Lamar Hunt dies at age 74.

[USRufnex]

LAMAR HUNT: 1932-2006  Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, a sports pioneer and author of the term "Super Bowl," died Wednesday night at a Dallas hospital at age 74 from complications of cancer.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2697037

I was lucky enough to be able to shake his hand at a meeting of soccer enthusiasts at UCO in Edmond... that was a few years ago when Bob Funk/Express Sports were looking at running an OKC MLS team out of a soon-to-be-refurbished Wantland Stadium...

Many may not realize the huge contributions Hunt made to the sport of soccer in the U.S over the course of three decades....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=394199&root=us&cc=5901

quote:Hunt's longest-lasting legacy could be his decision to build Columbus Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium of consequence constructed in the U.S. since the 1920s. Four more such stadiums have been completed for MLS teams (including Hunt's Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas), two are set to open next year (Denver and Toronto), and ground has been broken on two more.

"One stadium in one city and one sold-out game doesn't make a success," Hunt said before the opening of Crew Stadium in 1999. "But this stadium will be here for 50 years, even if I won't be.''

quote:"I have no doubts that it will be a major sport in the United States," Hunt said. "I'm probably not going to live to see that day because Americans are a little afraid of getting interested in something at which they're not very good. So it depends on how quickly the U.S. can become good. Well, we've made huge strides since the 1990 World Cup, USA '94, and obviously since '98. Unfortunately, those strides only register with the public once every four years. But I have no question that we're going to see the sport become a major success in the United States, with high attendance at club games.''