the abortion at arrowhead: the reaction

"Just a small town girl,
Living in a lonely world.
He took the midnight train going anywhere ..."

Let me open the recap, by giving credit where it's due, and that's to the denver broncos.  They came into the sacred grounds of Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, and absolutely boat-raced my beloved Chiefs.  Sometimes, your best isn't good enough.  Sometimes, your enemy wins the battle.

But I'll be damned if I'm conceding the war.  Not to those f*ckers.

"Just a city boy,
Born and raised in south Detroit.
He took the midnight train going anywhere ..."

I am fully aware Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel is done-zo for the season.  I am fully aware we will be starting Tyler "Shane" Palko for the foreseeable future.  I'm aware that Cassel is the fourth major cog of this team to be lost for the season, joining Tony Moeaki, Eric Berry, and Jamaal Charles.

And all I could think about this morning, when figuring out whether to recap this abortion of a defeat or not ... and no, I'm not recapping it, at least not tonight ... all I kept coming back to ... was the final moments of one of my favorite shows of all time.

"Made in America", the finale of the Sopranos.

How dark, depressing, hopeless everything looked entering those final four minutes.  The war with the New York crew had ended horrifically, with Bobby dead, Silvio full of bullets, and Tony sleeping with a shotgun cocked and ready to fire in a safehouse.  Carlo ready to testify, and of all people, Meadow ready to marry Patsy Parisi's kid.  Patsy now on a level playing field with Tony.  It's ridiculous.  It's insane.

It's life.

"A singer in a smoky room.
The smell of wine and cheap perfume.
For a smile they can share the night,
It goes on and on and on and on ..."

And then comes that moment, with four minutes left in the series history, when Tony chooses the next song to play, and the bell on the door rings, and suddenly you realize, it's gonna be ok.

Chiefs fans?  It's gonna be ok.

"Strangers, waiting,
Up and down the boulevard,
Their shadows searching in the night ..."

We will survive this.  Are we going to lose Monday night?  It's highly likely.

And we're still highly likely to only be one back in the division, with tiebreaker over the team we're chasing.

Setting up the Showdown of the Season, in prime time, next Sunday, against the (at least on this site) HATED Pittsburgh Steelers.  Our nemesis from the 1990s, a team that Clark Judge famously (at least on this site) described as "using the Chiefs as their own personal urinal" after we lost 45-7 to them in 2006.

We haven't lost to them sense.

And we're not going to now.

"Streetlights.  People.
Living just to find emotion,
Hiding somewhere in the night ..."

I am NOT giving up on this season.  If that makes me crazy, well ... Jesus, what took you so long to figure that out?  I mean, really?  You're calling me crazy over THIS, over believing that Tyler Palko won't play worse than Matt Cassel has, over believing in this coaching staff, over believing in the team that has no business being one game out of first place, making up that one game?  THAT'S where you draw your line in the "Stevo's Crazy!" sand?!?!

"Working hard to get my fill.
Everybody wants a thrill.
Paying anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time ..."

Hell yes, I'm rolling the dice "one more time".  This team has NOTHING to lose from this point forward.  Every victory is a pleasant surprise, every defeat is a non-shocking occurance.

"Some will win, some will lose.
Some are born to sing the blues.
Will the movie never end?
It goes on and on and on and on ..."

We've been here before folks.  Five years ago.  A backup quarterback noone had faith in starting for us.  A loss to a horrific football team, coupled with a loss to a hated divisional rival, that all but eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention.

I ask you, how did the Immaculate Fourfecta work out?

"Strangers, waiting.
Up and down the boulevard,
Their shadows searching in the night ..."

My favorite moment from this final scene of the Sopranos ... is actually right after AJ sits down at the table.  And I say this as someone who gets chills the second the door rings at the :52 mark, and Carmela enters Holsten's to begin the march to the "wait, what just happened here?!?!" finale.  When Tony and Carmela try to encourage AJ about the crappy job he's got, and he notes:

"Streetlights, people.
Living just to find emotion,
Hiding somewhere in the night ..."

in my favorite moment of my favorite scene of the series:

"Right.  Focus on the good times."

Wait.  What?

Or in Tony's words, "don't be sarcastic!"
And AJ's reply, "Isn't that what you said one time, to focus on the times that were good?"

There's still a lot of good to focus on, Chiefs fans, not the least of which is that if the floor falls out during these last seven games, you Suck4Luckers might get, uuh, lucky.  (Although probably not, like a typical "I live in mommy's basement" blogger who advocated the campaign from the start.)

Focus on the good times.  Next Sunday is going to ROCK folks.  We're doing deep fried turkeys, and only God knows what else.  For Green Bay, we're doing a fish fry with Ray and his crew.  And for oakland ... come on, it's oakland, we're gonna vandalize cars and steal sh*t.  (I kid, I kid, for any law enforcement officials reading this).

This season's not over yet.  Ask the 2001 Patriots how replacing a mediocre QB with a dude who's never started a game before can work out for you.  Ask the 2006 Cowboys how that can work out for you.  Ask the 2002 Jets, the 2006 Chargers, the 1994 Nebraska Cornhuskers, led by the freshman walk-on from Wahoo, Matt Turman.  I'm pretty sure all of us who love Husker football, were perfectly fine with having to start a freshman walk-on at a top 10 program in KSU that October, after Tommie Frazier had clotting issues, and Brook Berringer had shoulder issues.

"Don't stop believing!
Hold on to that feeling!
Streetlights!  People!  O-o-oh!"

Don't stop --"

And if I'm wrong?  If this season is over, and we have no hope or chance left of salvaging at least a 30-7 ass whipping in the wildcard round?

Ask the 2006 denver broncos how well changing quarterbacks down the stretch can work out for you.  (stevo voice) as always: f*ck you denver.  F*CK YOU!