TomBarndtsTwin |
05-10-2019 10:37 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
(Post 14262108)
Yeah, I'm just thinking in a strictly sports context.
Kaufmann's meant so much to KC because of Kaufmann pharmaceuticals was printing money for a long time. It's predominantly other business interests that have given him the impact on the community he had.
Hunt, OTOH, is a sports figure and little else. I know its parsing it thin and perhaps its an impossible distinction to draw, but I think that if you're talking about a KC Sports Rushmore, it's difficult to give Kauffman 'full credit' for all the things he has done in town when it was primarily interests outside of sports that allowed for them.
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While this is obviously true, Kauffman spent a lot of his own personal wealth to keep the Royals competitive with the likes of the Yankees and other 'big market' teams (granted this was before the era of huge television deals and baseball contracts taking off to unholy amounts). He 'lost' several million dollars spending on his own players and free agents, sometimes ill-advised (Davis brothers, anyone), to try and keep the Royals at or near the top for as long as possible, especially towards the end of his life . . . . .
The Royals were ultimately a victim of the systematic reconfiguration of baseball, while the Chiefs got popular at a time when revenue sharing and a salary cap were beginning to have such a large impact on the sport.
I believe if you put the Chiefs and Royals under the same systems (either baseball's or footballs), the majority of KC fans would flock to the Royals, assuming an equal playing field for all the competitors. That's just my personal belief, though, but it is shared among many Kansas City sports fans that I associate with.
Baseball has a LOT of history and ties to KC, all the way back to the post-depression era. Long before Hunt ever moved his team here.
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