we beat those guys!

My favorite HBO special ever done was on the 1980 US Hockey team. Its just an incredible hour of television. If you've never seen it, you need to, its that inspiring. And my favorite moment, every time I watch it, is goalie Jim Craig's reaction after the biggest upset in sports history. Everyone else is running around (ok, skating around) like a chicken with its head cut off. The emotion in that building, I don't think its even possible to describe it.

Except for Jim Craig. Who initially just stays at the net, this goofy satisfied grin on his face ... and as he notes in his interview, "we beat those guys. The only thing I was thinking was, we beat those guys!"

We beat those guys. (steve starting to tear up ...) We beat those guys. Really, what more do you need to say?

We beat those guys.

Wow. Or, as Dave Armstrong would note, WOW!

I already blogged my immediate post-game thoughts yesterday, you can scroll down for those. Now for a few other thoughts ...

* I concurred with kicking the field goal on the first possession. When you haven't had a lead in 21 quarters, you take what you can get. Plus it was goal to go at the 4 1/2, 5 yard line. But the 2nd field goal infuriated me. And I wasn't alone, the boos reigning down were deafening. As well they should have been. You're 0-3. You haven't won a game in 344 days. You've got an unbeaten division leader, your hated rival, potentially on the ropes early, and you've got 4th and less than 1 at the 2. We had a chance to really strangle denver early, get them down 10 before they even got started. Instead, as I pointed out to Damien and Dusty, "Herm needs to ask Hillary to borrow her pair". Gutless football. I was p*ssed.

* denver's only touchdown, to give them the lead at 7-6, again, what an amazing throw and catch. cutler put it where only marshall could get it. But the play that made the touchdown possible, the 40 yard screen on 3rd and 18 ... inexcusable. To say I was angry at that play, is an understatement.

* the marshall fumble and return to the two. Holy crap, what a moment. denver had just stopped us, we'd punted for the first time. denver up 7-6, at midfield, poised to assert the control of the game many feared would happen. Then out of nowhere, DJ comes from behind, strips him, and Flowers takes off, nearly scoring, before being dragged down at the 2. I think that was the first moment it started to dawn on the crowd that "oh my goodness, we can win this thing".

* LJ's first touchdown ... I thought he scored on the leap on 1st down. But he left no doubt on 2nd down.

* and what did we see after that touchdown? To put us up 13-7? Streamers! They were flying out of the upper deck, just like the good old days! Awesome stuff. That was the first of many "tears in the eyes" moments for me.

* and if you think I'm joking about crying and tearing up yesterday, you've obviously never witnessed a denver broncos game with me. I can't describe my hatred for that team. Its not possible to put into words how much I, as a fan, needed that game yesterday. I know I take Chiefs games far too seriously, but denver ... denver's special to me. denver has added meaning. To beat them like we did, in the physical fashion we did, meant a lot to me.

* and how physical was our defense? Good Lord, I counted at least 5 donkeys who had to be escorted off the field with ailments of some kind. Jennifer kept texting "another broken donkey!" I loved it.

* halftime was horrid. The ksu marching band ... wearing pink t-shirts. I am not making that up, they wore pink t-shirts with purple band pants. Oh, and as Gregg pointed out, they had a flag boy. They had a dude doing the flag twirling along with the other flag girls. Or as Ty noted once I pointed out that observation, "guess we can drop the l out of flag for that guy".

* the denver guy who had to be taken off the field on the body board. There's some things that are tradition at that stadium, that really don't make a lot of sense to others who weren't there when said tradition first happened? That was one of those moments, when the "boo!" text message came in. (You can check out the Mitch Lyons Game in the 2008 Tailgating Glossary for an explanation). God I miss the old days sometimes. "Get off the field! BOO! BOO!"

* at 16-13 KC, we traded turnovers on back to back plays. Then, denver called a great rollout play for cutler. He had easily 15, 16 yards of wide open field in front of him. Only, for some idiotic reason, he chose to throw across his body, across the field, for a well covered brandon marshall. Brandon Carr leapt ... picked it off, and that place erupted again. I think that was the game-changing moment, because ...

* something you definitely could pick up on in the 2nd half: every stand only further emboldened the defense. They finally were getting some help from the offense, and they were clearly using that as motivation, a "wow, we don't have to run back 3 INTs today to have a chance to win". They played relaxed, if that makes sense, they actually could have confidence and trust in the game plan, because it was working. And it showed.

* underrated play of the day: 3rd and 9 near midfield, still 16-13 KC. As I noted when the teams lined up, "denver's in zone! They don't have enough guys on the left side of the formation! Either Bowe over the middle or Webb downfield, one of the two will be open!" Bowe wide open 16 yards downfield in the middle of the field. First down Chiefs. And to Chan Gailey's credit, he went right back to it when denver didn't adjust, when they kept 8 in the box playing a cover 2: Huard to Webb for 15. Huard to Bowe for 10, and then the end zone catch by Tony G. I thought Gailey in the second half really grasped what denver gave us, and he just throttled them with it. "You wanna play 8 in the box? Fine, we'll air it out. You adjust and go man? We'll pound it down your throats". A well called offensive game. With solid, competent adjustments. Its been at least 2005 since we witnessed one of those.

* how huge was the goalline stand on that drive? denver gets it to goal to go at the 7. Gain of nearly 5 on first down. Receiver falls down on 2nd down and drops the pass. And Flowers with a huge knockdown on 3rd down in my corner. Holding them to 3 there, huge.

* for all the b*tching about how the offense hasn't performed when it counts ... we had 3 offensive possessions in the 4th quarter yesterday. Touchdown to Gonzalez to get up 10. Field goal by Novak to get up by 10, and bleed nearly 5 minutes off the clock as well. Touchdown by LJ to go up 14 and seal the win.

* after the onside kick failed (and I would NOT have tried an onside kick there if I was denver, they still had two timeouts plus the two minute warning. Pin us deep and force the punt ...), after that failed, and LJ broke it ... the emotion in that building was just electric. And then, after the penalty made it 2nd and goal at the 16, just a simple little handoff designed to force denver to blow its last timeout, a simple draw up the middle ... that LJ somehow willed into a 16 yard scamper to the end zone. denver's tackling on that play was pathetic, granted, but when LJ is running with determination, like he has been since halftime of the Falcons game, I'll take my chances against anyone.

a couple other random thoughts before I get to my closing ...

* how awesome was it to see how dejected denver fan was? They showed up en masse yesterday, expecting a 40-10 victory. I can't even begin to express how much fun it was mocking them in the parking lot afterwards.

* and I wasn't even the worst one. Dusty was mercilessly taunting them. He even dropped the "how'd he do today! how'd your boy do today!" blast to someone in a darrent williams jersey. Not even I'm that classless (usually). I loved it. I absolutely f*cking loved it. Again, I cannot put into words how much I hate the denver broncos.

* finally, something Gregg pointed out to me this morning, and that I feel the need to expand on: the swagger of the defense yesterday. There's one moment I want to focus on in that regard.

Tony G has just scored to put us up 23-13 with about 12 minutes to go. The crowd is starting to really get into it. Great coverage on the kickoff, as the denver returner was tackled at his own 22.

The past few years, in that situation? The defense just takes the field. Its just another moment in the game. And it would fall on us in the stands to inform our defense of the magnitude of the moment, that this was a huge game-changing point and they'd better man up and come through.

Sunday, in that spot ... I'm tearing up again just typing this ... they got it. Our guys understood the magnitude of the moment. Tank Tyler standing over the ball, "raising the roof". Jarrad Page making the "pound the seat" motion. But the capper, the one that set me off, Bernard Pollard sprinting -- sprinting! -- around the west end zone, waving his arms, urging everyone to get loud, to be counted, to stand up! (Chuck, stand up Chuck! Oh, God love you, what am I talking about?!?!) That moment ... the last time I can recall any Chiefs defender showing emotion like that was "Brave" Bennie Sapp, after the final stand against denver on Thanksgiving Night 2006, grabbing a donkeys towel, standing on their bench, and waving it over his head in celebration. And that spectacle was after the play was over. Pollard was urging us on before the ball was snapped.

Seriously, when was the last time our defense showed emotion like that PRIOR to a drive? The late 90s, when DT and James Hasty and the last gasps of greatness from the middle of the decade were trying for one last championship push? Its been a long, long time since we had a defense that played with the passion, the emotion, the "leave every damned bit of energy we have on the field" focus we saw yesterday.

I don't know if yesterday was a fluke, one brief shining moment in a season filled with darkness ... or if yesterday was the start of something remarkable. I do know this: we beat those guys. We stood toe to toe with an unbeaten division leader that was nearly a double digit favorite in our stadium ... and we took them to the f*cking woodshed, and beat them like that government mule the Reverend Sharpton is still waiting to receive (along with his 40 acre, of course).

Yesterday ... we beat those guys!

Here's hoping the emotion, the passion, the precision and execution from yesterday, carries over into a very winnable roadie on Sunday in Charlotte. Because if it does, that Titans game in three weeks suddenly has importance for both teams on the field ...

for one day, one final, magnificent, glorious day ...

I honestly ... I don't know where to begin. And for once, this is a good thing. I literally cried when Tony G caught the touchdown pass, to go up 23-13. Perfectly thrown where only he could have gotten it, to put us up 10. I literally sat down in my seat and cried. Just the thought of winning, just the idea that this long national nightmare of 12 straight losses, 344 days of victory-less football, just the concept that it could end, drove me to tears.

So let's just say, when LJ took a simple handoff up the middle ... and broke tackle, after tackle, after tackle, and rumbled 16 yards for the game clinching score with 1:54 to go, let's just say that section 132, row 26 wasn't hurting for water. There was plenty coming out of the eyes of the guy in seat 2.

For one day. One final, magnificent, glorious day of the Carl Peterson era ...

Arrowhead f*cking rocked.

Let's do this.

* As evidenced by my previous post today, I was wide awake at 4:26am. I was ready. And I wasn't the only one; the tailgating bus was 5th in line at 6:54am when we pulled in line at Arrowhead. Yes, this team is down and yes, 2008 appears to be a lost cause ... but the die hards, we're still here. We don't back down. We don't give up.

* A large portion of our tailgating group was out at the race today. Which is cool. I won't fault anyone for skipping a Chiefs game for NASCAR.

* Because I got literally 6 text messages today during tailgating asking me "you at the race or the game?" I could be on life support, and I'd still find a way to be wheeled to my seat for denver folks. Its the f*cking denver broncos!

* The weather today ... Good Lord. How do you top this for September 28th? Pushing 90 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky. I'll put it this way: when I'm not the only person at tailgate with a shirt off, you KNOW its a perfect Steve Day.

* Tailgating was solid. Like I said, consolidated group, but Dusty, Damien, Mark, Mark's significant other (sorry don't remember her name), Amy, and some donkeys chick added to the fun. And by "added to the fun", I mean "Steve wasn't even close to being the most confident person KC would win today". Mark beat me by a country mile in his optimism.

* KC Wolf's sketch: hideous. Nice to see he learned nothing from last week's solid effort, and reverted back to the tried and failed routines of the last 15 years.

* The Anthem. (steve pausing for a moment ...) When I got the text at 10:58am that said "Ida McBeth", I nearly wet my pants. I can't even put into words how seriously awesome Ms. McBeth is. When she took the mic, I started fist pumping, wooing, just going crazy. The guy next to me was like "what the hell"? Two words man. Ida. McBeth. Seriously, why can't we just declare that only three people can ever do the Anthem at Arrowhead (Ms. McBeth, the Rev. Hal Weeks, and Patti DiParto-Livergood), and just be done with it. Her rendition today ... just inspiring. Absolutely inspiring. As good as it gets.

* Chiefs win the toss, choose to receive. I'd personally prefer we defer, but hey, you take victory wherever you can get it when you haven't won in 344 days.

* That first drive was just a thing of beauty. We threw it once, on 3rd and goal. Every other play was cramming it down the donkeys throat. They gagged and allowed a field goal.

* the defense. Good God did Gun's guys show up today or what? They bent, they only broke once, on an incredible marshall TD catch that was just an incredible throw by cutler, but they kept getting turnovers. Kept holding denver to field goals. That's the Gunther Cunningham defense I know and love.

* ok, I'm all about rolling with the punches, and God knows I poke more fun at myself than anyone alive ... but how do you respond to this series of text messages:

11:45:10am: shirt still on?
(response) yes 4 now its hot though.
11:47:44am: I am waiting for it to get stripped off!...
(response) sweet!
11:51:48am: Love ya!!

Now, I don't even know who the f*ck is texting me this at this point. I (incorrectly) assumed it was Jennifer borrowing Steve's (not me) phone.

Then, again:

12:26:21pm: I'm waiting!

Finally, at 1:09:21pm, from Gregg: "Ashley wants to see you shirtless".
My response: "Is she drunk?"

Really. I don't know what the hell got into her ... but she got her wish at halftime. It was that damned hot in the lower bowl.

Which led to her final text midway through the 4th quarter (and how it took her over an hour to figure out I was going John Thompson-style and draping the shirt over the shoulder to bite down on, I don't know ...):

3:11:11pm: ooh yea, thats what i have been waiting all day for!
(response) glad I could satisfy u.

So ... either we're up to three confirmed living, breathing, legitimate chicks who officially think I'm hot as hell and are totally turned on by the sight of me ... or my sex life is a bigger joke than even I think it is.

(it has to be the first. It HAS to be. Come on, work with me people! "that's what i have been waiting all day for!" You don't lie about sh*t like that right? Right? (crickets chirping ...))

Anyways, it was pretty funny, at least to me. Because anyone who knows me knows I won't be appearing in an Abercrombie catalog anytime soon. That, and for one brief moment, I actually was like "wow, someone wants me to take it off?!?! Jesus, I don't even need an internet site to find a, uuh, adult friend!!! Sweet! I rock!"

* Damien promised he was moving over to experience the donkeys game "Steve style". He never made it. Sucks to be him. I was in full on meltdown mode most of the second half.

* Your Price Chopper Section of the Game? That wins a fabulous tailgating pack? You guessed it. 1. 3. 2. Awesome. We currently have 9 of those coupons ready to use for a game later this year. The less money we spend to watch this team struggle, the better.

* For the record, I hit my knees to pray three times today. Our first field goal (good!) The donkeys 28 yard attempt (no good!) And our 48 yarder to open the 4th quarter to go up 10 (good!!!) It wasn't quite "Steve kneeling for the Golden Toe to beat denver in overtime" levels, but hey, again, you go winless for 343 days, you take what you can get.

* Postgame, and yes I'm skipping a lot of the game but I want to really review it before recapping it in detail ... postgame, I just stand in my spot for a solid 30, 45 seconds. I literally was crying. Finally Russ patted me on the back and was like "the beer's colder at the bus!" Yes. Yes it was.

I darted off to the bano to, uuh, relieve myself, and to refill the water bottle (yes, incredibly enough, I did not purchase an adult beverage during the game. Emphasis on the word "purchase", trust me, I consumed some between the three flasks floating around the confluence of 131 / 132 ...) Anyways, after a couple minutes at the trough and the water fountain, I started the climb up the spiral ramp. And the Tomahawk Chop chants were just flying around. You could actually hear them still up at the bus 10 minutes later. Don't tell me this town doesn't love its team. Just give us a reason to hope, and we'll believe.

* I got to the bus, t-shirt draped John Thompson style, covered in sweat and bite marks from stress ... and there's Dusty. "We f*cking did it!" Nothing says "first win in 344 days" like a freaking man hug with the roommate.

* Damien was next. "Un f*cking believable!" Another man hug and high fives all around.

* Russ and Mona next. Although we'd shared many a hug, high five, and hit off the flask prior to the postgame reunion. It never gets old. The Chiefs winning. The postgame tailgate. None of it ever gets old. Win or lose ... oh yeah. We still booze!

* The traditional postgame hug with Jennifer up next.

* Then the moment it all sinks in, which as always results in me grabbing a Coors Light out of the cooler, walking over to the walkway, starting to high five randoms as they walk by ... and I just have to sit. With a massive, ain't leaving anytime soon, sh*t eating grin on my face.

That grin is still on there, four hours later. I assume it will still be on there tomorrow. Because for one day, as Herm Edwards so brilliantly put it:

"I told mike (shanahan) he has a helluva team. But for one today, for today, we were better than you!"

We were better than denver. For one day, for three hours, 29 minutes and change, we were better than denver. For one magical afternoon, in the infamous words of Kevin Harlan, "Not even Santa Claus could save the denver broncos today!!!"

We were better than denver. (steve drooling with delirium ...)