Lamar Hunt fighting for life

Soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt is fighting for his life in a Dallas hospital tonight. Family members say it will take a miracle for him to pull through.

Hunt has battled cancer for several years and was hospitalized Nov. 22 with a partially collapsed lung. Doctors discovered that the cancer has since spread, and Hunt has been under heavy sedation since last week.

"They're trying to make him as comfortable as possible," said Carl Peterson, president and general manager of Hunt's Kansas City Chiefs pro gridiron team. "He's battling a very courageous fight. We'll continue to hope that miracles will happen."

Hunt has been a fixture of American soccer since watching his first World Cup match in 1966. He owned the Dallas Tornado in the NASL days and was a founding member of Major League Soccer. He is also the man after which the US Open Cup trophy is named.

"There quite simply has never been a more influential person in sports in the United States, and when it comes to soccer he was the pioneer, the innovator and the patriarch all rolled into one. And that statement was as true in 1966 as it is in 2006," the U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement.

My thoughts and best wishes go out to the Hunt family.