Fat Ass Gretz at it again

[ken ott]

I Just read his latest article, and it pisses me off. I got no problem paying me more money to help with the stadiums, but the owners (Lamar & Glass) need to pony up more money than 50 mill. by the Royals, and a whopping 25 mill. from the Chiefs. What a bunch of cheap asses.

GRETZ: Commitment & Partnership: It Can Happen
Aug 02, 2005, 6:03:51 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ



RIVER FALLS, WI – Oh, if only the do nothing folks from the Missouri State House and the No-Show Governor of the Show-Me State could have been here Monday afternoon to see what happens when politicians and a professional football team work together.



Right here in the Chiefs summer home was the Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle. He took time out of his busy schedule to be on campus for the official dedication of the training room and locker room renovations that have been done here at UW-River Falls.

A relatively small outlay of $2.4 million was enough to get the Governor out of Madison and into the northwestern part of the state. Why? There’s a simple reason: the Chiefs are important to the state of Wisconsin.

There were the usual comments about the Chiefs being Wisconsin’s favorite AFC team and sad memories were recalled of the Chiefs visit to Lambeau Field two years ago when they beat the beloved Packers in overtime. But with his mere presence, it was obvious the Governor wasn’t kidding or being politically correct when he said: “The Kansas City Chiefs are part of the Wisconsin family.”

He went on to talk about the partnership between the state, the school and the football team. Doyle called the Chiefs a “classy organization” and one that “every time they said they would do something in return for something, it’s been delivered on.”

Are you listening in the Missouri House? How about the Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City? The Chiefs spend 23 to 25 days a year in Wisconsin, but nobody, not the school, the state or the Governor, takes their presence for granted. The folks in the land of cheese have provided a road map on how to get something done.

It helps when the Governor is involved. Doyle was part of the process in approving and finding funding for this project from the very start. Much like every other state that makes up our union, Wisconsin has budget problems. There are increasing demands for roads, education and health care. They are the 18th largest state with 5,363, 675 residents. Missouri is the 17th largest state with a population of 5,595,211. So you can see that the problems facing these two states are very similar.

Let’s be very clear here: what the state of Wisconsin pulled off with this renovation was peanuts compared to what’s needed at Arrowhead Stadium. It will take more than 100 times the River Falls outlay to return Arrowhead to “state of the art” status.

But the route taken from idea (improvements to keep the Chiefs returning to River Falls) to Tuesday’s ribbon cutting is a perfect map for Jackson County and the state of Missouri to follow.

First, officials from UW-River Falls brainstormed on how they could improve the facilities on campus with the Chiefs in mind. As part of their process, they spoke at length with the Chiefs and got their ideas. The plan was taken to the state capitol, where Doyle got behind the project. Lobbying efforts were done with the state legislature and with the students of UW-River Falls, who kicked in money for this project as well.

There were ups and downs but in 2004, the money was approved for the project and today, the Chiefs enjoy the benefits of a first class training room and locker rooms.

Nothing in this process was mysterious or underhanded. UW-River Falls wanted to keep the Chiefs and better their university with improved facilities which will be used by the Chiefs 25 days a year and the students the other 340 days. It was important to the state of Wisconsin that there were improvements at the school and the Chiefs were still summer residents. Something got done. How is the Chiefs situation in Kansas City, Missouri with Arrowhead really any different?

It’s time for the do nothings of Missouri to play follow the leader. It’s time for the No Show Governor to take a lesson from Governor Doyle and grab the lead in this situation. In the battle over where funds from the Athletes & Artist tax were directed, the Missouri Governor sat on the sidelines. When the House do nothings killed a vote on the matter, nary a word was heard from the No Show Governor.

Governor Jim Doyle and the folks in Wisconsin have shown the way. Oh, by the way, in the middle of the speeches and ceremonies, Carl Peterson got up and announced that the Chiefs would return to River Falls for training camp next season.

That’s what happens when you aren’t afraid to make a decision that a football team and everything that comes with it is important for a community, a college and a state. That’s what happens when there’s commitment and partnership.

Gretz said it himself.... $2.5 Mill vs. $250 Mill.

When the wife goes to the mall and asks for $2000 some of us will cough up the dough. What if she asks for $20,000?

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by Phobia

When the wife goes to the mall and asks for $2000 some of us will cough up the dough.

god bless some of you

[tk13]

Well, what I think they're really pissed off about is the fact that there's a tax in Missouri that taxes professional athletes, and money from that has been diverted to make up other budget problems in Missouri. They wanted money from that tax put back where it's supposed to be to help fund stadium repairs. The Missouri government shot that idea down. I think he has a legitimate gripe.

[DenverChief]

Originally Posted by Phobia

Gretz said it himself.... $2.5 Mill vs. $250 Mill.

When the wife goes to the mall and asks for $2000 some of us will cough up the dough. What if she asks for $20,000?

If you can afford it cough it up...nothing is worth losing your one true love

Originally Posted by tk13

Well, what I think they're really pissed off about is the fact that there's a tax in Missouri that taxes professional athletes, and money from that has been diverted to make up other budget problems in Missouri. They wanted money from that tax put back where it's supposed to be to help fund stadium repairs. The Missouri government shot that idea down. I think he has a legitimate gripe.

There's no question that's a legitimate gripe. None. In fact, if they want to divert all those taxes to care for the stadiums I'm fine with that too.

[ken ott]

Well, what I think they're really pissed off about is the fact that there's a tax in Missouri that taxes professional athletes, and money from that has been diverted to make up other budget problems in Missouri. They wanted money from that tax put back where it's supposed to be to help fund stadium repairs. The Missouri government shot that idea down. I think he has a legitimate gripe.

He has a point but still 25 million from Lamar for improvements, give me a break. As far as I know there is no tax on anybody to go to the stadiums. I'm not saying the people in Jeff City are not idiots, but time for these teams to take some responsibity for stadiums just like they are doing in Dallas, Washington, etc.

[Skip Towne]

Originally Posted by Phobia

Gretz said it himself.... $2.5 Mill vs. $250 Mill.

When the wife goes to the mall and asks for $2000 some of us will cough up the dough. What if she asks for $20,000?

I give her $2000 and a dildo. If she doesn't like it she can go fuck herself.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by ken ott

He has a point but still 25 million from Lamar for improvements, give me a break. As far as I know there is no tax on anybody to go to the stadiums. I'm not saying the people in Jeff City are not idiots, but time for these teams to take some responsibity for stadiums just like they are doing in Dallas, Washington, etc.

How are Dallas or Washington taking any more responsibility? Taxpayers paid for their stadiums too.

The people of Missouri may not like it, but the simple fact is the team owners aren't going to pony up any more of their money because they don't have to. Some other city will be willing to come up with the money if KC isn't.

Exactly. The Chiefs need to be 'REAL' and invest more money.

Lamar Hunt wants us to pay for LUXURY SWEETS . The revenue is NOT shared among Nfl clubs. It's a loophole in C-B-Agreement.

We do need a NEW stadium instead of spending a ton on Arrowhead and having them ask for a new stadium in 10 years.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by Ninjaman

Exactly. The Chiefs need to be 'REAL' and invest more money.

Lamar Hunt wants us to pay for LUXURY SWEETS . The revenue is NOT shared among Nfl clubs. It's a loophole in C-B-Agreement.

We do need a NEW stadium instead of spending a ton on Arrowhead and having them ask for a new stadium in 10 years.

If they do a quality job renovating Arrowhead, it can last another 30 years. The recent upgrade of Lambeau is a perfect example, and should be a model of what we do to Arrowhead.

[Luzap]

Originally Posted by ken ott

He has a point but still 25 million from Lamar for improvements, give me a break. As far as I know there is no tax on anybody to go to the stadiums. I'm not saying the people in Jeff City are not idiots, but time for these teams to take some responsibity for stadiums just like they are doing in Dallas, Washington, etc.

$5.00 from every Field Level ticket goes into taxes. In addition, the Chiefs as a business pay Missouri Taxes. All professional athletes that live in Missouri pay state income taxes. All professional athletes that play at Arrowhead pay (additional) taxes to the state on their income whether they live in Missouri or not. All of the thousands of hotel rooms generated by the games are each assessed a state and local tax. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent by fans on souvenirs, restaurants, fuel, clothing, etc. of which all is assessed a sales tax as well as a business tax.

I have no problem with the Hunt’s contributing… but to think that the state is being taken advantage of is naïve.

Luz
And to think that gretz is a tool for addressing this is, imo, silly…

[DenverChief]

Originally Posted by Luzap

$5.00 from every Field Level ticket goes into taxes. In addition, the Chiefs as a business pay Missouri Taxes. All professional athletes that live in Missouri pay state income taxes. All professional athletes that play at Arrowhead pay (additional) taxes to the state on their income whether they live in Missouri or not. All of the thousands of hotel rooms generated by the games are each assessed a state and local tax. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent by fans on souvenirs, restaurants, fuel, clothing, etc. of which all is assessed a sales tax as well as a business tax.

I have no problem with the Hunt’s contributing… but to think that the state is being taken advantage of is naïve.

Luz
And to think that gretz is a tool for addressing this is, imo, silly…

agreed

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by jspchief

How are Dallas or Washington taking any more responsibility? Taxpayers paid for their stadiums too.

The people of Missouri may not like it, but the simple fact is the team owners aren't going to pony up any more of their money because they don't have to. Some other city will be willing to come up with the money if KC isn't.

I already did this research a few months ago when people were bitching then. The idea that owners/teams are kicking in alot of money for these stadiums is a PURE MYTH.

Here's the stadiums built in the last 10 years or so:

Stadiums not financed by teams at all - Alltel, Cleveland, Edward Jones, Paul Brown, Qualcomm (1997 renovation $78M), Raymond James (Tampa), Reliant (Houston),

Fields partially financed by the team/owner: Ford (Det), Heinz (Pitt), Invesco (Den), Lambeau (renovation) Lincoln Financial, Qwest (Seattle) -- almost all of these were 75% tax, 25% team

Fields where ownership kicked in more than 50% of the cost: FedEx (privately owned, but not all Snyder), Gillette (NE Pats, Kraft did 100%)

That's TWO out of 15.

[shaneo69]

I didn't see the part where Gretz mentioned that the Bears, Saints, and Vikings have all left Wisconsin in the past 10 years, and the state was desperate to keep at least one out-of-state team there.

I've also noticed that one of the buildings the Chiefs use at UWRF is called Hunt Hall.....wonder if naming rights for that building were bought for a not-so-small donation to the university, and now the state is repaying Lamar for his generous contribution? Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Finally, the athletes tax that Gretz is whining about may have paid for some of the upkeep of Arrowhead, but it wouldn't have done anything to bring it up to state-of-the-art status, so it's stupid for Gretz to continually beat that dead horse.

In fact, not getting the athletes tax diverted back to the stadiums was probably the best thing that could happen for the Chiefs cause, because now Gretz can use this as an easy sympathy issue when pitting the organization against the MO politicians. Had they voted to divert the tax money back into the stadiums, the Chiefs would've had a harder time asking for even more money (to renovate Arrowhead) after getting the athletes tax money for yearly upkeep.