(mitch holtgus voice) its raiders week baybee!

And coming early tomorrow, since I worked on it quite a bit today, my 27 favorite Chiefs / raiders throwdowns, showdowns, hoedowns of my memory's lifetime. (OK, post-1985). And actually, there's only 24 games in there; 3 of said favorite memories are Chiefs and/or other assorted league personnel putting the raiders in their place.

Hopefully you'll enjoy it. Let's just say, choosing between 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was EXTREMELY difficult. In NO particular order, my top 5 Chiefs / raiders games were:

* the wildcard win by the Chiefs in 1991.
* LJ's touchdown as time expired in 2005.
* tim brown falling down in front of james hasty in 1995. (back judge?!?! what back judge?!?!)
* "andre rison has just burned al davis' house down" in 1997. and
* "tim brown ... caught! but, but NOT in the end zone! NOT in the end zone!" from 2003.

And if I remember right, 6 was a raiders win, arguably the most painful regular season defeat the Chiefs have suffered in my lifetime. (12 years later, I can admit it was a game I'll never forget. A game for the ages. Scroll down to numero uno on the list I suspect "The Voice of Reason" still remembers it for this conversation about two hours after we got home that evening:

(gregg) (angry as hell)
(gregg) let's go.
(stevo) (optimistic gregg is buying a couple rounds at a bar) where to, boss!
(gregg) the store.
(stevo) (dejectedly) what?
(gregg) I just realized I weigh as much as Donnie Edwards.
(stevo) (total smart ass move) you JUST now realized this?!?!
(gregg) (glares at me with a "one more smart ass remark and you're in the county morgue" look) I'm getting in shape. I need a scale.
(stevo) (not realizing "the voice of reason" is about to pull a "stevo")and you need me to go because?
(gregg) if I see anyone in silver and black, I need to hand you my wallet and my keys.
(stevo) (utterly confused) ok. Why?
(gregg) to drive the car to an ATM, to take out enough to post my bail.

I take certain losses hard. Usually to a team that wears blue and orange. Let's just say ... as bad as I took the loss to denver in 2002 (didn't show up for work until Thursday) ... Gregg had me beat by a wide country mile with the loss in the Y2K bowl. If only because all week, he said we'd lose. (Note to self: if "The Voice of Reason" thinks we're losing Sunday, put a hit out on his vocal chords ...)

Coming Thursday: the week 7 picks. Riddle me this Batman: if the Jets cover at home as 1 1/2 point favorites, and the Chiefs take care of business as a (rapidly plummeting) 2 point dog in the Bay (opened at 4 1/2) ... what happens on Halloween Night at Arrowhead?

(adam west voice) that's a riddle? It's way too obvious, Joker! It's a "winner is in first place, loser is in trouble!" showdown!

Finally, it sucks that it happened on raiders week, but a man I am PROUD to have sat by for the last eleven years, passed away on Sunday morning. I know Gregg (with 3 G's) hates oakland even more than I hate denver (if that's even possible, and amazingly it is), but Greg (with 2 G's) hates oakland even more than my ex-roomie does. So please, keep his wife in your thoughts and prayers. Saturday is going to suck big time. But I gotta believe, as he's setting the ball on the tee for his 8am round with God, that's he's negotiating a win on Sunday. Rest in peace man. We've now lost the two best fans Section 132 was ever privileged enough to call its own. I only hope I can someday be half the Chiefs fan you and Randy were.