W-b Twp. Mulls Options After Judge Returns Tax Case 
Municipality Sought To Have The Arena Board's Suit Over The Amusement Tax
Moved To Federal Court.

Anne Molitoris 
December 23, 1999

By MARK FITZHENRY Times Leader Sports Writer
 Tuesday, December 28, 1999 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





John Disanferdinand never played high school football - a fact he
regrets every day. His mother died five years ago, and his father died before
that. He has no brothers or sisters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So the West Pittston native channels sadness and regret toward following a
football team halfway across the country, the Kansas City Chiefs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Really. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``One of the things that helped me was rooting for this team,'' said the
38-year-old West Pittston native. ``And now, it's turned into where I could be
a little bit overboard.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In three years, John has befriended the families of players Rich Gannon
(now a Raider) and Greg Manusky. He has talked his way into high security
areas to get his picture taken with about 40 NFL players, coaches and
executives - and sent the photos along to local papers almost every time. He
once confronted Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson about the team's use of
``unproductive quarterbacks.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His living room includes a football signed by former Chief Len Dawson and
an acrylic painting of the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium done by his fiancee. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He describes a picture of himself at the team's training facility as ``Me
in Heaven.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His dog's name is Chief. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His fiancee says she saw him ``crying uncontrollably'' after a playoff loss
two years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He owns 10 Chiefs jerseys in a market that isn't exactly busting at the
seams with Chiefs jerseys. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A little bit overboard? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sure. And the Civil War was a fist fight. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I would not call myself a nut,'' said John, an independent contractor who
owns a cleaning business. ``I don't paint my body and jump up and down in
subzero temperatures. But it's very easy to be absorbed by this team. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``This might sound crazy, but it might, if you let it, get to your
health.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He's right. It does sound crazy. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Three times a year, John - who is a Chiefs fan because that was his
father's favorite team - and some friends attend games. He'll catch the Chiefs
in New Jersey, Philadelphia or Baltimore. Once a year, he and fiancee Andrea
Holley will fly to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Each trip concludes with a visit to the restricted area by the locker
rooms, where John will gain access to players with a family member's help. Or
no help at all. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``He's a good talker, so he can talk his way into meeting players,'' Holley
said. ``Basically, he just told people he knew the Gannon family and the
security woman let us in. We didn't really need to say anything more than
that. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``He does have that gift of talking to people.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John, 38, started the trips three years ago, when he visited a friend in
Miami for a Chiefs game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He first befriended the Gannons last year in Philadelphia. John's work
associate, Lou Mariani, attended the University of Delaware with John Gannon,
Rich's brother. Mariani told Disanferdinand that the Gannons would attend the
game and he should meet them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John Gannon never got the message. So he was rather surprised to meet this
guy from West Pittston wearing a Chiefs jersey and Chiefs jewelry. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``He struck me right away,'' John Gannon said. ``He was very nice, and knew
a lot of things about the Chiefs. It was interesting talking to him. He was
telling me things about my brother I didn't know.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At game's end, Disanferdinand used the Gannon connection to get close to
the players. From there, he needed little help - if any. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I don't think I introduced him to any of the coaches,'' Gannon said. ``He
just goes up to them and says `hi.' He doesn't need much help. He's a piece of
work. But he's entertaining.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He's entertaining and frank. This season in Baltimore, John - still
disappointed that Gannon is no longer a Chief - ran into Peterson, the team's
general manager. John said that Peterson saw him coming and said, ``You
again?'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yes, John again. He struck no ordinary fan-to-executive conversation,
telling Peterson that the Chiefs wouldn't win with Elvis Grbac playing
quarterback: ``You're cheating other fans by putting unproductive quarterbacks
on the field. ... You haven't had a quarterback since Len Dawson.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A phone call to the Chiefs requesting Manusky and Peterson to talk about
John was not returned. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A brief conversation usually ends with John posing with the player, and
someone snapping a photo. Here are John's thoughts on some of the people he
has met: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Linebacker Derrick Thomas: ``He lets you know he's a Pro Bowler by his
attitude. Derrick is notorious for being a ladies' man.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Former coach Marty Schottenheimer: ``Marty's a gentleman. He has a lot of
charisma. ... He's like a dad.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Current coach Gunther Cunningham: ``A warm, personal guy. A clone of Marty
Schottenheimer.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Former back Marcus Allen: ``Marcus Allen was very friendly, very
professional, very soft-spoken.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Manusky: ``Greg Manusky is just your All-American fun type of guy. You wait
for him to do something crazy or say something wacky.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When John isn't watching games in person - he even traveled to Buffalo this
year to see Gannon and the Raiders - he's at the Stadium Club in Moosic or
hosting a party. He's also the president of the Chiefs' local fan club. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The strain of following the Chiefs, who haven't been to a Super Bowl since
after the 1969 season, is ``getting a little worse every year.'' He says high
blood pressure is a risk and fellow fan club members ``pop Pepcid like Life
Savers.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That is what John calls ``a little overboard.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We're not hurting anybody,'' he said. ``We're college graduates who
really love our team. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We're not freaks.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Area Man Remains True To His Chief Interest 
Losing Seasons Or Not, West Pittston Native John Disanferdinand Embraces The
Nfl's Kansas City Team With Unusual Zeal.

Area Man Remains True To His Chief Interest Losing Seasons Or Not, West Pittston Native John Disanferdinand Embraces The Nfl's Kansas City Team With Unusual Zeal.