Call it a public radio-baseball throwdown.
Last week our reporter Cody Newill wrote a piece comparing our city to Baltimore, in an attempt to playfully compare the two cities with teams playing for the ALCS Championship.
Well, before long the staff at Baltimore's public radio station WYPR got wind of the article and responded with their own comparison. But they didn't stop there.
Late last week, WYPR emailed KCUR with a wager we just couldn't turn down: the station with the losing team in the series will produce a 30-second radio spot for the station with the winning team. In the spot the losing station must congratulate the winning team and wish them luck in the World Series.
In addition, Anthony Brandon, the general manager of WYPR, has made a supplementary bet with KCUR general manager Nico Leone. The general manager of the station with the losing team must become a member of the station with the winning team (which of course means contributing financially to the station).
After the Royals' two wins last weekend, we are feeling pretty good over here at KCUR. But we know we could just as easily find ourselves producing some humbling radio for our friends at WYPR.
Here is the language of the wager sent from WYPR:
Dear friends/rivals at KCUR,
It is with great interest and amusement that we read your on-line comparison of your home town, Kansas City, to our own city of Baltimore.
We’ve pondered the idea of writing an equally pontificating response, but here in Baltimore we prefer action.
To that end, we propose the following wager:
If the Royals take the series, then we, the staff at WYPR, will produce for KCUR a 30-second spot congratulating the Royals and wishing them luck in the World Series.
If the Orioles take the series, then you, the staff at KCUR, will produce for WYPR a 30-second spot congratulating the Orioles and wishing them luck in the World Series.
Fellow public radio nerds at KCUR, consider the gauntlet hereby thrown down!
We eagerly await your response.
Sincerely,
WYPR
The Kansas City Royals are scheduled to play the Baltimore Orioles in the third game of the ALCS Championship in Kansas City on Tuesday night (after Monday night was rained out). The winner of the best-of-seven series will play in the World Series.
