Kansas City spent most of 2015 cheering for millionaires.
After decades of mediocrity which served as a running joke in the sports world, both the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs enjoyed a dramatic turnaround.
The Kansas City Royals World Series victory didn't create a windfall for local biz and it didn't make anyone's life that much better but it did give a few suburbanites something to cheer about in the face of three wars currently raging overseas that that the U.S. may or may not be losing depending on what website actually acknowledges the deadly conflicts.
In Kansas City sports winning is touted in the face of near record homicide numbers, outright class warfare over wage disparity, increased racial tension, an ongoing economic border war, rampant political corruption amid abysmally low voter turnout and Summer rioting in local entertainment districts.
Still . . .
ONCE AGAIN WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PERCEPTION IS REALITY AND SPORT WINNING CELEBRATION TRUMPS ANY REAL PROBLEMS CONFRONTING KANSAS CITY!!!
Nobody understands that power of empty victories more than Mayor Sly James who won reelection this year by a resounding margin over some homeless guy.
And for the record, this Kansas City year of the fanboy isn't just about sports . . .
Fanboys tout the Downtown Convention Hotel despite a bad deal that risks taxpayer cash.
Fanboys want a new airport even though most travelers simply demand better management of KCI in its current and convenient configuration.
Fanboys desperately want to convince Kansas City that a 2.nothing toy train streetcar will transform transit in the metro despite constant delays and cost overruns.
To be fair, civic fanboys are on the City Hall payroll in one form or another while sports cheerleaders have some kind of inner-turmoil they're dealing with in order to celebrate the ball handling of millionaire strangers . . . And we simply don't know what would cause a grown man to wear the jersey and name of another grown man across his back.
But I digress . . .
This year the fanboy dominates every facet of the Kansas City discourse.
Mindless cheering without regard to cost, casualties or even Democracy has muscled-in on a real conversation about important decisions confronting all of Kansas City. Sadly, fanboy cheering doesn't drown out gunfire, pay the bills or fix the streets.
At some point the cheering crowds grow silent, reality sets in and people are forced to live with the consequences of their decisions or misplaced priorities.
But not right now . . .
Tonight Kansas City gears up for amateur night and "journalists" do nothing but celebrate a year of victory over reality for one fleeting moment.
Splendid choice.
ReplyDeleteWho will get the award? As you wrote, most of the royals have already left down and none of the pro athletes who play for KC teams reside in this city.
KC is a winner.
ReplyDeleteDeal with it.
Here's what you're missing TKC: The problems that you're talking about don't really impact sports fans. They go back home to Johnson County when the game is done and they don't care about the murders or the schools or infrastructure? Why should they? If we don't.
ReplyDeleteMike Sanders should be the person of the year. Or whoever he ratted out.
ReplyDeleteThat was really good, Tony.
ReplyDelete"Kansas City spent most of 2015 cheering for millionaires."
Watching the middle class do this, always reminds me of puppies.
It is a strange phenomenon, this jock-sniffing for athletes that don't spend 5 extra minutes in KC that they aren't required to.
ReplyDeleteHell, I like baseball and the Royals, but part of me realizes that sports fandom in this country has gotten completely out of control.
^^^^^^^^ Word
ReplyDeleteThe parochialism (narrow mindedness) in Kansas City is difficult to wrap ones head around.
ReplyDeleteKC athletes pay the KCMO earnings tax, so quit bitching / whining about them not giving anything back. And I guarantee their contribution is much, much greater than the services they consume.
ReplyDeleteFanboys, either witting or unwitting, serve a valuable service to the leaders of this community. They help to make any ridiculous notion seem plausible.
ReplyDeleteYou're a freakin' weirdo Tony who seems obsessed with things you don't like but are powerless to to do anything about because people think you're...ready?...
ReplyDeletesome sort of weirdo.
Perception being reality, as you stated so clearly.
Checkmate, aphrodisiac of stalemate , ode to illusive power...and the winner is ?
ReplyDeleteI'm no fan of the etax, time to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteHollywood, pro sports, big bucks Buffet and Beiber, etc, ...fame and fortune worship isn't all bad. Americans love winners (real and uh, imagined, right?)
ReplyDeleteThose athlete "millionaires" sharing their wealth in the local and wider economies benefits more than a few others. Lux homes, extra nice cars, blingy thingys, dining, doggies & kiddies indulged--plus charitable stuff.
Loads of commerce surrounds sports from tot soccer to the major leagues. Our GDP is big time boosted by equipment manufacturing and sales, wages, travel, lodging, advertising and BETTING!!! Good ol' American BIZNESS!!!
Reminds me what Julius Caesar said to his kidnappers...
ReplyDelete