Okay, last Saturday morning turned out just fine. Our friends to the north got plenty of nasty weather, but it spared us here. Thank goodness. I made it into work just fine.
Oh, but winter is just beginning. Now, they’re calling for ice this weekend and I’m hearing directly from the ice/snow/sleet experts in the KMBC Weather Center that this looks like the real deal this time.
I know Bryan, Joel and Lisa wouldn’t be happy with me, but I’m hoping they’re wrong again. Is that too much to ask?
Here it comes.
Overall, it’s been a mild fall around these parts, but it’s almost December now and the winter weather is on it’s way. Tomorrow, apparently. No, not inches and inches of snow, but perhaps something worse: freezing rain. Great. Love that ice.
I have the privilege of driving to work right around the time the yucky precipitation (yes, that’s a meteorological term) is supposed to start coming down. I’ll be on the roads heading to KMBC around 3 AM tomorrow morning, concerned about every wet patch of road.
I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of winter. I always say, if it could be cold and a little snowy for about a month around Christmas and then warmer the rest of the year, that would be perfect for me. I don’t think I’d want to spend the holidays in a warm climate every year, but I certainly wouldn’t miss cold, dreary weather.
So, it’s coming. Let’s deal with it. And yes, I may be one of those crazy reporters you see standing out there in the nasty weather. The answer to your question: no we don’t really want to be out there, but it’s part of the job. Think warm thoughts for me.
And here’s one ray of hope: the weather folks could be wrong. It’s happened before.
As I’m writing this, it’s T-minus two hours and counting until the Border Showdown kicks off at Arrowhead between Kansas and Mizzou. I have no idea who’s going to win the game, but Kansas City and our entire region is already a big winner.
I was out bright (okay, it actually cloudy with some snow flurries) and early this morning to join all the crazies who watched the ESPN College Gameday crew do their thing. Put simply, it was a blast. I had been to a College Gameday show a few years ago, and I the phenomenon is only growing. The atmosphere the show creates is electric and for the first time, KU and MU fans got to join in the action instead of some other rivalry game like Texas-Texas A&M or Florida State-Florida. Those games mean little this year, while the Border Battle is possibly the biggest regular season college football game of 2007. How about that?
When fans show up before the crack of dawn in freezing temperatures, with flurries thrown in for good measure, and kick-off isn’t until after dinner, you know you have something special going on. The Tiger and Jayhawk partisans represented us well, showing off great school spirit along with witty signs and banners. Of course, KU coach Mark Mangino makes it kind of easy for BOTH sides. Either you love the big guy, or you can’t make fun of him enough.
So Kansas City is in the national spotlight for one of the biggest sporting events this city has ever seen. One group of fans is going to be bitterly disappointed tonight, but for our region, there is nothing but good to come from all this. Go Jayhawks and Go Tigers! You’ve already made us proud, now go have some fun.
I’m a Northlander, which means I’m very familiar with the Paseo Bridge. Two years ago it underwent a renovation (and shut down for several months) and it was a major inconvenience. Well, along with 100,000 other drivers every day, I need to get ready for more traffic headaches starting next spring.
Okay, that’s the negative view of what happened yesterday at the Marriott hotel downtown. MODOT announced its plans for a brand new Paseo bridge and I have to say they look great. The bridge is an important gateway into the city and it’s getting a major upgrade. The new Paseo bridge is big and bold and will certainly make an impression on drivers, even ones who are only traveling through the area on I-35. Honestly, I can’t wait for June 2011 when the project is done. I believe the new bridge will be a fantastic addition to the Kansas City metro.
But it’s those three years until then that will be painful. There is some good news: the old bridge will remain open until the new one is built. MODOT is promising two lanes in each direction during the morning and evening rush hours. But officials are also warning us that there will be plenty of headaches, with squeezed lanes and closed exit ramps. I can’t wait.
Alright, I’ll try to stay positive. I’ll end with what one of the Community Advisory Group members told me about the new Paseo Bridge: “I think it provides the kind of landmark structure that I think future generations will look at postcards of.” Now that sounds like it will be worth the hassle. Nothing worthwhile is easy, right?
The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crews certainly aren’t new to the Kansas City area. Their project this week in KCK is the third time they’ve come here and the second time just this year. But despite the fact that KMBC has extensively covered every house the show has built for a deserving family here, this week was the first time I had personally visited one of the building sites. Like many before me, I was blown away.
Perhaps this says it all: I asked one of the foremen on builder Kevin Green’s team how long a house like the one being built for the Gilyeat family would normally take to construct. He told me 8 months. Of course, this one’s going up in a week.
Even if you’ve watched the show and seen the coverage on KMBC, you still don’t get a real picture of what it takes to pull this off. First: incredible planning and coordination. I spoke with the guy who was in charge of the people putting in the trim inside the home. He pulled four crews together who had never worked together before. It went off without a hitch. Just one example of the dedication of each and every worker.
There are also the neighbors who allow their street to be completely taken over for a week. Their yards are now hospitality areas or a gathering place for fans of the show to watch all the action. And of course there are those media types walking around, taking up space as well.
And then there are the volunteers who show up just to do whatever they can and be part of a great project. One elderly lady has driven from Springfield for every Home Makeover house here in KC. She wouldn’t miss a day, despite the fact that her feet are killing her at the end of each shift.
If you’ve seen the show, you know this is one of those things that just makes you feel good. Even the most jaded observer has to be moved by what’s happening. I’m glad I finally had the chance to see it all up close.
How early is too early?
Okay, you probably know what I’m talking about here. I love Christmas… but come on!
As you may have noticed, not one, but two radio stations in Kansas City are now playing all Christmas music, all the time. That’s right, it’s November 2nd. Three weeks before Thanksgiving. Almost two months before Christmas day.
One station, Star 102, started playing holiday tunes on Halloween. As you got your little ghosts and goblins dressed up for trick or treat, you could listen to Silver Bells. That just doesn’t seem right.
The other station in the Christmas music wars, 98.1 KUDL, started the yuletide jams less than 24 hours later. As one of their DJs told me: “Hey, we don’t want to be sacrilegious. On the day of Halloween is a bit ridiculous.”
I agree. But the day after Halloween seems a little silly too.
I think I’m in the most common group of people. I don’t want any Christmas songs (or Christmas anything, for that matter) until after Thanksgiving. But there is a method to this madness. Basically, the holiday season is extremely important for both KUDL and Star 102. They have to be the “Christmas Station.” And starting too late can be worse than the Grinch. Last year, Star 102 started playing Christmas tunes late and ended up getting creamed in the ratings.
So, no one’s taking any chances this year. DJs at both stations told me they know they’ll lose some listeners right now. They’re getting nasty calls and E-mails. But when all those folks are ready to listen to holiday jingles, they know they can tune in to both stations.
I’ll do just that, as I do my Christmas shopping on December 14th. Or 20th. Or 23rd. Hey, I love the holidays. It’s just that I like the 12 days of Christmas, not the two months of Christmas.
I am a runner. That’s not something I could have claimed as a younger man, when I dreaded those 1 mile runs in gym class. At the time, I thought the members of the cross country team were nuts. Why are you running so far, so often? It seemed like too much work to me, as I focused on sports I believed were more fun.
Then, I got old. Okay, I guess I’m still not very old, but after I graduated from college, I noticed that my body wasn’t burning calories quite as quickly as it used to. When my wife started running, I decided maybe I should give it a try. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Now, I couldn’t live without my daily runs.
But this post isn’t about my running. While I’m dedicated to it, I also run relatively short distances. In other words, I’ve never come close to running a marathon, which is — pause for dramatic effect– 26.2 miles. That’s right… it’s a long, long way.
Last weekend, I did a story near the finish line of the Kansas City marathon. It was an absolutely beautiful morning for the race and I watched runner after runner finish the course. And I was inspired.
Even if you’re not a runner, I encourage you to go to a marathon sometime. Watch as friends and family members wait for their runner to jog by so they can yell encouragement. You can’t help but smile when you see young kids with homemade T-shirts that say “Go Dad Go!”
Someday, I’ll probably run a marathon. Maybe. When I left the KC Marathon Saturday, I swore to myself I would. I’m already hedging. But that doesn’t change the great feeling I got watching everyday people like you and me accomplish something truly great. It’s a great life lesson. One step at a time, with discipline and dedication, we can all do great things.
I don’t mean for this to become a sports blog, but…
I give up. I can no longer try to figure out this season’s edition of the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s getting awfully tiring jumping on and off the Chiefs bandwagon.
One week, they look like a team that will never score a touchdown. A week later, they knock off a good team on the road. The next week, their highly-paid, superstar running back manages only 10 yards. Seven days later, he gets 100 yards in the first half. What gives?
There is plenty of good news. (I know this goes completely against my blog from just one short week ago, but that’s the whole theme of this particular post.)
1. The AFC West is very weak this year. Or, if you want to be more kind, there’s a lot of parody.
2. You can’t help but watch the Chiefs the rest of the season, no matter what. The next week could be completely different. Just remember that as you celebrate Sunday’s victory over the Bengals.
3. Larry Johnson may finally be shaking the rust off. The theory is now that missing most of training camp is the reason for the slow start. I hope so. We’ll see next week.
Ah yes, next week. Which Chiefs team will show up? The potential AFC West Champ or the team who can’t find the end zone with GPS? We’ll all have to tune in to see.
Here’s an update on two blogs I posted last week:
Well, I expected Garth Brooks to add another show at the Sprint Center, maybe even two or three, but 9 shows?? I didn’t see that coming.
Sure enough, as predicted, minutes after the first concert sold out Saturday morning, another show was announced. Then another. Then another. And before we knew it, it’s like Bruce Springsteen performing in New Jersey. 140,000 tickets were sold to see one of the biggest country music stars ever.
You’ve got to hand it to Garth. He’s very good at publicity and hype, which he certainly created here. But more importantly, he’s giving all of his fans a chance to see him. The fact that the concerts are in KC at our brand new arena makes it even better. I predicted Garth fans would be happy on Saturday, I just didn’t know it would be 157,000 of them.
And now to a sad story…
That Chiefs bandwagon I talked about last week is now officially empty again. I chided KC fans a little bit for jumping on the wagon so quickly after a surprising win in San Diego, but I don’t blame them one bit for jumping back off after Sunday’s disaster.
Damon Huard is hurt now and Larry Johnson just doesn’t look like the back we’ve seen the past two years. Yea, yea, I know: the offensive line isn’t as good. No argument here. But LJ has to find a way to get more yards. Maybe he can’t get 150 yards every game with this line, but he has to grind out more than 10. I promise I won’t criticize Chiefs fans any more this season. The way the team is playing right now, they deserve to get the cold shoulder from some of the faithful.
I know there have been rumors about this for a long time, but…
I think there’s a very good chance there will be more than one Garth Brooks show at the Sprint Center next month. Right now, only one show is scheduled for November 14th. It’s a big deal for country music fans, who have waited for seven years to see one of the best-selling musicians of all time. I mean, this guy’s sold more albums (do they still call them albums in this digital download age?) than the Beatles.
Yesterday, I was out at the Sprint Center as fans lined up early in the morning just to get wristbands so they could get BACK in line again on Saturday for tickets. As I stood there, I realized this was probably an exercise in futility for most of these Garth fans. Why? If this concert sells out as quickly as expected, only the first few people in line at the Sprint Center will get tickets. Remember, tickets are being sold on the Internet and by phone as well.
But here’s where it gets interesting. I mentioned my concerns to a Sprint Center official, noting that I had talked to two women who had driven an hour and a half from rural Missouri to get the wristbands and then would be driving back into Kansas City again Saturday morning. If they end up not getting tickets, I’d feel very sorry for them. The Sprint Center official says to me: “They did the right thing.”
What? How could that be? Their odds of getting tickets seem very low. The official then goes on to say that Garth Brooks “reserves the right” to add more shows. Okay. And… those shows could be added on Saturday morning. Now it’s starting to all make sense.
A very important disclaimer now: This is not official. BUT… the person I talked to certainly lead me to believe another show (maybe more) will be added if there’s enough demand. I don’t think that will be a problem.
After all the controversy surrounding the Hannah Montana show, it would be great if Brooks adds enough shows so that all his fans could see him. And while I’m throwing rumors around… there’s another one that the KC shows will be taped for a TV special.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow morning. I think the first show will sell out quickly and then other shows will be added. My guess is that there will be a lot of happy Garth Brooks fans around here. I guess it really is good to have friends in (high) places.
