Thursday, January 29, 2009
Jim Chappell grabs a pair of menus and greets you when you enter Chappell’s Restaurant and Sports Museum. And yes, he has a minute to spare to share any number of the impossible to count memories adorning the walls and ceilings.
Your attention is initially drawn overhead to the more than 1,000 football helmets hanging that range from high school to the pros — including a half dozen Jayhawk helmets despite the restaurant’s location at 323 Armour Road, Kansas City, Mo.
Here liquor bottles are overshadowed by a fleet of framed baseball jerseys and the Kansas City Royals World Series trophy behind the bar. As you make your way past the 1984 and 1996 Olympic torches — two items Chappell says patrons often miss — you find your seat near the fireplace where a mounted elk rests above Paul Hornung’s Heisman Trophy.
You order the rainbow trout amandine — the best you’ve had — and your date selects the smokehouse chicken grill. And while Ole Miss seals an upset of Kentucky on television, you spot a chair hanging that was once occupied by fans at the old Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.
“See that wire under the bottom?” Chappell asks. “That was where you put your straw hats.”
Chappell takes the time, every day, to meet customers and deliver impromptu tours when asked. When Chappell learns that you are a KU student, another floodgate opens. He can list the entire roster of this year’s basketball team and reminisces of the games he has attended this season with Jim Hinrich — Kirk’s dad.
Jim coaches up the road at North Kansas City High School and drops by Chappell’s twice a day. The only thing keeping him away tonight is a game underway. Chappell says he will accompany the two to see Kirk’s number retired in Allen Fieldhouse March 1.
This of course inspires another KU story. One captured in a glossy action shot of Bud Stallworth — who once dropped 50 points on Mizzou. The signature reads: To my good friend Jim, I remember the night you held me to 50 points. Always, Bud Stallworth.
When you finish your curly fries, you’ve long resigned that one trip is not enough to take it all in and no number of visits will be. As Texas and Baylor play on television, A.J. Abrams breaks Jeff Boschee’s Big 12 record for three-point baskets — inevitably stoking a few more KU memories.
Then the check arrives. You pay, tipping 20 percent, and leave much in the same fashion you entered — eyes glancing everywhere. Near the door, Chappell wishes you a good night and safe journey on your way out into the Kansas City night. You tell him you’ll be back soon.
— — Edited by Realle Roth
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