Grumpy sports commentators lose platforms

By DAVID MARTIN

Middle-aged white guys who cover sports in Kansas City are getting harder to find.

Earlier this year, Fox 4 sportscaster Frank Boal stepped away from Crunch Time, the 810-WHB radio show he hosted with Dave Stewart (pictured). Jeffrey Flanagan’s Page 2 column appeared in The Kansas City Star for the last time on November 8, a casualty of McClatchy Co. downsizing. Last week, Crunch Time disappeared altogether. And today comes word that Jack Harry’s 38 Sports Spot will no longer run on KMCI Channel 38.

Boal, Stewart (Metro Sports) and Harry (KSHB Channel 41) remain visible. Still, the moves eliminate a level of grouchiness and hidebound thinking that sports-information consumers may not miss.