KK x Mundo Crossover: Local and National Sports Media Freak Out | 2-27-26

All right, wrapping up the week with Kevin Keatsman here on KCMO Talk Radio as we are live wrapping it up from the Johnson County Sheriff's Department. Kev, what's up, man? Good morning. You know, we had something interesting happen here. When I walked in the studio, I sat in the chair I normally sat in when we do the crossover here. But since you're out, I still sat in that chair. When I was a kid and my dad wasn't home, I would never sit in his chair or at the seat at the table where my dad would normally sit. And it harkened back to when I was like 10 years old. and John said, hey, don't you want to go sit in the main chair? I'm like, this is Pete's chair until 10 o'clock. I shouldn't be sitting here. I feel dirty. I'm sitting in it. Oh, that is funny. Hey, let me harken back to when you were 10 years old or a little bit older. 1980, Miracle on Ice. Compare it to Sunday. I'm sure it's not the same level, but this week started off with a bang. Compare and contrast where you were 46 years ago to what it was like on Sunday for you as someone who experienced both of them. Okay, the similarities are eerie, okay? We just come out of four years of Jimmy Carter versus four years of Joe Biden. It was very similar. Inflation was out of control. Gas prices were outrageous. There were all kinds of people that didn't like America. Flags were being burned. All kinds of crazy stuff was happening. I was 15 years old when this took place. So I remember it all very well, and I was about to get my first car, which was a big time in anybody's life, right? So everything like that was the same. The reaction, completely different. back then everybody both parties anyone in america everybody loved it the anti-war people loved it everybody loved it they were finally proud that america did something well for the first time in years this time around we literally have what maybe 25 30 percent of the people in this country that will hate anything good for america because of who the president is that did not exist in 1980 And as we know Ronald Reagan was then elected and we had the golden era of the 80s which essentially it was You know, you and I have talked about this before. We both have spent a lot of time in sports media, and we both still dabble in it in some ways. But you have seen the worst of sports media in this country on display this week. They have been desperate to make the Trump phone call a thing, the, you know, politization of this Team USA hockey win a thing. And they're failing miserably. When Jack Hughes shows up for the New Jersey Devils in, you know, still a blue state, whatever that was, Wednesday night, and the place is going nuts. They don't care about these things that sports media is trying to make a thing. What's your interpretation of it? Well, they also booed the governor in New Jersey when that happened that night. And he got another hero's welcome last night in Pennsylvania at the game in Pittsburgh. And they stopped the whole day before the game and they all roared for him. And everybody, you know, Penguins fans were wearing USA jerseys at the Pittsburgh game, which I thought was really, really cool. You know, Pete, I think this is what happens with people who are in sports media. We're all young. We all love sports. Things going on in the world are not important. We want to get into that as a career. And we do. For many, they find it not to be lucrative enough. They leave in their late 20s, 30s, find something that's lucrative. They're generally speaking, very smart people. They go off and start their own business or get in sales or do something else. Those that stay in it, some do very, very well. Stephen A. Smith makes millions and millions of dollars a year. What else is he going to do? I mean, it's just a phenomenal ride. But the guys that stay in it, the longer they stay in it, we all get to a point where we start to think, okay, I'm covering 19, 20, 21-year-old kids here. This isn rocket science that I doing for a living There are more important bigger things in the world Some move off into that and some stay in sports because they have no avenue out and they become bitter And I think that what we saw We saw an awful lot of sports writers and journalists in this country that are just kind of sick of doing their everyday job, asking jocks for quotes, posting stories online, and they got something big and juicy and meaty and thought, well, now I can write something and do something of importance. and they flamed out miserably, which maybe explains why they're still doing sports. Yeah, that is so true. And I just think that, you know, at least in news media, and we're growing, obviously, from the standpoint of, you know, alternative, conservative, whatever you want to call it, kind of media opportunities that are out there. But in sports, what do you have? Outkick, maybe? I mean, even the digital sports media outlets in Kansas City that are not traditional media, I see them online, you see them online. And they're filled with people that just lean completely the other way. It's the strangest thing to me because there's a lane there. I mean, you do it with the KK Has Issues podcast. But outside of that, there's not an ecosystem for any of this stuff on the local level yet. Yeah, my podcast is half sports. So I still do. I do a lot more sports there than I do here, which I like doing. I still love sports. I've not lost that. I like doing it. I just don't want to interview 21-year-old kids about, okay, a ball that went between their legs or something. You know, it's just it doesn't it just doesn't float my boat anymore. So, no, these these people are are generally speaking pretty miserable in what they're doing. We're talking about a city we literally had. I'll name names. I'm tired of not naming names. Sren Petro literally went on the air during covid. OK, and said football should be stopped. People are going to die. He went home and stayed home for months wouldn come to the office and didn want to do the radio show They like we should shut everything down Like there are so many people that are so far left in this town in sports media It insane In fact they don even know the world And I love him to death. He's a great guy. Valle Gregorian, as far as I know from the Kansas City Star, is still stuck in Puerto Vallarta. Now, I haven't traveled to Mexico in 18 years. It's our favorite place to go. I've been terrified of going since Obama was president. A Marine got picked up by people in Mexico, and he couldn't get the Marine out. I'm like, if he can't get the Marine out, why should I travel to Mexico? This thing's blowing up, and a guy like Vahe apparently didn't even know it was dangerous. That's unbelievable. And then you've got also midday radio hosts at other radio stations, Cody Tapp, saying it's evil and shameful that Kansas now says you have to have a driver's license based on the sex you were born to. It's like, what are we doing here, guys? What are we doing? What are you doing? How is that a win for you? Trust me, that's an 80-20 thing that you're on the 20 side of. That seems bad for your business. Yeah, I know Cody Tapp very well. We work together, and he's never seen evil in his life, so he couldn't identify it. I'm serious. You're right. It's just not a world he lives in. And there's a lot of young—this is a blessing. This is a great compliment for America. We have a lot of young people in this country that have never seen anything bad in their life and never had anything at risk, and their parents have money. So when they talk about right privilege, they're living it. There's a lot of liberals living that. and I did see too that Wall Street Journal had a piece young people all want to leave America and go live in Europe have fun with that where 20% of people have air conditioning compared to 80% of Americans I mean they don't even know how good they've got it here to your point Kevin so they say it and don't do it and Rosie wants to come home and she can't get home which is fine by me man have a great weekend you too buddy I love your chair Kevin Kiesman uncancelled is next have a great weekend