I originally started the website in 2000. (Yes, 21.5 years ago this all started.) Back then, it was known as The Unofficial Kansas City Blades Website, because the Blades were still in existence at the time and had their very own amazing website.
I had taken a web design class the previous year in college. In that class I designed my own personal website, as well as a website for a museum in St. Joseph, Mo. I learned basic HTML coding through my class.
As a regular visitor to the Blades official website and the message boards (I was Hull Fan), I got the idea that I should start my own website devoted to the team that I loved. I always loved to learn new things about the team, but there was things in the team’s history I didn’t know and players that had played for the Blades I didn’t know about. While the official website did an amazing job with current information, it didn’t really take a look back at the team history and that was something I thought I could do.
So, with the free website provided by my internet provider at the time, I set up The Unofficial Kansas City Blades Website in September 2000. I had pages for news, player pages (looking not much different than today’s player pages on the site), pictures, and box scores (I really wish I had kept those! They are lost in space now.)
Of course, after one year, the team was gone. (And I was heartbroken.) But, I decided to keep the website up as The Kansas City Blades Tribute Site, serving as tribute to the team that so many of us loved. It has moved a few times due to host company’s shutting down. Now, the site has a home of it’s own…I even sprang for a fancy domain name because I plan to continue to grow the site with as much fun Blades related stuff as I can find. (Be forewarned, I’ve been scouring the Kansas City Star archives through an online source to go back through articles. I’ve come up with tons of old stories I want to delve into when I get the time.)
Anyhow, having the website has been a lot of work, but it’s been fun, too. I continue to learn new things about my all-time favorite team, it’s players and coaches. I have also talked and communicated with many other fans over the years, which has been the best part. (It’s always fun to reminisce with new friends about old memories.)