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Tale Of The Tape: New York City Vs. Kansas City

Ross Kelly, CBS Local Sports

Over the coming days you'll be hearing all about the World Series, the Mets and Royals, the pitching matchups, so on and so forth. Well, you can put all of that to the side as I'm here to talk about the cities themselves instead of the teams that play within them. New York City and Kansas City: roughly 1,200 miles apart in geography and even farther apart in lifestyles. Here are a couple of things to know about each city:

Food:

New York City: With NYC being a melting pot, virtually every ethnic cuisine imaginable is available in the city. I'll single out one of the most famous dishes served: New York-style pizza. If you're a fan of thin-crust slices that you can fold over, then this is for you. As someone who was born in Louisiana and lived in Chicago, this was a unique experience for me when I first got my hands on a thin-crust pizza. While the style may not be for everyone, there's a certain appreciation you have to have for the pliability of the crust that you just don't get with other types of pizzas.

Kansas City: KC-style barbecue is the signature cuisine of the city. It is so renowned within the area that grillers formed the Kansas City Barbecue Society almost 30 years ago and today it has more members than any other grilling/barbecue organization. The barbecue is characterized by the variety of methods of preparation from slow-roasting to smoking to braising; you can find every cooking technique in KC.

Celebrity Fans:

New York City: From Jerry Seinfield name-dropping Yeonis Cespesdes in a Tweet, to Kevin James taking BP with the Mets at Citi Field, to the artist formerly known as Artest AKA Metta World Peace laying down a Mets-inspired track, there is no shortage of celebrity fans for the Metropolitans. You really have to admire those who have supported the team through thick and thin because, unlike Yankees fans, Mets fans haven't always had a reason to root for their team. I'm sure we can expect to see celebrity band-wagoners hop out of the woodwork when the series shifts to Citi Field. I just hope they don't take the well-deserved seats of the true Mets fans.

Kansas City: I admit it, it was kind of tough to find celebrity fans for the Royals but I managed to, even though one of them is a bit of a stretch. Singer Lorde had a little song called "Royals" a few years back and while the New Zealand-born artist admittedly doesn't know much about baseball, she's certainly a fan of the word, Royals. She once saw George Brett rocking a Royals T-shirt in a magazine once and said, "It was just that word. It's really cool." As far as true Royals fans there most prominent is actor Paul Rudd who grew up in the area and even narrated HBO's Hard Knocks with the Kansas City Chiefs. Other fans include Rob Riggle and rapper Tech N9ne who sat right behind home plate in last year's World Series. (Here is a NSFW Instagram video of Tech N9ne at a game).

Performing Arts:

New York City: The Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, and specifically, the Julliard School, are among the most prestigious performing arts schools in the world. They receive applicants from all over the world and their 7% acceptance rate tells you just how selective their admissions process is. A who's who of actors, actresses, dancers, and composers count themselves as alumnus of Julliard. There's also a little thing in New York City called Broadway that attracts over 10 million visitors annually.

Kansas City: Though obviously on a much smaller scale, performing arts within Kansas City holds up well when compared to New York's scene. While St. Louis has the blues, jazz is most prominent within the Kansas City limits. The American Jazz Museum is housed in Kansas City in the same building in which the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum also resides. Many influences of Kansas City jazz can be heard all over the country including New Orleans, Chicago, and even New York City. The Kauffman Center for Performing Arts is in downtown KC and has had many notable performers including Willie Nelson and Aretha Franklin.

Landmarks:

New York City: NYC as a whole is incomparable when it comes to landmarks, so instead, I'll just focus on Queens. One of the most prominent within the borough is the Louis Armstrong House in which the famed musician lived in from 1943 until 1971. The house became a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and a New York City landmark in 1988. The house, located at 34-56 107th Street near 37th Ave., now operates as a museum that also presents concerts. Queens College operates the museum and its just a short distance from Louis Armstrong Stadium which is one of the venues of the US Open in Flushing Meadows.

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(Photo credit STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Kansas City: One of KC's most recognizeable landmarks is the Liberty Memorial which is located at the National World War I Museum and Memorial. It was completed in 1926 after fundraising for it began just a year after the war ended. The centerpiece of the memorial is a 217-foot tower that presents a flame affect at the top with bright red and orange lights. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006 and a national memorial in 2014.

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(Photo credit EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Ross Kelly is an Associated Producer for CBS Local Sports. He is from Louisiana and is a fan of all sports, but not of any teams (except LSU). He can be reached at ross.kelly@cbs.com.

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