Nearly 40 years ago, I went to college to become a writer. A sportswriter if we’re being specific. About thirty years ago, I ended up changing majors about a half-dozen times and finally got my degree in Computer and Information Systems Management, a far cry from writing about the Kansas City Royals.
Fifteen years ago, I gained a little notoriety thanks to a website called Twitter.com. It was this little website where you could go and “tweet” little random things that fell into your brain. You couldn’t say too much, so you had to make it pithy and short and clever. This seemed to ignite significant creative juices within me and my tweets seem to resonate with my followers as well. Many were in the “voice” of Ned Yost, the manager of the Royals at the time who would later go on to lead the 2014 Royals to the World Series and the 2015 Royals to a 2015 World Championship.
In the meantime, I was a heavy consumer of sports media. Sports radio with Kevin Kietzman, Steven St. John, and Danny Parkins. Sportswriters with Sam Mellinger, Jason Whitlock and Platte County Landmark columnist Greg Hall. Eventually this led to a meeting with Mr. Hall and Landmark editor, a guy by the name of Ivan Foley.
Foley took a liking to me, and I to him. We seemed to have a “brother from another mother” type relationship and most of all, we made each other laugh. This started my time at The Landmark. Over the course of more than a decade, there were columns about QuikTrip, columns about political happenings, and Foley allowed me to print nearly every one of George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can’t Say On TV” in his paper. We took to the World Wide Web to do a but fun as hell video podcast years before video podcasts were even a thing called Landmark Live! In that time, we interviewed Vicki Lawrence, we had my brother sing on the broadcast, and Foley and I got schnockered drunk to show the audience how DUI tests were done. These should have all won an Emmy. Or Oscar. Or something.
As I write this, we are 654 Rambling Moron columns in. During that time, I have developed a strong friendship with “bossman” Foley. This carried over to trust and friendship with Cindy Rinehart, who, let’s face it, does more work in an hour than Foley does in a month.
Foley and Rinehart had become my Landmark family. We met at street fairs. I stopped into the historic offices from time to time when I was in Platte City, always greeted with smiles and some great stories.
Through these 654 columns, I was able to regain a piece of myself and my creativity. Nearly 40 years after I went to college thinking I might become a writer, Ivan gave me a place where I actually got to be one. Along the way, I gained friends. I count you readers among those as well.
Now, we close a chapter together. Ivan and Cindy gallop off into the sunset to the land of “retirement.” (I’ll bet we see them all again sooner rather than later. But not before well-earned time with family and grandchildren.)
The new owner of The Landmark, Stacy Wiedmaier, takes over one of the longest-continually-publishing newspapers west of the Mississippi during a turbulent time for small-town newspapers. She has indicated to me that she’d like to see the Rambling Moron continue in these pages and online. So my words will continue to show here until I, too, am ready to join Ivan and Cindy in the newspaper retirement home. For now, there are still so many QuikTrip and fart joke columns left to write. As an aside, personally, I am THRILLED the paper wasn’t sold to some out of town interest or company. And I hope Foley made a billion dollars from the sale.
As this chapter comes to a close, let me just say what an honor and privilege it has been to have a little corner of this wonderfully weird newspaper for all these years, and to get to know Ivan and Cindy, right here on page 3. Your friendship remains important to me and I am hopeful that with your retirements, we can finally find time for that drink. The first round is on me.
