Thursday, November 22, 2012

The Renegades and The Posse

Kemper Arena will once again be the home of an indoor football team for Kansas City.  In reading over the team's web site, they are agreeing with many of the fans who did not like the Sprint Center as an Arena Football venue, that Kemper makes a much better arena for indoor football.  So, in March of 2013, the Kansas City Renegades will take the field at Kemper Arena and hopefully present Kansas City Football fans with what was lost with the changing of ownership of the AFL and the breaking of the player's union.

Now, for the meat of the article.

With the announcement of the Kansas City Renegades, the now former KC Flightcrew super (annoying) fans through together a new fan club ... The Posse.  They had their facebook page up and running within hours of the annoucement of the new team name, and as usual, they are conducting themselves as if they were a part of the team's PR program.  Maybe they are, but I would have hoped that the owners of the Renegades would have taken the time to look at the conduct of key persona of the now former FlightCrew.

Don't get me wrong.  I would love to think that The Posse will be like the early FlightCrew.  There were a lot of good people involved, and the wingnuts that prompted themselves up as someone special were the vast majority.  I would hope that the people who are involved in The Posse will be more focused on setting up the  group in the image of the FlightCrew of Kemper Arena and not the FlightCrew of the Sprint Center End Zone.

What am I saying?  The FlightCrew of Kemper Arena were fans from all over the stadium who enjoyed Arena Football and loved tailgating ahead of a game.  The FlightCrew that stood in the end zone of the Sprint Center were more egomaniacs than super fans.  During the seasons of the Brigade and the Command at Sprint Center, the FlightCrew became known as the FightCrew.  They drew complaint after complaint from the fans behind them.  They drew criticism from fans at the games for reaching into the field of play to grab a souvineer football.  They made gestures at visiting players that were simply inappropriate for a 'family friendly' environment, and they became more and more convinced that they were an important part of the team, and conducting themselves not as super fans, but super assholes.

I am excited about the return of indoor football to Kemper Arena.  My fear is that these so-called Super Fans are going to resume their antics, that they are going to become a distraction from the game, that they are going to become an embarrassment to the other fans here in Kansas City.  And with the cost of front row tickets being as reasonable as they are, there will be more of these super egomaniacs down on the front row, making life miserable for those who have the seats behind them and/or who are wanting to enjoy the game.