A few thoughts about all those stadiums in St. Louis

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am, at best, a fair-weather sports fan. But I have something to say about the proposed soccer stadium in St. Louis, because no one else has said it, and it needs to be said.

When the Kansas City Royals were a World Series-caliber franchise a couple of decades ago, we lived in the Kansas City area (just a couple of miles from Royals -- now Kauffman -- Stadium) and I was a big, big baseball fan. Went to the games and everything.

Then we moved to Maryville, Missouri, the home of Northwest Missouri State University, which had a football program but wasn't known for winning, so I was, at best, a lukewarm fan. Last Saturday, in a blizzard in Kansas City, Kansas, Northwest won the NCAA Division II football national title -- again. The team has been a powerhouse for several years now, including six national titles. I watched every second of Saturday's matchup with Northern Alabama, and even though we haven't lived in Maryville since 1986, on Saturday I was the Bearcats' biggest fan.

Our younger son lives in the Seattle area now, and the Seahawks are a winning team, so I have become a Seahawks fan. I tried to be a Rams fan before they left the state, but I never got caught up with the team's lackluster performance.

I am a big, big Cardinals fan, especially when they are on a winning streak.

Now, soccer.

I like to watch soccer on TV. I like the pace of the game. I like the fact that there aren't a lot of timeouts or other interruptions. I like watching the players fake an injury. What great actors they are. And I like the overwhelming support soccer players get from their fans in the stands.

What I don't like is a scheme to build a new stadium in St. Louis for soccer while backers hold out their hands to grab more taxpayer cash for yet another profit-making sports franchise.

Quite frankly, I'm amazed it has taken this long for professional soccer to express an interest in St. Louis. The city has had strong youth soccer programs for several generations now. What happened to all of those budding soccer fans when they got out of school? I'll tell you what happened. They got married, had children and took their kids to soccer practice and soccer games and soccer parties, but they didn't show much interest in professional soccer.

Until now.

Look, I know far too little about most sports, including soccer, to be telling the experts how to run their show. But I am a highly qualified taxpayer, and this is my reaction to a tax-funded soccer stadium in St. Louis -- or anywhere else, for that matter:

Phfffff!

We taxpayers in these parts have some experience with public-funded sports stadiums, don't we? As a matter of fact, we are still paying for the domed football stadium used by the Rams before they vamoosed to California.

So, gentle readers, why would anyone think the taxpayers of St. Louis or Missouri or both would be at all interested in paying for another sports stadium?

But here's what I really want to say: There is an empty stadium in St. Louis. It is climate controlled. It has all kinds of amenities. Why can't the pros play soccer there instead of a new, expensive outdoor stadium just for soccer?

OK. I can see you all lining up to take a shot, which is great. I'd love to know what you think about the whole soccer scene in St. Louis. One of the arguments you will make is that the domed stadium is configured for football and doesn't lend itself to a soccer conversion.

Really?

We don't have planners and architects in Missouri smart enough to figure out how to turn a football stadium into a soccer stadium? I had no idea.

Look at Busch Stadium. It's a baseball stadium. Once upon a time a lot of cities had professional football and baseball teams that shared a stadium. It wasn't ideal, but it worked.

The playing field in Busch Stadium is about to be turned into an outdoor ice rink for a major hockey event. I'll bet the folks who designed Busch weren't thinking about hockey when they put their heads together. But, there it is. Hockey in a baseball stadium.

Is that any more farfetched than soccer in a football stadium?

That's it. That's all I have to say about professional soccer in St. Louis, where Phineas Taylor Barnum apparently is still kicking gullible droolers in the butt.

Let's tell the soccer folks to try the domed stadium for a while and see how professional soccer goes over in St. Louis. If it's a huge success, or if another pro football team wants to move into the domed stadium, then we can think about a new stadium just for soccer.

Unless, of course, Busch Stadium would like to go for a trifecta and host major league soccer, too.

Just a thought.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.