Lamar Hunt was an admirable man. I thought that he was a great guy for all that he did with the American Football League. I thought he was one of those guys with a heart of gold when I shook is hand several years ago. Then, I counted it a privilege and now, things are different. He has turned out to be just as greedy as the other thirty-one NFL franchise owners. What happened to the man that stood up to the monopoly of the NFL. What happened to that guy, the renegade Lamar Hunt and “The Foolish Club”. I do not know what happened to that guy, but I can definitely see what is left of what was a great man.

Not only is Lamar Hunt different now, the times are different. He has been comparing this stadium election to the one in the sixties. He says that Kansas City was a city of vision and foresight then and thinks the same now. Well, he may be right about that. The only problem is people see things differently then they did back then. Do you know why people are seeing things differently today? Well, things are different now. It is not that hard to figure out. I know the save our stadiums people are trying real hard to conjure up feelings of nostalgia with their old video clips of parades and a packed Royals game. Come on SOS people, those video clips are from when the seats were orange at the K. One does not have to spend much time around here before the realization hits that this city has not had a real winner in twenty years. Twenty years. The teams, and their owners, have not done their jobs in twenty years. Wow, that used to get you fired. Luckily, for peterson and his gang, this is no longer the case. Times have changed, but the proponents of this awful plan seem to disagree. The teams and their owners have not produced a successful team in years and now they are saying that it is our job to pony up over $1 Billion.

You see, they believe we still live in the time when the NFL needed our help to build their stadiums. Back when the precedent was set for public subsidies, they did need our help. This was before the NFL became the cash cow that is today. Now, the NFL makes billions of dollars annually and are more than able to take care of themselves. Sure, the public helped them when they needed it and I can understand that. We, the public, were able to be a part of building the NFL from it’s early stages.

Now fast forward to 2006.

This is how Lamar and the NFL thank us. They thank us by allowing a threatening campaign, they thank us by raising ticket prices at an incredible rate, and they thank us by making us feel as if we should continue paying for their stuff only to keep the teams around for more heartbreak. I do not know about you, but this kind of thank you is not what I am looking for. Lamar Hunt and the NFL should show this community nothing but gratitude for taking care of them in their beginnings. Nope, they continue to wallow around in their greediness. It is time for us to stand up and say enough.

Kansas City, we have an incredible opportunity here. We have the opportunity to change the NFL paradigm a bit. We can take a little bit of that Lamar Hunt spirit from the sixties and stand up to this monopoly, because he won’t. Although, the standard has been set for the public to bear the burden of higher taxes so that owners can make more money, it does not mean it is right. In fact, it is robbery without a gun. Giving them this victory is kind of like taking care of someone, then that person wins the lottery, and then you continue to support them. It just does not make any sense.

Vote No on April 4th and send the “new and improved” Lamar Hunt a message. We helped you years ago, now it is time to return the favor.