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Of course I'm serious. Here's a newsflash - not everyone likes what you like. I like the NBA. At least there the talent is paid over the table instead of people making millions of the sweat of "amateur" athletes. College sports is completely boring to me. I also didn't attend any of the local schools.
I never said I was "rooting" for the Big 12 to dismantle. I appreciate the revenue the tournaments bring in. I'm just saying if they dissolve, we need to get ready for life post-Big 12. I know college sports is huge here. Fur trading also used to be huge here. Times are changing. KC can adapt. If the Big 12 dissolves, we'll have to focus on something else, because I doubt we host any conference tourneys any more. Better to get ready for the transition than let the conference fall apart and wonder what happened.
I've always wondered - why are college sports so big here anyway? Its not like any of the local schools have ever been good at football. KU is pretty dominant at college basketball, but the other schools haven't done anything. I don't really get it. At least in the NBA you have a shot at a championship, even if you're a smaller city.
Well said again!
Nobody wants KC to lose the Big 12 events and the revenue and tourism that comes with it.
But come on. I think having a full time NHL or NBA team in KC would do a lot more for KC than one or two weekends a year and why not have both???
KC still needs a winter major league tenant. The metro supports three other teams that often overlap in the fall then there is very little going on in the winter months.
KC needs a pro team that will play downtown and bring 12,000-18,000 fans downtown an additional 40-50 nights during the slowest time of the year for KC tourism when the zoo is cold, worlds of fun is closed, the royals are done etc.
And calling the NBA trash? Seriously? How immature. I have no interest in college sports, but I wouldn’t call it trash either.
As far as nobody in KC being interested in the NBA? That’s ridiculous. You hang around people that have the same interest as you and that’s proably a good reason why everybody you know is into college sports. The potential NHL and NBA fans in KC are in the closet BECAUSE KC DOESN’T HAVE A TEAM so you don’t see them.
When I lived in KC, most people I knew personally would much rather have a pro team to follow. But like me, they would go ahead and at least pretend to care about college sports just because it was the only thing going on. So I was like go mizzou. Even though I really didn’t give a rip if they won or lost. It was part of interacting with the college nutjobs. I think people past the age of 25 that are die hard college fans are somewhat looney. But whatever.
Grow up KC. At the very least, you should want a pro team even if you can’t have one. Think big.
Also, KC is not the basketball town it once was. It’s not 1939 anymore. KC no longer host final fours and rarely even hosts divisional finals and KU is only big in KC. Out here KU is pretty much not recognized or ignored and KC is absolutely not known as a college basketball mecca like other places are.
I like the NBA but what gets me upset is how people think NBA players are nothing but weed smoking thugs. I can't even think of one thug person in the NBA, most of the players are pretty decent guys since Stern has implemented rules while players like PacMan Jones and Kenny Britt make off field headlines every other day.
The NFL has way more felons, murderers (Leonard Little, Ray Lewis, Marvin Harrison), cheaters, steriod users and players who have just died while still in their career, then the NBA could ever dream of, yet the NFL gets so much praise and love from everyone all of that just gets swept under the table.
Of course I'm serious. Here's a newsflash - not everyone likes what you like.
Where did I ever say they did?
Quote:
Originally Posted by PVPete
I've always wondered - why are college sports so big here anyway? Its not like any of the local schools have ever been good at football. KU is pretty dominant at college basketball, but the other schools haven't done anything. I don't really get it. At least in the NBA you have a shot at a championship, even if you're a smaller city.
So your local schools have to be good at football for their to be an interest in college sports? Can you please explain that logic because it doesnt make any sense. There are far more college sports than football anyway.
First, we have three major division I universities within a 2 hour driving distance. Second, we are the hub of one of the main college conferences in the nation. Three, we host numerous college events and tournaments every single year. Four, we have a long history of college sports tradition. Five, you have a perennial powerhouse basketball program at KU. I could go on but there at tons of reasons why this is a college sports town.
I dont understand your last sentence. KU, MU, and K-State programs have been in the running for national championships over the last few years and KU Basketball is almost always a Top Ten program.
I like the NBA but what gets me upset is how people think NBA players are nothing but weed smoking thugs. I can't even think of one thug person in the NBA, most of the players are pretty decent guys since Stern has implemented rules while players like PacMan Jones and Kenny Britt make off field headlines every other day.
The NFL has way more felons, murderers (Leonard Little, Ray Lewis, Marvin Harrison), cheaters, steriod users and players who have just died while still in their career, then the NBA could ever dream of, yet the NFL gets so much praise and love from everyone all of that just gets swept under the table.
If you were to take the percentage of athletes that get into legal trouble compared to those that dont and then compare it to the percentage of regular people that get into legal trouble that dont, I guarantee that the percentage of athletes that get into trouble is a fraction of what average people do. The only reason people think athletes get into trouble all the time because it gets publicized when they do. There are nearly 1700 NFL players and we hear about a whole 5 or 6 getting into trouble each year. Do the math, that is nothing.
Where did I ever say they did?
So your local schools have to be good at football for their to be an interest in college sports? Can you please explain that logic because it doesnt make any sense. There are far more college sports than football anyway.
First, we have three major division I universities within a 2 hour driving distance. Second, we are the hub of one of the main college conferences in the nation. Three, we host numerous college events and tournaments every single year. Four, we have a long history of college sports tradition. Five, you have a perennial powerhouse basketball program at KU. I could go on but there at tons of reasons why this is a college sports town.
I dont understand your last sentence. KU, MU, and K-State programs have been in the running for national championships over the last few years and KU Basketball is almost always a Top Ten program.
I never said football teams have to be good, I was simply asking why college sports is so big here. I get why its so big in the south - they have really good programs and no sports teams. I get it in Nebraska. But here in KC we have two pro sports teams and pretty mediocre college sports teams. So I don't get that. That's all. I've lived in other cities - DC, Cleveland - that are pretty close to colleges and they aren't the same way.
I don't really follow college sports, but I don't recall KU/KSU/Mizzou ever playing for a national championship or really getting that close. KU went like 10-1 one year I know, but they were never really close to playing for a national championship were they? In any case, it was only one year and from what I can tell, the national championship always seems to be SEC schools or Ohio State or USC.
But come on. I think having a full time NHL or NBA team in KC would do a lot more for KC than one or two weekends a year and why not have both???
KC still needs a winter major league tenant. The metro supports three other teams that often overlap in the fall then there is very little going on in the winter months.
I do not think we could support both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
KC needs a pro team that will play downtown and bring 12,000-18,000 fans downtown an additional 40-50 nights during the slowest time of the year for KC tourism when the zoo is cold, worlds of fun is closed, the royals are done etc.
Agreed. However, the NHL would do much better here than the NBA and the NHL is much more likely. The NBA is currently discussing contraction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
And calling the NBA trash? Seriously? How immature. I have no interest in college sports, but I wouldn’t call it trash either.
It is trash. It isnt immature it is an assessment of a crap product. The most fundamental and important rule in the sport of basketball is dribbling. If a player is not forced to dribble it becomes a different sport. The NBA allows players to take 5 or 6 steps to the basket to dunk because it increases the number of highlights on ESPN. The sport is also no longer made of teams but rather superstars with supporting cast. The entire message of that league sends the wrong message and it is a trashy product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
As far as nobody in KC being interested in the NBA? That’s ridiculous. You hang around people that have the same interest as you and that’s proably a good reason why everybody you know is into college sports. The potential NHL and NBA fans in KC are in the closet BECAUSE KC DOESN’T HAVE A TEAM so you don’t see them.
You think I choose my friends based on who likes college sports and who doesnt? You'll be hard pressed to find a bigger sports fan than me. I spend a lot of time at sports bars and other places where sports fans congregate and I have literally seen hoardes of people ask for the TV to be changed when an NBA game is playing to watch a college game of two obscure college teams. To see NBA apparel worn around or see people openly discussing the NBA is a rarity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
I think people past the age of 25 that are die hard college fans are somewhat looney. But whatever.
You called me immature for calling the NBA trashy but turn around and say this? Pot, kettle, kettle, pot.
People in this country inherit college fandom, it is a part of who some people are. Being a college sports fan is how a lot of people get into sports in the first place. College sports was popular in this country before professional sports existed. College sports is about as an American as a thing as you can get. College sports fandom is something that is handed down generation to generation. It is a part of who people are. More so than professional sports will ever be. You may not understand that but this is a fact. College sports and being a fan is as American as apple pie. People choose to support a professional sports team but people that support colleges was actually apart of that organization at one time or they inherited it from a family member who was a proud member of that institution. How can you call that looney? It's about being proud of where you received your education and having pride in who provided it. It is about having pride for your local area. These college and universities that you ridicule people for supporting have been around since the 19th century. They were around before the first professional sports team was even thought of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
Grow up KC. At the very least, you should want a pro team even if you can’t have one. Think big.
What does any of this have to do with growing up? The Big 12 is a part of the culture of this city and they do not want to lose that. It has nothing to do with growing up. Why does it have to be pro sports vs. college sports? I think most people want a professional team but want the Big 12 to remain as well. It doesnt have to be one or the other. However, I think an NBA team would struggle in the long run.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
Also, KC is not the basketball town it once was. It’s not 1939 anymore. KC no longer host final fours and rarely even hosts divisional finals
KC actually still host a ton of college basketball tournaments at various levels including the entire NAIA National Tournament. It doesnt host Final Fours because the NCAA has gotten greedy and feel it needs to be in a 80k seat dome. In fact, if you add up all the college basketball events that take place here each year it is probably far more than any other city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
KU is only big in KC.
Wrong. KU gets more Big Monday appearances than any other college basketball school year after year. That wouldnt happen if the big markets on the coast were not tuning into watch. Last year when Thomas Robinson's mom died it was a top story on ESPN for several days. In fact, anything out of the ordinary with KU basketball gets top attention from the national media.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo
Out here KU is pretty much not recognized or ignored and KC is absolutely not known as a college basketball mecca like other places are.
And I am sure you know this since you are such a big college basketball fan and probably talk about it so much. It's funny you claim to not like it or really follow it but yet you know so much about it. Weird how that works, huh?
KU gets enough attention for being a school in the middle of Kansas. Is it going to get much attention compared to bigger schools on the coast? Of course not. That has nothing to do with KCs status as a college basketball town or the popularity of KU elsewhere, it is just how media in this country works. Kind of like how the Chiefs do not get as much air time as the Jets or Patriots. That doesnt mean KC is less of a football town than NY or Boston, does it?
But here in KC we have two pro sports teams and pretty mediocre college sports teams.
We have three professional sports teams - Chiefs, Royals, Sporting
You say this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PVPete
I never said football teams have to be good
Then you say this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PVPete
I don't really follow college sports, but I don't recall KU/KSU/Mizzou ever playing for a national championship or really getting that close. KU went like 10-1 one year I know, but they were never really close to playing for a national championship were they? In any case, it was only one year and from what I can tell, the national championship always seems to be SEC schools or Ohio State or USC.
You're in implying that we shouldnt be such big sports fans unless we are regular national championship contenders. Your question people being big fans because none of the local schools are national championship contenders. There are about 120 Division I football programs and only 1 wins the National title. There are other goals for schools to reach.
Both MU and KU were about a win away from playing in a National Championship game in 2007 which is the year you were referring too.
A few of things to note - 1) there are more college sports than just football, 2) all three local schools have had runs in football where they have been pretty good and MU is currently in the Top 25, 3) KU is a perennial national powerhouse in basketball and both MU and K-State have pretty good programs, 4) the Big 12 is one of the strongest, most competitive conferences in the nation, 5) we have a pretty good population of fans from all 12 (now 10) schools here in KC. There is literally at least one fan for all schools at my office so it makes for interesting talk and banter, 6) college sports is part of our history and culture.
The Big 8 before the Big 12 was based here and basically all big events for those 8 schools would take place here. That is probably one of the main reasons why fandom is so big here.
RjRobb is right. I posted a comment on this last night but deleted it because I didn't want to get into it.
The annual Big XII men's college basketball tournament is an important part of KC sports culture and has been for decades. Losing this tournament would be the main loss for KC if the Big XII were to dissolve. Football in the Big XII is a Texas/Oklahoma thing. Basketball in the Big XII is a Kansas City thing.
Kansas City is a college basketball town. Certain people do not like the college sports culture in KC because much of that culture, much of what makes Kansas City a college basketball town in particular, comes from the University of Kansas. And certain people, who are wedded to a very Missouri-centric viewpoint of what Kansas City should be about, do not and cannot identify with the University of Kansas, and so they choose to shun the college sports culture in KC.
James Naismith started the NAIA (still based in KC). Phog Allen started the NCAA tournament. Both were KU coaches. Both were instrumental in getting NAIA and NCAA events to be held in Kansas City (Kansas City, MISSOURI). KU played their first game as a basketball program in 1899 against the Kansas City YMCA (in Kansas City, MO). KU played in the NCAA national championship game at Municipal Auditorium in 1940, 1953, and 1957, and won the NCAA national championship at Kemper Arena in 1988. The history, tradition, and success of the University of Kansas' men's basketball program, and the close association of that program to Kansas City, is why Kansas City is a college basketball town. The University of Missouri has done absolutely nothing for college basketball in KC. MU has never even been to a Final Four.
As you can imagine, this rubs certain people the wrong way. Especially people who cannot get over their myopic Missouri-centered view of what KC should be about. That's why certain people want to deny Kansas City's importance as a college basketball town, and even deny the very importance of college sports at all to Kansas City's culture. It's because much of that culture, much of what makes Kansas City a college basketball town, comes from KU.
RjRobb is right. I posted a comment on this last night but deleted it because I didn't want to get into it.
The annual Big XII men's college basketball tournament is an important part of KC sports culture and has been for decades. Losing this tournament would be the main loss for KC if the Big XII were to dissolve. Football in the Big XII is a Texas/Oklahoma thing. Basketball in the Big XII is a Kansas City thing.
Kansas City is a college basketball town. Certain people do not like the college sports culture in KC because much of that culture, much of what makes Kansas City a college basketball town in particular, comes from the University of Kansas. And certain people, who are wedded to a very Missouri-centric viewpoint of what Kansas City should be about, do not and cannot identify with the University of Kansas, and so they choose to shun the college sports culture in KC.
James Naismith started the NAIA (still based in KC). Phog Allen started the NCAA tournament. Both were KU coaches. Both were instrumental in getting NAIA and NCAA events to be held in Kansas City (Kansas City, MISSOURI). KU played their first game as a basketball program in 1899 against the Kansas City YMCA (in Kansas City, MO). KU played in the NCAA national championship game at Municipal Auditorium in 1940, 1953, and 1957, and won the NCAA national championship at Kemper Arena in 1988. The history, tradition, and success of the University of Kansas' men's basketball program, and the close association of that program to Kansas City, is why Kansas City is a college basketball town. The University of Missouri has done absolutely nothing for college basketball in KC. MU has never even been to a Final Four.
As you can imagine, this rubs certain people the wrong way. Especially people who cannot get over their myopic Missouri-centered view of what KC should be about. That's why certain people want to deny Kansas City's importance as a college basketball town, and even deny the very importance of college sports at all to Kansas City's culture. It's because much of that culture, much of what makes Kansas City a college basketball town, comes from KU.
While I agree that KC is a college basketball town, I think you are really full of yourself is most of your post here.
I grew up in KCMO and didn't even know the difference between KU and KState till I went to college myself because I grew up in a family that didn't care about college sports, MU or KU. They were into the Royals and Chiefs. Most people in my family knew more about the Cards and Blues than KU or MU.
While college sports are popular in KC and KU does have a very solid history that is directly tied to KC and Lawrence is a very important and integral part of the region, people have to remember that there are over 2 million people in the KC area and while there is a very die hard college sports following, there has got to be a huge population in the city that would awaken if KC had an NHL or NBA team.
Robb mentions above that people in KC don’t want to watch an NBA game. Why the hell would they? Why would most people in KC give a rip about some random game between Memphis and Portland? KC doesn’t have a team but if they did, you would be fighting over these non-existent fans that want to watch KC’s NBA or NHL team on some sports bar tv. You have to actually have a team. But even then, KC Is one of the largest non NHL/NBA markets to watch NBA and NHL playoffs.
I think you guys are being extremely short sighted on this topic.
This topic is about what would happen to college sports in KC if the Big 12 dissolved. There was no reason to even bring NBA/NHL into it.
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