Bucked by Fuffalo

My mom always used to joke that the best time to go to the mall was on a Sunday during a Chiefs game. Despite hating the Chiefs (she still claims that the playoff game with the Dolphins on Christmas day in 1971, ruined Christmas dinner that year), she was right. In the 1990's and early 2000's, that was never more true. If people weren't at the game, they were watching it somewhere... and the malls were dead. The Chiefs owned Kansas City.

I remember eagerly waiting for the work schedule to come out, to see who got stuck working a Chiefs Sunday. Rest assured, from noon to about 3:30, you could sleep on the front counter and no one would be the wiser. (also a fantastic way to burn off a hangover) Fast forward to November of 2008. Despite the wretched season, I've watched or at least listened to every single game. Today was different. Friday and Saturday were both long days for me and The Better Half. As a result, we ended up sleeping in until almost 11. I had to make a quick run to Costco and figured I could be home in time to catch most of the 1st quarter. WRONG!!! Costco was a zoo. Jam packed. I was shocked. There were even folks there in Chiefs gear! Now, one trip to Costco does not a trend make.... but a few years ago, it wouldn't have been like that. When I got home, it looked like more people were at the Linwood Costco, than were at Arrowhead.

Despite recently parting ways with season tickets, this was my first real clue that apathy has turned into indifference. Sure, attendance might be down, but people are watching, aren't they??

It's sad to see... gone are the days of the excitement of a big game weekend. I still see people wear Chiefs gear at work on Fridays... but it's no longer out of pride. It's just an excuse to dodge the dress code for the day.

Thanks for the memories, section 328 row 8

My best friend Patrick has had season tickets to the Kansas City Chiefs since 1989. Section 328, row 8, seats 12 and 13. With the exception of 1991, I think we went to just about every game together. Other years, were split up or sold off as circumstances dictated. But the one constant was that we always went to at least one game a year together. Today, the Chiefs hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it was our last game in the seats we have shared for 19 years.

If I remember correctly, the first year season was 10 games @ $25 each. Parking was $5. We were both in high school and so Patrick's dad paid for the tix. Almost positive it took me the whole year to pay him back.

As with any long time friends... we tell the same jokes each week, reminded each other about how Marcus Allen was so good at keeping his legs moving (Pump those knees!), made up words to the Tomahawk Chop and marveled at how much Christian Okoye loved the pot pies from the good folks at Swanson's. As with most guys, we even have a running, dirty joke that can't really be mentioned here.

If the Chiefs were a publicly traded stock, there would have been a sell off about 10 years ago. But the unique thing about pro sports, is that an organization can convince their loyal fans that they are just "one player away" from greatness. This was true in 1993 w/ the combination of Joe Montana and Marcus Allen. Since then, the team has been chasing their tail with mixed success. Trent Green, Priest Holmes and Will Roaf: good. Brett Perriman, Elvis Grbac, Shawn Barber, Ty Law: not so good.

The organization as a whole, is in disarray. Bad coach, bad management and an owner that appears to only be interested in the status quo and fleecing the good folks of Jackson County Missouri for stadium renovations. Neither of us have much of an interest in rewarding the organization for what has been a disaster since the day Dick Vermeil was hired. Sure they were fun to watch, but we all knew there were problems. Kind of like dating a stripper... fun while the going is good, but destined to fail.

I got the feeling a few years ago, that unless something dramatic happened, time was running out on our seats. Patrick toughed it out for the first two years of Herm's regime, and then that was it. No more. I know it wasn't an easy decision, but at the end of the day, why pay top dollar for a mediocre product? Why make the emotional investment when Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards look down on the fans with contempt?

We got to Arrowhead around 11:00 today. Had a few beers on the way in to Arrowhead, and took our seats for the last time. There were a lot of empty seats. There will be two more next year.

Was this some sort of joke?

Let me get this right... the Miami Doplhins were 6-10 in 2006, followed by one of the worst early drafts in years (passing on Brady Quinn to take Ted Ginn Jr at #9). Did I mention that they also traded a wide receiver to a division rival? Wes Welker to the Patriots, who finished the season w/ 1,175 yards and 8 touchdowns? The Dolphins were a mess when Nick Saban bolted for his "dream job" and Cam Cammeron managed to dig them in to an even deeper hole with a disastrous 1-15 2007 season.

In December 2007, the Dolphins brought in Bill Parcells as vice president of football operations, and appears that he has done more with his team in 8 months, than Carl Peterson has in 20 years with the Chiefs.

It was stunning just how bad the Chiefs looked Saturday night. The TV guys kept bringing up the point that the Chiefs "didn't really game plan" for this game. Excuse me? I see, they just rolled in to Miami and let the starters play for almost 3 quarters, and didn't really put much thought in to it? Most coaches won't take a dump w/o a game plan, so how in the world could they not have one for a game?

I would think this would be the ideal opportunity to devise a plan of attack, force it down the rookies throat all week, and see how they react. It's great to see that a guy can make a tackle... but can you teach him a scheme in a week and can he execute it on game day? Ridiculous. That game was an embarrassment.

The Chiefs better be careful... the fans have been more than patient as this organization has bled them dry for years and filled our heads with promises of being one player away. Now that they are forced to rebuild, due to inept spending and coaching (a-hem, Dick Vermeil, Shawn Barber, Kendrell Bell etc...), they better damn well be prepared each week.

What would happen if in a few years when they unveiled the New Arrowhead, and no one showed up?

Shit or get off the pot

I'm officially sick of The Brett Favre Saga. It appears that the Packers are going to trade him and move on. If I were Favre, I'd be careful about badmouthing the team or making too big of a stink... piss off the Pack and you might end up with a shit team like the Raiders, Dolphins, Rams or god forbid, the Chiefs. None of these appear to be likely destinations, but the idea that a team could pull a stunt like that and trade a high profile player to a crap team out of spite, is fascinating. Would that be a "Grudge trade"?