But five long years ago Bill Grigsby’s ticker took a licking — as in open heart surgery — and kept on ticking. Today he’s going strong. I caught up to the colorful sportscaster at a pre-opening bash for the new Mike & Charlie’s restaurant at Harrah’s North Kansas City Casino.
“You can say this,” the Grigster quipped. “Mike Garozzo has scored again. He knows how to run a first-class, big-time restaurant. And you know that rivalry with St. Louis? We don’t have it in the restaurant business.”
Good thing, since Charlie Gitto, of Charlie’s on the Hill of St. Louis fame, is Garozzo’s partner here.
But let’s talk sports…
Grigsby’s prediction for this year’s Chiefs? “Eight and eight,” he says. “I really believe we can do that.”
Will the Chiefs’ investment in youthful quarterback Brodie Croyle be a good one?
“I like the kid,” Grigsby says. “If you examine all the top quarterbacks today, it took about three years to get the job done, and he’s still working on those three years.”
Grigs says the high point of his career was working with Lamar Hunt and Clark Hunt.
Does he have any thoughts on the Royals and whether it’s time for owner David Glass to replace son Dan atop the beleaguered team’s corporate ladder?
“I’m not that close to David,” Grigs says. “They’re good people, but we got used to Ewing Kauffman, who was not only a good person, but he left the baseball to the baseball people.”
Then there’s the matter of how much longer the 80-something Grigsby plans to stay behind the microphone.
“Well, I’ve got two more years on my contract, and I love what I do,” he says. “But whatever happens, happens, you know?”
Disney Channel meets the Wizards update
Frustrated parents who couldn’t afford or were unable to get tickets to last fall’s Hannah Montana show at Sprint can score a comparatively cheap thrill without staying up late on a school night: Catching a meet-and-greet with budding Disney star Selena Gomez.
The gig goes down before the Wizards game Saturday in KCK. But with only 10,000 tickets, the Wizards have been selling out, so you best hurry. Oh, and get there early.
“Because she’s only going to sign for an hour and a half,” says Wizards marketing dude Rob Thomson. “From 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. We’re opening the gates a half-hour early at 5 p.m., and we turned away more than 500 people at our last game.”
Nichols new lunch
Artist and makeup artist Peggy Nichols — of Nichols Lunch fame — has work on display at Leawood’s new Park Place Gallery. The last day of Nichols’ show is Friday.
“Here’s the back-story,” Nichols says. “I’ve never stopped doing art even though makeup has always been my bread and butter.” Nichols does the makeup for “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS.
How she ended up in KC Brigade owner Chris Likens’ gallery?
“These guys found me on the Internet on my Web site and asked me if I’d show my work in their gallery,” Nichols says. “I’m an oil painter. And they’re figurative, large in scale and all of them are night paintings.”
Rather racy ones at that, featuring sexily clad mannequins in retail window displays.
Nichols’ wildest artwork? “You have to go in back (of the gallery) to see it, because I didn’t put it out,” she says. “It’s called ‘The Misinterpretation of Mary Magdalene.’ It’s mannequins in very Christmas lingerie, and I painted it like a Renaissance painting; they have halos around their heads. …You have to see it. You definitely have to see it.”
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