“It doesn’t matter what I say –
So long as I sing with inflection!
That makes you feel I’ll convey?
Some inner truth or vast reflection.
But I’ve said nothing so far,
And I can keep it up?
For as long as it takes!
And it don’t matter who you are?
If I’m doing my job?
It’s your resolve that breaks!
Because the hook?
Brings you back!
I ain’t telling you no lie!
The hook? Brings you
back!
On that? You can rely
…
There is something amiss!
I am being insincere.
In fact? I don’t mean
any of this!
Still my confession?
Draws you near.
To confuse the issue, I’ll refer
To familiar heroes, from long ago.
(Because) No matter how much Peter loved her?
What made the Pan refuse to grow?
Was that the hook? Brings you back!
I ain’t telling you no lie!
The hook? Brings you
back!
On that? You can
rely!!!!! …”
--------------------
Last Week SU: 6-6-1.
Season to Date SU: 65-53-2.
Last Week ATS: 8-5-0.
Season to Date ATS: 65-50-5.
Last Week Upset O’ The Week: doin’ the Benson Boogie!
Season to Date Upset / Week SU: 5-3-0.
Season to Date Upset / Week ATS: 6-2-0.
This Week’s Upset O’ The Week: Colts (+8 ½) over Packers.
Last Week SUCK: you’re welcome.
Season to Date SUCK: 4-4-0.
This Week’s SUCK: Ravens (+1) over Steelers.
(Note: the SUCK gets credit for being wrong, because it is
my favorite bet on the board.)
--------------------
(Stevo Note: I am still working on the recap from the roadie
to Indy. I hope to have up in the next
few days. There’s a few things I want
immortalized on this Al Gore invented thing called the internet, for as long as
it exists, that happened on that roadie.)
--------------------
The Non-Jets, Non-Chiefs Wild Hairs:
* Byes: Patriots, Redskins, Bengals, Texans, Bears, “Super”
Cardinals. One of these teams does
employ “Sur” William Callahan! And
somehow, they’re above .500! And in the playoff
chase! This could be a costly, costly
defeat to that grizzled veteran known as “bye” for your Washington Redskins.
* My Thursday Night pick was at Bucs 31, “Shane” Falcons
21. I continue to whiff, and whiff
spectacularly, on my Thursday night selection.
* at Vikings (+6) 34, Lions 14. A sad, sad farewell to former Vikings
offensive coordinator Norval Eugene Turner, who (pick one) resigned / quit /
was fired from that position on Tuesday.
Oh the irony – “Stanley Roper” quitting on his team in Week Nine, which
is usually when his teams quit on him (rimshot)! Somehow, this man had the opportunity to
(pick one) destroy / run into the ground / obliterate three different NFL teams
as their head coach. He somehow got
eight years in Washington, finishing ten games under .500 and reaching the
playoffs once. He got two seasons in
oakland, after “Sur” William Callahan set football back fifty years with his
disasterous two year run. “Stanley” went
9-23. He then somehow, someway, took
over a 14-2 San Diego “Super” Chargers team in 2007, rode Marty’s talent to a
solid 2007 season … and went backwards every year after that – needing a
miraculous 4-0 finish to get to .500 and win the AFC West in 2008, going one
and done in 2009 … and never reaching the postseason again in four more
subsequent seasons.
Still, despite the ineptitude, “Stanley” did give Chiefs
fans one magical moment in time.
We’ll come back to it, in the Chiefs poorly prepared portion
of these pointless prognostications.
* Eagles (+3) 27, at Giants 20. Since I have nothing to say about this
matchup, allow me to give a Stevo’s Site Numero Dos’ gigantic middle finger
salute to ESPN, for moving Brent Musburger off of Big Monday. (He’ll now call Super Tuesday. Dammit.)
It’s truly sad all the broadcasting talent coming to a close over the
last few years. Dan “Behoove” Dierdorf,
retired. Dick “Oh My” Enberg,
retired. Vin Scully, retired. “Uncle” Verne Lundquist has six games left,
seven if he calls whatever the hell they call the Sun Bowl nowadays. Bob “SWISH!!!!!” Davis, retired *.
And, of course, this is the final season of Len Dawson as
the Chiefs color commentator.
Kids? Enjoy greatness
while it’s still talking. Because I
guarantee you, nobody’s going to shed a tear when Spero Dedes retires.
(*: to this day, it still amazes me, that Jim “Hello Friends” Nantz and Billy “Fudge” Packer exhibited more emotion at Super Mario’s
three, than Bob Davis did. Of course,
neither holds a candle to my reaction, which was to drop to my knees, sobbing,
pounding the floor for five straight minutes, as the roommate and his
girlfriend looked at me with a combination of stunned disbelief, and fear for
my mental health.)
* at Ravens (+1) 13, Steelers 10. The loser of this game is in deep, deep
trouble to reach the postseason.
Especially if you think all three AFC West powers are for real. (I don’t; two of the three are
legitimate. The third’s descent into
its’ rightful place as the division’s doormat, begins Sunday night.)
* Cowboys 24, at Browns (+8) 23. Classic trap game for the Cowboys – coming
off the emotional Sunday night comeback, with an epic (coach don fambrough
voice) showdown, throwdown, hoedown with the Steelers up next.
* at Rams (+3) 24, Panthers 14. How happy has Channel 4 got to be, that this
is what they get to broadcast to the Kansas City metropolitan area on Sunday
afternoon? Everyone who’s tuning in for
this one, raise your hand! (Crickets
chirping …)
* Colts (+8 ½) 38, at Packers 35. In the words of Billy Joel, “don’t ask me
why”. Then again, if any words of Billy
Joel ever pertained to me, they’d have to be “you may be right -- I may be
crazy! But I just might be the lunatic
you’re looking for!”
* Saints (-4) 41, at 49ers 14. Just root for no major injuries to the Saints,
Chiefs fans. Because next Sunday, we are
ALL Saints fans.
* at “Super” Chargers 34, Titans 13. I know the Chargers are 3-5 … but folks? Have you seen their remaining schedule? In case you haven’t, here it is:
vs Titans
vs Dolphins
Bye
at Texans
vs Buccaneers
at Panthers
vs raiders
at Browns
vs Chiefs
I’ll ask the Captain Oats in the room: is anyone going to be
stunned if your San Diego “Super” Chargers are 10-5, facing a win and you’re in
finale against the Chiefs? I know I
won’t be.
* at raiders (-1) 23, satan’s squad 6. I hesitate to do this, because at least one
person who reads what I’m about to type will fail to get that it’s a long
standing joke (albeit with a high element of truth to it), and think I’m some
anti-American dude who wants the terrorists to win. Having said that, since every major news
organization is reporting that Homeland Security is on high alert for this
weekend, I once again offer you a friendly public service reminder: if the
terrorists strike the o.co while this game is being staged, it is not a
national tragedy. It is justified cause
for a national celebration.
* at Seahawks (-7) 30, Bills 13. Ugh.
Yet another unwatchable Monday nighter.
The “Klassy” Kevin Keitzman Tweet O’ The Week:
Inside Mixology:
Where I explain why one song on the Mixology play list is
guaranteed to play.
And this one is guaranteed to hit the speakers during a
tailgate, if only to see something that (booze voice) rich and rarely is seen.
Me dancing.
Flash back to the late winter / early spring of 2000. I was barely a year emerged from college,
barely six months into my job at Transamerica.
At 23 years old, there wasn’t a girlfriend in sight … but at 23, that’s
not necessarily a negative.
Weekends – hell, week nights – consisted of hitting up some
bar in Westport – be it Have a Nice Day Café (rest in peace), Johnny Dare’s
joint (ditto), or Harpo’s **, for quarter draw night. Yes, you read that right – quarter draws. Nothing says “we’re (justin moore voice)
letting the night roll!” like handing your waitress a $5, and she leaves a tray
of 12-15 draws on your table.
And in the spring of 2000, a cd was released that, frankly,
is criminitely underrated in hindsight … and criminitely underrated at the time
to boot.
“No Strings Attached”
by NSYNC ***.
And the opening single off that cd? Oh, a lil’ jingle I think every person with a
functional hearing system in their body, has heard.
(Bye Bye!)
I’m telling you, if you could nail the dance moves from the
chorus – and believe it or not, I still can to this day – you were golden. But if you could pull off the move when JT
hops off the freight elevator, lines up like a, uuh, lineman, pulls his head
up, and gives the “yeah, you f*cking want me” look of (marvin gaye) sexual
healing?
You were beyond golden.
And to this day, I can still nail to perfection every
bleeping dance move in the chorus, and Senor Timberlake’s healthy hike through
the hallway, out the freight elevator, and into the “yeah, you f*cking want me”
look, from the video.
Thanks for reading.
So far, I’ve given you:
* “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC (Week 9).
* “One Toke Over the Line” by Brewer and Shipley (Week 8).
* “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled (Week 7).
* “F*ck Her Gently” by Tenacious D (Week 6).
* No Selection (Week Five – Bye Week).
* “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” by David Allan Coe
(Week 4).
* “Innocent” by Our Lady Peace (Week 3).
* “Dancing On The Ceiling” by Lionel Richie (Week 2).
* “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire (Week 1).
Next week? Given the
opponent, it’s time to re-confirm my favorite song of all time … although if
you’re a fan, regular reader, or casual observer from a distance of this site,
you already know what that selection is.
Because like the ending to “Lost”, revealing that the Sideways world was
a place the Castaways created and were solely aware of?
This place, is somewhere only we know.
(**: the funniest occurrence from that spring and summer
being the time we hit up Harpo’s for quarter draw night, got bored as hell, and
my brother and Mr. Reason decided to hit up Bonita Flats … where a girl we went
to high school with entertained us as “Summer”.
Which no matter how awkward that was, it beats the hell out of my
infatuation with “Breezy” at “The Outback”, uuh, (brantley gilbert voice) back
in the day. (Pause). I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
strip clubs are the second biggest waste of money ever, only trailing flyovers
before a game.)
(***: true story time!
My first job out of college, I worked for Rubbermaid, and my job was
basically to go all over Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas, and get yelled at
all day for the incompetence that was our loss restoration department. Anyways, I got a call on a Monday in late May
/ early June 1999, when I was in lovely Salina, Kansas, that some store in
beautiful Watertown, South Dakota had been promised a store reset, that hadn’t
been completed yet. (Note: the guy I was
hired to replace? That’s a story in and
of itself. It’s hysterical … if not
ridiculous.)
Anyways, my boss drops the “every Wal Mart in South Dakota
may drop us if you can’t get this reset done” blast that, let’s be honest here,
is utter bullsh*t. Wal Mart isn’t dropping
Rubbermaid products. No store is
dropping them.
But I said fine, I’ll rearrange my schedule and get this
done. Well, it’s a healthy nearly
fifteen hour drive from Salina, Kansas to Watertown, South Dakota. So I take off, and about 9:30pm, arrive in
Omaha, and I’m just spent. I have to
stop and at least rest a bit. (It’s
still a solid 6 hours from Omaha to Watertown.)
So I check in at what used to be Harvey’s Casino in Council
Bluffs, eat some dinner, and figure “what the hell”, and head down to play some
blackjack.
I was still a relative novice at the game at this point (I
was only 22), but I saw the double deck table had an opening, so I took it, made
sure I let my fellow degenerate gamblers know “hey, I’m kind of new at this, if
I ask for advice will you give it”, to ensure I wouldn’t screw them over, and
start playing.
About an hour later, there’s still a couple of us at the
table (it’s pushing midnight), and a dude came up and asked if it was OK to
play. We all said sure. As I best recall, I was up a couple hundred,
and nobody was doing poorly, so what the hell.
I took one look at the dude as he sat next to me … and I
swear to Christ, it’s a good thing cell phones with cameras didn’t exist back
then, because I’d have had to take a selfie, send it to Mr. Reason’s sister,
and wait for her to explode with jealousy.
(Remember – it’s 1999.)
The dude who sat next to me?
Joey. Effing. Fatone.
My minor claim to fame: I not only played blackjack with
Joey Fatone … I damned near got the pit boss to sign off on having Mr. Fatone
sign the Jack of Spades, when they changed out the deck, to take home as a
souvenir.
You may hate me, but that (story)?
#aintnolie.
It’s my third favorite casino day ever, behind the day I won
nearly $11,000 (and p*ssed it all back over the next six to seven months) … and
a little thing immortalized as “The Comeback”.)
The Watch Party Plans:
There are no The Watch Party Plans, as this is a home
game.
The Tailgating Plans:
I secured the early in pass … thanks to a text message from
a certain tailgater at 6:12am on Monday morning causing (a) my phone to go off,
(b) not even four hours after I crashed getting home from Indy, and (c) causing
me to panic and fear I’d overslept for work, before (d) leading to me realizing
I had Monday off, and cursing said phone for waking me up.
Thanks to President Carter, we get an extra hour of sleep on
Saturday night with the end of Daylight Savings Time. So there’s no excuse, if you’re riding The
Bus, to miss the (at the latest) 6:15am departure time.
I have no idea what the menu will be; it’s being decided on
the fly at Hy-Vee when Mona and I go shopping tomorrow afternoon. (And with all due respect, how do you "plan" for Jaguar? Who the hell thinks of anything food-related when it comes to Jacksonville, or the Jaguar?)
The forecast Sunday looks beyond ridiculous – 72 and sunny
at kickoff. At kickoff! At noon!
On November 6th! In
Kansas City!
Remind me again why we’re actually fighting global
warming? Let the bastardo win already!
I know there’s at least ten of us riding out – Russ the Bus
Man and Mona, myself, Anthony and Jaimmie, Miranda, Fran, Cindy, and “Tony and
Lisa”, coming in from Omaha for this one because “we might not miss another
home game – this team is the best Chiefs team in at least ten years!”
Yes. Yes, they are.
The Fab Five:
Where we look back at five magical games, moments, and
or/assorted thoughts, involving the Chiefs and Jaguars.
There is no Fab Five this week … because there’s only a Fab
One when it comes to these two squads duking it out … and I’m saving that, for
the Chiefs Prognostication portion of these porn-star free predictions.
A Random PSA from Stevo:
In the interest of full disclosure, this site strongly
endorses – and will vote on Tuesday **** – for Secretary Clinton and Senator Kaine, to
lead this nation the next four years.
And in the interest of full disclosure, this site (and its
author) believes Donald J. Trump “House of Wings” is going to win on Tuesday night,
or early Wednesday morning, and a late call of New Hampshire is going to be the
deciding factor.
Irregardless of your feelings over who wins (and as Ben
Shapiro noted, there’s a very, very, VERY plausible path to a 269 tie, throwing
this to the House for the first time since 1824), just do your patriotic duty,
and vote.
We Americans have a privilege few, if any, people in this
world have. WE determine our fate. Two thirds of the world has their fate
determined for them, if not more. Don’t
sit on the sideline of history. Whatever
your conviction? Vote.
Do what so many people in this life, will never have the
chance to do – vote freely, fairly, and of your own free will and conscience.
Because whoever wins?
Proves yet again that the greatest social experiment in
human history, works.
Oh, and that very, very, VERY plausible road to a 269 tie:
(credit: realclearpolitics.com)
(****: I will, as always, post how I will vote, by the time
Election Day arrives. I’ve reconciled
myself to the fact “House of Wings” is going to win. I just pray the good people of Missouri join
me in sending Roy Blunt into a long-overdue retirement, as a consolation
prize.)
The Jets Best Guess:
The defining moment of the season – not just for the Jets,
and possibly not just for Miami.
The way the AFC West is currently unfolding (and how I
believe it’s about to unfold), there is zero margin for error for any three or
four win team in the AFC right now … because I truly believe at least three AFC
West teams will stand at 9-6 (at worst) or better, entering the finale.
The Jets, Dolphins, and Bills are all in the 3-4 win
category in the East.
The Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals are all in the 3-4 win
category in the Norris.
The Colts and Titans are in the 3-4 win category in the
South.
And the Chargers have three wins in the West.
Nine teams … trailing three AFC West juggernauts by at least
a game, with only Pittsburgh having a tiebreaker over one of those three AFC
West squad right now.
Only one of which (pick your AFC Norris squad) is assured of a playoff berth, via a division title.
The Jets and Mammals both have three wins. Both will see a very favorable second half schedule
unfold. And maybe too much is being
placed on this game – maybe it’s the return match, in the Fake Meadowlands in
Week Fifteen, that will decide which AFC East also-ran, could possibly steal
the six seed, and stand a really decent shot of beating whoever wins the AFC
Norris, or AFC South.
But the winner of this game, at least vaults itself into
serious discussion for the six seed.
Once again – heart triumphs head on this site.
* Jets (+4) 27, at Dolphins 17.
The Chiefs Pointless Prepared Prognostication:
In the final season of “How I Met Your Mother”, there is an
episode – and I believe it was the seventeenth of the season – entitled “Sunrise”.
The episode – especially by Season Eight / Nine standards –
was pretty good. Barney gifts “The
Playbook” to two dudes learning “the game”.
Marshall and Lily reach détente … although not how either expected.
And the primary storyline of the episode, is Ted and Robin,
on the beach of Long Island Sound, ostensibly looking for a missing drunk
Barney, sharing one last magical moment of friendship, before Robin’s wedding
to Barney ten hours later.
“Sunrise” is not a particularly great episode, of one of my
ten favorite shows ever. Gun to my head,
in terms of quality, importance, and overall hilarity, I wouldn’t even rate it
in Season Nine’s top five.
And yet, there’s something about “Sunrise”, I cannot let go
of.
--------------------
Sunday, December 17, 2006.
The third week of December 2006, is arguably amongst the
most painful in the history of the franchise.
Because not only did the Chiefs gag away a game San Diego
tried to give them on a Sunday Nighter at The Q (Chargers won 20-9), but the
founder of the franchise, Lamar Hunt, passed away not even 48 hours before the
stinging defeat left the Chiefs 7-7, two back of the Bengals, and one back of a
host of squads, in deep, deep trouble to get a wildcard berth.
I watched that Sunday Nighter at the place I used to live on
Stubbs, with a person I used to believe had a permanent status on my Mount
Rushmore of Friends. I always tried to watch the “must win” / “defining
game of the season” at Dusty’s, because it worked for Baltimore in Week Four
2004, it worked for Miami in 2005, and it had worked earlier in 2006 for St.
Louis. Any “win or else you’re in deep,
deep sh*t” game those 3-4 years of my life, I had to show up with Hooters wings
in one hand, Heineken in the other, and watch the Chiefs do what Chiefs (tend
not to) do, and save the season.
(Or, as former friend would note: "don't f*ck with what works!" Oh, the f*cking irony of that comment, coming out of him.)
Which is why I left the place on Stubbs that night, that I’d
move into barely six months later, so confused.
My go-to ritual was gone-zo.
The Chiefs were still mathematically alive, but needed eight separate
and distinct outcomes to occur over the next fifteen days, to get them into the
playoffs – most of which were not only implausible, but unbelievable.
I mean, as I noted to my brother driving home that night –
what are the odds, what are the f*cking odds! – of eight separate and distinct
outcomes going your way, only two of which you control?
As my brother noted: “that’s why Vegas loves you betting the
parlay!”
--------------------
Monday, December 18, 2006.
The next day, the first of the Immaculate Eightfecta hit –
the Colts demolished the Bengals in Indianapolis on a Monday night. That was the first one that had to hit,
because the Bengals had demolished the Chiefs at Arrowhead to open the season.
Cincinnati had to lose out, and the Chiefs had to win out,
to get the Chiefs one clear of them for tiebreaker purposes.
One down, seven to go.
Six of those seven, you could talk yourself into, even without the advice and consent of a stiff Weller and Diet (with lime, of course).
It’s the seventh?
That still defies explanation.
--------------------
Saturday, December 23, 2006.
The Chiefs played the Saturday Nighter at oakland, and won
in a game that was total 2006 Chiefs, 20-9 – a game they dominated in every which
way, except the scoreboard.
The second piece of the Immaculate Eightfecta had fallen
into place – one of the two the Chiefs controlled.
And come Sunday, two more fell into place: the Jaguars lost
at home to the Colts, and the Bengals botched the extra point with barely :05
remaining, to lose at denver 24-23.
Four down. Four to
go.
(Pause).
And yes – even ten years later, 39 year old me realizes what
29 year old me knew:
Cheering for satan’s squad?
Is the equivalent of being raped.
--------------------
Entering New Year’s Eve 2006, the Chiefs still needed four
outcomes to go in their favor, only one of which they had any semblance of
control over.
* The Steelers had to beat the Bengals, in Cincinnati. This one was the second biggest – the Bengals
controlled their own destiny – win and in.
* The Patriots had to beat the Titans, in Nashville. This one was the third biggest – the Titans
held tiebreaker over the Chiefs at 9-7 via conference record. (The 2006 Chiefs made the playoffs … with a
5-7 conference record. That’s gotta be a
NFL first. And last.)
* The Chiefs had to beat the Jaguars at Arrowhead, to ensure
both squads finished at 9-7, to give the Chiefs the head to head
tiebreaker.
By the time we exited Arrowhead that magical afternoon, all
three had occurred, within about ten minutes of each other, with Steelers /
Bengals being shown on the video board as we exited Arrowhead.
Seven down, one to go.
The most improbable of them all.
--------------------
Sunday, October 1, 2006.
He just flashed back in time, in this post!
Sunday, October 1, 2006, the 0-2 Chiefs hosted the 1-2
49ers, at the lovely Truman Sports Complex.
If ANY game can be labeled as “The Perfect Stevo Game”? This one was it.
Per Pro Football Reference, it was 82 and sunny at
kickoff. (So pushing 95 in the lower
bowl where I sat.) The Chiefs were
favored by 7; the over/under was 39.5.
The Chiefs led 24-0 at the half … and won 41-0, on a game in
which the shirt came off at halftime, the sandals came off as well, and I
simply propped my feet up, and soaked in the sun and a laughable win, for a
solid 90 minutes, after halftime.
The starting quarterback for your San Francisco 49ers that
day? Drug his team to 1-3 by going 13-25
/ 92 yards / 0 TD / 2 INTs / 4 sacks … and his longest completion was 16 yards,
again, per Pro Football Reference.
Sh*t, the 49ers barely managed 180 yards of offense all day
(they managed 181), they turned the ball over (mike gundy voice) four! times,
and looked like the degenerate, indefensible mess the 2006 49ers were. (And the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 49ers were …
you get the point.)
The win that day got the Chiefs season rolling, which led to
a week later – via an epic comeback at Arizona – to the first time I
consciously remember texting three simple words, that make a season worth
remembering.
“Season.
F*cking. On!”
--------------------
Sunday, October 15, 2006.
The Chiefs spent Week Six getting used – and no, I will
never get tired of quoting this, or using it – the Chiefs spent Week Six
getting used (clark judge voice) “as the Steelers urinal”, in a 3-45 defeat. The 49ers spent Week Six getting beaten like
a government mule by the Chargers 19-48, at Real Candlestick to boot.
There was nothing – absolutely nothing – to lead anyone to
believe, any outcome from the Chiefs and/or 49ers, would impact the season of
either squad involved … or any squad either team would face.
Week Four’s 41-0 ass whipping felt like a high water
mark. A moment in time you look back on,
and smile, and realize it can never be replicated, it’s just perfect.
--------------------
Sunday, December 31, 2006.
The Titans lost at home to the Patriots. Needed Outcome Five.
The Bengals, somehow, someway, p*ssed away a touchdown lead
in the closing seconds of regulation to the Steelers … then somehow, someway,
lost on a touchdown bomb in overtime.
Needed Outcome Six.
I mean, seriously – if you’re a degenerate gambler – and I
am?
What are the odds – what are the freaking odds?!?!?! – you’re
six for eight, with the last two still alive?
The Chiefs beat the Jaguars, in the cold, in the snow,
holding on for a 35-30 victory.
That left only one outcome to go … the one that was the
unlikeliest of all.
--------------------
As we were prepping to leave the postgame tailgate, I pulled
up the one contest remaining on the XM receiver, just as Alex Smith threw what
could (and probably should) have been a season-ending interception returned for
a touchdown by that c-word champ bailey, to put the denver broncos up 13-0 on
the San Francisco 49ers right before the two minute warning.
Needless to say, defeatism began to take over, as our group
disbursed for home.
Because yes, Chiefs fans, the outcome we needed was a god
awful 49ers team that had already lost to us by 41, lost at home to San Diego
by 30, lost to the eventual NFC Champion Bears by 30, lost to eventual NFC
Title Game participant New Orleans by 24, had lost 4 of 5 entering this
contest, we needed that 49ers team?
To go into denver, and somehow stun the denver broncos – who
exactly seven days before, every Chiefs fan was rooting for, to beat the
Bengals.
Needless to say, at the two minute warning, it did not look
promising.
Especially since not only was "first round bust" Alex Smith needing to lead the comeback?
Norval Eugene Turner was calling the plays.
--------------------
It’s crazy sometimes, how an absolute negative can jump
start everything to the positive.
For example, three years ago, after the Chiefs turned an
Andrew Luck interception to open the second half into a 38-10 lead, I stood,arms raised, and screamed “it’s over! It’s f*cking over! denver here we come!!!”,
believing that Husein Abdullah’s interception – and Knile Davis’ subsequent touchdown
– had finally ended the playoff drought at twenty years.
The Colts outscored the Chiefs 35-6 the rest of the way, to
win 45-44.
Ten years ago that last day of 2006, the 49ers could have
folded after champ bailey’s TaINT. Most
teams would have.
Instead, the opposite happened. Alex Smith led an effective two minute drill,
to get the 49ers on the board with a late field goal. The 49ers held to open the half, then hit a
thirty yard bomb to pull to within three.
Not even a minute later, the 49ers returned the favor to the donkeys,
grabbing and scoring the TaINT of their own, to grab the lead.
After exchanging a few field goals, and seeing denver score
a touchdown with barely 90 seconds to play, the game headed to overtime.
And after thirteen plus excruciating, sweat-inducing,
vomit-producing minutes of pure stress, the 49ers lined up for the field goal …
and in full proof that (justin timberlake voice) what goes around, comes
around?
The man who ended the Chiefs 1999 season, via an overtime
field goal in Week Seventeen, to deny the Chiefs the AFC West?
Was the same man who was lined up to try an overtime field
goal, in Week Seventeen, to give the Chiefs a postseason berth.
Joe Nedney.
And just like that painful day to open 2000? Joe Nedney ... sh*t, watch it for yourselves, and cry like it was New Years Eve 2006 all over again:
https://youtu.be/EL74kEvs7W0?t=4m38s
49ers 26, broncos 23.
Postseason.
F*cking. On!
--------------------
The reason that game against the Jaguars hits me so solid,
is probably the reason why “Sunrise” hits me so solid.
It’s the end of life as you know it … and you realize it, standing in the
moment.
You realize, standing in the moment … that you have to let
the moment win, even if you want to rage against that moment with everything
you have in you.
Everything in my life completely changed after that game,
both for the good, and for the bad. (You
take them both, and then you have? The Facts of Life! The Facts of Life! (Pause).
Jesus, how has THAT never been a “Game O’ The Week” honor on this
site?!?!?!)
I turned thirty three days later. (I turn forty in 59 days. Gulp.)
It was the last game Mr. Reason and I would attend as the “Joey and
Chandler” of real life – Mrs. Reason was now in the picture.
And thank God, still is, ten years later.
The place that was my “good luck charm”, that bungalow on
Stubbs? Would become my home barely four
months later, for the next couple years.
Again – for better or for worse.
That Jaguars game was the (last official) game I tailgated
at the crosswalk between Lots N and G.
We had one last tailgate there in 2007, a “Restore the Tradition”
attempt (sadly, I didn't save that post from the Numero Uno site), in which all parties eventually came to realize, the “tradition” just
wasn’t there anymore.
Perhaps this one
hits me rawest of all, because it meant truly letting go and saying goodbye to
Chiefs Football as I’d always known it.
No more cases of Dr. Pepper, even if just in honor of RCW. No more late Saturday evening runs to Hooters
for some wings, no more steak kabobs that God himself would kill for, to enjoy.
And yet, for all the change that game brought – again, both
good and bad – I can’t help but look back and think “what a fitting ending”. When I first began going to Chiefs games, you’d
leave tickets on your windshield, there were so few fans there, you couldn’t
give them away, let alone scalp them.
Now, there was a waiting list for season tickets.
The season that began my irrational love of this franchise
twenty years earlier, via the most f*cked up, how did this happen finale to a
season (the Chiefs reaching the playoffs in 1986 via three special teams
touchdowns … and 170 yards of offense)?
Twenty years later, ended via the most ridiculous, amazing punt block I’ll
ever see, an incredible hard count that drew the Jags offsides to seal the
defeat, and eight – eight! – separate and distinct outcomes, each of which HAD
to occur – to get the Chiefs into the 2006 postseason, as improbably as they
did the 1986 postseason.
(And if you really want a “what are the f*cking odds”
coincidence? The ten year anniversary
team in between, your 1996 Chiefs?
Missed the playoffs because somehow, someway, Falcons kicker (and future
Chiefs kicker) Morten Anderson missed a 19 yard field goal as time expired at …
Jacksonville, to land the Jaguars into the six seed, at the Chiefs expense, via
conference record tiebreaker.)
Thirty years later? I'm still drawn back, every chance I get, to root on the Red and Gold ... and more importantly, to spend time with each and every one of you who read this, and simply drop by for a handshake, a hug, a conversation, or (far more likely) a few cold beers.
Because that's the hook, that makes the Arrowhead Experience, what it is. It's what I didn't witness in Indy last week (but have in Houston, three times in the last year). It's us, who matters, not the team. Win or lose, rain or shine, sleet or snow? The Post Office has nothing on us.
Because we're the hook.
And I'll be godd*mned if I'm letting any of us off of it.
* at Chiefs (-7 1/2) 35, Jaguars 13.
If you're coming tomorrow, don't be a stranger.
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