Posts Tagged ‘Bob Costas’

That new voice on KMOX news belongs to Allison Blood, known to friends as Allie, and she has lots of friends and admirers after covering statehouse news and politics.  Like many of the talented staff
at KMOX, the vivacious Mizzou grad arrives by way of the Missourinet. .  .There is historical irony here.  Missourinet’s founding and still hard-charging news director Bob Priddy was just starting out in the
business when KMOX legend Bob Hyland dangled a job with pittance wages. Father of a young family, an unimpressed Bob Priddy instead joined Clyde Lear and the late farm broadcaster Derry Brownfield in pioneering what became Missourinet and its parent company, Learfield Communications.  Nearly 40 years later, Learfield has more than 350 staffers, operates five state news networks, the leading agriculture radio network and manages multimedia athletics rights for more than 50 colleges and athletic associations. Learfield has grown into a multimedia power Bob Hyland could envy.  Learfield recently closing a large strategic investment by Shamrock Capital Growth Fund III, the
investment unit that originated with the Roy Disney family.  In Missourinet’s early years, Priddy received a job application from a young announcer at Lexington, Missouri station KLEX.  Priddy took the application to Clyde Lear, who put rookie sportscaster John Rooney to work on Mizzou basketball broadcasts, including a season alongside Bob Costas, who Hyland once hired as a wisp of a lad out of Syracuse University.  Now John shares the Cardinals broadcast booth with Mike Shannon and the meters keep moving.  Over the weekend on the Mssourinet, Alice Blood reported on the $100k Bank of America donation to help rebuild Mercy St. John’s Joplin Hospital.  That hospital became an iconic backdrop for news coverage of the May 22 Joplin tornado.  Its windows were shattered but the Stars and Stripes fluttered from the exposed windowsills.

That lovable, historic landmark on not-always-lovable Washington Avenue – the handsome Missouri Athletic Club- (MAC) – brought to minds on Thursday night sports heroes, who became household names  Painless nostalgia is hard to beat, when you meet up with the honorees at the “Rookie of the Year” event. presented by the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame and the MAC.  The program and dinner drew such notables as:

• Football Cardinals’ Ottis Anderson: “I live in New Jersey and build amateur football fields.”
• Football Cardinals head coach Jim Hanifan: “My heart goes out to Bill Bidwill, who’s affected by Alzheimer’s. Some people ask me why I feel that way because he fired me. and I tell them, ‘Yes, but he hired me.’”
• Baseball Cardinals’ Wally Moon: “I’ve written a book, ‘Moon Shot,” and it’s about my years in baseball, including  from 1954-1958 with the Cardinals, when I played with Stan Musial and Kenny Boyer.”
• St. Louis Hawks Basketball’s Bob Pettit: “I’m totally retired nowadays – no more challenges.”

About 400 guests assembled in the ballroom, where Hall of Fame’s president Greg Maracek pointed out that the $25,000 raised from the event (including a generous donation from Bob Costas) will be used to underwrite the maintenance of the Sports Hall of Fame at Scottrade Center and to create an educational platform for the youth and adults “to know and understand and learn life lessons from the greats.” Here ‘n there were: glamorous event planner Kristie Schneidegger; Todd Worrell; Johnny Roland; Jim Leeker; Vince Coleman; Willie McGee; Roy Sievers; Bill Verdon and Ted Sizemore.The MAC is a point of view that points to itself with pride. Now, watch some spoilsport suggest it should be steel-balled. Later, the club’s exec David Weiss settled down with the columnist in the jumping Jack Buck Grill, teeming with associate club members (31 years-old and younger)  Weiss touted the MAC’s history and facilities. There are currently 2,400 members of the club, said prez Tom Albus. Among the younger set was Henry Elster, an attorney who specializes in constitutional law, who explained, “It’s more scholarly than any other field. I enjoy it, because there’s so much history involved. But, I won’t make a fortune.”

Bagels have been around for centuries and the ones bought by the columnist yesterday at a super market even longer. Once an entrepreneur made a fortune in South America selling them as halos for shrunken heads.  The ethnic specialty is eaten with gusto – whether with lox or butter.  For 94 years, the Theodoro Baking Co. in Hazelwood has been turning out  some of our town’s choice sweets, including those “Miss Hullings” cakes for Straub’s.  Now,  Theodoro owner Mike Daniels has stepped up to the plate, in the absence of Pratzel’s, to supply delis and stores with water bagels.  Are they as good as Pratzel’s?  “They’re even better,” insisted Daniels.  With any luck, diners can grab a few at the old style Sunday brunch at Charlie Downs‘ Cyrano’s in the heart of Webster Groves before the crowds converge there. Lunch and dinner are also served throughout the week, where diners can eye celebs including regulars Bob Costas, Kathleen Turner and Isaac Mizrahi. . .Happy half-century of wedded bliss to pizza vendors Marge and Ed Imo, who celebrated at Dominic’s on The Hill. . .Don Anderson, who has been serving as interim Ballwin prosecutor, is up for nomination for the permanent post.  His pal, Ray Kerlagen, has highly endorsed him which bodes well. . .

At Thursday night’s preview of the born-again Copia, 1122 Washington Ave., longtime business manager for Costas, Pam Davis, tipped that comedian/TV host Conan O’Brien and the multi-faceted Oscar winner, Robin Williams, will tread the boards (if available) at the Fox next April for the 23rd annual benefit for the Bob Costas Cancer Center at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

Copia, which opens to the public on Monday, dazzled hundreds of guests with the rooms that can seat more than 300 and the retractable roofed patio – just right for the rain forest climate – providing air conditioning (and heat in the cold season). A blizzard of dishes, beautifully conceived by chef David Rook, were fawned over by the jaded crowd. Among those making the rounds was developer Bill Bruce, who revealed he has already snagged a few tenants for his downtown Macy’s building. “Macy’s has seven more years to go on its lease,” said Bruce, whose building Copia occupies. “We built this restaurant at a cost of $2.5 million,” offered Bruce.

PEOPLE PEAK AT PREVIEW OF COPIA

Deanne Lane with Mike Neidorf

Speaking of broadcaster Costas, his annual outing at the Fox Theater to benefit Cardinal Glennon Medical Center, raised an estimated $500,000 Saturday night via a concert with Jennifer Hudson and comic Jimmy Fallon and a dinner.  That’s where the columnist cornered Deanne Lane, former Channel 5 anchor-turned-tubthumper for Centene Corp.  Lane chirped that her and hub Gregg Goodrich‘s son, Griffin, has turned 16 and is on Kirkwood High baseball team. Asked about rumors that she and Gregg had gone splitsville, Lane shot back, “We’ve loved each other since we met in the fifth grade.”  Neidorf left his wife, Neomi‘s kosher kitchen to sup, kibbitz and network among the crowd.  Dining there were Claudia and Channel 5′s Mike Bush, who updated the columnist on their three children, including their son, Matthew, who will marry Elizabeth Herrmann at the Old Cathedral, to be followed by a pouring at Kemoll’s.  Ebulient prez of the medical center, Sherlyn Hailstone, said she hopes to improve the hybrid cardiac cath lab for premies with congenital heart problems. She added, “Another phase of expansion will be a radiology lab and a pediatric intensive care unit.”  Dr. Philip Alderson, dean of St. Louis University’s school of medicine, expressed his vision, “We want to make Father Biondi’s dream come true to become the top Catholic medical center in the U.S.”  Dr. Alderson also said that a new track and field is in the works for the campus. Gina and Jeff Schindler were there with Abby and John Eilermann, chief of McBride & Son homebuilders.  “Banks realize it’s best to work together with people who’ve made it through (this recession)”, John said.  Meanwhile, McBride is jamming with its Paddington Villas in Chesterfield.