Kansas City Chiefs officials and Kansas City business interests have been trying for years to attract the Kansas-Missouri football game to Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas University officials – particularly Chancellor Robert Hemenway – favored the move, but Missouri officials said they would not give up the KU-MU game that was scheduled to be played in Columbia. If KU wanted to move its home game from Memorial Stadium to Kansas City, that was fine with the Tigers, but MU didn’t want to give up the attractive and historical game when it was played in Columbia.

However, something changed in Columbia, and Chiefs officials were pleased to announce Monday that the annual game would be played in Kansas City this year and next. These officials say this is merely a two-year agreement, but who wants to bet against this becoming an annual event?

With dollars being the most important factor in the eyes of KU athletic officials, and apparently in the eyes of those in Strong Hall, it is likely that discussions already are under way to have the Jayhawk basketball team play one or more games each year in the new basketball arena being built in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

Any talk by KU officials that they appreciate fan support and want to maintain the campus atmosphere for their sports programs rings hollow in light of what is taking place. Athletic Director Lew Perkins was brought to KU to raise money and he has been highly successful. However, he has flunked the freshman-level course in public relations. It will be interesting to see the condition of the athletic department after Perkins eventually leaves for his home in South Carolina. What will the university’s relationship be with those who have been generous in their support of KU for years?

Early planning is under way for the school’s next capital campaign, but now would seem a poor time to try to get alumni enthusiastic about giving more money to the school. In the eyes of a growing number of loyal supporters, it is becoming more a case of KU officials – both at Allen Fieldhouse and in Strong Hall – asking alumni for more and more support but seldom asking these alumni, “What can we do for you?”

It’s a laugh for KU officials to justify moving the traditional MU game to Kansas City by saying they are taking care of KU football fans by making sure they have “X” number of home games in Memorial Stadium. How many fans can get excited about next season’s home schedule, which features such powerhouses as Central Michigan, Southeastern Louisiana, Toledo and Florida International?

To be sure, the same thing will be manipulated for future basketball games. How soon will the Missouri, Kansas State or Oklahoma games be taken out of Allen Fieldhouse and moved to Kansas City?

It’s obvious KU officials have no qualms about turning their backs on the people of Lawrence, as well as the thousands of alumni and friends from other cities who enjoy coming to the beautiful campus for KU football games. Apparently, officials at Missouri share the same thoughts about taking the KU-MU game out of Columbia.

Chancellors and other university leaders talk about not letting athletics be the tail that wags the dog, but this is just one more case of hollow talk at KU. Unfortunately, it appears this is going to get worse as the dollars and attention devoted to sports get further out of balance with the mission of the university, which is supposed to be teaching and research.

All kinds of arguments are used to justify the growing appetite of the so-called amateur intercollegiate sports, but KU’s decision, with the approval of the chancellor, to move the KU-MU football game, the oldest college football rivalry west of the Mississippi River, makes such arguments and justifications look phony and weak.