Chapter 1: What are the highlights of the Cinco de Mayo celebration mentioned?
That's right, Sam McDowell joins us here at the Brookside Barrio. You can join us as well. Cinco de Mayo celebration going on. We've got live music coming up on all three of the barrios, whether it's Briarcliff, whether it's Redbridge, or here in Brookside, 6227. Come on out, get you some shrimp tacos with fresh mango salsa.
How about those house-made empanadas with a poblano cream sauce, the barrio, excuse me,
tacos that was enjoyed here at our lunch table uh you'll love it come on out a great spot to hang out watch a game they got tvs royals chiefs and the patios they got a great indoor outdoor concept at all three locations so come on out and enjoy i get a bucket of coronas at a great price that's the special going on right now plus specials on margaritas sangria shot specials uh it is the brookside mario
62-27 Brookside Plaza. We do welcome Sam McDowell to the program. Sam, how are you? I'm doing well. How are you doing? I'm good. I'm surrounded, I said this earlier, I'm surrounded by Mexican food. That always makes me happy. You know, the loaded queso is phenomenal. Do you like queso? I do, yeah. Okay. They got great queso here. Great queso. Well, appreciate you having it ready for me.
Voted the number one chips and salsa in Kansas City. Is it really?
Yes. Well, I appreciate you having those. Yeah. Nowhere near me right now.
Yeah, nowhere. You know, I want you focused. I want you focused on the task at hand. So, you know, we don't want to stray from where we're going. Story in the Kansas City Star today by one of your coworkers. Hold on. I got to get to the right thread here. It says, the thing nobody wants to say out loud is getting harder to ignore. Kansas City's World Cup is shaping up to be a bust.
And at one point there it says, the headline stat is that somewhere between 85 and 90% of Kansas City hotels are currently booking below expectations. We're six weeks out from the tournament. Now, it goes on to detail that, like, FIFA basically squatted on a bunch of the hotel rooms and is now basically like, okay, here, sell them. You know? We're, like, what do we think? Do we?
You know, I was chatting with some people that like, hey, the idea was like, well, wait a last couple of weeks and the tickets will come down. Right. So is that the same thing with the hotels or is this FIFA trying to manipulate pricing for the people that buy early? What do you what do you make of this and how we're ultimately going to view the World Cup in Kansas City?
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Chapter 2: What insights does Sam McDowell share about the Kansas City Royals' recent success?
Because I guess one of the things I was thinking about, if you do normally come to Kansas City during this time, that you might decide a different time would be better because maybe the World Cup isn't the reason you're coming and now your trip just got more expensive and why don't I change the date on when I'm coming back to Kansas City or coming to Kansas City.
So my guess is there's a lot at play. And the very last piece of it is that, you know, there is still time before. But, look, I mean, I agree with ā I think it's probably early to say it is going to be a bust, but it certainly looks more likely like it's not going to live up to complete expectations in terms of travel and visitors.
Do you think we'll have empty seats at Arrowhead?
I wondered that for a while just because of like ticket prices. I mean, I feel like you and I being in the business of sports maybe should know better like how many tickets ā are showing up on the resale sites versus, like, how many of those will end up being sold. But I really don't have a great feel for it.
I don't either. I mean, I've had some people be like, well, it's too expensive, you know.
I certainly think the average Kansas Citian feels priced out of attending the actual games themselves.
Yeah, I think, you know, listen, it's a small percentage of, of people that probably could afford the ticket, but they're the kind of people that usually buy a ticket to a big event, right? But I wonder how much you mentioned, you know, are people not wanting to come to America? I'm wondering how many people are like, well, I want to come see a match. But I don't know a squad about Kansas City.
I'm going to go see one in New York, or I'm going to go see one in Seattle. Is Kansas City, are we being hurt by what we love, that we're not this mega city with traffic and all that? Well, we don't really have a reputation around the world either, and so we're the last choice of where everybody outside of here wants to go if they're just going to go to go and see a match.
What's interesting about that is the way that The Kansas City FIFA World Cup committee used that stuff to its advantage to lure the teams here for the base camps.
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Chapter 3: How is Kansas City preparing for the upcoming World Cup?
Well, I don't think they're going to meet their expectations in terms of economic impact and stuff like that. That's my point to where, like, this is not unique. Right. Most times when we hear about economic impact, it doesn't add up. But I still think it'll be a hell of a time. Yeah. I still think it'll be a blast.
Yeah. I'm intrigued by what we're going to get. And are we going to get the thousands of people that come that don't even have a ticket? That's the part where I'm kind of leery, where I can see it being sold out at the games and fans here and some fans that come because it's the base camp.
But I mean, if you can't what I can get my people like, well, they're going to come support their team because this is going to be their their base. Oh, so the fans can be able to watch a practice. Oh, no, no, no.
Chapter 4: What factors are affecting hotel bookings for the World Cup in Kansas City?
Oh, so they're going to be able to be in the hotel lobby? Oh, no, not that either.
So what are they coming for? I think to be around each other. Is that what it is? That's the answer that I've been told on that. But, look, I've always thought Argentina's the most likely to have a large contingent of fans because it's a base camp and you have fans. games here. Netherlands is the same way. England has always been tricky to me for that reason. Like they don't play a game here.
So if you're a fan and they're not getting here till, you know, after they have a couple of friendlies elsewhere. So I don't know if you're a fan of Kansas city is a spot you're going to be other than, like I said, if the response is, well, I know that's where other England fans are going to be.
Yeah. It's a, it's going to be tricky for sure. Let's talk Royals baseball. Eight out of ten. It's all fixed, right?
Yeah.
Nothing to worry about?
Well, I mean, there's certainly a reason that their record is better, which is, I mean, they've been more selective at the plate, but also, like, swinging at more, a higher percentage of, like, pitches that are middle-middle. So I think their pitch selection has helped. I think there's some guys who we always anticipated were going to be hitting better than what they were earlier in the season.
I mean... Vinny Pasquantino could actually be hitting 200 after tonight. And he's been terrific lately. I mean, his last nine games, he's OPSing at like 1,200 and hit a ball, you know, halfway up the wall last night that could have made those numbers look even better. So I think... It's weird because the Royals, it's not like them starting off slow is unusual.
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Chapter 5: What are the expectations for ticket sales during the World Cup?
But this team had potential. And so I do think, you know, from the outside perspective nationally, you might say, okay, the Royals aren't very great. That fits. But for us who follow this team closely, it didn't fit because this team has had more talent.
I think we all felt like, at least I did, I felt like the hitting would come around. So I'm not surprised, especially Vinny. We know Vinny can hit, right? We've talked about, well, Salve's older, maybe he'll have some trouble. Okay, but we felt like he would hit. The pedigree of Jack Cagney don't say that he would hit better. We don't know how good. And of late, he's been really good as well.
And so that part was to be expected. But I don't ā you know, the question is the bullpen has been red hot since they went west. Can they maintain that? Are they really this good? Beyond Lucas Erceg, we've seen him be very good, but can the rest of them be this good or is this just a hot streak for them?
Yeah, I guess of all the stuff that's happened since ā what is that streak, like since April 24th or so, that's what I'm most skeptical about of whether or not this is who this bullpen is because ā I mean, you have an advantage of figuring out roles, figuring out which guys are pitching well.
I mean, I don't think you anticipated going into the season, even though Daniel Lynch had a good year last year, that he was going to be your best arm in the bullpen, for example. I think you did anticipate that Lucas Erceg was going to start throwing strikes more than he had early in the season. and starting getting ahead of hitters.
And then once he does get ahead of hitters, I mean, his stuff's good enough that people will chase it. They're not going to chase it on 0-0 and 1-0, but they will chase it on 0-1 and 0-2. And so, like, that was a piece I thought would come around at the back end.
But I still am skeptical, I guess, knowing that, you know, Carlos Estevez went on a rehab assignment and that there could be a bonus, too, if he can get his velo back up. But I think flood over the last ā so since that April 24th date ā Their bullpen ERA is 142, which is second best in baseball.
Yeah, on their West Coast trip it was a 177. I mean, they've really turned the corner. If they're in the ALCS and it's game seven, so they've proven that not only can they get to the playoffs, but they can win playoff series, and they're on the brink of going to the World Series. How does the bullpen set up?
I think you're asking, like, if that game's tomorrow or just, like, ideally you get to a spot.
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Chapter 6: How does the Royals' bullpen performance impact their season?
They got all the heat lamps on. They got all the fire pits going, the patios. Got everybody out there as well. If you're looking for a great Cinco de Mayo party, you found it. It's Brookside Barrio, 6227 Brookside Plaza. Sam McDowell is with us here in the program. Sam, do you like the NBA playoffs? Are you enjoying the NBA playoffs?
Yeah, I actually think it's one of the better years just because you don't know. I guess the finals might have... be more predictable but i i've just enjoyed it because it's been unpredictable it's been unpredictable everywhere except for the thunder and that's why that's why my original about the finals that's the thunder series every series is thunder in four or five
Yeah, I mean, I don't know for sure that a Spurs series would go that way.
Of course, the Spurs need to get by the Timberwolves, and they're down 0-1 right now on that part. So that could be tricky in and of itself.
Yeah, absolutely. I will say the Thunder don't play an exciting brand to me. The Spurs, I think, are a pretty fun team to watch. Right. So ā and I think that Minnesota kind of plays with some attitude so that they can ā that can be enjoyable to watch too. But ā I know there's a lot of Thunder fan here.
I'd kind of like to see somebody else come out of the West just because I think it would be a better final. Like the Thunder just arrived and you're already bored with them? I just don't like the way that they play. I just don't think they're like a fun ā What don't you like? Well, I mean, it's foul baiting. And I think there's an intention ā there obviously is an intentionality to it.
And I think the NBA needs to address it because the way the Thunder play is perfectly within the rules. And I just think that the NBA needs to address how that's called. He was foul baiting. I mean, it's just not. Who wants to watch a guy shoot 15 free throws in a game?
Yeah. Not many. Michael Jordan made a career of it.
He's not Jordan.
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Chapter 7: What challenges does the Royals' lineup face this season?
And I think the Thunder try to be the best of both worlds. But, yeah.
So a lot of these nights are basketball or hockey. Which one do you have on? Both. Both. I got the TVs.
Whichever is the better game is what gets the sound. The hockey players have been terrific. Or the pit, if the missus is wanting to watch, then the pit gets the sound and the games are all around. Royals, if they're playing, get the sound. Yeah.
The hockey players have been terrific. They're a blast. They've been outstanding. Every year. They've been... I mean, the Wild Abs. Definitely better than the basketball. The Wild Abs series is going to be awesome.
Flyers Hurricanes, free hockey last night. I mean, yeah, the hockey's been tremendous. Half the games have been overtime. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the hockey has been insane. So it's just a great time to watch a lot of sporting events, no doubt. Sam, always great talking to you. We appreciate it. Thanks for coming down here to the Brookside Barrio.
I'll talk to you tonight on our Red Golden Bowl podcast.
Sounds great. Thanks. All right, LeBron James has scored 25 points in a playoff game six times since turning 40. Who's the only player with more? Brought to you by Lafetta Delicatessen.
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