The new and improved area they’re calling Central Park at Zona Rosa appeared to be a hit with the large crowd that showed up throughout the day on Saturday for the grand opening. Live music, food trucks, playground equipment and splash fountains for the kids (and KC Mayor Quinton Lucas), some new partially covered seating, all shined brightly on opening day.
Whether the Central Park will help turn around some of the struggles of retail stores–a struggle that is not limited to Zona, we all know–remains to be scene but the spruced up park area on artificial turf is easy on the eyes and has the potential to be host to some popular activities.
It’s an improved look for Zona, and that was needed. Kudos.
Our Ponder the Thought columnist Guy Speckman on page 3 has lovingly longed to have his mancrush Patrick Mahomes and family- as in Patrick Mahomes and Brittany Matthews–take up residency in Platte County. Doesn’t look like that’s happening but what is happening is that Kansas City’s National Women’s Soccer League team, of which Brittany Matthews is part-owner, is making its headquarters in southern Platte County. Riverside, to be exact.
Details on the front page. That’s a nice get for the energetic spark plug Mayor Kathy Rose and the Horizons area at Riverside.
Speaking of Speckman, hope you caught him on Landmark Live last week. Lots of football talk but even if you don’t enjoy sports chatter, check it out for local government comments by Speckman, a former city administrator at Plattsburg, Maysville and Savannah. Good stuff.
We also talked about his fondness for an occasional Bud Light as well as his weight loss of more than 120 pounds.
Speaking of Speckman:
Guess who won Week 2 of Landmark Pickem? You probably guessed Foley, but no, that was Week One. Speckman is Week 2 winner and he is being way too humble about it.
A couple of things:
No. 1: More than 100 players are registered to participate in Landmark Pickem and in the first two weeks of the contest the winners have been two Landmark staffers. What up, general public? Are y’all gonna be able to win at least once? Or is The Landmark staff gonna continue to dish out clown suits every week? We’ve had to pass along the prizes from Nick and Jake’s the past two weeks to second place finishers, because, you know, it wouldn’t look great for us to be enjoying the spoils of our own contest. All I can say is the boys at The Landmark know some football, so try to keep up. Heck, Chris Kamler and Brad Carl might even win a week before you know it. Maybe.
No. 2: I’m convinced the tips I offered on Landmark Live last Thursday, when Speckman was co-host, really helped him up his game. I’m wondering if he would concur.
The next season of Yellowstone hits your television screens in early November and I’ll be there for it. Thanks for the invitation. Get the popcorn ready.
Updates on a couple of Foley Forecast predictions.
The Good: Remember back in August, long before the regular season started, I told you I was high on the Raiders this year? Remember I advised you to high-tail it to Vegas and put a sizeable amount of cash on the Raiders’ win total? Vegas listed the over/under on Raiders victories for this season at seven. Don’t look now but the Raiders are already 2-0. There are 15 games remaining in the season. The Raiders only need six more victories for you to cash that big ticket winner. You’re welcome, America.
The Bad: Remember back in August, long before the regular season started, I told you I thought the Chiefs defense would be much better than many people think this year? Swing and a miss on that one thus far. I’m still of the belief better days are ahead, though. I think the Chiefs soon will be forced to give up on their experiment of playing Chris Jones at defensive end. It ain’t workin’. Jones is getting embarrassed playing on the outside, time to move him back to tackle. Also, it will help to get Willie Gay in the lineup at linebacker. Gay was hurt in the final preseason game, hopefully will be back relatively soon. And it’s time to get more playing time for Juan Thornhill, third year safety, and less time for Daniel Sorensen, who makes one great play every game that makes people overlook the fact he makes several not-so-great ones.
The Previously Unmentioned: It’s becoming clear that using a first round 2020 draft pick on running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a mistake. And this has nothing to do with his late game fumble the other night, fumbles happen occasionally. It has everything to do with his lack of speed and explosiveness. Helaire often looks like he’s running in quicksand. He’s an average NFL running back. So are his two backups, but surprisingly they offer more big-play potential.
Tech Man Schneider, producer of Landmark Live, is a little on edge about Thursday night’s show with Vicki Lawrence. We won’t be making the Zoom connection with the Carol Burnett Show/Mama’s Family star until just a few minutes prior to our scheduled showtime, so Schneider will be busily making the behind-the-scenes techno magic happen. If we’re a few minutes past 6 p.m in going live you’ll know why. I have assured Schneider that since The Landmark has its own broadcasting network, it really doesn’t matter if we go live at 6 or 6:10, ain’t nobody gonna cancel our show in the meantime. And trust me, Schneider has job security.
(Foley and Speckman are waiting for an invitation to kick around a soccer ball with Brittany Matthews in Riverside. In the meantime, email Foley at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)