I first met him in sept of 1967 in Alcala a small town outside Seville in southern Spain. One of the finest, if not the finest men I ever met and I'll always have fond memories. I worked for Lamar for 14 years and he was tremendous to me at all times. My oldest daughter called me at 7 this morning to tell me of his passing and I remineded her that, were it not for Lamar Hunt, she would not be here today....as it was he who brought me to America. I'll be at the service, wouldn't miss it for anything and will never forget the man. My he rest in well deserved peace.
There're some nice photos of Lamar's life in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2006/11/lamarhuntobit/ May the Lord bless and keep you always, Mr. Hunt
I like this idea too. Name the field after him (since the stadium might be a tad hard). We have that at UH with John O'Quinn field and Robertson Stadium. He has earned a well deserved rest. May it be peaceful. My condolences go out to the whole Hunt family. All soccer fans in the US, all football and tennis fans and sports enthusiasts everywhere lost one of the greatest, most visionary people ever. This great man left his mark all across the world. We will all miss you, Lamar. I hope we can make you proud by carrying on your dreams.
Thanks Mr. Hunt for all you've done for so many people. We're all lucky to have had such a great patron.
God, what a sad year for American Soccer......first Doug Hamilton, then Glenn Myernick, and now the Patron of America's beautiful game. I wish I had met the man.......he sounds like a Giant on and off the pitch. Rest in Peace Mr.Hunt
I think something that speaks volumes is how pretty much every single person that's ever interacted with him has a personal story to tell about how he improved their life, if even for a moment......We can all learn from him.
Mr. Hunt had to have been a fascinating guy - just reading about him is like an adventure story. (btw - very cool to see Mr. Cooper had a nice role at the memorial.) Highlights: He fell in love with soccer and his wife at his first soccer game (what could be better)! Never missed travelling to World Cups Started NASL Then MLS (owned many teams including Our Boys!!!) Built the first SSS in Columbus Perfected it later in Frisco (!!!) "SuperBowl" Started the AFL at 26 (!!!) Brought tennis into the professional era (tv deals, sponsors, a league - McEnroe LOVED him!) Hall of Fames - football, soccer, tennis and Texas Chiefs (2 championships) Wizards (1 championship) Part of group who founded the Chicago Bulls Tried to buy Alcatraz (!!!) Tried to bring baseball to Dallas 10 years before the Senators moved and became the Rangers (maybe we should have let him start the team after all...) His love of sports led his high school buddies to nickname him, "Games" - hilarious! Anyways, I looked up some quotes from him that I thought were interesting. " I have no doubts that it (soccer) will be a major sport-in the United States. 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." "I think the game has an enormous spectator appeal that dwarfs all American sports because it is so international. " "I saw the U.S. game and the street scenes were unbelievable. That was the greatest atmosphere I've ever felt at a sporting event. Part of it was the stunning stadium in Daegu, but it was mostly the fans. " "You can't compare (a World Cup crowd to) a Super Bowl crowd, which tends to be more polite and a little more neutral to that. The Super Bowl only has 7,000 to 8,000 fans for each team." “I think we're getting there, but we're not there yet. Ten years ago, nobody could have projected this. Are we satisfied with that? No.” "The problem it had (NASL) is that it was way before its time. There were no grass roots, no youth programs like there are today....There's no such thing as an instant major league.” "The development of American players has been a big part (of MLS), ... Without a league, there's no inspiration or opportunity.” Titans Owner Bud Adams ""He was not one to flaunt it. He just did it." An amazing story.
that's way the only thing that really matters is the stadium and the business plan. All the rest is just details.
http://www.yanks-abroad.com/content.php?mode=extratime&id=2540 If you can, give fidlerre a rep for this fine article.
Finest man I ever met....bar none. Was at the service and the recieving line was 3 1/2 hours long.....and well worth the wait. Would not have missed it for the world.
He will go down - you watch - as maybe the greatest soccer fan in US history. Soccer, for all it's issues, will someday be monster huge here.
Winning the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup should mean something. After reading about his incredible life and his unwavering support of soccer in this country, any soccer player with any sense of history should want to lift that trophy bearing his name high in the air. In the future I will try to attend US Soccer Open matches out of respect for Uncle Lamar.