I’ve never defended anything about the state of Kansas. That changed recently when I heard the mayor of New York City was trying to tout his community and resorted to slamming Kansas as some odd way to promote New York. He said this, with a snicker, “Kansas doesn’t have a brand.”
I’d spend a lifetime in Kansas before I’d spend a week in New York City. I suspect a lot of you are the same. I’m not going to make the same low brow mistake as the mayor and try to boost Kansas by explaining what is wrong with New York, but his comment, coupled with previous comment to conservatives to “move back to Iowa” is indicative of the growing schism between the coasts and the Midwest.
A civil war is brewing between these demographics, and it is fueled by politicians like Eric Adams who perpetuates a Midwestern stereotype that fuels coastal thoughts that we live some type of culturally deprived lifestyle, and they live some enlightened existence. I’d argue the opposite.
Foley has snagged a great Landmark Live guest. Scottie Wedman will be in the house on Thursday, and I’ll be the awestruck guest host. I was a Kings fan when Kansas City shared the team with Omaha. We won’t mention it to Wedman, but I always wanted to be Otis Birdsong, but I appreciated a rainbow jumper from the corner from Wedman as well.
My Birdsong dreams were squashed when I played “C” Team on my junior high team that only had A and B teams. Anyway, tune in on Thursday night and catch one of Kansas City’s greats from the past.
Honestly, the Kansas City Kings of 1981 were one of the best team stories in Kansas City history, it’s just that no one paid attention; hence the move out of town. The Kings lost to the Houston Rockets 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals. Wedman led that team in minutes played. 45.0 Minutes per game! The only person for either team that played that much was a guy named Moses Malone, who played 45.6 minutes per game of the series for the Rockets.
The 28-year-old Wedman averaged 19 points per game, seven rebounds and 3.2 assists in that series. The roster was young, and it looked like things were on the upswing and two years later, the team moved to Sacramento, and it became a long-forgotten memory.
Ainsworth Sports ranks Wedman as the best player in Kings history. Followed by the great Sam Lacey, Birdsong, Larry Drew, and Nate Archibald.
In case you were wondering, or even if you were not, LeBron James and Michael Jordan both averaged about 38 minutes per game in their careers.
Before I get carried away on Kansas love, let’s come to an agreement that the Flint Hills are overrated. I don’t even really understand them. It’s like South Dakota and Arkansas had a baby and that’s what happened. Just some half mountain, half weed wasteland and they didn’t even carve any president’s likeness in the exposed limestone. According to my Google, humans first set eyes on this area about 13,000 years ago and nobody lives there yet, that should tell you everything you need to know.
Maybe someday they’ll carve Sam Brownback’s face in there and draw some people. Anyway, I’m with’em until I’m against’em.
(Guy Speckman can be reached working on his corner 3 at a local court)