Monthly Archives: April 2016
Thursday’s tunes
Here’s what I’ve played so far at Buffalo Wild Wings. I’ll update it periodically.
1. Sunset Grill–Don Henley (1985)
2. Major Tom–Peter Schilling (1983)
3. Night Moves–Bob Seger (1977)
4. Day Tripper–The Beatles (1965)
5. Abracadabra–Steve Miller (1982)
6. She’s a Lady–Tom Jones (1971)
7. Sultans of Swing–Dire Straits (1979)
8. You Can’t Hurry Love–Phil Collins (1982)
9. Chase–Giorgio Moroder (1978)
*–instrumental from Midnight Express
10. Billie Jean–Michael Jackson
11. Need You Tonight–INXS
(Someone named Zac put in money and played a Rihanna song for about the 10th time in the last three days. I cannot stand Rihanna. Not only do I not like her singing, she is simply stupid for allowing herself to get beaten senselessly by Chris Brown.)
12. Kyrie-Mister Mister (1985)
13. Dixieland Delight–Alabama (1983)
14. Take a Chance on Me–ABBA (1978)
15. Borderline–Madonna (1983)
16. Love Will Turn You Around–Kenny Rogers (1983)
17. Cracklin’ Rosie–Neil Diamond (1970)
18. Love is Strong–The Rolling Stones (1993)
19. More Today Than Yesterday–Spiral Staircase (1969)
20. La Bamba–Los Lobos (1987)
21. Runaround Sue–Dion (1961)
22. Mr. Blue Sky–Electric Light Orchestra (1978)
23. Caught Up In You–.38 Special (1982)
24. Lowdown–Boz Scaggs (1976)
25. Pop Muzik–M (1979)
26. Allentown–Billy Joel (1983)
27. Somebody’s Baby–Jackson Browne (1982)
*–from the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack
28. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2–Pink Floyd (1980)
29.Green Onions–Booker T. & the MGs (1962)
30. Philadelphia Freedom–Elton John (1975)
*–the song was not about the U.S. Bicentennial. It was about the Philadelphia Freedoms of World Team Tennis, which was coached and captained by Billie Jean King.
31. You’re the One That I Want–Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta (1978)
*–from the Grease soundtrack. I played it because there was just a trivia question about it.
32. Burnin’ For You–Blue Oyster Cult (1981)
33. That Smell–Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977)
*–the album this song was part of, Street Survivors, was released two days prior to the tragic plane crash in the Mississippi forest which killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and four others.
Now I find out the jukebox is not connected to the network, meaning if I want to play music, I’ll have to get up and put the money in myself instead of just playing songs from my phone. GREAT.
Update, 2:25 p.m.–the jukebox is back online. I’m back in business.
34. Everything She Wants–WHAM! (1984)
*–I always play the long version with the added bridge. The original album cut is about 90 seconds shorter.
35. A Horse With No Name–America (1972)
*–the song was banned by WHB-AM in Kansas City, since “horse” is slang for heroin, and the WHB management felt this was a song glorifying heroin use. The heat was hot!
36. Turn Me Loose–Loverboy (1981)
(In between these songs, some nincompoop put money in the jukebox to play that stupid Rihanna song again. ENOUGH. It seems like that one song gets played multiple times in one day. I’m the only person who plays a variety.)
37. And the Beat Goes On–The Whispers (1980)
38. Spirits in the Material World–The Police (1981)
39. Is This Love?–Whitesnake (1987)
40. Heaven is a Place On Earth–Belinda Carlisle (1987)
41. Love You Inside Out–Bee Gees (1979)
*–last #1 for the Bee Gees in the US. My favorite Bee Gees song.
42. I Can’t Tell You Why–The Eagles (1980)
*–only Eagles song featuring Timothy Schmitt on lead vocals. Also my favorite Eagles song.
43. The Look–Roxette (1989)
44. Express Yourself–Madonna (1989)
*–the bad version of this song started playing. I had to play the good version.
45. What Have I Done To Deserve This–Dusty Springfield featuring Pet Shop Boys (1987)
46. Along Comes A Woman–Chicago (1985)
47. Fallin’ For You–Colbie Calliat (2009)
48. Down Under–Men at Work (1982)
49. You Belong to the City–Glenn Frey (1982)
50. Two Hearts–Phil Collins (1988)
51. Find–Jimmy Buffett (1979)
52. Gimme Some Lovin’–Spencer Davis Group (1967)
Bidding adieu (again)
For the second time in a week, I am saying goodbye to one of the young ladies of Buffalo Wild Wings Zona Rosa whom I have gotten to know so well.
Last Friday, Raymie LePetit concluded her time, as she anticipates a move back to her native Arizona, where she’s going to continue her studies. I’m going to miss her dearly, but I’m glad she’s moving back home and bettering herself.
Today, I say goodbye to Stephanie Suggs. Her last day is tomorrow, but I came today, since (a) I have an appointment with Crista in the morning; and (b) it’s supposed to rain all day. Better I come today and go back late tonight before the rain arrives.
Stephanie has been with Buffalo Wild Wings almost eight years. She began in her native St. Joseph, where she went to high school and then Missoori Western University. She’s been here since at least the beginning of last year. I’ve really come to like her as much as some of my old favorites, including Liz and Lisa. Another one I’ll miss.
Then again, time marches on. Unless one wants to get into management, restaurant jobs are not meant to be permanent, unless it’s a supplemental income. I’m glad to see people moving on and bettering themselves.
Not that I won’t stop coming. I still know quite a few people here. I need to still come see Shannon, Jaclyn, Lindsey, Ashlee, Dana, Megan and the managers, as well as play trivia with Robb and Dawn.
I’m playing Buzztime right now. First lunchtime game was a perfect 7,000.
The drive here was easy. I did not eat anything. I stopped in Topeka to use the restroom and do a litle shopping. I had plenty of time, seeing I reached Wannamaker Road at 8:30.
When I leave, I’m going to pick up Zazby’s to go. There’s now a location open near the Kansas Speedway off Paralell Parkway in KCK. It is doing a super business so far.
Speaking of chicken fingers, Raising Cane’s opens its first Kansas location Tuesday in Lawrence, about three blocks north of the new Buffalo Wild Wings on Iowa Street. I’m going to make it there very soon, if not Tuesday. Then again, it might be more prudent to wait. However, I’m glad I no longer have to go to Neraska or Oklahoma to get it.
The Kansas City metro will be opening two in Missouri soon, one in Westport and the other in Blue Springs.
The NFL draft is tonight. Should be really fun after the first two picks are announced.
Drive delayed
My car is loaded. I’m out of the hotel.
I am not out of Kansas City.
I decided to make one more day of it at Buffalo Wild Wings and drive back to Russell tonight. It’s no big deal to me to drive at night, considering how much I’ve done it over the last 11 years. If I need to pull over, places will be open much later on a Satruday than any other day, so I figured why not.
The biggest reason I’m not leaving yet is I need to see Molly Southerland, about the only Buffalo Wild Wings lady I haven’t seen during my long stay in Kansas City. I saw Raymie off last night. I stayed later on a Friday–10:45–than I have since, well, the unfortunate incident at 1 a.m. July 18. No need to rehash.
I’ve got work to do tomororw, but I need to do it if I want to go to Hill City Monday and watch Caitlyn run. I missed her yesterday at Phillipsburg, and Norton’s 4×100-meter relay set a school record, with Caitlyn running the first leg. I profusely apologized to her and Peggy, and suggest maybe I ought not to go to anymore meets. They blew me off as “silly”. I’m sure Crista will say the same thing during our session Friday.
I’m coming back here Thursday to see Stephanie Suggs one last time. Her last shift is Friday morning, but with my appointment with Crista at 10, I figured it was easier to come Thursday. I would have to rush from Hays to Kansas City, and I wouldn’t make it before 3. So at least I’ll get to spend six hours with her Thursday.
Stephanie was very happy with me yesterday. I brought her seven boxes of kids’ band-aids for donation to a charity. She ran a 5K this morning, and the company sponsoring it asked for donations of kids’ bandages so they could put them on after surgery. I figured it was for a good cause.
With Raymie gone and Stephanie leaving, I’m down to a precious few of the people I saw in May 2013 when I started coming.
I almost forgot about this post on my phone. It’s after 2 pm, and I’m still at Buffalo Wild Wings. Molly is supposed to show up at 5. I don’t know how much longer I’ll stay after that.
Au revoir, Raymie!
Day five in Kansas City. Same routine coming up, a long day at Buffalo Wild Wings playing trivia and watching sports. Robb and Dawn will hopefully show up at some point.
Today is Raymie LePetiti’s last day working at Buffalo Wild Wings. I met her two years ago when she started there, and I’ve really loved seeing her ever since. She’s moving back to her native Arizona, and I wish her nothing but the best. I will miss her greatly, though.
Next Friday, Stephanie Suggs works her final day before moving to southern Missouri to work at the Lake of the Ozarks resort. She’s been with Buffalo Wild Wings almost eight years, including her long stint at the restaurant in her native St. Joseph. Going to miss her too.
I understand restaurants have high turnover. These are not meant to be permanent positions, unless one wants to get into management. They’re meant to be a stepping stone to something bigger and better. Or in the case of someone like Lindsey Taylor-McClain, they’re meant to be a second income, since her husband, Justin, has a good job which helps them support their three kids and another one on the way. Same thing with Ashlee Shelton, who has two kids, but her husband also works.
Thanks to Robb and Dawn, I still go to Zona Rosa. It would be easy to go to one of the locations on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro, or just stay close to home and go to Salina.
I’m going to miss Raymie about as much as miss Liz and Lisa. I’ve gotten to know Stephanie better over the last year and it will be a big loss, too. But still seeing Lindsey, Ashlee, Shannon Swanson, Jaclyn Blankenship, Braidey Howe and many others will still put a big smile on my face.
I’ve got to jump in the shower. I need to get there a little earlier in case my buddy Larry is there playing trivia at lunch.
Tuesday check-in
I’ve been in Kansas City for almost 24 hours now. I left Columbia right at noon yesterday. There wasn’t much rain on the drive west, thankfully, but it is expected to pour later tonight. That’s fine, because I only have to drive three miles between Buffalo Wild WIngs and my hotel, once again the Courtyard on Tiffany Springs Parkway.
I went to Buffalo Wild Wings from 5:30-8:30 last night. I almost didn’t go, I but I figured I’d put an appearance in. Pretty dead. It will be better tonight, since the Royals play at 6:15. Robb and Dawn are expected to come between 4 and 4:30.
I have a little work to do tomorrow, and then it’s all downhill from there, although I’ll have a ton of track results for next week I’ll have to get started on.
Not much else to report. Then again, that’s not all bad.
LSU dusts off Mizzou
LSU will soon be leaving Columbia, and not a moment too soon for Missouri.
The Bayou Bengals completed the three-game sweep with a 15-2 rout, pounding out 20 hits. LSU scored five runs in the first and five more in the seventh as it improved to 11-0 all-time vs. Missouri.
LSU also scored five runs in the fifth inning of Friday’s 7-5 win, and again in the seventh of a 9-5 triumph.
The Bayou Bengals will return to Baton Rouge at 25-11, 9-6 in the SEC, and feeling pretty good heading into next weekend’s series with Mississippi State at Alex Box Stadium.
Missouri, meanwhile, has to lick its wounds all week before going to the other Columbia to play South Carolina next weekend. From the frying pan to the fire, that’s SEC baseball life.
I’ll see Bill, Chris Blair and David Landry off, then it’s back to the Courtyard for me. A lot of work to do tonight and tomorrow morning before I go to Kansas City. I’ll pack as much as I can; I already have my clothes ready. I just have to shower and shave in the morning and pack the rest.
Okay, that’s all from the Mizzou campus. I’ll try to post back at the hotel.
Wait-y issues
I’m still in my room at the Courtyard, waiting to leave for the Mizzou campus and today’s baseball game between the home Tigers and the visiting Tigers from LSU.
Waiting is a part of a weekend baseball series. Lord knows I did it dozens of times on a Saturday when I was at LSU.
Early afternoon games, 1 or 2 pm, were the best. Get up, shower, get out of the hotel, grab lunch if need be, go to the park. Once the game was over, I could go out and enjoy a nice dinner, or I could get home at a decent hour, do any work which had to be done for Sunday’s game, then get to bed.
Saturday night games were not bad on the front end. I could sleep late and get a good lunch. Or if I were on the road, my dad and I would kill time by going to a shopping mall or other attraction in the area. The back end for night games was hell, though, because it left very little time for preparation for Sunday’s game, unless I wanted to go to bed at 2 am.
The absolute worst was starting at 4 pm. UGH.
I hated 4 pm starts. The idea came from then-LSU pitching coach Dan Canevari, who figured it would be the best of both worlds, allowing fans to sleep a little later and have a little more time to tailgate.
I saw it in another light. I thought 4 pm starts were murder. I didn’t have time to really sleep late and/or do something before the game. After the game, I had much less time than after a day game to get things done for Sunday. The best I could do for dinner would be the drive-thru, because many restaurants were overcrowded, or I didn’t have time to put my very limited cooking skills to use.
The very few 4 pm starts on the road were even worse than 4 pm home games.
When Smoke Laval succeeded Skip Bertman as coach in 2002, he returned Satruday games to 2 pm. Now, I see LSU starts a lot of games on Saturdays at night.
It’s after 10 a.m. The waiting isn’t much longer. I’ll get out of the room by 11:15, get lunch, then go to the stadium. Probably will leave earlier.
One-Mule State
The Los Angeles Rams made a huge splash Thursday morning when they traded with Tennessee to acquire the Titans’ No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, which begins April 28.
It’s the first time since 1991 that a team from outside the top 10 traded up to the No.1 pick. That year, the Cowboys acquired the top overall pick from the Patriots and selected Miami (Fla.) defensive tackle Russell Maryland, who was a starter on Dallas’ three Super Bowl championship teams in the 1990s.
Nobody knew it at the time, but New England and Dallas would someday share a common coaching link. Bill Parcells, who did not retire as Giants coach until after the ’91 draft, would coach the Patriots from 1993-96, and then the Cowboys from 2003-06.
The Rams and Titans already share a common coaching link. Jeff Fisher coached the Titans (previously Houston/Tennessee Oilers) from the middle of the 1994 season through 2010, and then took over the Rams in 2012. The franchises have another link with the late Jack Pardee, who played linebacker for the Rams from 1957-70, then was Fisher’s predecessor as Oilers coach from 1990 through the middle of ’94.
Of course, the Rams played in St. Louis from 1995 through 2015, making Missouri a two-team NFL state, as it was from 1963, the year the Dallas Texans moved to Kansas City to become the Chiefs, through 1987, the Cardinals’ last year in St. Louis before moving to Arizona.
Now, you can clearly tell Missouri is once again the exclusive domain of the denizens of Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs’ radio network now shades all of Missouri as part of “Chiefs Kingdom”, a term liberally used by play-by-play man Mitch Holthaus. It used to only include the section of Missouri roughly along and west of US 63, which includes Columbia and Jefferson City. Those two locales did not have many Rams fans until Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce began “The Greatest Show on Turf” era until 1999. The Rams were dominant in mid-Missouri from 1999 through 2003, but after that, the pendulum began to swing back to the west, but really, both teams were pretty pathetic for many years between 2004 and 2012.
I went to a Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday after eating lunch with Bill. I did not see a single Rams item. I saw plenty of Chiefs, Royals, Blues and Mizzou. But no Rams. Not even in the clearance bin. It’s been only three months since NFL owners approved Stan Kroenke’s request to move the Rams back to Los Angeles, and you can’t tell the team played its last game in St. Louis last December 17.
Coincidentally, 2013 was a turning point for the loyalties of both NFL and MLB fans in mid-Missouri.
The Chiefs immediately improved under Andy Reid, starting 2013 9-0. They’ve made the playoffs twice under Reid, winning their first playoff game since 1993 earlier this year. The Rams? Did anyone in Columbia, Jefferson City (and Springfield for that matter) notice the Rams? Sure, they were on TV in those cities when it didn’t conflict with the Chiefs, but did anyone really watch? Those with NFL Sunday Ticket certainly didn’t. And most others could simply watch Red Zone to follow all the games at once.
Meanwhile, by September 2013, people in this part of Missouri realized there was a real MLB team playing on the western edge of the state, not a team playing in MLB masquerading as a minor league squad.
The Royals were pretty much irrelevant in all of Missouri, save for the immediate Kansas City area and the I-29 corridor all the way to the Iowa state line, from the mid-’90s until 2013, when Kansas City enjoyed a late surge and finished with 86 wins.
Now, I would say the loyalties may be 60-40 Cardinals, a major improvement for the boys in blue. Columbia is actually closer to St. Louis than Kansas City by a few miles, but there are an awful lot of Royals fans here.
Now hockey loyalties have NEVER been a problem in Missouri. All Blues, all the time. Yes, I’m aware there were the Kansas City Scouts for two seasons in the mid-’70s, but hardly anybody in Kansas City cared, so I’m certain nobody did 125 miles to the east.
Even Mizzou doesn’t have the entire state’s loyalty. The Kansas Jayhawks have owned the Kansas City metro in recent years, and that ownership has only grown after the Tigers left the Big 12 for the SEC. Right now, Mizzou is toxic in the City of Fountains.
The NBA hasn’t been in Missouri since April 1985, when the Kings left for Sacramento (Suckramento–thank you Jim Rome). The Hawks left St. Louis for Atlanta in 1968, four years before the Cincinnati Royals moved to KC. I guess the Bulls are the choice of most NBA fans here, although there may be pockets of Thunder fans in southwest Missouri and Grizzlies fans in the southeast.
Major League Soccer? Sporting Kansas City plays in Kansas. Never mind.
Purple Friday
One thing was certain for tonight’s baseball game in Columbia: the TIgers were going to win.
Duh.
The visiting Tigers, the Tigers I like to refer to as the Bayou Bengals, prevailed 7-5. LSU trailed until it scored five runs in the fifth, highlighted by a three-run homer from Bryce Jordan.
Mizzou got to within 6-5 on a leadoff homer in the seventh, but Hunter Newman came in and allowed only one baserunner, retiring the final seven batters he faced to earn the save in relief of Jared Poche.
Game two is in a little more than 15 hours. When I was traveling with the team, coach Bertman usually allowed the players two hours after the bus got back to the hotel to get something to eat before curfew. I don’t know what coach Maineri’s policy is, but I’m sure the players be in their rooms no later midnight.
The players needed time to find something to eat, because many are on foot, and it is very hard to find a restaurant open late in Starkville, Oxford, Tuscaloosa or Athens, even on a Friday night. Heck, Zaxby’s in Columbia closes at 10.
My only pitfall tonight was getting lost on the way back to the hotel. I thought I had to turn right and go south on US 63, but as it turned out, the road I was taking from campus would have taken me straight to the Courtyard had I just passed over US 63. Once I saw the mileage to Jefferson City getting smaller and smaller, I knew it was time to turn around.
I made it to Zaxby’s just in time. They were getting ready to close up, but there was still a couple ahead of me waiting for their food, so I didn’t feel too bad about ordering so close to closing. I would have hated to have them work hard for only me.
Pretty good, as far as chicken fingers go. The sauce is excellent. And I love Texas toast. Maybe I’ll save the oysters for tomorrow; then again, I didn’t eat anything after Chick-Fil-A until Zaxby’s.
I’m back in the room right now. It was a very good Friday. Hopefully Saturday will be more of the same.
Oysters and baseball
It’s almost time to play baseball at Mizzou. The announcement of the starting lineups are taking place as I type, and at 6 pm, or shortly thereafter, it will be time for LSU and Missouri to do battle.
Bill Franques asked me to meet him for lunch at Chick-Fil-A on Stadium Blvd. at 1 pm. However, he texted me at 12:15 and had to push it back to 12:30, because the coaches were out with the rental car.
With a lot of time to kill, I decided to go into Jazz a Louisiana Kitche, a Cajun restaurant which began in downtown Kansas City, Kansas near the University of Kansas Medical School, but has expanded to another location near the Kansas Speedway, Lawrence, Omaha, Lubbock and Columbia.
I wanted the Oysters Rockefeller, but oyster on the half shell weren’t available. But fried oysters were available, and I ate them up. God, they were delicious. It’s one food I could eat every day, or nearly every day, and never get tired of it.
It was the first time I had eaten fried oysters in SIX YEARS. The last time I ate them? At Ivar’s in June 2010, when I ate an oyster po-boy. I ate four oyster po-boys during my trip to Baton Rouge that summer. I wish I knew how to deep fry, or I would order a gallon and fry them up.
The oysters were so good at Jazz I got another order to go. They’re going straight to my stomach when I get back to the hotel.
Bill and I met at Chick Fil-A. I saw him standing there trying to text me, because he thought I was late, but I told him, “Um, I’m right here”. We visited for 50 minutes. Very good.
The first pitch is about to go out. Time to play.
Foots Prints 