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From the sidelines

I've never worn a cowboy hat or boots. I don't like to tuck my shirt in. And I buy my jeans a little baggy.

I don't like country music. I would rather listen to a CD than go to a concert. And if I do go I would rather see a pretty girl on stage than a tucked-in shirt, cowboy hat, cowboy boots, tight-jean wearing good 'ol boy from Oklahoma (not that there's anything wrong with that).

But let me tell you what: seeing Garth Brooks in concert a week ago was worth every penny.

Especially because I didn't pay for the tickets, but it still would have been worth $100 or more.

Kicking off his first world tour in nearly eight years in Kansas City, I, along with my wife Jamie, mom, step-dad, and two of their friends, caught him on the third of his nine straight concerts at the new Sprint Center.

It was amazing. There is no other word to describe the performance.

At 45, Brooks still had it, wowing the crowd with his near-perfect voice, excellent guitar-playing skills, and even a few jokes.

"Being Mr. Yearwood isn't easy," he quipped at one point when he was on stage with wife Trisha Yearwood, who he actually let us know owns more Grammys than him.

There weren't any pyrotechnics or wardrobe malfunctions, just good old-fashion dancing and singing.

But the crowd was just as impressive.

Granted I haven't been to a lot of concerts, but it was the loudest one I've ever heard.

I have however, been to a lot of sporting events, and the crowds there couldn't hold a lighter to the one at the Sprint Center.

A playoff baseball game in Minnesota, a College World Series baseball game in Nebraska, Kansas City Chiefs games, KU-Nebraska, Chicago Bulls at the United Center, a NCAA tournament basketball game in Kentucky; they all sounded like a whisper compared to the fans of "The G-Man," as he called himself.

I was telling everyone after the concert how, yes, he is an entertainer and is supposed to make each concert feel like the only one he is every going to give. But he seemed so genuine in his appreciation for our appreciation of him.

That is what I was impressed with the most from the ultra-talented, youngest of six boys, country entertainer from Tulsa.

So, after the concert I gained some respect for the country music genre, but I'm not trading in my baseball cap for a cowboy hat.

Yet.

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