Featured in Category

Big Changes for Wichita Force Football

By |

The Wichita Force professional indoor football team needs no reminder that when it comes to in-person professional sports, and life in general, the theme of the last two years has been “disruption.” At Tuesday’s Wichita Independent Business Association (WIBA) meeting, the team reintroduced their brand to Wichita with two big announcements: home games will move from the Kansas Star Casino to the Wichita Ice Center; and the team is changing leagues, joining the expanding Arena Football Association (AFA). Team owner Jeff Martin is billing this year’s team as “The Greatest Show on Turf” and is approaching these two big changes with humility and a desire to learn how to better reach an audience. “We know we’ve made some mistakes as a team here,” said Tommy Benizio, adviser to the Wichita Force. Reaching out to people that aren’t necessarily the traditional football or sports fan is part of Martin’s push for growing the team’s fanbase. The team’s kicker might be able to help with that.

Feature Stories

Closed: A Grocery Story

By |

It’s the first day of July in 2021. The exterior of what used to be O’Bryhim’s Thriftway looks unchanged at first glance.
Time travelers from 1995 (or 1985, or 1975) might whiz by on Maple Street without noticing much at all. The tan metal and brown brick remain the same. The word “Thriftway” is still on the signs. Only a local would notice “O’Bryhim’s” has been replaced by “Overbrook.”
I’m an O’Bryhim. This was partly my store and is partly my story, and the absence of our family name is one I feel in my gut.

Feature Stories

The Wit of Stillman

By |

Cinematic villains come in several predictable flavors: the capitalist (Avatar, The Muppets, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo); the war-monger (Avatar again, A Few Good Men, Platoon) the upper-class snob (Titanic, Harry Potter, The Lion King [Jeremy Irons’ Scar might be the first lion to attend Oxford]); the upper middle-class salesman (sometimes an asshole [Glengarry Glen Ross] and sometimes a fraudster [The Wolf of Wall Street]); and the entitled rich woman (101 Dalmations, Game of Thrones [not a film, but literally entitled]). If they are not the enemy, these archetypes are at the very least portrayed as boring buffoons who represent “the Establishment.” It is no surprise that writers and directors, part of society’s avant-garde, make this choice. West Los Angeles bursts with refugees from banal, suburban Midwestern childhoods. It is from this collection of “types” that writer and director Whit Stillman selects the heroes for his first two films: Metropolitan and Barcelona. Along with The Last Days of Disco, these films constitute an unofficial trilogy.

Feature Stories

Machismo, Clint and a Film Legacy

By |

Upon the release of Cry Macho, a critic might be tempted to speak with finality about the career of Clint Eastwood: THIS will be his last hurrah as actor or director. But three years ago, when Eastwood starred as The Mule, surely THAT was going to be his last time in front of the camera? And at the age of 89, when Richard Jewell premiered, one might have spoken with confidence that it would be Eastwood’s last directorial effort. So, pardon me if I choose not to take the sucker’s bet and view Eastwood’s latest film as the cherry on top of a long career. It’s 1979 in Texas and Eastwood’s Mike Milo is a worn-out rodeo star whose boss, Howard Polk, keeps him on the payroll more out of pity than necessity.

Featured in Category

Pitchers and Belly-itchers: A Baseball Story

By |

When you put on a pair of stirrups, you feel like a baseball player. The toe-less and heel-less socks make a loop underneath your foot. It’s not just a piece of stretchy fabric. That loop stretches through time and space to connect you with George Brett and Wade Boggs and Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle. These days, major leaguers consider them passé.

Featured in Category

Field Guide to the Partee of the Year

By |

My confession is that I don’t love golf. But you don’t even have to LIKE golf to like the Wichita Open’s 17th hole. Put on by Wichita Wings legend Roy Turner, this annual golf tournament, part of the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour, has blossomed into Wichita’s social event of the year. Even with 100 degree heat, the 17th Hole is one of my favorite places to be. I am not exactly a party animal, but after a year of COVID-19, I was ready to rub some elbows.

Featured in Category

Riverfront Stadium Hosts Peek at New PBS Kansas Baseball Documentary

By |

An evening dedicated to a documentary film about baseball in Kansas couldn’t have ended on a better note than a yelled exclamation from longtime Wichita State Shocker head coach Gene Stephenson:

“I love baseball!”

Wednesday night’s VIP event atop the Wichita Wind Surge’s Riverfront Stadium in the Fidelity Bank Bravely Onward Club provided attendees a first look at PBS Kansas’ latest local documentary. Kansas Baseball: Swinging for the Fences takes viewers on a highly detailed journey through the long and surprisingly storied history of America’s pastime in Kansas. Written, produced, narrated and shot by PBS Kansas’ Chris Frank, this 90-minute documentary film (two hours when shown on-air) premiered on PBS Kansas Thursday at 7 p.m. and will re-air at the same time Tuesday, June 15. “Chris [Frank] did a fantastic job. He shot it and wrote it by himself,” said PBS Kansas’ Jim Grawe, who came up with the idea for the film and also served as executive producer.

Feature Stories

The Return of Wichita Madhouse

By |

Filming a TV episode involves solving a lot of small problems. For instance, how to close a door when the cameraman stands behind it while filming the scene. And how does the cameraman keep everyone in the shot when the door swings shut? After a short discussion, the crew adjusts successfully. Tiny details make a real difference when thousands of people will be watching. The actors must make sure to pause for the laugh track that will be inserted later.

Feature Stories

Omar Gomez, 1980s Wings Soccer Star, Dies at 66

By |

Omar “El Indio” Gomez, a prolific goal-scoring forward who played for the Wichita Wings soccer team in three separate stints in the 1980s and early ’90s, died Tuesday in Argentina at the age of 66, after a long hospitalization for COVID-19 and pneumonia. “That’s sad news. He was a great guy and player,” said former Wings teammate Kevin Kewley. Gomez burst onto the local soccer scene in the middle of the Wings’ inaugural season in January 1980. Despite his late start, he would lead the Wings in goals scored that season.