It's a hunger,
That tries to keep a man
Awake at night.
Are you the answer?
I shouldn't wonder,
When I can feel you
Whet my appetite!
With all the power you're releasing?
It isn't safe to walk the city streets alone!
Anticipation runs through me;
Let's find the keys and turn this engine on!
I can feel you breathe!
I can feel your heart beat faster ...
Take me home tonight!
I don't wanna let you go 'til you see the light!
Take me home tonight!
Listen honey -- just like Ronnie said?
Be my little baby!!! ..."
-- "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money. Of everything I never dreamed in my wildest, uuh, dreams, that I'd live to see, that occurred on Sunday, January 19, 2020? Hearing 73,625 plus of my closest friends screaming "Take Me Home Tonight!", as the clock inched slowly yet steadily to triple zeroes in the fourth quarter, has to be near the top of the list. God bless it, that was so damned cool!
(Sadly, no videos of that "performance" are on Youtube!, that I could find. Which is probably for the best. Some sh*t is best left to those, privileged enough to witness it in person ...)
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This Chiefs season has been special, actually beyond special, in so many ways. And thankfully, I was able to capture a few of those special moments, that made this season so, uuh, special.
Below are all but one of my favorite captured moments, of the 2019 Chiefs season * .
My favorite captured moment, will post as its' own, uuh, post, after this post goes up. And go figure, my favorite, is not only the last one on the (iPhone) camera roll ... but it's the only captured moment, I didn't personally, uuh, capture ** .
Enjoy?
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(*: these are appearing in chronological order. Which seems fitting, given that my favorite captured moment, occurred on AFC Title GameDay.)
(**: all image credits in this post, unless otherwise noted, were captured by me, via my iPhone something. The season started as an 8 Plus; it ended as an 11 Plus. The one regret I have from this season: I never should have given up the 8. The 11 is such a piece of sh*t that it's probably appropriate the case around it is dark, dark brown.)
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* The Mural Is Unveiled, Week One (at Jaguars).
My commute to and from work, on a normal day, consists of exiting my driveway, taking Madison to 79th, 79th to Wornall, Wornall from 79th to Ward Parkway, then the Parkway to JC Nichols / Broadway, ultimately ending up at the PennTower complex at 31st and Broadway.
(Then reverse the route to head home.)
All summer long, the Ale House at 42nd-ish and Broadway had tarps up hiding what was going up on their south-facing wall. Right after Labor Day, they unveiled the finished work of art. And my God, (seinfeld voice) it is real, and it is spectacular:
Let's just say, this commute beats the hell out of the old one, sitting on the "never gonna finish the construction" *** South Loop for thirty minutes, to move four miles, from State Line to Metcalf.
(***: I was wrong! The entire south loop of 435 is pretty much finished, from K10 to the Triangle. And it's six lanes in each direction! It only took twenty six years to finish widening and rebuilding that bastardo, but God bless it, it might have been worth the wait!)
* The (Final?) raiders Roadie In "The Garage", Week Two (at raiders).
Every year for the past decade or so, a decent group of us heads up to Sioux Falls to catch the raiders roadie in Ian's garage-come-ultimate-man-cave. (And then our raider and Chiefs fans up there, head down here for the home game against the raiders.)
Given that the raiders are moving to Vegas, this might be the last trip north to catch the raiders roadie.
So if only for the last time, the finest place Sioux Falls has to offer (and I actually mean that as a compliment; I love Sioux Falls):
* A Bar Where "The Chief" Exists, Week Two (at raiders.)
In lovely -- and sweet Jesus, do I use that term loosely -- in lovely Hudson, South Dakota, which is about a forty minute drive southeast of Sioux Falls, and is literally across the river from eastern Iowa -- there is a bar called Waddy's:
Waddy's is famous up there for its' Bloody Mary mix, and (go figure) for its' Bloody Mary's ... which they call "The Chief". You can't make this sh*t up folks.
* Tailgating Begins, Week Three (vs Ravens).
This was snapped right after we got the tents up, a little after 7am on that rainy, miserable Sunday morning. Don't believe me? Here's the scene almost three hours later:
Thankfully, the rain tapered off by kickoff, and the Chiefs won 33-28, to improve to 3-0 on the season, and gain what looked to be at the time, a huge tie-breaker advantage over the Ravens.
And this is a large reason why ...
* The Yellow End Zones, Week Three (vs Ravens).
(the great anthony j. bruno voice) Beautiful.
* The Outside Is Finished!, Week Four (at Lions).
My group always goes to McFadden's for away games that we aren't in attendance for. (Or in The Pool to watch, if said roadie falls on Weeks One or Two most years.) Our first trip to McFadden's this season was for the Week Four game at the Lions, and thanks to a few overnights and a crazy ass Saturday, the outside of The Bus was finished just in time for its' 2019 Downtown Debut.
The passenger side:
And the drivers side:
Oh, and this fifty six year old beauty? Even got a new engine!
For what it's worth, The Bus went 5-0 at McFadden's this year. It wasn't ready for the Jaguars roadie, I was in South Dakota for the raiders roadie, and I was in Nashville for the Titans roadie. Sadly, it will not be at McFadden's for the Super Bowl, as the prices they are charging are bat sh*t crazy.
(Seriously, McFadden's -- a $1,000 deposit for a table of eight? We've brought you tables of twenty and have yet to crack the $1,000 mark for our tab! (bastardized "family guy" voice) Damn McFadden's! You greedy!)
* The Pillow, Week Five (vs Colts).
Technically, this has been a part of The Bus for almost a decade now. It was made out of the bedsheets our late, great buddy Greg rested in during the last year of his life, that was tragically cut short nine years ago now. I usually ride in the back of The Bus on the way out to Arrowhead, and get to stare straight ahead at this beauty. I pray I never forget why it means so much.
* The Sunrise, Week Six (vs Texans).
This needs no words or description:
* The Moment I Realized I'm Old, Week Six (vs Texans).
Fourth quarter on a perfect Danny Darrell Memorial Weather Day (aka "mid 70s and not a cloud in the sky"), when I realized, perhaps the beard isn't blond after all:
Ugh. Grey. When did this happen? How did this happen? I'm too young to go grey!
* What Football Is Truly All About, Week Nine (vs Vikings).
My buddy Chance and his younger brother:
Also from that Vikings game, perhaps my favorite t-shirt I saw all year that didn't involve the words "f*ck" and "broncos":
* (Dionne Warwick Voice) "That's What Friends are For", Week Ten (at Titans).
I made this roadie with four good friends -- my Titans buddies Nicole and Andrew, as well as Amanda and her boyfriend Mike:
(left to right: Nicole, me, Andrew, on the pedestrian bridge crossing the Cumberland River to the stadium.)
(left to right: Andrew, Nicole, Amanda, Mike, me, tailgating in Lot G (because, of course, we'd pick Lot G to tailgate)).
(both images above, credit to random strangers, via my iPhone something.)
Sadly not captured in a picture? The two to three minutes we got to spend with the lovely Brittney, the funny tik-toking Jackson, and the hysterical Randi, who swung through our tailgate on the way into the stadium that awesome Sunday morning. (AKA "The Mahomes Family".)
(Not so awesome? The drive back. When we left Nissan Stadium (as if losing 32-35 wasn't bad enough), it was pushing 80 degrees. I was shedding layers in the lower bowl, in mid-November. Always a good thing! When we stopped in St. Louis to decide whether to stay the night or push on home a little before 10pm, it was 15 degrees out and snowing. Weather, you drunk!)
Yeah, here was ("jersey shore" voice) the situation when I woke up about ten the next morning, after driving half the night to make it back to Waldo:
Oh but don't worry folks. We're not done with snow yet. In fact, (the carpenters voice) we've only just begun ...
* The (Arguably) Most Painful Pic
I couldn't let this one go without sighing in disgust. The Parthenon, Nashville, the night before the Chiefs / Titans contest. I still am in utter and total denial that the Gore / Lieberman Victory Party never occurred here, twenty years ago:
Let's just move on before I go off on a curse word-laden rant, like I did seeing that place two months ago.
* (Patty Smyth Voice) "Sometimes Love? Just Ain't Enough", Bye Week.
Snapped this one waiting to get onto the freeway, to begin the drive down to Dallas:
OK, fine, I'll go there. Does (s)he have (bastardize jay-z voice) 989 problems, but the b*tch ain't one? (rimshot!) I mean, holy 'ho Batman! How proud has this chick got to be of her track record! For f*ck's sake, I don't even know 990 people! Let alone f*cked that number of people!
And also from that roadie, on the way home:
I snapped this one before entering the Chocktaw Nation Casino, Resort, RV, and Entertainment Complex in lovely Durant, Oklahoma. (Note: this actually is a kick-ass casino ... and yes, "The Voice of Reason" and I once gambled at a blackjack table there, while eating birthday cake to celebrate Chocktaw's 19th anniversary. #thanksforthememories)
This sign never fails to make me laugh ... because let's acknowledge the Captain Oats in the room. Most places post signs on their door noting what won't be allowed, because enough people have brought it in from the outside, to make a sign necessary. Think "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service". Or "Firearms Prohibited Inside This Establishment".
How awesome has this place got to be, that they have to remind patrons they can't get high at the slot machines inside? How many people had to have been blazing away (brantley gilbert voice) back in the day, to make this customer warning necessary?
Also, it's probably good they didn't judge how I smelled entering that place on that Sunday morning ...
* The Snow Game, Week Fifteen (vs those people).
There are no words to express the joy of this day. But I'll try to let the following pics do the job:
* Another Year, Another Noose, Week Seventeen (vs "Super" Chargers).
It arrived one game later than expected ... but its' now Seis Noose Donkey!
* (Jim Nantz 2004 Masters Voice) Is It (Their) Time? YES! At Long Last!, AFC Title Game.
Lest you doubt my love of this team, we were second in line in the, uuh, line, to get in at Gate Six:
And finally ...
* The Ticket, AFC Title Game.
This thing will never be deleted from my Apple Wallet:
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Which just leaves one captured moment, uuh, uncaptured. That is your next post ...
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