Letters

Out of Bounds

Johnny on the spot: In his May 24 letter about Greg Hall’s article concerning Johnny Damon’s return to Kansas City (“Damon-Possessed,” May 17), Brian Holmes spews many misguided opinions concerning WHB 810’s Kevin Kietzman.

He accused Kietzman of “leaving his previous job for greener pastures,” concluding that Kietzman was no better than Johnny Damon. But Kietzman was offered a contract by KMBZ 980 a couple years ago for considerably more than he currently earns at WHB. Kietzman stayed at WHB.

Possibly Mr. Holmes’ most ridiculous statement was that WHB held the Damon event to “take away from [KMBZ 980’s] broadcast.” WHB is slaughtering KMBZ in every aspect of sports ratings. Kietzman does not tolerate callers or guests who make negative reference to KMBZ. If anything, he generated listeners for KMBZ who tuned in to the game just to hear if anything out of the ordinary occurred that night.

The WHB listeners in the left-field bleachers behaved better than the fans in the seats behind the Athletics’ dugout and home plate. In the Oakland newspaper, Johnny Damon was quoted as saying he had a good time that night.

Furthermore, 810 has done far more than any other organization in Kansas City to bring people out to see a (very) subpar team. The Royals organization, and the rest of Kansas City, should be very grateful for the additional 3,000 fans who attended because of Kietzman’s tireless promotion of the event. And unlike most of the other sports journalists in KC, Kietzman does his job without feeling the need to ridicule, belittle or criticize his colleagues at other sports news outlets (a lesson Greg Hall really needs to learn).

Ryan Deal

Liberty

Fart of darkness: In the May 24 edition of Off the Couch, Greg Hall chose all of the negative potty humor he could find in Brandon Stinnett’s revealing profile of Star columnist Jason Whitlock published in the University Daily Kansan. Farting, a big ego, warnings from his editor at The Star and Jason’s fat salary were the tidbits that caught Hall’s attention in the ninety-inch story, which Brandon wrote as his final project in a reporting class I teach at KU. Details Hall neglected to provide Pitch readers from Brandon’s story included Jason’s courageous stands on nonsports issues, his evolution from football jock to talented sportswriter driven by a rigorous work ethic and the fact that Jason took a troubled teenage cousin into his home and served as his surrogate father.

Jason opened up his life so that a talented student journalist could tell his story — the good and the bad, the serious and the playful, the fears and the hopes, even his battle with obesity and his fondness for ribs at Gates. He spent countless hours with Brandon, including one day that began before the 6 a.m. radio program and ended with Jason writing his Star column late in the evening.

Pitch readers who want to know more about the real Jason Whitlock than a few juicy facts borrowed from a college journalist by a lazy columnist who declined to get Off the Couch to get his own facts and even managed to misspell the last name of the student reporter (that would earn an F in my class, by the way), can find the whole story at www.kansan.com/arch/2001spring/04%5F25%5F01/news/inyourface425.html

Ted Frederickson

Professor and News Chairman, William
Allen White School of Journalism,

University of Kansas

Lawrence

Point of Border

A Phillips screw: I practice immigration law, and I am writing to thank Allie Johnson for a much-needed article she wrote regarding the Phillips and Phillips law firm’s “practice” of immigration law and the harm inflicted on many of the people whom they promised to help (“Sounds of the Border,” May 17). Johnson did a fantastic job describing how desperate immigrants are, how they are ready to believe anything that might improve their immigration situation and the need for professional legal immigration advice.

Again, thank you for addressing the issue. I hope she will be able to write more on immigrant-related issues in the future.

Mira Mdivani

Overland Park

Culture Club

Fire and nice: As we close the books on yet another Culture Under Fire celebration, we have many to thank for a tremendously successful weekend of fun and freedom of expression. We thank our community, who have always shown enthusiastic support for the concerts, Art Trek, Film Fest, special events and speakers who remind us of our First Amendment rights and how precious they are.

But we must always also thank our partners in this effort. Our strong right arm from the start has been the staff of Pitch Weekly — our friends who egg us on to outrageous greatness with each coming year. Thanks also must go to the Freedom of Speech diva Molly Ivins, whose pro bono speech for us many years ago has funded almost ten more years of Culture Under Fire for Kansas City Free Speech Coalition

Linda Rostenberg

Kansas City, Missouri