KC celebs, sports icons and tech stars stick around; a hall of famer’s interviews reveal why

Sportscaster Frank Boal could’ve just retired; his wife (and Kansas City’s pull) made other plans

Former sports broadcaster and Pittsburgh native Frank Boal knows a thing or two about the pull of Kansas City, he shared. The longtime media personality moved here in 1981 for work and never left.

Now, Boal and his wife, Sarah McEnerney-Boal, lead a podcast that explores exactly why influential and inspiring individuals choose to call the City of Fountains home.

Frank Boal, former KSHB 41 sportscaster; photo courtesy of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

In “There’s Just Something About Kansas City” — launched in August 2023 — Boal sits down with noteworthy Kansas Citians (both natives and transplants) like Royals legend George Brett, actress Heidi Gardner, and rapper Tech N9ne to chat about their lives and what keeps them rooted here.

“Kansas City’s the star; that’s the bottom line,” explained Boal, now retired, who covered sports in KC for more than 40 years with WDAF-TV, KSHB-TV and 810 WHB Radio. “In every interview, we’ll get into their backgrounds — having fun, laughing — and tell stories. But then we always bring it around, ‘OK, what is it about this city that is so meaningful?’”

“All of these people — the Tom Watsons (legendary golfer) and the Cliff Illigs (Cerner co-founder and Sporting KC principal owner) — they could go any place, but this is their home base,” added McEnerney-Boal, the executive producer of the podcast. “That’s the heart of what it is we want to capture.”

Since its launch, “There’s Just Something About Kansas City” — which is also a 501c3 nonprofit sponsored in part by the Sherman, Cocherl, Bergman, and Haverty family foundations — has recorded 75 episodes and reached more than 650,000 listeners on platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.

“So many people believe in the same thing we do and have said, ‘This story needs to be told,’” McEnerney-Boal noted.

Click here to check out the full list of podcast episodes — featuring interviews with newsmakers and entrepreneurs from Roasterie founder Danny O’Neill to incoming Royals Hall of Famer Alex Gordon.

The mission of the nonprofit is to preserve and celebrate Kansas City’s rich history by capturing and sharing the diverse narratives that define Kansas City — from business leaders and entertainers to sports legends, historians, and civic figures.

Notable guests include Crosby Kemper III, former director of the KC Public Library and former director of the National Institute of Museum and Library Services with both the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations; John Sherman, majority owner of the Kansas City Royals; former KCMO Mayors Kay Barnes and Sly James; Andy Rieger, president and co-founder of J. Rieger and Co.; and musician Madisen Ward.

“Kansas City is unique,” McEnerney-Boal said. “To me, she really has her own persona, and it’s just brassy and sassy. I just love to tell that story.”

“This is supposed to be a legacy project,” she added. “We want it to go back to the city. We want this to be something that great-, great-grandkids could listen to.”

Finding the right man for the mic

McEnerney-Boal had the initial idea for “There’s Just Something About Kansas City” — although the couple wasn’t sure if it would be a book or radio show or podcast — and she’s the one who convinced Boal it could be a good retirement project, they shared.

“I wanted to play golf,” Boal joked. “I just wanted to lower my handicap.”

File photo of Frank Boal reporting on-location at the Live! Block at Power & Light for KSHB 41; photo courtesy of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

But McEnerney-Boal knew there was something there (and that Boal would need something to keep him busy in retirement). For years, she explained, she’d go to events with Boal and talk to people — like Chiefs legend Bobby Bell, to whom she gives credit for coining the phrase “there’s just something about Kansas City” — and wonder what made them stick around.

“‘You could go anywhere with the money that you have and the prestige that you have,’” she recalled saying. “‘Why are you still here?’ And everytime they would come back, ‘There’s just something about Kansas City.’ So every time we’d drive home, I’m just pounding on him like, that’s something. I’ve heard it too many times.”

“We knew it was a story that needed to be told,” she added.

When the couple — who met at 810 Radio — landed on the podcast format, McEnerney-Boal knew Boal (a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee) was the right person to lead the conversations, she said.

He wasn’t so sure.

“I thought as soon as somebody sees my name attached, they’re gonna think it’s just sports,” Boal explained. “I thought you need someone who can do all the genres. But she just kept pounding me. She always believed in me to do it, and it has worked out pretty well.”

“He’s always been pigeonholed as the sports person,” McEnerney-Boal continued. “He’s always done sports and done it well, but he’s got so many other interests. He reads voraciously and he’s just so interested in the cosmos and science, literature and history. Nobody knows that.”

“So I thought, this is our opportunity to use his journalism skills, to use his interviewing skills, put it out there, and showcase what it is from those people’s perspective — anyone from these silos: arts and entertainment, entrepreneurs, sports — that has kept them tied, in some way, shape, or form to Kansas City. So that’s what he uncovers during the podcast.”

Frank Boal and Sarah McEnerney-Boal’s dining room turned office for podcast planning. “There’s not been a meal eaten in there since 2023,” Boal noted; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

A 40-plus-year stop in KC

Boal has always been in the sports world, he shared, but he got a late start in journalism.

After playing football for Villanova, he coached for five years. When he realized that wasn’t his passion — and once he started helping a couple of local radio guys — he switched paths. With their encouragement, Boal went to night school at San Francisco State for journalism, driving a Wells Fargo truck during the day. 

After stops in Grand Coolee, Washington, Eureka, California, and Green Bay, Wisconsin — plus a switch from radio to TV — he landed in Kansas City at WDAF in 1981, he continued.

Boal signed a three-year contract and figured that would be the extent of his stay as he had bigger markets in mind — maybe a return to hometown Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or even ESPN. But every time another offer came in, a friend would always ask him if he was happy.

“People accepted me and my family,” Boal explained. “It’s an easy place to live. It just fit me. The people reminded me of my hometown. I was always comfortable.”

“So there is something about Kansas City,” he added.