Kevin Kietzman Has Issues

Spencer has a great guest for the weekend edition of KKHI, Barry Enright.  Barry is a former MLB pitcher, is working on a  pro golf career and coaches the Arizona Diamondbacks young pitchers.  He's the kind of guy that is good at pretty much everything as you will learn in this great conversation.

I waited 6 months to have this conversation.  He will hate the praise, but it's true.  Todd Leabo built Sports Radio in Kansas City.  He has an incredible feel for what we all care about, he's the last reporter not fired to ask real questions and, despite not having a lot of opinions, he really does not give a crap about what you think of him. Todd is not impressed by coaches or players because he is smarter than all of them. He's also smarter than all his bosses since his days as a vendor at Kauffman Stadium.  Remarkable. His supervisors  just let him do his thing because well, they are fools if they don't.  When I met Todd Leabo,  I was unimpressed.  What a fool I am.  This man has had more impact on sports reporting in KC than anyone in the past 25 years.  Hit the play button.

It's hard to decide if the box score, summer sun or your favorite announcer is the best thing about baseball. Or maybe its peanut shells at your feet.  Players come and go.  Teams win and lose. A voice, a personality that bonds with fans about players, a friend that is with you every day as you watch a game, is priceless. Ryan Lefebvre is that man in Royals country.  He's a family man, my friend and he calls people that he barely knows every day on their birthday.  I will address the KU mess and corruption later, but on this episode just enjoy a man that loves a game and wants to share it with you every day. 

Bobby Witt Jr is the story of spring training for the Royals.  Whether its a 480 foot homer or a crazy great defensive play, Witt Jr has everyone's attention.  Will he be the opening day second baseman?  Still seems like a long shot to me but I've heard worse ideas.  KU AD Jeff Long is now in the crosshairs of KU fans and somehow, some way, he's going to be allowed to hire another football coach.  What a mess.  And I try so hard not to talk about idiotic things like the Royal family.  But when a spoiled rotten, attention seeking, mixed race, crazy liberal American enters the fray screaming for attention... it requires a comment.

Each week, I'm Danny Clinkscale's guest at www.patreo.com/dannyclinkscale and it winds up being a completely different sounding podcast than you would expect.  It's lively and fun and of course, we disagree on quite a few things.  Special thanks to Danny for allowing me to share this with the entire KKHI audience.

KKHI is on the road for spring training in Arizona and it's the wild, wild west after the governor just lifted the mask mandate.  From rolling eyes and snickering to an all at brawl between two women at an upscale fashion mall, the people of Arizona are at odds with each other.  Also, KU's troubles may be deeper than just Les Miles' past troubles and the Star wants Arrowhead Stadium to be ended by the Chiefs.  

 A flurry of sports news late in the week as KU escapes a game against UTEP while their football coach is under fire for alleged misconduct at LSU 8 years ago.  The reports of Miles' behavior indicate he was a serious abuser of his authority at LSU and was even banned from having contact with some women that worked around his program.  KU has a decision to make and we ask what does it all mean if Miles hasn't done anything like this at KU.  The Chiefs sell the name of the field at Arrowhead and the fan reactions are priceless.  Come on, it's Arrowhead Stadium and nothing else.  And the Royals announce their plan for fans.

As we travel our way to Arizona for a little baseball, sun and fun, we share with everyone what the BTL 2.0 Patron Podcast sounds like each Tuesday.  Danny Clinkscale joined us last week right after the cold weather as spring training was getting started.  Shocking, we disagree about Global Warming but find common ground talking baseball.  If you want to get these podcasts each week, they are part of the patron package at www.kkhasissues.com or Danny's site, www.patreon.com/dannyclinkscale.  Enjoy!

The Missouri Tigers have something a lot of teams don't, a go to guy in the clutch.  Dru Smith was the man at Florida as Mizzou gets its best win in a month.  Wade Davis fights his control in spring training as he tries to keep his career going, it's looking like a long shot.  And we know it's hard to keep up with all the Dr. Suess and Mr. Potato head stuff going on, but it looks like the word "plantation" is gone forever and just as offensive as the worst of the worst words you can use.  How are we supposed to keep up with what's ok and not ok?

Tom Porto, the attorney for little Ariel Young, believes former Chiefs coach Brit Reid is getting special treatment as no arrest has been made.  We've also learned the mother of Ariel pleaded with Brit Reid to call 911 while he was on the phone at the scene talking to somebody else.  This just gets worse.  In sports, 5 former Royals from the glory years are in training camp trying to resurrect their careers, I'll tell you about the latest to sign.  And Missouri Rep Jeff Coleman from Jackson County is our conversation.  He's about to lower your property taxes and talks about how to open up the state all the way post Covid.