American Royal 2011 Kansas City Contest

Well, it's hard to believe, but it's here again, The American Royal BBQ in Kansas City 2011.

From the American Royal 2011 press release:

Come join the fun at one of Kansas City’s biggest parties! We have live entertainment, barbecue teams competing in the “World Series of Barbecue“, award-winning barbecue for the public to purchase at Taste of the Royal, Fireworks both Friday and Saturday and a festival atmosphere you won’t want to miss!

Gate admission is required on Friday, September 30 after 12 p.m. and on Saturday, October 1 after 10 a.m. There is no gate admission on Thursday, September 29 or Sunday, October 2. Remember that most sections of the American Royal BBQ are private parties and are by invitation only. Just because you get into the main gate of the American Royal does not guarantee you entrance into the individual parties and tents inside the Royal. Parking is FURIOUS so try to get there before 5pm if possible, or you will end up parking about 1 mile away.

American Royal BBQ 2011 Contest Information

Qualification Criteria Summary for US Teams:

Qualifying Period: The first weekend in August of 2010 through the final weekend in July of 2011

Invitations:

Only Grand Champions are invited. No pass downs are accepted.

Invitations will be extended to the qualified team name/head cook combination. Should the team name or head cook change after qualifying, the team must enter the American Royal Invitational under the qualifying team name/head cook combination. Should the same head cook have qualified with more than one team, he/she may enter the American Royal/KC Masterpiece Invitational Contest only one time.

An invitation will be mailed from the American Royal to the qualifiers in mid August with a deadline for returning the application by September 1st. If an invitational team would like to also compete in the Open Contest, it is MANDATORY for that team to complete the Open Application ahead of time so a space can be reserved.

Qualifying Contests Include:

• Contests with a “qualifying state championship.” A state championship is a contest with a state proclamation signed by the Governor with at least 15 competing teams the first year and 25 competing teams each subsequent year.
• Contests with a minimum of 50 competing teams are qualifiers and do not require a “state championship” proclamation.
• A state with only one contest must have a minimum of 15 competing teams to be considered but does not require a “state championship” proclamation.

To be considered a “competing team,” teams must submit entries for all contest categories required to be the grand champion or overall winner of that event.

Automatic Entries Go To:

*Grand Champion of previous year’s American Royal Open Contest

*Grand Champions of previous five (5) year’s American Royal/KC Masterpiece Invitational Contest

*Grand Champion of previous year’s Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue

*Grand Champion of current year’s Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Contest

*Grand Champion of current year’s Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest

Exceptions to any of the above criteria must be approved in advance by the contest organizer.

Royals Season Comes to and End

The Kansas City Royals have completed another losing season, leaving only 5 teams in the entire league with worse records than the Royals. Although this season ended on a positive note, with the Royals stringing together several wins and many players stepping up and improving their batting averages and ERAs, it was still just another losing season for a team that hasn't seen a decent win / loss record since 1985. Ah, thank God for the 1985 Royals, George Brett, Willie Wilson, the good old days...

I suppose the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about is David Glass and the way he refuses to spend money on quality players, and furthermore, the players who emerge from Kansas City as stars are immediately traded away.

The Kansas City Royals are talking a big game right now about how their farm team approach is ready for harvest in 2012, and that they are predicting a playoff appearance by 2013. KANSAS CITY, MO (January 25, 2011) – Baseball America, baseball’s preeminent authority on minor league prospects, has rated the Kansas City Royals farm system as the best in all of baseball in the soon-to-be-released 2011 Prospect Handbook.

"The Royals have one of the deepest and most talented farm systems in recent memory,” said Jim Callis, Executive Editor at Baseball America. “It's unusual to see a system with three stud hitters like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Wil Myers, or four quality lefties like John Lamb, Mike Montgomery, Danny Duffy and Chris Dwyer, and the Royals have both. To show how highly we regard the Royals system, we ranked it No. 1 before the Zack Greinke trade, which netted more top prospects. "Seven of the Royals’ top 10 prospects will be in Major League Spring Training camp next month in Surprise, Ariz. The group includes first baseman Eric Hosmer (ranked #1), third baseman Mike Moustakas (#3) and left-handed pitcher John Lamb (#4).

The Royals have been nurturing a great farm team system that is creating future star players, but how do we know that isn't just another way for Glass to make money? At what point will the Royals start trading away their star players, as they have done with every star player we've ever had since the 1990's? I started to get suspicious the minute they renovated Kauffman Stadium last season.

It is no accident that they turned Royals stadium into a giant BAR with the new renovations. Fans can now go to a game and not even watch the game, they can go to one of the many indoor bars, go watch a live band, pretty much anything but pay attention to just the game itself. Glass figures that if all there is to do at a Royals game is actually watch the Royals, then the fans would go home thus spending less money on concessions. Glass has figured out a way to make more money off the ever-losing Royals franchise and I think that they have no intention of EVER spending money on players, thus eliminating us from the big race indefinitely.

But hey, I was lucky enough to actually ATTEND the big games in 1985, so I will always have that. I'm sorry that you young fans will probably never see Kansas City in a celebration of that magnitude in your lifetime. At least we will be able to watch the great players come through Kansas City next season for the All Star Game 2012.

Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway October 9th

After posting up the worst attendance and television viewing numbers in NASCAR history last year, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race will be held again this year at the Kansas Speedway. The race will be called the Hollywood Casino 400, named after the new casino that is to open in February of 2012 near the raceway.

Hollywood Casino 400 Tickets

October 7th - Kansas Speedway's first NIGHT RACE! Sponsored by The Kansas Lottery and 98.9 The Rock, the Kansas Speedway will host it's first night race for Qualifying Day and the ARCA Racing Series. Tickets are $9.89 courtesy of 98.9 FM - Buy Tickets

October 8th - See future stars of NASCAR compete against some of your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers in this NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway. This second tier series is one of the premier racing series in NASCAR. Tickets start as low as $40.00

NASCAR Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 300 - Buy Tickets October 9th - at 2pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400, the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup - Buy Tickets There are also Hollywood Casino 400 ticket packages available if you want to attend for more than one day. Hollywood Casino Kansas City Kansas City will be adding yet another casino in early 2012 when the Hollywood Casino opens up at the Kansas Speedway. Penn National Gaming, Inc. has been taking over and opening new casinos all across the United States, mostly building casinos in poor ghetto neighborhoods (i.e. Kansas City, Kansas) and Hollywood Casino will be yet another link in Penn National Gaming's chain. The Hollywood Casino 400 race is an advertising ploy to introduce the new casino's presence in Kansas City.

Tony DiPardo's Daughter Patti Keeps the Music Going at Arrowhead

Over the years the entertainment has changed several times at Arrowhead Stadium. In the very early days when the Kansas City Chiefs first arrived here from Dallas (where they were known as the Dallas Texans) they had a small marching band who actually sat in the stands and performed the type of music that you might hear at a college game today. This band had many incarnations and was founded and led by trumpet player extraordinaire Tony DiPardo. DiPardo led The TD Pack Band, then the Zing Band and finally back to the TD Pack Band until his death on January 27th, 2011.

Since Tony DiPardo's death, his daughter Patti has continued to preserve the spirit of her father and the music entertainment at Arrowhead Stadium to this day. Patti took over as the band leader for her father in 1989, and when the owners retired the on-field stadium band to make room for more seats Patti continued to direct the music in what is called the Founder's Club at Arrowhead Stadium during home games. The Founder's Club features Kansas City dueling piano favorite Spike Blake and continues to energize the stadium with great music.

The spirit of Tony DiPardo lives on through his daughter Patti, who has dedicated over 3 decades of her life to providing quality entertainment during Chiefs games at Arrowhead Stadium.

Chiefs Chargers 2011 Kansas City News

The Chiefs Chargers rivalry continues today at 3:05pm when the banged up and limping Chiefs take on the San Diego Chargers in their home town. The Chiefs are playing with a skeleton crew after losing star running back Jamaal Charles, tight end Tony Moeaki and starting strong safety Eric Barry. With those players missing from the Kansas City Chiefs lineup, it doesn't leave much left on the field. Matt Cassel is an average quarterback at best, and although Dwayne Bowe, Steve Breaston and Jonathan Baldwin might be talented receivers, it doesn't matter if the quarterback can't get them the ball. Cassel made a few feeble attempts to throw the ball down the field last week vs the Lions, but Cassel's long pass attempts looked wobbly and weak and the receivers had to halt their route and turn around and come back to the floppy passes to try to make a catch. This is not the type of quarterback that you need to win games. Your team's quarterback should be able to throw the ball far down the field with zip and confidence or the opposing defenses will never respect the quarterback's arm and will be able to stack up against the run. It's that simple. As poorly as Cassel throws the ball, Jamaal Charles wouldn't have stood much of a chance anyway as defenses would have been keying on him heavily.

The Chargers are also a little banged up, with Antonio Gates injured and on the sideline for this match. Look for Vincent Jackson to make some big plays behind the arm of Philip Rivers, and possibly some rushing yards from 2nd year running back Ryan Matthews.

As always with Kansas City Chiefs football games, if the Chiefs can somehow get into the end zone first, they stand a better chance to stay in this game. But with the incredible passing skills of Philip Rivers, the Chiefs really don't stand a chance. The Chiefs continue to build towards the "Suck for Luck" losing campaign. If the Chiefs can manage to lose all of their games this year, they will get the first pick of the 2012 draft and have a shot at getting a real quarterback in Andrew Luck. Let's hope that happens as we need to get rid of Matt Cassel immediately.