A lot has happened in the Kansas City sports world since I last wrote here. Took a couple of weeks off to coincide with the holidays and my boys\u2019 winter breaks, and during that time, all hell broke loose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Of course, I\u2019m talking about the Chiefs moving to Kansas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
And then there was a lot of talking about the Royals joining them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s interesting\u2014I became a bit upset about the Chiefs plans to move across the state line, but I felt a void in my stomach when it looked like the Royals might be joining them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Some family members felt differently. Turns out I\u2019m the biggest baseball fan in group. Current season-ticket holders to the Chiefs have informed they won\u2019t continue once the move is completed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
My oldest son, who just experienced his first Chiefs losing season, wept when I told him the news. He later asked me, \u201cWho\u2019re we going to root for* when the Chiefs move?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Again, though\u2026I cared, but not all that much. I don\u2019t attend many Chiefs games. Never have. I think I went to my first Chiefs game when I was a senior in high school. I remember seeing them defeat the Michael Vick-era Jets. A few years ago, they escaped the Jaguars in a cold-weather game. Those are the only three Chiefs games I remember attending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Royals, on the other hand\u2014I try to go to at least two games every year. Doesn\u2019t always work but that\u2019s the goal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I remember going to Royals games when my family first moved to Blue Springs, then at least one game every season with my father. Games against the Yankees, against the Red Sox, the Angels (Anthony Rendon almost hit a home run!), the Cardinals, one memorably cold game against the Tigers the day before Easter, one random interleague game against the Cubs, games against the White Sox, the Indians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The first game I attended with my son was against the Blue Jays\u2014Troy Tulowitzki hit the first home run the little guy witnessed in person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As I\u2019ve previously written, my youngest son\u2019s first game was Aroldis Chapman\u2019s last as a Royal\u2014a wild 4-3 win in extras against the Guardians in which Chapman allowed a runner to steal home. First and only time I\u2019ve seen that first-hand. My wife and I tried to get the boys to leave before it finished but my sons wouldn\u2019t have it. We found some random seats in time for the bottom of the 10th, and jumped out of them when Freddy Fermin hit his walk-off double that scored Kyle Isbel and Nicky Lopez.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Time moves fast in baseball. And in life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Tulo retired in 2019, Chapman\u2019s long gone from Kansas City, Fermin\u2019s a Padre, Lopez is a Cub, maybe. Only Isbel remains, and who knows for how long.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
My father has passed, my sons are 10 and 6. Life moves fast, too, it turns out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Now the Chiefs are moving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But thankfully the Royals remain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I don\u2019t care if they move out of Kaufman. Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014I love that stadium. For as big of a baseball fan that I am, I have only been to three stadiums: Busch II, Busch III, and The K. It will be an emotional day when the Royals bid farewell to Kauffman, but if it\u2019s to say hello to another field here in Kansas City, Missouri, then not all will be lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I hope that\u2019s what John Sherman decides. He\u2019s said before that he\u2019s the steward of this franchise. That\u2019s the right way to look at it\u2014the franchise belongs to the people. He may own it but it\u2019s nothing without us fans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Chiefs will be fine moving to Kansas. Football is the king of American sports, and even if the new stadium is full of mostly corporate fans, what matters is that it\u2019s full. And it will be full. The Chiefs will survive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n