how it’s been beaten into most KU fans’ heads that we should wear blue on game days. I don’t think I owned a true KU blue shirt when I was in school. Now everyone rocks the proper color at games. A very good change.

Not a fan of the uniform tweaks this year. I preferred the gray pants to the white and the black shoes to white. Not having names on the backs of jerseys is just dumb.

In the era of Madden and lengthy NFL breakdown shows, it’s fun to go to football games and hear every guy complaining about every play during breaks in the action. “Did you see the linebackers come up? Why the hell are we doing that?” “What are we thinking not keeping a back in to block on third and nine?” Everyone is an expert now.

Taco John’s failed to properly season our post-game Potato Oles. An indefensible tragedy.

You know you’re old when you spend a lot of time in a college time saying, “I hope these kids are appreciating their college years.”

Oh yeah, Rock Chalk, bitches!

❖

KC Summary

September 27, 2004 / DB

It was a truly outstanding week in Kansas City in almost every way. I had the chance to spend time with many of you, which was tremendous. I got to show off my daughter. I got to eat a huge amount of great food. The Chiefs had a total meltdown which was fun for me. And there was actually a week of hope for the KU football program before it all came crashing down in the second half Saturday. Some highlights worth noting:
My dining agenda included the following:
Lunch at Papa Keno’s in Lawrence followed by a $2.75 Oatmeal Stout at Free State.
Dinner at Rudy’s in Westport.
Lunch at Jack’s Stack.
Dinner at the B’s residence (If you get Stacey to cook for you, it ranks right up there with the finest of KC dining experiences).
Lunch at the Classic Cup.
Dining on Waldo Pizza at the N’s residence.
Lunch at Arthur Bryant’s.
Dinner at Jalapeno’s in Brookside followed by a Guinness at O’Dowd’s.
Lunch at Jim G’s in Raytown.
Rehearsal dinner consisting of some of Jack Stack’s finest offerings.
Lunch at Oklahoma Joe’s.
Completed by a fine reception dinner at the Muehlbach.
About the only thing I missed was a stop at Taco John’s so I could scarf down some Potato Oles. We also stopped in Columbia for lunch Sunday on the way home, however in the interest of eating as quickly as possible, we went to Wendy’s rather than one of that fair city’s finest eateries. Pretty solid work, in my opinion. I think it rivals my week in KC last October, although that week was so epic that I don’t believe it can ever be topped.
Kudos to the government of the state of Missouri. I-70 was actually in halfway decent shape for the much of the drive, a nice change from the traditional moonscape you have had to navigate in recent years.
M. did wonderfully in the car. On the way out, she slept almost the entire ride. She was a little more fussy on the way home, but still made the trip with only one stop on her behalf. She also did quite well when we drug her out and about. I’m sure she’ll make up for all of this once she turns two.
I was quite impressed with the radio offerings in Kansas City. Well, I was impressed with the music 96.5 was playing all week. I can’t say the rest of the FM dial was any different than it has been in the past 4-5 years. The Buzz was coming strong with some excellent tunes every chance I had to listen. They wasted no time in getting U2’s new single into high rotation, which was nice. Have you heard “Vertigo” yet? Good grief, U2 is bringing it strong this time around.
One big downer to the trip was all the shitty political ads that pollute the airwaves in KC. I think the argument can be made that the KC media market is one of the worst for ads in the country. You’ve got two states in the market, and one of those states is traditionally one of the most evenly split between the parties. I found the mute button on the remote rather quickly so I didn’t attempt to rupture my eardrums to avoid all that crap. It was fun to critique the ads of the former associate of mine who is running for Congress. I found some of her assertions curious, to say the least. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about voting for or against her so I won’t get into it too much.
Lying on my office floor are two large boxes of old cassette tapes that were stored away in my step-dad’s basement. I am eager to work my way through them in the coming weeks and share with you what I purchased between 1986 and 1990.
I’ve probably got more I’ll think of later, but that should get you started.