Are the Chiefs really worth a tax increase right now?

Are the Chiefs worth all this grief?

Look at what they've been doing to us and continue to do.

I was among the I don't know how many people who long ago reached the conclusion that the 2003 Kansas City Chiefs were not nearly as good as their record indicated.

Heck, I was writing about that fact while the '03 team was still riding high and optimists were hoping for, if not predicting 16-0 until they got beat, then 15-1.

This kept going until the losses eventually reached three while the team didn't play well in the latter stages of the season as the defense disintegrated and finally disappeared all together in the playoff loss to the Colts that ended their season with a sickening thud.

The grief of those days were a mere warm up of what was to come, both on and off the field.

There was the vote and threats that were not threats. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

You never bring a tax vote before the people when they are frustrated with the very thing they are being asked to pay a tax for.

They should have brought the tax before the people last year when the team was winning and everyone was riding the bandwagon of success.

Fans, after having supported the Chiefs for year after year, have to feel betrayal on the part of those who sit in the private boxes and make the decisions that are supposed to produce positive results.

Season ticket holders sit down and write those checks for thousands of dollars on an annual basis with the hope of one day reaching, if not the pot of gold, at least the end of the rainbow. But it never happens.

Bistate II, though, was undoubtedly not beaten by those who attend Chiefs games, but by those who don't.

There is really only one reason people attend those games on a season basis. They love the Chiefs, period!

On the other hand, there are many reasons why people don't attend the games. Some of the reasons are (1) they can't afford tickets, (2) they can't get decent tickets because none are available, (3) it's easier to sit at home or go to the neighborhood bar and watch the game on TV, (4) they are frustrated by the post-game traffic jams, (5) move-ins might be fans of teams from whence they came, (6) or maybe they simply don't like football.

As far as Bistate II is concerned, it is difficult to get people to pay for something intangible.

A person walking the Arrowhead concourse can't see why his or her money is needed to keep the building in pristine condition because it looks good.

Also, Kansas City has never been known for its progressive ways. Look how long it took for them to get a bond issue passed for a downtown arena.

Maybe that had something to do with Bistate II. They passed one tax and were then asked to pass another.

The concept of Bistate II is not the best. I remember well the days when the Royals were a playoff team and tickets were precious commodities.

The first thing the fans were told is that in order to buy tickets you had to produce a Jackson County tax receipt. Tell me those people from Johnson County have forgotten.

I was laid up and never did see the final vote tally and whether it passed in one place and failed in another.

A few weeks ago, there were several scare articles telling people that Lamar Hunt could just as easily pull up stakes and move to say, Los Angeles.

I'm glad they quit jawing about that one when Hunt told them he didn't plan to go anywhere.

No one can say that Kansas City doesn't support the Chiefs. I just wish they had people at the top who could get them the players they need to get into a Super Bowl.

That's an easy way to pass a tax.