(Editor's note: this column appears in the October issue of "KC Sports and Fitness Magazine," available across the KC Metro)
The question is popped here more often than at a Vegas wedding shack. When the Sprint Center opens in 2007, should Kansas City target an NBA or NHL team? Which sport could attract a crowd to come downtown forty nights per winter? With September's exhibition hockey game at Kemper, I solidified my answer. But the initial question has to be clarified. Most importantly, which league would be more successful? Not, is Kansas City a hoops or pucks town? You'd get to two different answers.
Trekking out to Kemper for Blues and Predators just weeks ago made it an even ten. It was my tenth hockey game in person, eight of those trips to see NHL pucks. I will readily admit, hockey on television bores me. Minor league hockey in person bores me even more. While I don't own a Mats Sundin growth poster or a throwback Winnipeg Jets foam finger, I do follow the NHL from a distance. As we all know, the NHL postseason needs no marketing. It's straight drama that would make Whitney and Bobby proud. But, let's assume whatever team would relocate to Kansas City will not be very good. There's reason crowds in Carolina, Pittsburgh and Nashville have been sparse. The only time Tennesseans have been able to see the Stanley Cup was during Gary Bettman's layover to Tampa. Kansas City will have to wait for its Game 7s.
There's no question the NBA markets its teams and superstars infinitely better than the NHL. The vast majority of Kansas Citians could name almost every NBA team and at least a handful of players. I would wager Chiefs Elvis can't list what team Brett Hull plays for, the most visible player in the league. The NHL also is coming off a year-long lockout which alienated even the most ardent fans. Cynics will say the NHL already failed once here in KC, with the Scouts of the mid-70s. Well, the league and the city are vastly different than during the Ford administration. Plus, we're talking about filling a specific void at a brilliant, new, state-of-the-art downtown arena which everyone wants to be first in line to see.
With the prominence of Kansas and Mizzou hoops and the number of star NBA athletes the two schools have produced over the last ten years, this is more of a basketball town. Plenty of fans in KC get their big-time hoops fix with trips to Lawrence during the winter. NBA ratings in KC dwarf those of NHL broadcasts. At the end of the day, however, it's not whether this is more of a hockey or hoops town. It's which league would be more successful? The answer might surprise you. It's the NHL.
That trip to Kemper reassured me of one thing: an NHL game in person, especially up close, is an addiction. There are no nosebleed seats like at Arrowhead, you won't fall asleep to crickets like at the K. The speed, power and intensity of an NHL game is unsurpassed. You know that high-pitched roar of 79,000 red-and-gold-clad Chiefs crazies at kickoff? That shriek of anticipation and pop of the glove of an opening day first pitch at the K? Rank a 100 MPH slapshot, a bone-crushing cross-check and a tape-to-tape pass right with 'em. The sights and sounds are just so vivid at an NHL game. Crisp, crackling, adrenaline-pumping stuff. It's like a Coke and a bag of Pop Rocks... on ice.
Go ask fans in Denver or Detroit or Philadelphia why it works. Talk to those in New York, St. Louis or San Jose. The TV ratings stink there, too. More people are watching "Dog the Bounty Hunter" than the Stanley Cup finals. But, there's something about being in a cozy arena, with 18,000 others on a cold January night, watching guys on skates travel at HOV lane speeds, moving frozen cakes of vulcanized rubber at a blinding pace. Basketball fans are going to spend their dollars at a KU or MU game. It's gonna take everyone else to fill the Sprint Center forty nights a year.
Believe me, there's just no substitute for the five-ring senses circus of an NHL game. Kansas City's best bet in '07? Lighting the lamp. Again.
BEST OF: The Panthers Dancers stop by and don't stop talking for twenty minutes. Wait, you're home schooled? BEST OF: Heat legend Glen Rice in studio on dropping 56 on the Magic, Final Fours and MMA. BEST OF: "The Obama Guy" now has D.A.'s old job! He asked the Prez a question, then he joined the show. BEST OF: Phil and Chris Simms drop by the broadcast to rap about dad's career and son's future. BEST OF: Why so few minority college coaches? DA answers with one word: Boosters. BEST OF: When a Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Famer talks, you listen. The immortal Lynn Swann. BEST OF: TNA Wrestling's Traci Brooks on being blessed with, ahem, great dimensions. DA LOVES THE KIDS: After Marlins summer-camp day, the next gen of Fish Fans might be in trouble. DA LOVES THE KIDS: Part 1 Heat charity camp shows us D-Wright's defense needs a little work.
DA LOVES THE KIDS: Part 2 Not everyone is thrilled with the hiring of Eric Spoelstra. INSTANT CLASSIC: Free-agent Joe Horn blasts his old coaches and asks for Dolphins forgiveness, all live on the show! INSTANT CLASSIC: The man who took down Kimbo Slice: overnight celebrity Seth Petruzelli talks about the fight that stunned the fight world. BEST OF: Author Jeff Pearlman on the controversial Cowboys dynasty. Uh, ew. BEST OF: Heat rookie Mario Chalmers needs help hot-boxing. Cough, cough.. BEST OF: DA is named a Godfather. Can he handle the responsibility or will he sleep with the fishes? BEST OF: DA witnesses the greatest kids game ever. Rock, paper, scissors, space! STAR WARS GEEKS: Part 1 DA goes where no sportstalk host has gone before: Star Wars premier night.
STAR WARS GEEKS: Part 2 Will DA make it out alive or turn into an extra from the Cantina Bar? INSTANT CLASSIC: Legend of the MMA Dan "Hendo" Henderson on the circus attraction to Kimbo and the rise of UFC. BEST OF: New UFC Champ Forrest Griffin on the belt and bouncing out of fighting while the gettin's good. INSTANT CLASSIC: Zo's youth clinic brings us immediate joy: Heat Kids Say the Darndest Things BEST OF: Miami boxer Joey "Twinkle Fingers" Hernandez found himself on the streets. How he got his mojo back. BEST OF: CBS4 Weather Wizard and Miss Florida Lissette Gonzalez on the jet-stream and the wave. BEST OF: Marino delivers a commencement speech and DA's own graduation horrors. INSTANT CLASSIC: Cats winger Nathan Horton is married to a Playmate? Oops. INSTANT CLASSIC: What does JoePa really mean at pressers? Ask Penn State 101. INSTANT CLASSIC: St. Patty's Day means celebrating Irish sports legends: DA Show style. INSTANT CLASSIC: Canes Big Man Dwayne Collins has his Aladdin DVD stolen. The Horror! INSTANT CLASSIC: Dontrelle says peace to South Florida with DA. Here's his Top-3 movies of all-time. SUPER BOWL XLII: NYG's Lawrence Tynes stops by after the ticker tape parade. INSTANT CLASSIC: Is Shaq becoming M.C. Hammer Jr? Say it ain't so. INSTANT CLASSIC: DA melts down as his alma mater brings brings back the dimwitted Greg Robinson for more SU pain. INSTANT CLASSIC: This placed DA squarely on the Chiefs blacklist forever. DA and King Carl in THE Battle Royale. BEST OF: Where it all started: Herm
and Carl agree... Damon is a nice name. SUPER BOWL XL: D.A. does his best investigative work ever. It's the field turf press conference from Detroit. INSTANT CLASSIC: The Mark Mangino Montage tastes better than ever! INSTANT CLASSIC: The 2007 Herm-Gasm. 'Nuff said. INSTANT CLASSIC: The Chiefs Dept. of Misinformation is at it once again. Are the Chiefs wearing white or not? Don't ask them. INSTANT CLASSIC: Chicago's legendary Mike North joins DA to preview Chiefs- Bears. Da Bears! INSTANT CLASSIC : The annual DA Show NBA Mock Draft is here... with a return from Stormbot. FEATURED AUDIO: Royals legend Denny Matthews has bought his first cell phone. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as 6-4-3. FEATURED AUDIO: A fond DA Show farewell to Buddy Bell. He really was "Our Buddy." FEATURED AUDIO
: Lauren Nichole has made quite an impression with her traffic reports. Great or gross? You decide. The
one, the only, Zach Greinke from Royals Spring Training. The
2007 One NIT NIT Moment.
The 2006 Caller Hall of Fame Track One: Christopher Walken's legendary roast
of the new class
First the staff. Then listeners. Now LJ has the Herm-gasm? Crazy
Ray sings the Growing Pains theme song. The
Royals 70's jingle that puts a smile on your face during another horrid season
in KC. The
local TV anchors slip up on the broadcast and luckily the D.A. Show was rolling
tape. 6-6-06:
The Crypt Keeper's Holiday Crazy
Ray displays his talent for singing. Could he make a run at the next American
Idol? Oklahoma
takes it on the chin with this famous call from R.B. Missed
any of the NIT NIT action? Check out the recaps of the games and a special
edition of The One NIT NIT Moment. We
couldn't leave Alex the Intern out of the mix, check out the drunk dial message
Alex left for D.A. The
D.A. Show tribute to Alan Thicke.
Is
Crazy Ray really crazy? Take a listen to find out.
A
D.A. Show Investigation reveals color commentators handing out the pink slip
to local college coaches.
Quinner's
feeling a bit down. We ask, what's wrong with Quinn Snyder? Herm Edwards gave us quotable material right from jump street. He gets a montage based on his introduction presser. A
staple of any good office party. It's the Dick Vermeil montage XP: final edition.
Duh, ok.
DA's Hometown Hottie contest created controversy throughout KC. Radio superstar Johnny Dare stuck his nose in the middle of it. The
callers finally had their own chance to put their stamp on the Vermeil montage Why
do the sista's hate the show? It all started here: Yvette's call of the day The original D.A. Show parody of Jim Rome's smack-off (circa '04). The '05 D.A. Show parody of Jim Rome's smack-off, complete with a certain national columnist. The '06 smack-smack, which brought all the D.A. Show legends together for one fab event. You asked for it. We delivered. DA Show icon Alan Thicke's first appearance.
(Editor's note: this column appears in the October issue of "KC Sports and Fitness Magazine," available across the KC Metro)
