Oh God, is he gonna have to get a podcast now?!?!
After a week of social media smack-downs over allegedly insensitive remarks made about Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid's deceased son and then an apology followed up by a really lame local media tour along with another half-apology and denial . . .
Here we are at the conclusion of an important Kansas City legacy broadcast media career.
For those who haven't seen it already, here's the Kansas City Friday pink slip news that will make you happy you're holding on to your B.S. job for another week.
Checkit:
Sports radio host Kevin Kietzman, 810 WHB part ways
Deets:
Union Broadcasting announced Friday that Kietzman is no longer a part of the WHB team on the station's website. President Chad Boeger said in a news release that it was a mutual decision.
“We would like to thank Kevin for his dedicated service over the last 22 years,” Boeger said. “Kevin has been a valuable member of the Sports Radio 810 WHB team. We wish him all the best on his future endeavors and good luck moving forward.”
Yeah, it's about as mutual as all of my ex-girlfriend living happy suburban middle-class lives with and war heroes whilst I crank out one post after the next under the stairs of my mom's basement. Which is to say that I honestly wish him the best . . .
The bigger question . . .
CANCEL CULTURE ENDS THE CAREER OF AN ICONIC SPORTS TALKER BUT WAS IT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS OR MERELY IMPOLITENESS THAT SPARKED FANBOY OUTRAGE?!?!
The charge was that KK presented an old world view of addiction which was (allegedly) out of place given that the nation is suffering a horrific losses in the midst of an opioid crisis. Again, KK denied the implication and said he was talking trash on the coach's other son but that was a tough sell for angry listeners out for blood.
Even better . . .
KIETZMAN COULD NEVER HACK "KANSAS CITY NICE" NOW WE WONDER: DID IT FINALLY CATCH UP WITH HIM?!?!
If you wonder why TKC tries to be more jokey and runs a lot more blind items. THIS is why because more than anything, we want this discussion to be fun and sometimes you d-bags take all of this stuff far too seriously. Moreover, and I really want you guys to weigh in on this one:
WAS THIS HOT MESS A TOTALLY "KANSAS CITY" WAY TO RUIN THE GUY?!?
The tactic: Portray them as a big meany (an easy sell for KK) and let this town's pathological politeness kick-in . . . And was Kietzman stubbornness and not the initial comment his Achilles' heel that finally did him in???
And so, on this Friday we share these questions so that our blog community can laugh at the misfortune of a media giant until it's your turn to step up to the chopping block.
You decide . . .
And justice for all.
ReplyDeleteIt's neither, dude was a dick. Everybody knew he was a dick and most people are glad that he's gone. You don't insult your biggest partner who has all of the leverage and then expect to stay on.
DeleteI told you all so
ReplyDeleteC'mon Dave. You were one of the guys talking about his ownership stake that would save him. Guess not.
DeleteAbout time should have been done the next day.Don’t feel sorry for him. When you are an asshole to everyone you get what you deserve.
ReplyDeleteNo meh and his buddy Jack Harry can go grab a cold one and hit the links. KK always used to say that . Good bye
KK will get some national talk show offer now. Kansas City wants to treat our pro teams as high school teams.
ReplyDelete4:58 no I wasn't, my sources told me KK's ownership wasn't going to save him this time.
ReplyDeleteGail Beatty, at Jackson County Appraisers Office s/b next.
ReplyDelete^^^^^^We could only hope so
ReplyDeleteKK is never going to go national. His shtick isn't made out for prime time. He's a home town guy if there ever was one. I just hope he doesn't have one of those non-compete clauses.
ReplyDeleteGoodbye KK, we'll miss you.
ReplyDeleteThe fudging guy built the station and they put him out like dirty laundry. Should be a lesson to anybody who puts their heart and soul into their job and expects at least some degree of loyalty in return.
ReplyDeletewhat's this thing they call radio?
ReplyDeleteI've got satellite and have no idea what you guys are talking about.
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!
KK has defamed many individuals over the years, he should have been gone long ago!! Good riddance you worthless POS!!!
ReplyDeleteI liked the guy. He tells it like it is, guess that's not allowed nowadays.
ReplyDeleteJew Asshole.
ReplyDeleteIt's apparent that the only ones who hated him in this town are kU fans. He pulled no punches on that team and was hated for it. I think he found that out long ago when he was at channel 4. Don Fortune sure did at channel 9 and 5.Don't dare talk about the fake birds. Afterall this town is 24/7 kU. Would not surprise me if he sells he half of whb and starts his own 24/7 talk radio. I guess one thing we learned through all of this is don't fuck with a kc team that is winning. Makes me wonder if the same outcome would have occurred if it was Ned Yost.
ReplyDeleteI did not make the comment at 6:40.
ReplyDelete6:40 is clearly a Nazi.
ReplyDeleteHe seems to be suggesting that I am not.
That's cool. I hate Nazi's.
Next up?
ReplyDeleteFrank White needs to resign.
6:31 Sums it up perfectly! That JOKER was a legend is his own mind.
ReplyDeleteLeave family out, if you want to call Andy a dbag all day go for it but leave his family out of it
ReplyDeleteThat’s exactly who you are der fuhrer Funkhouser, you’re a descendant of good ole boy Adolph right! Hahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteHe crossed the line, and the line is you shouldn't compare our coaches ability to coach his football players to the tragic loss of his son. Sorry KK, skip town.
ReplyDeleteKK was always mean and vengeful. He disrespected women, including his exwife. Who he cheated on, in a very disrespectful way.
ReplyDeleteSo on the same day as the 2nd debate, we saw how someone with class and character and integrity handles a situation--Mayor Pete Buddigieg said simply, "I didn't get it done." He owned a problem. Whereas both Kietzmann and Kamala Harris flat out lied, and tried to say they were talking about someone else. Or misunderstood the question...etc.
Can't respect someone like that. Bullies. Willing to say or do anything to keep their jobs. Kietzmann did not learn one thing from this gaffe.
Maybe he can team up with Yael Abouhalkah and do a blog. Or write for Hearne Christopher. They could talk each other to death...
Welcome back Tracy nice to see ya'.
ReplyDeleteAbouhalkah, Christopher and Kietzmann
ReplyDeleteTracy is right they should do a show together and call it The Fool, the Bad and the Ugly
KK was a good radio guy. I liked listing even if sometimes I didn't agree with his opinions. It's the culture we live in now. You can't say anything anymore without somebody getting all in their feelings. Grow up.
ReplyDeleteYes, let's all be super grown up and spend hours talking about children's games on the radio.
DeleteHey Super Dave, why don’t you, Tracy and Byron do a show? They could call it The Fag, The Hag and The Douchebag.
ReplyDelete^^^ you’re a douchebag and a fag so....
ReplyDeleteHonestly didn't follow this closely at all..but..it's simply a reflection of our current victimization culture in which someone will always be offended by something spoken or done.
ReplyDeleteMany people race each other to claim the greatest alleged suffering at the hands of another.
Remember that half the population now lives in a world of microaggressions, gender neutral pronouns, Black Transgender Lives Matter, and free government paid healthcare for all illegal aliens capable of sneaking across the borders.
No room for some white male sports talker speaking bluntly. Too bad. America is becoming pussy-fied.
Yeah no.
DeleteHypersensitivy is one thing. Openly blaming a parent for a child's death on air like an asshlle is another. Kevin drastically overestimated his importance and his popularity. Good riddance.
I was not a fan of KK but I don't believe he should have been fired. Andy has a bad record as a parent. That is fact. Is it in poor taste to bring it up? yes it is but if someone had approached Andy about this years ago maybe he could have made a change that would have helped his family.
ReplyDeleteOf course people have been asking him to change his poor in game clock management for years and nothing has changed in that regard.
Kansas city has to be the softest journalism town toward it's pro sports teams and after this firing you can bet it will make everyone think twice about saying ANYTHING negative.
It won't matter anyway because the National Anthem Curse will insure the Chiefs don't sniff the Super Bowl.
Please let's not pretend that KK's motives were altruistic. He fucked up badly by sounding off stupidly on a personal tragedy that was never any of his business in the first place.
DeleteKietzman spent 4 months trying to Tyreek Hill canned from the Chiefs and run out of the NFL based on innuendo. That’s always been Kietzman’s problem, having strong opinions without any facts to back them up. It finally caught up to him when the Twitterverse smelled blood.
ReplyDeleteKietzman would have survived if Union Broadcasting didn’t have a contractual agreement with the Chiefs.
ReplyDeleteKeitzman spoke the truth and got fired for it. Yes it was bad taste to bring up Reid's family however maybe if someone had said this years ago, Reid would've taken a second look at his parenting and taken a different approach for the better. The Chiefs will never see a Superbowl because Reid cannot manage the clock, nor discipline his players. He never holds his players accountable. Keitzman is bored today but Reid will be fired 2 years from now.
ReplyDeleteThe Chiefs and all of the KU fan base had to be behind all of this, since Kietzman was never afraid to about KU sports shenanigans. He knew he went too far with Reid and apologized for it. He brought more informed opinions than most local sports show hosts. St. John knows MMA and boxing well, and is funny as hell, but I don't think his insight into other sports is that great. As a sidekick, Bukaty brings absolutely zero to his role. He should gone. Petro is the most knowledgeable, but he's married to a KU grad, so he seems to be less and less interested in finding any fault with KU's sports missteps. I do think Kietzman was getting tired of the job. Like most of the other hosts in town, when the Royals stink, they seem to talk way too long about other topics. In Kietzman's case, it was Tyrek Hill and Andy Reid.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to KK is exactly what he as advocated to happen to others for years. Fire, ban, do not wait for facts but when they do come out and you are wrong deny them in the most insulting way possible.
ReplyDeleteA predictable outcome... The man spent decades antagonizing over half of the people in town by smearing their school every chance that he got.
DeleteI first met KK about 30 years ago at the old Point (when it was a decent place) and he was still at WDAF and wasn't terribly as impressed as he was with himself. When my golfing buddy first introduced me to him he asked what I did for a living and I told him I was a fossil fuel dispersal engineer specializing in construction of dispersal facilities and left it at that It was the second time I saw him that he called me an SOB for not clarifying that what I did was build and remodel convenience stores. Saw him a few times socially after that at the old Longbranch on the Plaza and Metcalf and played golf with he and Jack Harry twice at Wolf Creek golf course where my golfing buddy was a member I will give him this though he is fun to play golf with and really isn't too bad and doesn't cheat on his score nor does Jack Harry like some other local celebrities I've played golf with. (Carl Peterson and George Brett come to mind)
ReplyDeleteKK only owns 6% of Union Broadcasting and that's hardly enough to leverage his position. he had no problem criticizing and demeaning other people, their opinions schools or positions on a topic but when it came and other people were critical of him he'd shut them down. Considering he literally got caught with his pants down with an intern and was legally cited for it and shot his first marriage to hell because of it and they worked overtime trying to keep that quiet he's hardly one to judge how other people handle their own family matters.
Personally as to whether he deserved to be fired I'm rather ambivalent. I think they should have shut him down without pay until September 1st. Neither the Chiefs or Reid haven't commented on the matter and I don't expect they will. Perhaps this is just an example of reaping and sowing.
If he said he’s sorry then I think it’s harsh to take his job ... the sports talk biz is mostly about controversy anyway so,if he crossed a line once out of thousands of hours at the mic ... I say forgive him or at least let him stay on under a double secret probation or something
ReplyDeleteTracy and others: what’s this negativity against Yael? He was great on ruckus and great local affairs writer when at the star. We miss dudes like that. Mousy analytical local politics types in comfortable shoes ...
Plus isn’t he in the peace corps now? Like a post- or 2nd career doing charitable work after his newspaper career, which I think is admirable.
Thanks,
Radish
One little detail that gets me EVERY time - this girl Kevin was "caught" with was NOT an intern. Jessica worked there. She went to high school and was friends with Boeger. She worked there as sales / traffic / office / catch-all employee. And now they are married, so it worked out for them. Just a detail that is so grating to those who know the reality.
ReplyDeleteI already miss Kietzman. The 2nd-stringers at 810 and the 1st-stringers at 610 are about as bad as it gets. They laugh at their own jokes way too much and talk over each other like preschoolers. It's terrible radio. I'm about to turn off local sports radio for good. Petro increasingly seems to go down the lamest "rabbit holes" in terms of subject matter. Maybe it's because of the Royals pathetic season and Petro and the others have too much time to fill for their abilities. Also, Bukaty on 810 seems like he's lost any enthusiasm for talking about sports outside of soccer and KU basketball a long time ago. He seems so tired and like he's just mailing it in now. Time for him to move on to something he can get excited about.
ReplyDeleteAll the KU fans took it as an opportunity to exaggerate what KK did (he never mentioned his son's suicide) and put pressure on the station to get rid of him. Chiefs might have been involved, but I can't see Reid asking for KK to be fired. All I know is that WHB isn't as good without KK. The other "A teamers" there aren't as good, except for perhaps Petro, but even he seems to be becoming more bored with the job and angrier at callers as he gets older. Petro's wife is a KU grad, so he increasingly lays off any negative KU stories or tries to put more positive spin on them so life at home is as stressful.
ReplyDelete