Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor

High Scores Ahead

By Brock Wilbur

Greetings, dear reader, and welcome to our favorite issue of the year.

For 43 years, The Pitch has been a cornerstone of the KC community, from its humble beginnings at Penny Lane Records to the multi-faceted outlet you know and love today. As is tradition, we always put together a “Best Of” magazine that takes an extensive look at everything that makes this metro—and its surrounding areas—one of the greatest places in America to live/visit/celebrate/get rekt/fall in love/lose your mind/go hard in the paint.

This yearly tentpole issue serves as both a victory lap to all those involved and as a beacon that welcomes new blood to the city. I should know, as a Best Of issue picked up during a visit to KC was a cornerstone in the decision of my wife and I uprooting our lives from Los Angeles to come be part of this absolute rager happening in the center of everything.

As per usual, the issue is divided right down the middle. In the “Our Picks” section, the writers from The Pitch tossed out some thoughts and feelings on what we thought made KC into the all-star that she was this year—from our favorite rock stars on the football field to our favorite rock stars who blew stadiums away. Yes, obviously there’s a little crossover between those two subjects these days, which also just absolutely rips.

In the “Your Picks” section, the people of KC cast 679,500 votes in 505 categories, selecting their favorite people, restaurants, creators, businesses, and places to just get weird. The second half of the issue is fully hands-off from our internal team, and no weight was placed on any of the scales. The winners and runners-up in these categories were 1000% picked by the city after rounds of nomination and voting.

Does this magazine include every local hero and all that they did? Absolutely not. Is this the definitive list of the only people and businesses that are making a difference? Absolutely not. Is this a parade that we get to throw to celebrate the hard work and unyielding dedication of more people than there is space for naming them? Absolutely yes.

One of the reasons we went with this year’s arcade-based theme is that we look at this write-up a bit like the disco cyberspace of a mall games emporium. There’s a marketplace of ideas here, with hundreds of machines to play and so many worlds to see. In each of those spaces, this is a chance for the champions of 2023 to input their initials next to their high score—to be looked upon and adored by all those who step up to try their hand next. But what’s most important here is that these high scores are transitional. This is a city full of new players on the come-up, with quarters stacked next to the screen to indicate that they’ve got next. If your name isn’t sitting at No. 1 in the category where you regularly compete, well, we cannot wait to see what new techniques you bring to the battle in 2024.

Pitch in and we’ll make it through,