The danger of live remotes

I had forgotten about this until I caught a spoof on Family Guy.

Out of Christmas cookies?

Happy Trails Carl, take Jack Harry and Kevin Kietzman with you...

The Chiefs have finally parted ways with Carl Peterson. It's time. I think the nature of the game has changed enough, that it's time for some new and younger blood. The era of overpaid athletes and publicly funded stadiums has changed the NFL forever. For the record, Peterson probably should have gone when Vermeil left. Start fresh w/ a new GM and new coach. It's very possible that Peterson's departure also spells the end of Herm Edwards run as head coach. Herm's a good guy, and from what I have seen, a decent man. His future may be as a personnel guy, and maybe not a coach.

Here's what really bugs me about the whole thing... Listening to a bunch of local media blowhards play Kool and The Gang and make buffoons out of themselves because of Peterson's impending departure. What an embarrassment. These guys are professionals? Listening to a couple of jock sniffers like Kevin Kietzman and Jack Harry high five each other and giggling like 12 year olds with a Playboy is about as low as it gets.

Harry has been in KC for as long as I can remember, and his beef with Peterson goes back just as far. Any jackass can go on TV and hoot and holler and spew the same "Get Carl out of here!" rant for the last 5 years. Do you know what his solution was??? Terry Bradway, the guy that got booted from the Jets while helping Herm build his last stinker! What a douche. The only reason he's still on TV, is that someone thinks his hate of all things Carl and KU, is a draw. He provides zero insight and is there to keep the non sports fan from flipping the channel after the weather segment is over. The guy is an antique and should watch a few minutes of Lew Dawson or Frank Boal every once in a while.

As for Kietzman... if it weren't for commercials, he'd have nothing to say. His four hour stint proves that if you do nothing more than pander to an angry mob, you will be successful. He brings nothing new to the table, and his insight is weak and unoriginal.

I'm confident that the lame asses on The Border Patrol will be no different in the morning. Kansas City deserves better than fart jokes and thinly veiled homophobia.

So, there you have it. The pathetic underbelly of popular Kansas City sports media... What are these ass clowns going to do in a few weeks when they don't have Carl Peterson around to fill the hours?

Help me Soren Petro, you're my only hope...

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Do we really want to bail out a company that is bringing back the El Camino?


This is the 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck. Astroturf in the bed is optional.

Chicken shit

A friend of mine sent me an article from Rolling Stone, about Kenny Rogers selling his new CD exclusively at Cracker Barrel. Nothing new here... plenty of musicians do the same thing with Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Best Buy etc. I guess Cracker Barrel makes perfect sense for a country musician because of it's Southern'y home style appeal. But here's what burns my ass. The new "album" is a greatest hits collection w/ 3 new songs tacked on to it!

This is one of the reasons I absolutely hate country music (have I mentioned that Lee Greenwood is a war profiteer?). If you are a fan, and want the 3 new songs, you have to buy the other 9 that you already own. Is there a more disrespectful way to treat your loyal fans? Most of these clowns don't even write their own songs anymore (much less play an instrument)... so you are telling me that Kenny can't scratch up 10 more songs and crank out an entire album? It's nothing but a shameless cash grab. To be clear, I'm not picking on just Kenny Rogers. The Better Half is a big fan of George Strait and I think he's done this before, but with boxed sets and not just a single album.

Mainstream country music has been neutered. Seems that toeing the party line and singing songs about lazy Sundays or high school sweethearts will pretty much guarantee you a top selling tune. But if you drop the saccharine sunglasses and create something genuine, introspective or at the very least think for yourself.... you are dead. If you want proof, just look at what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they spoke out about W. Maybe they were on to something long before his own party started to distance itself from him.

Silverf#cked?

The Better Half and I were fortunate enough to be offered tix to the first of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Midland Theater in downtown Kansas City. Neither of us are what you would call huge fans, but we had a long weekend and a free night on the town was just the ticket.

This was my first trip to the newly renovated Midland Theater, and it was amazing. It was also a great place for the Smashing Pumpkins. I saw them once before, on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour. Don't remember much about their set (although the Beastie Boys kicked some serious ass and George Clinton and P-Funk, were terrible), but have to think that it was just too big for their sound. The Midland was THE perfect venue.

I knew going in that this was not going to be a Greatest Hits tour. Monday's show (there is a second show on Tuesday the 25th) consisted of 4.5 Pumkins songs that I recognized.... Today, Tonight/Tonight, The End Is the Beginning Is the End and Bullet with Butterfly Wings. The rest of the set list (I think) was new stuff. Loud, bombastic and somewhat self indulgent. Just about every song had a solo in the middle comprised of feedback, reverb or what ever. Not that it was bad, it just got a little redundant. The energy for the first half of the set was pretty amazing, despite the lack of familiar songs. There was a acoustic/stripped down set of 3-4 songs, that was nice, but drained the building. When they did play Today, Billy Corgan made sure everyone knew that the old stuff didn't do it for him anymore, and they were playing it to appease "the bloggers". Needless to say, they were well received. The final song of the set, was a trippy jam that went on a little too long for my taste. There was a theremin sighting as well. Sorry to say, but there were definitely some moments when the show seemed lethargic and excessive.

So, if you a Pumpkin Head, be prepared. You probably aren't going to hear much from the back catalog... but you are going to get a pretty ferocious set, with a great light show, in a venue that will literally be shaking by the third song. Side note... the drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin, was AWESOME!

Bucked by Fuffalo

My mom always used to joke that the best time to go to the mall was on a Sunday during a Chiefs game. Despite hating the Chiefs (she still claims that the playoff game with the Dolphins on Christmas day in 1971, ruined Christmas dinner that year), she was right. In the 1990's and early 2000's, that was never more true. If people weren't at the game, they were watching it somewhere... and the malls were dead. The Chiefs owned Kansas City.

I remember eagerly waiting for the work schedule to come out, to see who got stuck working a Chiefs Sunday. Rest assured, from noon to about 3:30, you could sleep on the front counter and no one would be the wiser. (also a fantastic way to burn off a hangover) Fast forward to November of 2008. Despite the wretched season, I've watched or at least listened to every single game. Today was different. Friday and Saturday were both long days for me and The Better Half. As a result, we ended up sleeping in until almost 11. I had to make a quick run to Costco and figured I could be home in time to catch most of the 1st quarter. WRONG!!! Costco was a zoo. Jam packed. I was shocked. There were even folks there in Chiefs gear! Now, one trip to Costco does not a trend make.... but a few years ago, it wouldn't have been like that. When I got home, it looked like more people were at the Linwood Costco, than were at Arrowhead.

Despite recently parting ways with season tickets, this was my first real clue that apathy has turned into indifference. Sure, attendance might be down, but people are watching, aren't they??

It's sad to see... gone are the days of the excitement of a big game weekend. I still see people wear Chiefs gear at work on Fridays... but it's no longer out of pride. It's just an excuse to dodge the dress code for the day.