City Of Leawood

Kevin Gray, a passionate advocate for Kansas City sports, dies at 51

Kevin Gray spent his first two years out of college as a broadcaster, but he turned voicing his passion for all Kansas City sports endeavors into a career.</p><p>Gray, president of the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission for the last 22 years, died Wednesday after a battle with metastatic cancer. He was 51.</p><p>In his role, Gray devoted countless hours behind the scenes creating, promoting and luring sports events to Kansas City.</p><p>&#x93;To me, nobody loved Kansas City more and wanted the best for Kansas City sports more than Kevin Gray,&#x94; Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said.</p><p>For major events like the Big 12 basketball tournaments, he helped put together bids and made presentations. He was in on the planning, especially for the volunteer network, of baseball&#x92;s All-Star Game at Kauffman Stadium next summer.</p><p>&#x93;His energy level was off the charts,&#x94; said Kevin Uhlich, the Royals&#x92; senior vice president for business operations. &#x93;He was an amazing guy, a tireless worker. It seemed like he was working on a million projects. He&#x92;s definitely going to be missed in the sports community.&#x94;</p><p>In a statement, Chiefs chairman of the board Clark Hunt called Gray &#x93;a dynamic leader, a tireless advocate for Kansas City.&#x94;</p><p>Jeff Boerger, president of Kansas Speedway Development Corp., said Gray helped put Kansas City&#x92;s best foot forward to the International Speedway Corporation in the mid-1990s when NASCAR was looking to expand into new territory.</p><p>&#x93;He was instrumental in promoting Kansas City,&#x94; Boerger said. &#x93;He believed Kansas City would support racing, and he was right.&#x94;</p><p>The last of Gray&#x92;s pet projects stands across State Avenue from Kansas Speedway.</p><p>Livestrong Sporting Park, home of Sporting KC, opened in Gray&#x92;s final days, the culmination of a dream that started with a lunch some seven years ago with Robb Heineman.</p><p>&#x93;He said Lamar (Hunt) wanted to get a stadium built, we needed a community advocacy group and could I help,&#x94; Heineman said. &#x93;He was the person who got me involved.&#x94;</p><p>Heineman, Sporting KC&#x92;s president, was thinking about Gray last Thursday when the $200 million stadium debuted and again when the U.S. national team won a Gold Cup game there on Tuesday.</p><p>&#x93;We were texting each other on Sunday,&#x94; Heineman said. &#x93;I had sent him photos of opening night. He&#x92;s very much going to be missed. He was completely instrumental in keeping the team in town.&#x94;</p><p>In one of his final interviews, Gray spoke last month of the community&#x92;s need to rally around one of his biggest causes, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Gray served on the museum&#x92;s board.</p><p>Rarely was a major sports event announcement made without tracking down Gray&#x92;s input.</p><p>Kansas Speedway getting a second Sprint Nextel Cup race?</p><p>&#x93;From an economic standpoint, it&#x92;s a significant shot in the arm,&#x94; Gray said last August.</p><p>The NFL re-examining the idea of a cold-weather Super Bowl, and prospects for the game at Arrowhead Stadium as a tribute to former owner and AFL co-founder Lamar Hunt?</p><p>&#x93;For too long in Kansas City, we said, &#x91;No, we can&#x92;t,&#x92;&#8194;&#x94; Gray said last July. &#x93;Frankly, we need to be saying more, &#x91;Yes, we can.&#x92;&#8194;&#x94;</p><p>When the Big 12&#x92;s future looked dim a year ago when Nebraska and Colorado announced their departure from the conference and others considered leaving, Gray remained optimistic and said he was planning to attend all the Big 12 basketball tournaments awarded to Kansas City through 2014.</p><p>&#x93;The Big 12 has our unbridled commitment to make these the most memorable games they&#x92;ve ever had,&#x94; he said last June.</p><p>NHL exhibition games, NCAA championships, Missouri-Kansas football at Arrowhead, Tour of Missouri bike race &#x97; if it came to Kansas City, or if it could come to the area, Gray championed the cause.</p><p>When it came to Kansas City politics, Gray stood with sports development. He strongly supported the 2006 Jackson County tax hike to upgrade Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums. Gray campaigned for the rental car and hotel tax hike to help construct Sprint Center and the College Basketball Experience and then canceled the commission&#x92;s contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which funded the anti-tax movement.</p><p>&#x93;Sprint has a long history with Kevin while collaborating on many local projects,&#x94; said Bill White, Sprint senior vice president of corporate communications in a statement. &#x93;(He) was instrumental in helping make the Sprint Center a reality.&#x94;</p><p>But it wasn&#x92;t just the major events that inspired Gray. He supported the road races, the youth tournaments, coaches&#x92; conventions, everything that brought together sports-minded people.</p><p>Gray not only espoused Kansas City sports in the region, but also he relished opportunities to champion his hometown to outsiders.</p><p>When reporters from other cities in the Big 12 area wanted Kansas City&#x92;s perspective on the future of tournaments, Gray hardly played the diplomat.</p><p> &#x93;We will be aggressive in our pursuit of the championships,&#x94; he often said.</p><p>Gray attended Rockhurst High School, and after graduating from Benedictine, where he played basketball, Gray went to work for KFRU radio in Columbia. Two years later he was appointed director of marketing and promotions for Learfield Communications in Jefferson City.</p><p>In 1986, Gray became the Royals&#x92; director of marketing and broadcasting, moving to the sports commission in 1989 as the organization&#x92;s first paid associate.</p><p>Gray is survived by his wife, Katy, and four daughters. The family requests any donations be made to the Kevin Gray Family Education Fund, in care of Country Club Bank, 11181 Overbrook, Suite 100, Leawood, Kan., 66211.

When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors - City of Leawood

Lightning kills an average of about 60 people each year in the United States. Summer is the peak season for lightning, and the National Weather Service recognizes June 19-25 as Lightning Safety Week. Cities and counties in the Kansas City metropolitan area are joining together this year to help protect residents with the installation of signs at area parks, playgrounds and ball fields with an important message: "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" Lightning flashes can travel horizontally many miles away from a thunderstorm and strike the ground – sometimes appearing to come out of a clear blue sky. Any time you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you. The only safe shelter is inside a substantial building or enclosed, hard-topped vehicle. Go inside and stay inside until 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder. Since 2002, the Metropolitan Emergency Managers Committee (MEMC) has partnered with area Price Chopper grocery stores on Project Community Alert to make weather radios available at a discounted price. Using proceeds from this campaign, MEMC recently purchased 1,000 aluminum signs featuring the "When Thunder Roars" slogan and other safety tips. The aluminum signs are available to participating local governments at no charge while supplies last.

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