My Getoffus.com counterpart, who for some reason is more interested in things like money and career than Human Anatomy & Physiology at the Center of Learning, just packed up and moved to Springdale – as outlined in his latest blog entry.

I haven't taken the time to ask yet, but I wonder if he hurried up and registered in time to get in on today's big vote there in Tysontown.

Today , Springdale residents (that is ... both of them who actually have voting rights) went to the polls to decide whether to extend a 1-cent tax in order to fund a baseball stadium that would theoretically become the home of the current Wichita Wranglers – the AA affiliate of your Kansas City Royals.

The Wranglers' ownership has been in contact with Springdale, expressing desire to bolt from the rolling plains and rampant crime of Wichita. But the Kansans aren't going down without a fight.

And, how fitting. Seems residents of Wichita are good at fighting.

According to crime statistics, the residents of the Wichita metropolitan area are fighting mad. And losing the local baseball team is probably only going to make things worse. If the franchise moves, there are going to be approximately 2,700 people with a few hours of newfound free time on many summer nights, as their team will be a few hours to the south.

The city's leaders are already getting good and fired up about the whole situation, as outlined in this report by Charlie Morasch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Having read a few articles from both Arkansas and Wichita media, I have come to enjoy the vitriolic tone of Wichita Vice Mayor Paul Gray. This man seemingly wants to march down to Springdale and start punching people right in the face.

I don't get it, though. Why the anger toward Springdale? The team's owners contacted Springdale, as far as I can tell. And even if that wasn't the case, shouldn't Gray instead be more upset at his own constituency for not doing what needed to be done to keep the Wranglers from looking elsewhere?

The stadium is old, the playing surface is junk (turf infield, natural grass outfield ... who does that? Maybe we can get dirt around home plate, sand around first, clay around second, and some pea gravel around third.), the attendance is at or near the league cellar, and suddenly this is a cause worth fighting for?

Seems that maybe Wichita should've been a little more proactive instead of sitting around doing nothing until another suitor came along. So don't blame Springdale, blame yourself.

(One of the more interesting factoids I came upon in my reading was that 1,000,000 chickens are killed every day in Springdale. Now one would assume virtually all of this is done by Tyson, but I guess you do have to wonder how many random chicken slayings occur every day. Anyhow, 365 million chickens a year are hacked up right there in Springdale. That's quite an impressive amount.)

Now we wait and see what the voters in Springdale say. It ultimately won't be the final deciding factor, as there's always the possibility that a new stadium in Springdale could be privately funded. However, having it done through tax dollars likely expedites the process and gives the ownership a sign that the area will support the team.

I don't have a vote, and I don't know if Kai does or not, but if I did I'd hit the polls and vote in favor. What's one cent? And, it's not even an additional cent, it's a tax they're already paying. This would just extend the term. With the Razorbacks being one of the most-watched college baseball teams, there's obviously a market for baseball in the area. And, minor league baseball is cheap entertainment.

Bring the Wranglers to Springdale? Si.