JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Kansas City vying for an NBA or NHL team  

I’ve got a suggestion for The Star’s two sports columnists: Stop flapping your wings trying to stir up interest in Kansas City getting either a National Hockey League or National Basketball Association team.

What a waste of time.

There are good reasons why Kansas City area residents are becoming increasingly attracted to Sporting Kansas City and soccer in general. Here are two:

:: Kansas City has a chance to land one or more World Cup games in 2026.

:: You can get a good seat to a Sporting Kansas City game for $25 to $35. On the other hand, the average cost of a ticket for an NHL game in 2014-15 was $62, and the average cost of a “non-premium ticket to an NBA game in 2013 was $51. (The average cost of a Chiefs’ ticket last year was $128, and the average cost of a Royals’ ticket this year is $33.58 — but what kind of value is that for a team possibly on track to lose 100 games?)

And yet, The Star’s Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian each has had a column this week in which they were basically pushing for either an NHL or NBA team.

Cliff Illig, Cerner co-founder and vice chairman

After a 5-inch introduction to his column in Sunday’s paper, Mellinger posed the question, “So, Cliff, any interest?”

Illig: “Candidly, no.”

Then Mellinger devoted the next 31 inches trying to goose up Illig’s interest. He didn’t get anywhere.

Gregorian’s column was more measured and realistic, focusing on Kansas City’s 2026 World Cup prospects. Yet, he couldn’t refrain from pumping Mayor Sly James about the farfetched prospect of Kansas City landing an NBA or NHL franchise. Like Illig, James wasn’t biting, saying: “If Sprint Center was sitting there and we couldn’t get anybody to come and it operated five days a year, that’s one thing. But it’s kicking it. It’s a very, very busy venue…”

I’m not a soccer fan, but I guess it’s possible I could become one. And considering the respective cost of tickets to major league soccer, basketball and hockey games, there’s no way I’d consider paying market-rate prices to see an NHL or NBA game. And I think a lot of people sitting in my section of the grandstand feel the same way.

A front-page story and a business-page story in today’s Star 

The headline on one of three stories in today’s Star read, “Parson no longer blocking users on social media.”

My first reaction was our new governor was heading in a refreshingly different direction than the hide-and-seek former governor.

And yet, the first 15 inches of the story were about how Gov. Mike Parson used to block critics on his official Twitter account when he was lieutenant governor. It wasn’t until the 15th paragraph that reporters Tessa Weinberg (whose work I’m not very familiar with) and the usually solid Jason Hancock got to the news, saying:

“But in the time since Parson became governor on June 1, his staff has created new official accounts that they insist will no longer block anyone.”

The way that story was written, you couldn’t blame Parson and his staff if they went to the editors alleging the paper was trying to twist the story to make Parson look bad.

…Put simply, The Star was guilty of “burying the lead,” that is, putting the newest and most important development relatively low in the story. If The Star wants better access to Parson than it did to former Gov. Eric Greitens, I would suggest the editors concentrate on presenting straightforwardly the positive developments related to the governor’s office.

**

On Page 5A, reporter Allison Kite — who, like Weinberg, is relatively new to The Star — had a story about a committee of the Kansas City Council recommending that the city give Cordish Companies 100 percent property tax abatement for 25 years to build the “Three Light” apartment tower downtown. Two problems:

1. She didn’t say which council committee took the action…(I assume it was the Planning, Zoning & Economic Development Committee.)
2. The committee recommended the controversial action on a 3-2 vote, but Kite didn’t report which members voted “yes” and which voted “no.” (I can’t help you because I couldn’t find it anywhere, including on the city’s website.)

There’s nowhere else Kansas City area residents can get reports on matters like that, and it’s a damn shame when The Star doesn’t report basic information on significant developments where millions of public dollars are at stake. This is another example of how McClatchy’s’s (and The Star’s) ongoing process of trying to cut its way out of debt is backfiring.

It also makes me think that if Mellinger had his head on straight, he’d be asking Illig if he was interested in buying The Star rather than an NBA expansion team. That would be a much greater and longer-lasting contribution to his community.