It's always March Madness in Kansas City
Don't chew gum when you go on camera for ESPN's SportsCenter.
That's a little tip I picked up after I made a brief appearance reading game highlights on the SportsCenter set in Kansas City recently.
Kansas City? You thought SportsCenter was broadcast from the network's location in Bristol, Conn., right?
Well, wrong dude. And that's just one of many surprises you'll find after a visit to Kansas City, Mo., the little Cowtown on the MoKan border that all of a sudden has leap-frogged over other Midwestern cities into the 21st century.
The ESPN Sports Center is a part of the College Basketball Experience, a new interactive attraction in downtown KC that celebrates the history of the game so intimately intertwined with the nearby University of Kansas and legendary James Naismith and Phog Allen. The men's NCAA championship tournament was founded in Kansas City, and 11 Final Four tournaments have been held in Kansas City, more than any other city in the country (though none this year).
Although SportsCenter is, indeed, actually broadcast from Bristol, most nights the television studio in the College Basketball Experience is for real and capable of live ESPN broadcasts at any time. It will probably do so during the Big 12 Conference Tournament here March 13-16.
The College Basketball Experience, an undertaking of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, brings visitors into the excitement of a college basketball game while fans cheer, coaches shout and pep bands play. Visitors can choose to be a coach, a player or a fan in some of the biggest moments in the history of college hoops.
In a 30-second free throw effort, I didn't even hit the rim, but a coach and cheering crowd praised my efforts. Toddlers will find success in the Kids Court where the basket is less than 4 feet off the floor and more than 6 feet in diameter. Adults can learn and practice the secrets of a slam dunk. "There's more to it than showing off," the coach says.
And, of course, you can read game highlights from the real set of ESPN SportsCenter.
The College Basketball Experience is adjacent to the space-age-style Sprint Center, a new sports and entertainment venue christened with an opening concert by Elton John last October. But it was the second week of November when Garth Brooks came out of retirement for an unprecedented nine back-to-back concerts that really initiated Kansas Citians and those from across the country to the new excitement in downtown Kansas City.
The Sprint Center anchors the eastern edge of the massive Power & Light Entertainment District. The $850 million project covers nine square blocks of downtown with night life, shopping, office and residential space. It officially debuts in March, but has slowly been coming to life with new restaurants and entertainment venues opening for several months. Brick-paved sidewalks lead visitors past fountains, fire pits, pocket parks and outdoor seating. But indoors is also rocking at "the ultragroove lounge" called Mosaic and the Howl at the Moon piano bar.
Two legendary Kansas City theaters in the downtown area are also in the midst of renovation. The long-vacant Empire Theatre will become a six-screen boutique movie complex debuting the latest technology for Kansas City-based AMC Theatres. The magnificent Midland Theatre will have a restaurant and bar added to the facility.
Not all the new developments in Kansas City are downtown. The National World War I Museum opened Dec. 2, 2006, in Kansas City, the first national monument and museum outside of Washington, D.C. Located at the base of the Liberty Memorial, a 217-foot-tall obelisk in Penn Valley Park, the museum is situated on Gen. John Pershing Boulevard.
Dedicated by the people of Kansas City in 1926 to honor the 441 individuals from the city who fought in World War I, the monument was closed to visitors in 1994 because of crumbling sandstone and unsafe structural issues.
After a $20 million restoration, paid for by a half-cent sales tax, the people of Kansas City focused on raising another $76 million for a state-of-the-art museum that interprets an early-20th-century war for the high-tech children of the 21st century.
Crossing into the museum over a field of 9,000 red poppies, one representing each 1,000 people who died in World War I, is the last glimpse of color or brightness visitors experience as they become surrounded by the story of black, gray, brown and mud that was trench warfare in World War I.
"We died of mud," one exhibit says, quoting a soldier who watched as his comrades literally drowned in trenches of mud.
Among the nearly 50,000 items on display are a Bavarian 15-centimeter howitzer, a French troop-transport boxcar, a 1917 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a rare German Pour le Merite medal. It is considered the most comprehensive collection of World War I artifacts open to the public in the United States.
The Liberty Memorial is one of the highlights available on a Segway Tour of historic sites in the midtown area, one of the most exciting ways to get teenagers and adults interested in seeing the sights in town. Based inside Union Station, across the street from the Liberty Memorial, Segway of Kansas City offers three tours: the history tour, an arts/architecture tour of the Country Club Plaza and a zip around the Kansas City Zoo.
You'll have to walk to enjoy the massive expansion of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, just two blocks east of the Country Club Plaza. Last June, the massive shuttlecocks returned to the front lawn as the ribbon was cut on a $200 million expansion of the museum.
The Bloch Building houses the museum's collections of contemporary and African art and features new galleries for rotating exhibitions of photography. One of those galleries is devoted to a rotating exhibition of the recent acquisition of the Hallmark Photographic Collection, more than 6,500 works by 600 artists. It's considered the most important collection of photography in the country.
Renovation continues on the American and American Indian galleries. Until recently, the collection had been exhibited in a small gallery space on the third floor of the museum, but in late 2009, new galleries will open on the second floor of the original Nelson-Atkins Building. The galleries will increase space for the American Indian collection by 300 percent, boosting the Nelson-Atkins to one of the nation's top art museums in this field.
Another reason for visiting the Nelson is Rozzelle Court, easily recognized as one of Kansas City's most beautiful dining locations, where you can enjoy free jazz performances on Friday nights. Rozzelle Court is now joined by the Museum Cafe in the Bloch Building, which provides a second, more contemporary dining atmosphere. In nice weather, al fresco dining is also an option on the new entry plaza.
These are certainly some of the hottest developments on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro, but Kansas City, Kan., is also doing fine with a new arts district, NASCAR Speedway and massive shopping district called The Legends.
Kansas City, whether on the Missouri or Kansas side of the state line, has gained national and international attention for these developments, and certainly keeping everything up to date.
If you go
Kansas City
GO: If you like basketball, history and art
NO: If you're just hard to please
Need to know: Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association, (800) 422-9282, www.visitkc.com
Getting there: Kansas City is about 530 miles from Chicago. American and United have nonstop flights from O'Hare and Southwest flies nonstop from Midway.
When to go: Anytime is a good time for basketball, but March Madness is best to really enjoy the history of the game.
Lodging recommendations: Several downtown hotels have been renovated lately, including the Aladdin (www.hialaddin.com, (800) 957-4654) and the Hilton President (www.hilton.com, (816) 221-9490). On the Country Club Plaza, within walking distance of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, try the Southmoreland Bed and Breakfast ((816) 531-7979, www.southmoreland.com).
Attractions:
College Basketball Experience, (816) 949-7500, www.collegebasketballexperience.com
Sprint Center, www.sprintcenter.com
Kansas City Power & Light District, (816) 842-1045, www.powerandlightdistrict.com
National World War I Museum, (816) 784-1918, www.nww1.org
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, (816) 751-1278, www.nelson-atkins.org