Published Daily  

Basketball from a fans perspective

For the first time

Tonight Dennis Gates leads his Mizzou Tigers across the state line to face Wichita State. Over the years Mizzou and Wichita State have rarely face one another on the basketball court although the two are less than 400 road miles apart. That’s really no big deal KU is even closer a 2.5-hour drive but refuses to play the Shockers, okay that’s a different story. In any event this will be the first road test for Mizzou as the previous 7 have all been played in Columbia. 

Don’t allow the 4-win 2 loss record of the Shockers to mislead you, they play competitive basketball under Isaac Brown now in his third year at the helm. Regardless of the outcome this evening the road gets much tougher for Mizzou from here on out. By the way, no more jokes about Mizzou playing high school teams it's become old now. Gates had to prepare the way for a "new" team which meant playing a relative easy schedule early. Hopefully it builds grit and determination for the future. 

No NBA basketball for you…on the other hand  

A co-worker asked me, “Will the NBA ever return to Kansas City.” After thinking a couple of minutes I said, “I don’t think so” and then proceeded to elaborate. At the time the Kings left the area in 1985 it was a different sports town. At that time I believed the baseball Royals were the clear-cut leader with the Chiefs in second place. Without research I’m unsure whether it was the Kings or the departed NHL Scouts in third place. In any event in 2022 we see a different dynamic at work, the NFL Chiefs are now the leaders with the Royals in second however Sporting Kansas City soccer is quite popular. We now have the Current a woman’s soccer team which soon will have its own stadium located on the Missouri River.

As you can see the sports dollar might be divided even more if an NBA team were to be placed here. The Kansas City metro population is rising although nothing compared to the South and Southwest portions of the nation. The latest figures I could locate indicate the population is 2,392,035 and rising steadily. This is my belief; fans might follow a variety of different sports however there is a clear winner. Which sport are you willing to pay large sums of money to see? At this time I’m unsure if that is an NBA team unless a Steve Ballmer type might come forth. Those explored thus far are the cons, are there any pros? I can say emphatically yes, understand this next portion.

I can think of only one instance where the NBA commissioner stepped in and said, “No you can’t do that.” It occurred the time Chris Hansen’s group had the moving vans backed up to the Kings headquarters in Sacramento, the teams was on its way to Seattle if not for David Stern stepping in at the last minute to stop the move. I say that to say this, reports indicate the Pelicans are hemorrhaging blood in New Orleans, owner Gayle Benson has ties to New Orleans besides ownership of the NFL Saints and NBA Pelicans. The lease for the Caesars Superdome where the Pelicans play expires in 2024, would Benson decide to move her team on I-49 north to Kansas City? She could be that rich owner I mentioned earlier in this account.

A dome is now a requirement

The NCAA announced the 2028 Championship game will be played in Las Vegas in the Allegiant Stadium home of the NFL Raiders. The fact Las Vegas was chosen might be surprising however the fact of the game being played in a stadium not so. If we check the locations of past the championship games the day of the NCAA Championship played in a standard arena are over. In 1971 UCLA faced Villanova in the Houston Astrodome and the NCAA has never looked back. After all if you can sell tickets for 60,000-70,000 patrons over the KFC Yum Center (22,000) considered the largest college arena in the nation it makes sense. I know the Carrier Dome at Syracuse can seat a greater number for basketball but I’m discussing pure basketball arenas, Carrier doesn’t fit in the equation. The game must be played in a football stadium or so it seems, check this out:

2023 NRG Stadium

2024 State Farm Stadium

2025 Alamodome

2026 Lucas Oil Stadium

2027 Ford Field

2028 Allegiant Stadium

2029 Lucas Oil Stadium

2030 AT&T Stadium

You might note with the exception of San Antonio all the named stadiums serve as home field for NFL teams. At the present time San Antonio has no NFL team although football is played in the Stadium. This offers further proof the NCAA is all about the money it can earn off the labor of student-athletes. Do they care about the welfare of athletes, you’d find me in the middle on this issue. Before someone misunderstands my statement, the NCAA wouldn’t do anything to physically harm the career of an athlete it’s the other things, I’ve always found so difficult to understand.