Back to web version
T-Bones put a muzzle on their Michael Vick promotion
By JEFFREY FLANAGANThe Kansas City Star
It would appear the T-Bones won’t be welcoming Michael Vick to the neighborhood after all.
We think.
The T-Bones had been planning a May 28 promotion called the Michael Vick “Welcome to the Neighborhood” night. Vick is serving a 23-month sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in nearby Leavenworth after pleading guilty to charges relating to a dogfighting ring.
The promotion was to include the T-Bones wearing old-style, black-and-white striped prison uniforms while the visiting Gary Southshore RailCats were to wear orange jumpsuit tops. The uniforms were then to be auctioned off, with proceeds going to benefit local animal shelters.
The promotion got our attention earlier in the week. It also received national recognition, including a story in USA Today. Normally, that kind of publicity is a minor-league team’s dream.
But late Friday afternoon, the T-Bones indicated they were going to “clarify the intent of their May 28 promotion” and modify the night’s activities to “place more emphasis on animal safety and adoption.”
Whether that means that all of the prison-themed plans — the prison uniforms, players wearing shackles, escapee sirens blaring — will be cancelled wasn’t clear from the news release.
It is known, however, that the original promotion did not sit well with everyone, including animal advocate groups and the NAACP.
T-Bones general manager Rick Muntean did not return phone messages on Saturday.
He did state in an earlier release: “It was not our intent to be culturally insensitive. For those who may have been offended, we sincerely apologize.
“We simply want to raise awareness for what we think are great causes. We recognize that the health and well-being of animals is a widely supported cause of our fan base, so we’re going to keep that our only focus.”
The night’s events will include a dog parade and pregame dog-adoption viewing.
Catfish Greinke?
On the flip side, national observers are noticing the Royals’ pitching. ESPN’s Jayson Stark said one scout told him that Zack Greinke seemed like a “cross between Greg Maddux and Catfish Hunter.”
“One of the best pitchers in the game for me,” said another scout.
“Dynamic stuff with tremendous, award-winning upside,” said yet another scout.
Unfortunately, Greinke wasn’t all that dynamic Saturday, his first rough outing of the season.
Real rating
FSN Kansas City confirms that the rating for the Royals’ home opener was a 5.2, not a 3.4 as the original Nielsen ratings had suggested.