For a moment, set aside fascination with Chiefs/Royals/Tigers/Jayhawks, any sports franchise of the Heartland.</p><p> In the world of sports, and I do mean the globe, soccer and cycling reign. Nothing else is close, not in international reach. </p><p> So Missouri risks cementing an image as a backward and out-of-touch locale if it loses hold of the Tour of Missouri through political pettiness. At this point, it&rsquo;s not even about the money, although that&rsquo;s an estimated $30 million in spectator spending alone.</p><p> No, this is about common sense, or rather proving that Missouri political leadership has any.</p><p> The state is midway through what could be the last weeklong cycling event of international caliber staged here. Cycling stars and their fans are aware of the controversy that nearly imploded this year&rsquo;s seven-stage competition, which ends in Kansas City on Sunday.</p><p> Recall that the initial $1.5 million the state of Missouri seeds to the Tour got caught up in budget-slicing drama. Gov. Jay Nixon proposed cutting it. Backlash reversed the decision &mdash; for this year. The future is another matter. Someone had better secure the startup state funding or get it replaced.</p><p> Heck, even abused dogs in Missouri have advocates that realized the event&rsquo;s drawing power. A Phoenix-based photographer who specializes in shooting international cycling has set up a fundraiser surrounding this year&rsquo;s tour. Proceeds from prints of the tour will go to the Humane Society of Missouri, to offset costs of the aftermath of the largest dog-fighting raid in U.S. history. The Missouri society took in more than 400 dogs from the raid.</p><p>In addition, Jonathan Devich&rsquo;s MODogs&rsquo; fundraiser will raffle off coveted racing items, like the jersey Levi Leipheimer was wearing when he crashed in the 2009 Giro d&rsquo;Italia. For cycling fans, that&rsquo;s akin to the Super Bowl jersey of the player who made the last-minute winning touchdown. </p><p>Leipheimer, a supporter of dog rescue efforts, is Tweeting about the fundraiser. Note the man has more than 73,000 fans following his postings. As the saying goes, you can&rsquo;t buy that kind of publicity.</p><p>Devich knew that with international audiences logging into Web sites such as CyclingNews.com for updates from the race, a ready market existed to raise dollars quickly.</p><p>Yet that sort of big return for little effort apparently is dismissed by the governor&rsquo;s office. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a political rival to Nixon, has long championed the race. Some wondered if cutting the funding was a swipe at Kinder, rather than at the race. If so, it would be a shortsighted swipe.</p><p>The state ought to be promoting the Tour of Missouri for all it is worth. Far more than just some needy animals should win from this tour.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> For information about MODogs go to <a href="http://www.epicimages.us">www.epicimages.us</a></p><p></div>