Christmas Eve

2009-04-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Draft Day.
Today on Mike and Mike, Greeny said that Draft Day was Christmas and Mel Kiper, Jr. was Santa Claus. I think he was really just trying to make him feel better about the fact that ESPN seems to think they've found a younger, more camera-friendly, and all-around able-to-properly-pronounce-the-word-"league" version of Kiper. But that half-baked metaphor got me thinking.
As a Chiefs fan, tomorrow really is like Christmas for me. I've waited all year (well, at least since about Week 5, when I realized the '08 season was a bust). No matter how hard it got, my faith never waivered.
There have been times when I thought about cheating and looking at other teams, but I didn't. There have been times when I thought about giving up on football all together, but I didn't.
There have been times when I thought about crying loudly and throwing a kicking, screaming, tantrum in a public place...
But I didn't.
And it's finally here.

It's Christmas and here is the new toy I hope I get.

Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest

I always tell strangers that assume I'm depressed about the Chiefs downfall that, "I'm not as bummed as you'd think." The reason that I'm not so bummed is because I know that teams need to hit this kind of rock bottom to win championships.
Remember when the Colts sucked (3-13 in 1997 and 1998)?
Remember when the Patriots sucked (19-61 from 1989-1993)?
Remember when the Rams were actually good?
During my football-watching life (Age 2-Today), minus the Herm Edwards era (which even featured its own playoff game, Remember that crazy deal?!?), the Chiefs are 161-103 (.610).
Consistently respectable. Never awful (6-10 at worst), but also never good enough to bring the Lamar Hunt Trophy to Lamar Hunt's trophy case.

But Chiefs fans, male and female alike, would all give their respective left gonads to be back in the Martyball era. Here's why I think they're not so far off. The parallels from the 1989 preseason to the 2009 preseason is uncanny.

Pay Close Attention...

Exactly 20 years ago, the Chiefs sucked.
They were coming off two straight abysmal seasons. In 1987, they were 4-11, last in the division. In 1988, they were 4-11-1, also dead last. In 1989, they felt they had the pieces in place.
1. The new General Manager: Carl Peterson
A glib, business-savvy GM, with a knack for hiring coaches. After being appointed, he hired:
2. The new Head Coach: Marty Schottenheimer
A 45-year-old former AFL Linebacker. A coordinator turned Head Coach. A hard-assed, get-in-player's-faces-and-scream kind of guy that looked like he could strap it on and go right then if he had to.
3. The new franchise Linebacker: Derrick Thomas
An All-American, ball-hawking outside linebacker who won the Butkus Award his senior year. A high-character kid, raised primarily by his mother, who the Chiefs stole with the fourth overall pick.

Get it???

The Schottenheimer era was Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, outstanding in its own time, but twenty years later, quite forgettable. Chiefs fans are about to get Dark Knight. The pieces are all in place: almost.

1. Scott Pioli: The new new General Manager.
Glib? Check. Business Savvy? Check. Knack for not only head coaches, but quarterbacks...
2. Todd Haley: the new new Head Coach
A 42-year-old former NFL cornerback. Coordinator turned coach? Check. Hard-assed, get-in-player's-faces-and-scream kind of guy? Double check.

They just need one piece.

Aaron Curry is the guy the Chiefs need. A freakish athlete with an unmistakable nose for the football. For my money, he's the Derrick Thomas piece that will get the ball rolling on making the Chiefs great again. Tomorrow afternoon, if all goes according to the plans of God and Mel Kiper, Jr., Aaron Curry will be a Chief, and Kansas City's front 7 will feature the most talented overall players in the last two NFL drafts.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I'm a "New Media Specialist" now?

2009-04-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally did it. I set up a blog. My self-obsessed stream-of-conscious is now as accessible as 6 billion other people. The combination of THIS BLOG and the Journalism degree I'll get this Christmas (and a powerpoint presentation about Blink-182 I did in seventh grade) qualifies me as a "New Media Specialist." I think...

So,
I guess people just, like, talk on these things?

Read Nate Hackney

Christmas Eve

I'm a "New Media Specialist" now?